Doctor Who Series 8 Episode Rankings
- SimplyWho
- Jul 2
- 5 min read
Updated: Jul 31
I love this series, I think it gets a bad wrap. When I was doing this list I felt bad for putting a few near the bottom. Twelve and Clara are a perfect team together, and I think Clara's story is so much better now the shackles of the impossible girl have fallen off.
So, here is my ranking of every episode from series 8 of Doctor Who.
One of the easier decisions for me, and I actually don't think it is as horrendous as people make out. If the Doctor was a little less of a shit, and Courtney wasn't in it, maybe this would have been different.
I don't mind the whole moon is an egg part of the story, it is more how the Doctor acts and how fucking irritating Courtney is.
I liked this one. Yeah, the alien was shit, yeah, the headmaster is a complete tool, and yeah, the soldier stuff is a bit too much, but Peter Capaldi is funny as fuck. His disguise with a different coat? Priceless. Him thinking Clara was nobbing the Eleven look-a-like? Golden!
I am a defender of this episode. I know the ending with the girl in the bush is laughable, and I had no idea kids slept in museums, but the story of Danny, Clara and how the Doctor fits into things was really good to watch. The kids are done as kids are done a lot in Doctor Who, stereotypical. On their phones, saying they are bored, generally being dicks, but they were bearable in this. Maeve was very sweet.
It wasn't the most dramatic of stories, but I think it gets a bit too much hate than it deserves. I certainly rank this way above Fear Her, Victory of the Daleks and 42.
This might be my most controversial decision. I loved the first half of this episode, like really loved it. I just thought it was a shame to leave the spooky children's home to go more into the timey-wimey. Does this episode add to the Clara is way too important to the Doctor's life conundrum as well?
When you look back on this episode it actually makes very little sense, what with Danny departing via a car by the end of the series. As far as I am aware, there is no chance for any future grandchildren!
This is probably the proof needed for you to realise how much I rate this series, as this episode is great Doctor Who and all the way down in tenth place.
Maybe I am biassed - I love Keeley Hawes and I loved this episode. It felt different. This is the kind of underrated episode that I love about this series. It tried new things and the Teller looked really good.
I wasn't invested enough to give a fuck that Psi sacrificed himself, but it was still a pleasant surprise that the Doctor was in fact saving them.
The story of this series in a nutshell - under bloody rated. Another episode that gets a bit of stick. But what isn't to like? The Doctor and Robin Hood bickering, the amazing scene with Clara and the Sheriff of Nottingham, the lovely ending?
Well neither am I. But if we both keep pretending to be. Perhaps others will be heroes in our name. Perhaps we will both be stories. And may those stories never end. Goodbye, Doctor. Time Lord of Gallifrey.
Come on, stop bantering and admit it is a good episode!
The Doctor being a bit of a shit in this one makes me laugh. He is a bastard to a couple of people, especially poor old Journey. I like the Doctor like this though, I like questioning if the Doctor is in fact a good guy.
Not quite The Eleventh Hour but a bloody good opening episode all the same. I much prefer this way than the more lighthearted opening episodes of both RTD eras.
The Clara and Vastra stand off was worthy of bumping this higher up the order alone.
It also hints at a more complicated Doctor, and a slightly darker tone. Did he kill that Clockwork Droid man? I guess we will never know.
I think as finale episodes go this was a hit. Often, we have suffered by the build up being better than the ending, this has very much been the case in the most recent couple of series.
I think we got a good pay off, I enjoyed Missy actually trying to give the Doctor a gift whilst being totally insane, I enjoyed that the deaths were final in this as well. It can become a bit grating when everyone comes back all the time, living their lives in different forms or the like. I thought it might happen to Danny, but luckily he saved the lad. Nice touch!
Michelle Gomez is amazing, Jenna Coleman and Peter Capaldi are a great team, there is a lot to love.
Watching it all click for Clara - the Doctor trying to be a good man, often coming across as a bit of a twat whilst doing it. She knows from here. She bases herself more and more on him from here.
The Mummy was a great design, having the countdown was fun, the train looked great. We also had an are you my mummy line chucked in for good measure.
I loved how this era wasn't afraid to say the Doctor can be a dick, but he is being a dick trying to save the day. Sometimes, especially more recently, the Doctor is built up to be this hero, a god like figure who can do no wrong. I am not sure that is, or should be, the case. Doctor Who is better when the Doctor cannot fully be trusted.
This has to be one of the best Christmas specials doesn't it? Nick Frost is brilliant as Father Christmas, and the supporting cast are likeable as well, which is always a bonus.
Would this have been better if Jenna left? Did her not leaving give us maybe one too many dreams within dreams? I am not complaining though, as Twelve and Clara are a great team, and this was a great episode.
The final five minutes or so are worth this place alone. Michelle Gomez is an absolute icon! I would love to see Misyy back again. Imagine having her causing carnage in The Reality War instead of the Rani.
This finale went darker than the water (which is actually very clear) and I liked it for that. Darker, more mature Doctor Who is the Doctor Who for me. It was still funny, it was still campy, it was still Doctor Who.
He was already the Doctor of course, but this felt like the proper moment, the "I'm the man who's going to save your lives and all six billion people on the planet below." or the "Hello Stonehenge!" moment, when Twelve makes you go fuck yeah, he is the Doctor, and now you are well and truly fucked!
It was also a bloody good story. It felt creepy, it felt different, it told another story of Clara becoming more like the Doctor. The music was great, the monsters were great. Doctor Who doing Doctor Who things.
Let me guess, you think I have this well and truly wrong? Tell me why in the comments below. I won't be offended, honest!
#DoctorWho #Series8 #PeterCapaldi #Twelve #TwelfthDoctor #TheDoctor #TimeLord #JennaColeman #ClaraOswald #TheImpossibleGirl #DannyPink #SamuelAnderson #Missy #TheMaster #MichelleGomez #Cybermen #Dalek #TARDIS #UNIT #Regeneration #ThePaternosterGang #MadameVastra #JennyFlint #Strax #KateLethbridgeStewart #JemmaRedgrave #Osgood #IngridOliver #StevenMoffat #SimplyWho
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