It often comes up what stories people find overrated, but people don't discuss as often the more positive side of what stories they think are actually underrated.

For me, The Ark is a very underrated and overlooked story (the Hartnell one, not Tom Baker's The Ark in Space) because it was at that point the first story to really deal with the consequences and effects of time travel rather than the usual "we must not interfere" line and it was very cleverly written. The way they used the statue to show that the Monoids had taken over was quite unsettling because of the foreboding nature.

The Gunfighters, another Hartnell one, is a guilty pleasure for me... terrible story, but still enjoyable in an odd sort of way.

And finally there's The Curse of Fenric... much like the most of Seasons 25 and 26, a great story that often gets unfairly lugged under the same umbrella as the rest of the late 80's stuff. We saw a truly complex and cunning depiction of the Seventh Doctor, a far cry from the blabbering clown of Season 24, and Sophie Aldred gave her best performance yet.

I'm sure I'll think of some more later but for now, two stories spring to mind from Classic Who.

The Awakening: Not a story that instantly springs mind when you think of Season 21, which is dominated by Kick Boxing scientists, panto horses, bikini's, regeneration and strangulation.

There is ,though, two stories in, a little gem. Very reminiscent of The Daemons in places and though not as good as that story, I like it because it deals with a non speaking antagonist which is very rare in the show and at the same time just as powerful.

Dennis Lill is awesome as the manic and unstable Sir George and Jane is another of the many guest companions who are better than The Doctor's regular ones.

Star of show is Will Chandler, who I so wish had gone to become a companion. His boundless enthusiasm and naivety are a joy to watch.

Chuck in the village setting and a reasonably paced two parter, I think this story deserves a lot more credit than it does.

The other story is The Crusade. IMO, often overlooked because it's a pure historical but the acting and writing are way above standard, even for Sixties Who. One of the best combination of both I think there has ever been in the show.

Quick response off the top of my head:

The Mythmakers. No-one ever really talks about this serial (it's missing but so are many other more discussed ones) but I think it's seriously good. Obviously I know it only from the audio but it happens to be one of the best missing stories to listen to in that way as it is scripted very much like a play anyway. With the exception of the Trojan Horse prop (by historical account not very good anyway, although I like the still pictures of it) it is petty much dialogue rather than action.

It's very, very funny, matching the much lauded City of Death for wit and is an actual comedy, perhaps the only one in Doctor Who history to be PURE comedy, as both the Romans and the Gunfighters (and Love & Monsters) have some purely dramatic strands to their storyline (Ian's enslavement in the Romans for example and the shoot-out n the Gunfighters). The nearest the Mythmakers comes to being serious is in Vicki's romance with Troilus.

It's written by Donald Tosh who is one of Doctor Who's most talented writers. In his day he was a pretty significant, even high brow dramatist. And that shows in his scripts, particularly this one.

There's a wonderful sensibility to the whole thing. It just assumes we know about Greek history and will get the jokes, the references, the settings. How wonderful is that in this age where classical knowledge and education is non-existent in the general population. That was part of our culture once. Now, the doctor Who creators deliberately give us cartoon vikings because it's assumed we can't cope with anything more more. Thanks a lot Moffat, you patronizing @£$%. Nice to know they consider their audience to be simple-minded and unintelligent. it will sound petty to most, I'm sure, but they hurt my regard and affection for the show just a little bit with that episode last series. To admit that they dumbed down is shameful.

But I digress... the Mythmakers is a great example of all the strengths Doctor Who (and popular culture in general) does not have in the modern age.


An unearthly Child - the Caveman episodes! I think they're wonderful. I don't understand the low regard people have for them and so am forced to maybe think it is a case of pearl before swine (I can feel it getting hot in here :P). Anthony Coburn is a fantastic writer. 100,000 BC is dramatic, at times frightening, thoughtful, exotic, surreal. The theme of the tribe's search for fire and the power struggles that play around it is fascinating. I daresay there hasn't been a better example of the theme of political factions in conflict in the show's history, and it's been pretty common ground for the show.

Are there many more generally unsettling sequences in Doctor Who than the fight to the death between the two would be tribe leaders in the cave of skulls and the travelers horrified reactions.

And the coup de grace: the travelers escape without helping or resolving anything! They simply escape with their lives and are glad to do so. To some, tied to the show's modern format and unable to accept divergence this is probably a mark against the story but I love the realism of it, the nihilism. The only other serial that does this is the Caves of Androzani (no coincidence: another all-time favourite of mine) and even in that the Doctor is at least heroic in his efforts to save Peri. In '100,000BC' heroism is hard to find, and isn't that somehow fitting for a story set in a period of human history where survival is EVERYTHING and there is not room for philosophy or morality?

Again, it's an example of something Doctor Who could not be now, storytelling in a tone the show no longer has any aptitude for. This is why I love all eras of Doctor Who: they have their own strengths and weaknesses, their own unique styles and sensibilities. For all the strengths the modern show has, there are also things it has lost in its dim, distant past, where I'm sure the Doctor would like to leave that adventure from his youth, when he wasn't a hero, so much as a witness.

I very often disagree with Tom Tit, but in this instance I think that his post above is spot on.

I hate the term overrated and underrated, but anyway here is my list, couple from each doctor (Except for Mcgann and Capaldi)
1st Doctor- The Space Museum and the Sensorites
2nd Doctor- The Wheel in Space, The Abominable Snowmen
3rd Doctor- The Mind of Evil, The Ambassadors of Death
4th Doctor- Horror of Fang Rock, The pirate Planet
5th Doctor- Arc of Infinity, Time Flight
6th Doctor- Attack of the Cyberman, Mindwarp
7th Doctor- The Happiness Patrol, Ghost Light
9th Doctor- The End of the World, Aliens of Lond/WW3
10th Doctor- Tooth and Claw, 42
11th Doctor- Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, Victory of the Daleks
12th Doctor- TBD

Aliens of London/World War Three for sure.

A story which is very different from the usual 'doctor wades in, see's a threat, and stops it' type thing. It is a story with a lot of twists and turns, and layers in which the true nature of what is actually happening and why is not revealed until quite some way in. Amongst all that we see the effect travelling with the doctor can have on family life, how that family can be affected by association (slitheen attacking Jackie and Mickey because of their rose/doctor connection), and the realism of family concern that would occur if you had a family member travelling with the doctor, which culminated in the 'will my daughter be safe' moment between Jackie and the doctor. Have to also mention of course, the first appearance of Harriet Jones, who ouses likeability and grit from the off, and doesn't let the fact that she is just the lowly 'MP for Flydale North' get in the way of being involved in events as much as possible.

I really like the concept of the slitheen even which I know some have a problem with. The idea of them compressing to hide in human skin suits was very unusual and clever, and the gas exchange which caused the wind, was mostly shown to be uncomfortable and a neccesary hardship of fitting into human form, and not just there to be played for laughs as some seem to suggest.


It often bugs me that people slate this story, and even use it as supposed evidence of childishness in the RTD era, when the supposed 'farting aliens' were a well thought out concept in which the 'farting' had reason and purpose and was fully explained and mostly not intended to be 'funny' at all.

I feel if those people didn't get hung up on that one point, and actually looked at all the facets of the story, and all that goes on, they may well see, that it is, in my view at least, a strong story and yet a very underrated one.

Have to agree about The Awakening and The Myth Makers, actually. The Awakening managed to fit quite a neat story into just two episodes and followed the trend of Davison's era in guest stars having more chemistry with him than his actual companions; The Myth Makers was like a Monty Python sketch for its joyful silliness and is definitely worth watching a recreation of, Hartnell had some of his funniest moments in this.

A number spring to mind, but top of my list is Androids of Tara. I absolutely adore it and would place it higher than even the rather marvellous, well, I think it's marvellous, City of Death. It's colourful, very funny, has a great cast and not only has it got two beautiful Mary Tamms, it's got Tom giving an engaged and engaging performance, which wasn't always the case from Season 15 on IMO. And the Taran Wood Beast is cute.

(Agree with The Awakening comments. Cracking story.)

The Seeds of Doom. Generally well thought of, but not given the attention it deserves IMO.

I think it's one of the very best Doctor Who stories of all time. Anyone who hasn't seen it ought to.

Not sure how you qualify underated but some examples from me would be
Image of the Fendahl and The Visitation.

Image of the Fendahl is in my mind a classic in the same class as The Brain of Morbius and The Seeds of Doom.

And The Visitation is my favourite Davison story.


In the category of not quite as rubbish as its reputation suggests is Time-Flight. It is rubbish but the enthusiasm of the guest cast makes it very watchable and for me is s bit of a guilty pleasure.

Also think The War Machines and The Moonbase are underated- I prefer The Moonbase to Tomb of the Cybermen.

Also would agree with the suggestion of The Awakening.

Wrote my reply without reading yours properly. Would it disagree only to the extent that I think the Seeds of Doom is regarded as one of the best stories of all time. Top 20 at least if not Top 10.

Always thought of The Visitation as quite popular so is neither under or overrated!

Time-Flight I absolutely agree about. It's a top story just let down by some dodgy effects, but the ideas behind it or sound. Unlike some stories which I never enjoy on a run through, I always look forward to watching it.

I also think maybe it wasn't the right story to end on Season 19. It should have ended on Earthshock and maybe if it had been at an earlier point in this Season or next, the budget would have been better and looked better with it.

Yeah, it's very well thought of, don't get me wrong. But it just never seems to get much attention IMO.

Mine are:
-The Ark (agree with you on what you said there Lord Smexy)
-The War Machines (aside from the war machines..)
-Invasion of the Dinosaurs (aside from the dinosaurs..)
-Robot (aside.. nah I like the robot here (as well as the story! ))
-Planet of Evil (love everything about this story -kind of hidden/ forgotten among other great stories of the era)
-The Android Invasion (although flawed still very enjoyable, particularly first 2/3's)
-The Face of Evil (could have been even better I think -great premise)
-The Power of Kroll (I'm probably in the minority here but it was more like a story from earlier seasons and I enjoyed it more than others from season 16)
-Destiny of the Daleks (aside from this take of Davros)
-State of Decay (probably the last great "spooky" story from the original series (imo))
-Terror of the Vervoids (although probably a bit of a stretch in adding here)

& last but not least a partially missing story:
The Faceless Ones (from what I know/ have seen this is a truly hidden gem that like EotW, the general opinion of it would improve if ever found in full)

For New Who, I really enjoyed The Lodger even though it wasn't too popular on here at the time. I always liked Matt's Doctor best when he did comedy (he was SO good at comedy) and this was a cracker of a story for me. It also includes my favourite Amy Pond line: "Bow tie. Get rid."

In Classic Who, I really enjoyed Kinda when it was first broadcast but I seem to remember it scored bottom in that year's Doctor Who Monthly readers' poll which really puzzled me.

It's hard to define Underrated, but picking 2 stories from near the bottom of the Doctor Magazine 2014 poll
http://doctoroo.blogspot.co.uk/2014/...-first-50.html

At 218, is Four to Doomsday, which was much better than I was expecting with some interesting ideas and a decent first performance by Peter Davison

At 233 is The Rings of Akhaten, which I rather like. Yes the plot is slightly wonky, but there are some lovely ideas in it, it gives Clara a great first adventure, it's REALLY alien (has a story ever had so many different life forms in it?), it has a great Matt speech and some lovely music. I wouldn't want musical stories every week, but every now and then they make a lovely change.

For me, some of the most underrated stories have to be Planet of Giants, The Tenth Planet, The Mind Robber, The War Games, The Ambassadors of Death, The Brain of Morbius, The Keeper of Traken, Four To Doomsday, Timelash, The Trial of a Time Lord, Silver Nemesis, Survival, The TV Movie, Blink, Deep Breath, and Into The Dalek.

IMO, they are the ones that I think are not getting the justice that they deserve. Timelash in particular, as it looks bland with its grey, bleak set. The only real colour coming from The Sixth Doctor's coat and Peri's jacket.

I'd say "Robot of Sherwood"

I love the woodland cinematography, some good dialogue, and some cracking performances. (Especially Robin and the Sheriff). Clara also has a chance to shine.

That one gets a lot of flak for its special effects, but it was actually a very good story. It was interesting to see how the events of The Green Death had effected Mike Yates, as back then the show didn't often explore the consequences of previous stories.

Yeah, agree. I don't really understand why people didn't like this story. It wouldn't have been out of place in the classic series either.

Yes, a fine story with an interesting twist -it made a good Target book too!

When I purchased it on DVD & the fact I've seen it a couple of times before, I focused watching the dinosaurs mainly. Some scenes aren't too bad. Or put another way, not all the model work was pure rubbish. The other thing I was watching was how easy it would be to put computer generated dinosaurs over the top of what was there. It could be done & it might be interesting to see the result. If there was ever the call for one final SE release kind of like the great work they did with Day of the Daleks then I'd say this is it, IMO. ..although there is a risk it looks out of place or goes a bit OTT (like the rebooted Star Wars rerelease).

Just one more story I'd like to mention and that is The Savages.

As it's missing, there never is too much talk of this story, but the audio and telesnap exists and I think watching it would make it even better if it were possible.

What I love about it is that it is one of those few Hartnell stories that really feels more akin to later Who, you feel that this story could belong in any other Doctor's Era and he would act exactly the same. The Doctor is really Doctorish here and what makes it better here is that he doesn't know immediately what is going on but you know when he does he's gonna kick off!

It's a real thumping good versus bad story where what the villains are doing is downright wrong, transferring lifeforce from lesser beings(The Savages) for themselves and what makes it worse is they use them again and again and the way the savages are captured and drained is so sadistically brutal as well.

What I also like is that The Doctor is drained of his lifeforce and given to Jano and he in turns gets The Doctor's conscience as well, which provides a neat twist to the story. Hartnell is hardly in the 3rd episode but The Doctor definitely is in more ways than one!

Then there's the haunting incidental music which just so sums up the plight of The Savages as well. Plus Steven's departure at the end, which actually is a departure I can believe in rather than just being tagged on.

As I said, it's very underrated imo as it's missing and there are far better, and existing episodes in earlier Seasons which people remember. Season 3 seems a lot less popular aside The Daleks Masterplan and this story falls right towards the end of Hartnell's run between the lowly rated Gunfighters and it's bad reputation and The War Machines, which is a well known story for various reasons. So being missing and wedged between two available stories means sometimes people are probably unaware of it.

If you haven't listened to it already, worth a listen.

The stories inside my head, they are masterpieces I tell ya.....

The Invasion of Time.

I know that many people may not like this story, but the long chase through the Tardis near the end, the political machinations towards the beginning, etc. always leaving me really liking this one.

From the modern series:

Dinosaurs on a Spaceship: I found it very impressive. At the time it even had me thinking that maybe Chibnall could be a decent successor to Moffat...!!!

It's one of the few episodes where I find the 'broad appeal' humour actually humorous rather than tacky. It's got some pretty cool concepts in it: the beach inside the spaceship for instance.

But mostly it's one of the few Doctor Who episodes I can think of that puts the Doctor in the position of a moral dilemma and doesn't cop out on it. Normally we get something like 'Kill the Moon' which puts the characters into a situation of having to make a heavy moral or philosophical choice and then contriving to allow the characters to make the easiest decision that keeps their hands lily-white, whilst miraculously working out for the best. That's not 'serious, grown-up drama', as I believe Moffat heralded that episode as being, it's bullsh£$%. Fiction that is divorced from reality, as that episode is, cannot be anything other than meaningless. Sure, we can all make the most morally pure, idealistic, sentimental decision when there is a God-like writer who will make that decision the perfect one. But the world isn't actually like that alas. Sometimes we're damned either way. Sometimes we have to be pragmatic. Which brings us back to Dinosaurs on a Spaceship.

The Doctor is put into the position of having to make a moral decision (does he let Solomon escape or not) and he makes it. With no cop-outs. No excuses. The writer doesn't portray him as having made either the right or wrong choice. Just a choice. The audience can judge it for themselves. Now THAT'S grown-up writing. It's what this sort of fiction should actually be: a mirror on the world, a thought experiment by which we can test our viewpoints, our beliefs, our assertions, giving us food for thought, not reaffirming propaganda for the author's views.

If Chibnall brings more of the goods like this then I will be very happy (sadly I've not liked any of his other episodes :P).


Deep Breath: I suppose it's inevitable that a new Doctor will get a mixed reaction but I've yet to see a good criticism of this episode or a good reason the detractor didn't like it that wasn't highly subjective. It has everything I want in Doctor Who: interesting concepts and setting, good character interaction, 'scary' scenes, exciting scenes, humorous scenes (Strax) a psychologically deep and layered Doctor ('one of us is lying about his core programming'). It has a powerful sentimental scene between the Doctor and Clara when she receives the phone call from the 11th Doctor. It ends with an intriguing set-up scene for the season. The extra time given to the episode is used for character interaction, not for extra running through corridors (uncharitably perhaps, I suspect this might be why some don't like it).

What exactly is wrong with it?