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The Worst Episodes of Doctor Who

Every episode of Doctor Who ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of Doctor Who!

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The Doctor is a Time Lord: a 900 year old alien with 2 hearts, part of a gifted civilization who mastered time travel. The Doctor saves planets for a living—more of a hobby actually, and

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Worst Episode
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    Doctor Who Season 12 Episode 3 - Orphan 55
    4.1/10(7445 votes)

    #1 - Orphan 55

    S12:E3

    The Doctor and her friends discover that the luxury resort where they are holidaying is hiding a number of deadly secrets. What are the ferocious monsters attacking Tranquillity Spa?

    Director:Lee Haven Jones
    Writer:Ed Hime

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  2. Doctor Who Season 11 Episode 4 - Arachnids in the UK
    5.1/10(8982 votes)

    #2 - Arachnids in the UK

    S11:E4

    “Something's happening with the spiders in this city.” The Doctor, Yaz, Graham and Ryan find their way back to Yorkshire - and Yaz's family - only to find something is stirring amidst the eight-legged arachnid population of Sheffield.

    Director:Sallie Aprahamian
    Writer:Chris Chibnall

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  3. Doctor Who Season 11 Episode 5 - The Tsuranga Conundrum
    5.1/10(8398 votes)

    #3 - The Tsuranga Conundrum

    S11:E5

    Injured and stranded in the wilds of a far-flung galaxy, the Doctor, Yaz, Graham and Ryan must band together with a group of strangers to survive against one of the universe's most deadly - and unusual - creatures.

    Director:Jennifer Perrott
    Writer:Chris Chibnall

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  4. Doctor Who Season 12 Episode 10 - The Timeless Children (2)
    5.1/10(7050 votes)

    #4 - The Timeless Children (2)

    S12:E10

    The Cybermen are on the march. The last remaining humans are hunted down. Lies are exposed, truths are revealed, and for the Doctor nothing will ever be the same.

    Director:Jamie Magnus Stone
    Writer:Chris Chibnall

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  5. Doctor Who Season 12 Episode 6 - Praxeus
    5.2/10(5646 votes)

    #5 - Praxeus

    S12:E6

    The mysterious “Praxeus” will cause the quartet to split up (never a good idea) to investigate mysteries all over Earth. And what they find will threaten all human life (again).

    Director:Jamie Magnus Stone
    Writer:Pete McTighe

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  6. Doctor Who Season 11 Episode 10 - The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos
    5.3/10(6500 votes)

    #6 - The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos

    S11:E10

    On the planet of Ranskoor Av Kolos, a battlefield, a conflict-scarred survivor, and a deadly reckoning await the Doctor, Ryan, Yaz and Graham.

    Director:Jamie Childs
    Writer:Chris Chibnall

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  7. Doctor Who Season 13 Episode 6 - The Vanquishers
    5.3/10(3947 votes)

    #7 - The Vanquishers

    S13:E6

    In the final epic chapter in the story of the Flux, all hope is lost. The forces of darkness are in control. But when the monsters have won, who can you count upon to save the universe?

    Director:Azhur Saleem
    Writer:Chris Chibnall

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  8. Doctor Who Season 12 Episode 7 - Can You Hear Me?
    5.7/10(5175 votes)

    #8 - Can You Hear Me?

    S12:E7

    As Graham, Yaz and Ryan return home to see friends and family, they find themselves haunted by very different experiences. Who is the figure calling from beyond the stars for help, and why? And what are the fearsome Chagaskas terrorising Aleppo in 1380? To find the answers, Team TARDIS must embark on a mission which forces them to face their darkest fears.

    Director:Emma Sullivan
    Writers:Chris Chibnall, Charlene James

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  9. Doctor Who Season 2 Episode 11 - Fear Her
    5.8/10(8969 votes)

    #9 - Fear Her

    S2:E11

    When the TARDIS lands in 2012, the Tenth Doctor plans to show Rose the London Olympics. However, ordinary children are vanishing into thin air, a mother living in a seemingly normal British household is trying to hide her daughter's unnatural powers from the world, and a demonic presence lurks in an upstairs cupboard.

    Director:Euros Lyn
    Writer:Matthew Graham

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  10. Doctor Who Season 9 Episode 9 - Sleep No More
    5.8/10(6551 votes)

    #10 - Sleep No More

    S9:E9

    This terrifying story is assembled from footage discovered in the wreckage of Le Verrier Space Station.

    Director:Justin Molotnikov
    Writer:Mark Gatiss

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  11. Doctor Who Season 11 Episode 8 - The Witchfinders
    5.8/10(7262 votes)

    #11 - The Witchfinders

    S11:E8

    The Doctor, Ryan, Graham and Yaz arrive in 17th-century Lancashire and become embroiled in a witch trial run by the local landowner. As fear stalks the land, the arrival of King James I only serves to intensify the witch hunt. But is there something even more dangerous at work? Can the Doctor and friends keep the people of Bilehurst Cragg safe from all the forces that are massing in the land?

    Director:Sallie Aprahamian
    Writer:Joy Wilkinson

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  12. Doctor Who Season 13 Episode 3 - Once, Upon Time
    5.9/10(4125 votes)

    #12 - Once, Upon Time

    S13:E3

    'Time is beginning to run wild.' On a planet that shouldn’t exist, in the aftermath of apocalypse, the Doctor, Dan, Yaz and Vinder face a battle to survive.

    Director:Azhur Saleem
    Writer:Chris Chibnall

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  13. Doctor Who Season 8 Episode 10 - In the Forest of the Night
    6.0/10(6903 votes)

    #13 - In the Forest of the Night

    S8:E10

    One morning in London, and every city and town in the world, the human race wakes up to the most surprising invasion yet: the trees have moved back in. Everywhere, in every land, a forest has grown overnight and taken back the Earth.

    Director:Sheree Folkson
    Writer:Frank Cottrell Boyce

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  14. Doctor Who Season 2 Episode 10 - Love & Monsters
    6.1/10(10008 votes)

    #14 - Love & Monsters

    S2:E10

    An ordinary man named Elton Pope becomes obsessed with the Tenth Doctor, Rose and their strange blue box, joining a group of like-minded people in hopes of finding him. But when the mysterious Victor Kennedy joins the group, the fun soon stops and Elton discovers a darker side to his hobby.

    Director:Dan Zeff
    Writer:Russell T Davies

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  15. Doctor Who Season 11 Episode 2 - The Ghost Monument
    6.1/10(9626 votes)

    #15 - The Ghost Monument

    S11:E2

    Still reeling from their first encounter, can the Doctor and her new friends stay alive long enough, in a hostile alien environment, to solve the mystery of Desolation? And just who are Angstrom and Epzo?

    Director:Mark Tonderai
    Writer:Chris Chibnall

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  16. Doctor Who Season 13 Episode 5 - Survivors of the Flux
    6.1/10(3815 votes)

    #16 - Survivors of the Flux

    S13:E5

    As the forces of evil mass, the Doctor, Yaz and Dan face perilous journeys and seemingly insurmountable obstacles in their quest for survival.

    Director:Azhur Saleem
    Writer:Chris Chibnall

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  17. Doctor Who Season 11 Episode 7 - Kerblam!
    6.3/10(7691 votes)

    #17 - Kerblam!

    S11:E7

    “Delivery for the Doctor!” A mysterious message arrives in a package addressed to the Doctor, leading her, Graham, Yaz and Ryan to investigate the warehouse moon orbiting Kandoka, and the home of the galaxy’s largest retailer: Kerblam!

    Director:Jennifer Perrott
    Writer:Pete McTighe

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  18. Doctor Who Season 11 Episode 9 - It Takes You Away
    6.3/10(7019 votes)

    #18 - It Takes You Away

    S11:E9

    On the edge of a Norwegian fjord in the present day, the Doctor, Ryan, Graham and Yaz discover a boarded-up cottage and a girl named Hanne in need of their help. What has happened here? What monster lurks in the woods around the cottage - and beyond?

    Director:Jamie Childs
    Writer:Ed Hime

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  19. Doctor Who Season 3 Episode 6 - The Lazarus Experiment
    6.5/10(8299 votes)

    #19 - The Lazarus Experiment

    S3:E6

    Martha has to save her family from the lunatic schemes of the monstrous Professor Lazarus.

    Director:Richard Clark
    Writer:Stephen Greenhorn

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  20. Doctor Who Season 12 Episode 2 - Spyfall (2)
    6.5/10(6635 votes)

    #20 - Spyfall (2)

    S12:E2

    In part two of this epic spy thriller, a terrifying plan to destroy humanity is about to reach fruition. Can the Doctor and her friends escape multiple traps and defeat a deadly alliance?

    Director:Wayne Che Yip
    Writer:Chris Chibnall

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  21. Doctor Who Season 12 Episode 4 - Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror
    6.5/10(6114 votes)

    #21 - Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror

    S12:E4

    1903. On the edge of Niagara Falls, something is wrong at Nikola Tesla’s generator plant. Who or what is sabotaging the maverick inventor’s work? Has he really received a message from Mars? And where does his great rival Thomas Edison fit into these events? The Doctor, Yaz, Ryan and Graham must join forces with one of history’s great minds to save both him and planet Earth.

    Director:Nida Manzoor
    Writer:Nina Metivier

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  22. Doctor Who Season 12 Episode 9 - Ascension of the Cybermen (1)
    6.5/10(5107 votes)

    #22 - Ascension of the Cybermen (1)

    S12:E9

    In the far future, the Doctor and her friends face a brutal battle across the farthest reaches of space to protect the last of the human race against the deadly Cybermen.

    Director:Jamie Magnus Stone
    Writer:Chris Chibnall

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  23. Doctor Who Season 2 Episode 7 - The Idiot's Lantern
    6.6/10(8718 votes)

    #23 - The Idiot's Lantern

    S2:E7

    In 1953 London, the police are abducting people from their homes. The people of Britain gather around their new-fangled "tele-vision" sets to celebrate the new Queen's coronation - but something strange is affecting the signal.

    Director:Euros Lyn
    Writer:Mark Gatiss

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  24. Doctor Who Season 5 Episode 3 - Victory of the Daleks
    6.6/10(8233 votes)

    #24 - Victory of the Daleks

    S5:E3

    The Doctor has been summoned by old friend Winston Churchill, but in the Cabinet War Rooms far below the streets of blitz-torn London, it's his oldest enemy he finds waiting for him, as the time-travelling adventures continue. The Daleks are back – but can Winston Churchill be in league with them?

    Director:Andrew Gunn
    Writer:Mark Gatiss

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  25. Doctor Who Season 6 Episode 3 - The Curse of the Black Spot
    6.6/10(7644 votes)

    #25 - The Curse of the Black Spot

    S6:E3

    The TARDIS is marooned onboard a 17th-century pirate ship whose crew is being attacked by a mysterious and beautiful sea creature. Becalmed and beset by cabin fever, the pirates have numerous superstitious explanations for the Siren's appearance. The Doctor has other ideas but, as his theories are disproved and every plan of escape is thwarted, he must work to win the trust of the implacable Captain Avery and uncover the truth behind the pirates' supernatural fears – and he must work quickly, for some of his friends have already fallen under the Siren's spell...

    Director:Jeremy Webb
    Writer:Stephen Thompson

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Worst Episodes Summary

"Orphan 55" is the worst rated episode of "Doctor Who". It scored 4.1/10 based on 7445 votes. Directed by Lee Haven Jones and written by Ed Hime, it aired on 1/12/2020. This episode scored 1.0 points lower than the second lowest rated, "Arachnids in the UK".