Rate new Doctor Who writers - best to worst!
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Here are my ratings of all writers who wrote 2 or more episodes in NuWho from best to worst:
Neil Cross - 10/10
Steven Moffat - 9/10
Paul Cornell - 8/10
Steven Thompson - 8/10
Gareth Roberts - 8/10
Toby Whithouse - 8/10
Neil Gailman - 7/10
Chris Chibnall - 7/10
Mark Gatiss - 7/10
Russel T. Davies - 6/10
Stephen Greenhorn - 5/10
Helen Raynor - 4/10
Matthew Graham - 4/10
Tom MacRae - 2/10
Neil Cross - 10/10
Steven Moffat - 9/10
Paul Cornell - 8/10
Steven Thompson - 8/10
Gareth Roberts - 8/10
Toby Whithouse - 8/10
Neil Gailman - 7/10
Chris Chibnall - 7/10
Mark Gatiss - 7/10
Russel T. Davies - 6/10
Stephen Greenhorn - 5/10
Helen Raynor - 4/10
Matthew Graham - 4/10
Tom MacRae - 2/10
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Comments
edit: No need for alphabetical order. soz.
Of course.
(The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, The Girl in the Fireplace, Blink, Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead, The Eleventh Hour, The Beast Below, The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone, The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang, A Christmas Carol, The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon, A Good Man Goes to War, Let's Kill Hitler, The Wedding of River Song, The Doctor The Widow and the Wardrobe, Asylum of the Daleks, The Angels Take Manhattan. The Snowmen, The Bells of Saint John, The Name of the Doctor)
Neil Cross - 8/10
(The Rings of Akhaten, Hide)
Paul Cornell - 8/10
(Father's Day, Human Nature/The Family of Blood)
Steven Thompson - 7/10
(The Curse of the Black Spot, Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS)
Gareth Roberts - 8/10
(The Shakespeare Code, The Unicorn and the Wasp, Planet of the Dead*, The Lodger, Closing Time)
Toby Whithouse - 9/10
(School Reunion, The Vampires of Venice, The God Complex, A Town Called Mercy)
Neil Gailman - 7/10
(The Doctor's Wife, Nightmare in Silver)
Chris Chibnall - 4/10
(42, The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood, Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, The Power of Three)
Mark Gatiss - 7/10
(The Unquiet Dead, The Idiot's Lantern, Victory of the Daleks, Night Terrors, Cold War, The Crimson Horror)
Russell T. Davies - 9/10
(Rose, The End of the World, Aliens of London, World War Three, The Long Game, Boom Town, Bad Wolf, The Parting of the Ways, The Christmas Invasion, New Earth, Tooth and Claw, Love & Monsters, Army of Ghosts, Doomsday, The Runaway Bride, Smith and Jones, Gridlock, Utopia, The Sound of Drums, Last of the Time Lords, Voyage of the Damned, Partners in Crime, Midnight, Turn Left, The Stolen Earth, Journey's End, The Next Doctor, Planet of the Dead*, The Waters of Mars*, The End of Time: Parts 1 & 2)
Stephen Greenhorn - 3/10
(The Lazarus Experiment, The Doctor's Daughter)
Helen Raynor - 7/10
(Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks, The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky)
Matthew Graham - 3/10
(Fear Her, The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People)
Tom MacRae - 7/10
(Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel, The Girl Who Waited)
______________________________________________
*co-written effort.
I feel bad scoring some writers low, as I know just how much it can hurt to get such negatively personally cast upon you (particularly Helen Raynor who I really liked as a writer, but she was given shoddy checklists to work from in her debut story). The good thing is, I have seen good things come from each and every one of these writers
2. Paul Cornell
3. Steven Moffat
4. Toby Whithouse
5. Neil Gaiman
6. Gareth Roberts
7. Matt Jones (can't forget him)
8. Tom McCrae
9. Mark Gatiss
10. Neil Cross
11. Chris Chibnall
12. Steven Thompson
13. Stephen Greenhorn
14. Helen Raynor
15. Matthew Graham
Rose 8/10
the End of the World 8/10
Aliens in London/World War Three 8/10
The Long Game 7/10
Mark Gatiss
The Unquiet Dead 7/10
Rose 8/10
the End of the World 8/10
Aliens in London/World War Three 8/10
The Long Game 7/10
Boom Town 5/10
Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways 7/10
The Christmas Invasion 8/10
New Earth 7/10
Tooth and Claw 8/10
The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit 9/10
Love and Monsters 7/10[
Army of Ghosts/Doomsday 9/10
The Runaway Bride 7/10
Smith and Jones 6/10
Gridlock 6/10
Utopia/Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords 7/10
Voyage of the Damned 8/10
Partners in Crime 8/10[
The Fires of Pompeii 7/10
Midnight 9/10
Turn Left 9/10
Stolen Earth/Journey's End 9/10
The Next Doctor 7/10
Planet of the Dead 7/10
Waters of Mars 9/10
The End of Time 8/10
Mark Gatiss
The Unquiet Dead 7/10
The Idoit's Lantern 6/10
Victory of the Daleks 6/10
Night Terrors 8/10
Cold War 8/10
The Chrimson Horror 6/10
Robot of Sherwood 7/10
Paul Cornell
Father's Day
Human Nature/The Family of Blood 8/10
Steven Moaffat
The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances 9/10
The Girl in the Fireplace 8/10
Blink 9/10
Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead 9/10
The Eleventh Hour 7/10
The Beast Below 7/10
Time and the Angels/Flesh and Stone 7/10
Pandorica Opens/Big Bang 8/10
A Christmas Carol 5/10
The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon 7/10
A Good Man Goes to War 8/10
Let's Kill Hitler 5/10
The Wedding of River Song 6/10
The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe 6/10
Asylum of the Daleks 8/10
The Snowmen 7/10
The Bells of St. John 6/10
The Name of the Doctor 7/10
The Day of the Doctor 10/10
Time of the Doctor 7/10
Deep Breath 8/10
Into the Dalek 7/10
Listen 9/10
Time Heist 6/10
The Caretaker 7/10
Dark Water/Death In Heaven 9/10
Toby Whitehouse
School Reunion 8/10
Vampires from Vampires 5/10
The God Complex 8/10
A Town Called Mearcy 6/10
Tom Macrae
Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steal 8/10
The Girl who Waited 6/10
Mathew Graham
Fear Her 6/10
Rebel Flesh/The Almost People 7/10
Gareth Roberts
The Shakespeare's Code 6/10
The Unicorn and the wasp 8/10
Planet of the Dead 7/10
The Lodger 8/10
Closing Time 8/10
The Caretaker 7/10
Helen Raynor
Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks 7/10
The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky 7/10
Stephan Greenhorn
The Lazarus Experiment 6/10
The Doctor's Daughter 7/10
Chris Chibnall
42 7/10
Hungary Earth/Cold Blood 8/10
Dinosaurs on a Spaceship 8/10
The Power of Three 8/10
Phil Ford
Waters of Mars 9/10
Into the Dalek 7/10
Stephan Thompson
The Curse of the Black Spot 6/10
Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS 7/10
Time Heist 6/10
Neil Gaiman
The Doctor's Wife 8/10
Nightmare in Silver 7/10
Neil Cross
The Rings of Akhaten 5/10
Hide 8/10
James Mathieson
Mummy on the Orient Express 8/10
Flatline 7/10
Toby Whithouse (His first two contributions weren't great, but his last four episodes were fantastic)
Tom McRae (I love both these stories)
Paul Cornell (Whilst I don't fully understand the hype about his first episode, his second and third were very good)
Neil Cross (I think these episodes were really quite good actually)
James Mathieson (Quite good)
Neil Gailman (I will never understand what makes either of his episodes truly amazing, but they weren't bad)
[this is where it goes downhill]
Steven Thompson (Yeah alright, better than below)
Russell T. Davies (I'm not really a fan if I'm completely honest, although I admire him for bringing the show back - it was just too campy and there honestly we didn't have many great ideas)
Helen Raynor (It was alright, fairly good dialogue, lack of true storylines)
Gareth Roberts (I don't like any of his episodes - the best is the Lodger, which isn't even that good)
Matthew Graham (Really, really bad)
Chris Chibnall (Power of Three is the best, but its still terrible)
Mark Gatiss (Nope nope nope nope nope so so bad, mediocre to terrible)
When it comes down to sheer writing talent, he'd be a little bit lower, but based on contributions to Who, he's been phenomenal. A much greater understanding of Doctor Who than his predeccessor, and a very creative mind that's given us things such as the Silence, Heaven Sent and the Weeping Angels. He also has Peter Capaldi as the Doctor, which is a definite plus.
Not to say he's perfect, though, he's definitely made his mistakes... the most criminal of them all being the disturbing ending to Flesh and Stone.
2) Paul Cornell
Paul Cornell has been a fantastic writer in the wider scope of the Who franchise, and his Human Nature adaption for Series 3 is no exception. That story doesn't get enough appreciation.
3) Neil Gaiman
I adore Neil Gaiman as a writer in general, but The Doctor's Wife is one of my favourite New Who stories ever.
4) Phil Ford
He's only had co-writing duties on the main show, but both of those stories were brilliant, and he conveniently wrote the majority of Sarah Jane Adventures episodes that I loved.
5) James Mathieson
The Girl Who Waited was a disappointment, but his two contributions for S8 were excellent.
6) Toby Whithouse
I don't think he's ever had a dull story, he's a very capable writer for television and I don't think it would have been a bad thing to see him take over as the next showrunner.
7) Gareth Roberts
I don't usually enjoy his episodes, I think his scripts often think themselves much funnier than they actually are and he doesn't do serious very well.
8) Mark Gatiss
Mark Gatiss is a good writer, and in terms of novels and audio stories he's made some great Doctor Who stories, but for some reason he can't translate that magic onto television. The Unquiet Dead was brilliant but the rest mostly ranges from forgettable to dreadful.
9) Tom McRae
Rise of the Cybermen was questionable plot-wise, but the Cybermen were quite scary. The Girl Who Waited was outstanding and one of those occassions where Who actually succeeds in emotional storytelling.
10) Neil Cross
His two stories for S7 were quite good, but I don't know if the forgettable nature of that series lower my opinion of him as a writer.
11) Steven Thompson
Not bad, but not great either.
12) Russell T Davies
Eh, never understood the hype over him, he's overall a very poor writer in my opinion. His storytelling is very blunt and leaves little to the imagination, the development between his characters feels very contrived and artificial, and when it comes to sci-fi he's not a particularly creative man. On the one hand, he managed to give a very broad appeal to the show, on the other, he pandered to the mainstream a little too much for me, giving the Doctor sex appeal and cheapening the companion dynamic by turning it into romance. His grasp of the Doctor's character was very off; instead of the mysterious, alien scientist he was a "hip space Jesus" who couldn't keep his hands off of women.
Aside from farting aliens and diaorrhea exposition, his best work was the first series, but he also created two brilliant episodes in Midnight and The Waters of Mars.
13) Chris Chibnall
Some of his stories are mediocre, but some are dreadful. He also co-wrote the dreadful Torchwood and wrote Day One and Cyberwoman, some of the worst things to ever happen to Doctor Who. Not too optimistic about him being the next showrunner, but I'll reserve judgement until I actually see some.
14) Helen Raynor
Not much to say really, just not a very interesting writer and Daleks in Manhatten was horrendous.
15) Matthew Graham
Thanks for Fear Her...
1. Steven Moffat- He just scrapes in hear due to his amazing work in the first 5 seasons, but after that his inconsistencies in episodes and character development/building are issues. But easily the best writer.
2. Russel T Davies- This may come as a shock to some people, his episodes overall aren't as consistent as Moffat, but he has written some great episodes like Midnight, Waters of mars, S3 and S1 FInale. But where he jumps up my ranking is how he improved other people's scripts like in The Beast episode and i feel was a better character writer. But his biggest issue was the Rose and 10 thing which lingered on for more than just S2.
The rest of the list i genuinely don't know, but the worse has to be Matthew Graham and Helen Raynor.