With just 3 episodes to go, how are we rating the episodes so far?
My ranking:

9) Caretaker - Bloody awful! Grange Hill + most boring 'threat' to date.
8) Into the Dalek - "How do we get ppl to accept the new doctor? Have him fight daleks!" *Yawn*
7) Time Heist - Okay but forgettable.
6) Robot of Sherwood - Silly but enjoyable! This is how DW comedy should be done.
5) Flatline - Great aliens of the week!
4) Deep Breath - Strong introduction! Better than 'Rose' or 'Christmas Invasion', almost as good as 'Eleventh Hour'.
3) Kill the Moon - Most divisive episode in DW history! Absurd science but BRILLIANT drama!
2) Listen - Clever use of language, music and camera shots elevate this episode above its somewhat unsubstantial storyline. An example of brilliant acting and production values outweighing the need for strong plot. Gripping, atmospheric and thoughtful.
1) Mummy on the Orient Express - Definitely my favourite Capaldi episode so far and one of the best DW episodes of all time!

Best
1. Flatline
2 .Mummy on the Orient Express
3. Time Heist
4. Deep Breath
5. Kill the Moon
6. Into the Dalek
7. The Caretaker
8. Listen
9. Robot of Sherwood
Worst

I love lists

Worst - Best
9 - Deep Breath
8 - The Caretaker
7 - Flatline
6 - Into the Dalek
5 - Robot of Sherwood
4 - Kill the Moon
3 - Listen
2 - Time Heist
1 - Mummy on the Orient Express

Mummy on the Orient Express has totally unexpectedly exceeded all my expectations. It was more fun than I'd have believed it could have been, more successful than most standalone episodes are, and despite my disinterest beforehand I came away more than satisfied.
Generally Series 8 has been of a very high standard for me, just lacking in any extremely good stories. To put into context, Deep Breath was the only episode I really didn't enjoy and even then it has its redeeming qualities. At the other end, Mummy on the Orient Express was fantastic, but would still struggle a bit to make my Top Ten.

Tricky, because I've been really enjoying this season. But probably this:

1. Flatline
2. Mummy on the Orient Express
3. The Caretaker
4. Deep Breath
5. Time Heist
6. Into the Dalek
7. Kill the Moon
8. Listen
9. Robot of Sherwood

That's in no way me saying that Robot or Listen were poor. They weren't at all. In fact, this is the first time since season 4 that I've voted excellent for every story in the weekly DS poll. And I'm actually re-watching the episodes, which is again something I've not done since season 4.

From best to worst

mummy on the orient express
into the dalek
time heist
robots of sherwood
deep breath
flatline
listen
kill the moon
the caretaker

Hard to pick an order as some hard to choose between. Caretaker was easily the worst though. The one I would definitely skip everytime on a dvd rewatch.

Careful! The Gatherer will be on you!

**runs for cover**

Favourite

1/ Mummy On The Orient Express
2/ Listen
3/ Deep Breath
4/ Into The Dalek
5/ Flatline
6/ Robot Of Sherwood
7/ The Caretaker
8/ Kill The Moon
9/ Time Heist

Least favourite

Worst - Best

1. Deep Breath - it was a fine opening. Too many ideas in one episode I found though which meant none of them got the focus they needed to feel real. The dialogue was sparkling though.
2. Robot of Sherwood - funny episode and an enjoyable concept. I liked it, but obviously not a crazy bombastic mush of Doctor Who loveliness.
3. Time Heist - kind of annoying supporting cast but over all a good idea. I liked the Teller but don't think it was used brilliantly. Same could be said for Keeley Hawes.
4. Kill the Moon - not as fabulous as I thought it was on my first watch, but still stands up as a decent episode for me.
5. Into the Dalek - it was alright. I liked the idea and I enjoyed how ruthless 12 was. It felt like a proper Doctor Who episode. This one made me excited for Capaldi's era.
6. The Caretaker - as one of the fans that enjoy the human relationships side of Doctor Who, I thought this episode was great. Slightly naff baddy but as I've said before, that really wasn't the point of the episode. Mind you I really quite like Danny so it was nice to see him more.
7. Flatline - the concept of this was one of my favourites to date actually. Capaldi in the TARDIS chatting away to Clara via that thing in her ear was also something I loved, he was positively sublime. It's like they just said 'be as doctory as possible' and then it was rounded off with that wonderful speech when the TARDIS was restored. I love him!!
8. Mummy on the Orient Express - everything about this I loved. Genuinely scary monster that was so well executed. Beautiful looking episode too.
9. Listen - can't believe this one isn't universally liked on here. One of the finest episodes of Doctor Who ever for me. I love that the whole thing was about the Doctors irrational fear. If you ever needed confirmation of Jenna Coleman's acting ability, her face when she grabbed the ankle from under the bed actually gave me chills. Her face just flooded with 'shock horror'. Amazing episode. Amazingly written. Perfection for me.

I think I wrote too much.

Okay, from best to worst:

1. Listen - Steven Moffat at his finest, a stunning piece of television
2. Deep Breath - An absolute riot, a brilliant introduction to Capaldi
3. The Caretaker - So so funny and a phenomenal character piece
4. Mummy on the Orient Express - A cracking episode with more great character work.
5. Flatline - Some superb monsters, hilarious at points and some stunning character work.
6. Time Heist - A good old fashioned romp with a very emotional core
7. Kill the Moon - A classic case of a great idea, poorly executed and rescued by the final scene
8. Robot of Sherwood - Very funny, some great Clara moments, but nothing to shout about
9. Into the Dalek - Very interesting, asks some great questions, but quite dull at points.

Best
1. Deep breath
2. Listen
3. Mummy on the Orient Express
4. Kill the Moon
5. Time heist
6. Flatline
7. Into the Dalek
8. The Caretaker
9. Robot of Sherwood
Worst

Best - worst

1. Flatline
2. Listen
3. Into the Dalek
4. Mummy on the Orient Express
5. Deep Breath
6. The Caretaker
7. Robots of Sherwood
8. Time Heist
9. Kill the Moon

Is there any other way to exceed expectations?

I would go with:
1 - Listen
2 - Mummy on the Orient Express
3 - The Caretaker
4 - Kill the Moon
5 - Flatline
6 - Into the Dalek
7 - Deep Breath
8 - Time Heist
9 - Robot of Sherwood

And when an episode like Flatline is in the middle of the pack, you know you've got a good series...

mummy on the orient express
robots of sherwood
deep breath
flatline
into the dalek
time heist

big gap


listen


universe sized gap

kill the moon
the caretaker

A couple of good solid stories, some average, some very poor. Not one 'stand out' for me yet.

Im not going to put them in order I will vote each out of 5 instead with 1 least to 5 most!


Deep Breath 5
Into the Dalek 5
Robot of Sherwood 3
Listen 5
Time Heist 5
The Caretaker 4
Kill the Moon 4
Mummy on the Orient Express 5
Flatline 5


take my order from that if you will!
I did think they were all great just most better than the odd few that wernt as good, but those few I still very much enjoyed.

From Best to Worse

1. Listen
2. Mummy on the Orient Express
3. Flatline
4. Deep Breath
5. Kill the Moon
6. Into the Dalek
7. The Caretaker
8. Time Heist
9. Robots of Sherwood

Best to Worst:

1. Listen
2. Mummy on the Orient Express
3. The Caretaker
4. Kill the Moon
5. Flatline
6. Time Heist
7. Into the Dalek
8. Deep Breath
9. Robot of Sherwood

This was more difficult than I expected and proves to me what a great standard this season has, since I still enjoyed RoS and thought DB had great elements.

uurgh rankings.

I don't know.

Deep Breath was exceptional. For me a classic.

I enjoyed The Caretaker and Mummy on the Orient Express with very few reservations.

I found Listen interesting and curious although not quite a classic. More Turn Left than Blink or Midnight.

The others I found to be a little mediocre for one reason or another.

I really don't care to put them in a specific order beyond that. My least favourite was probably Time Heist. Just because I found it dull, rather than feeling it was the most badly written or anything like that.

It's become increasingly clear to me that I am quite far away from being a 'typical' member of the audience however. I don't really know how relevant my critiques of the episodes are. Something I found to be a disappointing handling of the subject matter, like Flatline, I find was received very well by the mainstream media and audience, so I have to concede that maybe the fault is with my expectations of a 45 minute mainstream fantasy show.

I have a feeling that if I sat down with Moffat and / or the writers of most of the episodes and critiqued them (like I'd have the nerve :P) they would probably agree with a lot of what I said but would respond with: 'Doctor Who format. 45 minutes' and I wouldn't be able to argue against that really.

The show has talented writers who are probably doing as good a job as anyone could.

Excellent/Good
Time Heist
Mummy on the Orient Express
Listen
Flatline
Meh
Into the Dalek
Deep Breath
The Caretaker
Crap
Kill the Moon
Robin of Sherwood

A simple solution would be that all episodes are made about 90min long but that would mean a halving of the number of episodes to 7.
That might work it might not?

I've posted in another thread that I think 60 minutes would be great. Most of them don't need be twice the length, just have a little more room to breathe: slightly longer scenes, A bit more backstory, a bit more characterization for the guest cast etc

And it wouldn't require much extra expense because you'd still largely be using the same sets, actors etc. The big problem would be selling the show internationally as it wouldn't fit neatly into hour long time slots. An insoluble problem? I don't know.

The only choice is for them to make a cut of 45min, but film enough extra for an hour.
Then sell the 45min cut internationally and show the hour version on BBC 1, the 45 min cut would work as it does now and the hour cut would just give it that extra room.
On top of that make some 90min episodes like the first episode, the last episode and the Christmas special, with maybe 1 more, these could sell internationally as 80min if necessary.

Sounds good to me but I suspect the International audience would understandably militate against getting an inferior, 'abridged' version of the sow.

They would have to petition their local broadcaster to buy in the longer one, if there was the audience asking for it it might be worth it? They would also see the extended length hour version on DVD/BluRay anyway and most likely BBC Worldwide would use the longer version where it would be possible for them to do so.

I'd love them to seriously consider it. I think the show has enough of a fanbase and is enough of a 'cult' that most broadcasters would buy into the longer version. I always hear how it's the most successful show on SPACE in Canada for example. I'm pretty sure they would adjust their schedules a little. Similarly in Australia and so on. In the US isn't ir broadcast on BBC America anyway? So they can do whatever they want with their own schedule.