Supremely Good
Father's Day
The Unquiet Dead
The Empty Child

Great
Dalek
The Doctor Dances

So so
Rose
Aliens of London
The End of the World

Utterly Awful
World War Three
The Long Game
Boomtown

I think I'll wait until the end of the series as well, although I'll give a controversial "spoiler"..... I didn't like "The Unquiet Dead"

Not criticising anyone's views, but I continue to be a little puzzled and surprised about just how strongly people feel negative over some episodes.

My feeling is that if we hadn't had the stunningly good ones, we'd probably have been quite satisfied with these - and people would still have been celebrating the revival of Who.

WW3 and TLG seem much better than cartloads of "classic" Who. It's just that the bar has been lifted so high with episodes like TDD and TEC.

Well, I've explained my view on each of these episodes individually in the weekly threads so I don't think I need to go over them again.

What I will say is that there seems to be two types of people here - those who have watched every episode of Doctor Who ever and are comparing this series to the old ones, and those like me who are too young to remember much (or have never even seen an episode) and only have contemporary sci fi to compare the series to. These second people don't feel any gratitude for the return of DW - it's just another sci fi show to us, and as such needs to stand above the competition to survive.

For my money, the episodes I've rated v.poor are the ones that have done one or more of the following:
- Unnecessarily kitch, childish humour; treating the audience like idiots (e.g. World War III)
- Storylines that are unoriginal and been done 3000 times over in any Star Trek or <insert random US sci fi show here> (e.g. The Long Game)
- Poor acting, forced humour, actors appearing to not be taking the show seriously (e.g. Boomtown)
- Implausible monsters (e.g The Long Game)

Yes. That makes a lot of sense.

Spot on.

As a fan of the old or 'classic' series as it seems inevitable it will become known, I can say with my hand on my heart that RTD has done a wonderful job of getting the series back on tv, and in many cases 'diehard' fans have "never had it so good."

However, looking at things with an objective eye, even though it is DW, certain episodes have worked better for me than others - as you say, I don't appreciate 'signposted' humour for a start. Taking this into account, I can honestly say that even the less enjoyable episodes (from my point of view, of course) have always had something good about them.

I think ultimately it will ride on the finale - if RTD pulls of a masterstroke in the next 8 days, the previous episodes should slot together like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle and have us all sighing, "Ah" contentedly.

If not - well, I'm not even going to contemplate that.

Well...

I'm an old and a new fan (if that makes any sense). I enjoyed Who immenseley way back when - Davison is "my" Doctor. I missed a lot of the Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy stuff, and I regret it, especially the McCoy era having only really read it. I love the new DW I like how flippant the Doc is about ordinary stuff, I even like a lot of the "soapy" stuff - how ordinary people react to extraordinary events - very interesting.

I think that RTD will do us proud - I of course stand to be corrected - I'm looking forward to tomorrows episode. I think it'll be great. Hopefully I'll be right

Fathers Day
The Unquiet Dead
The Empty Child
The End of the World
Dalek
Rose
Boom Town
The Doctor Dances
The Long Game
World War Three
Aliens of London

Keeping the ball rolling…

Rose (5 out of 5)

Everything an introductory episode should be. Fast-paced, exciting, fun. Left you wanting more. Confirmed (for me), that Chris Eccleston and Billie Piper were going to be just perfect. Loved the long (one take) walk and talk back to the Tardis from Rose's home. Wasn’t particularly impressed with Clive's Paint and Crayola proof pics or the burping wheelie bin.

The End Of The World. (2/5)

Disappointing and poorly crafted "Cantina" effort. Lapses of logic, lame humour and plot holes abound. Good characters wasted. Too many naff ideas to mention, but the I-pod, the time-Nokia, and a plumber being pulled into a ventilation shaft, legs kicking, by a few tiny spiders spring to mind. Most enjoyable scene comes at the end with a chat back on Earth and Rose smells chips.

The Unquiet Dead. (5/5)

Now this is more like it! Mark Gatiss obviously takes the whole thing seriously and gives us a cracking gothic episode that's clever, witty, and above all, scary.

Aliens Of London (Part 1).(2/5)

Ultimately disappointing. After a promising start and the wonderfully twisted genetically modified pig piloting a spaceship idea, it all goes downhill fast with throwback rubber-suited aliens with all the menace of the teletubbies, and fart gags.

World War III (Part 2) (2/5)

Second of two-part story featuring the Slitheen: possibly the only Who alien baddie that's scarier in Human form than monster. What were they thinking? Take note, dear Beeb - decide on what age group the show's aimed at and stick to it. Do not under any circumstances dare to fluctuate again by switching between pre-school and left-school. Any more ill-concieved pap like this and somebody up above may think Michael Grade wasn't talking out of his arse after all.

Dalek. (5/5)

A return to form with this stunning episode. The Doctor/Dalek scene is truly electrifying, with Chris Eccleston's performance here crackling so much the hairs on the back of your neck stand to attention. Great stuff.

The Long Game (3/5)

Fairly nondescript fun episode, with a kind of "knocked up in the back of a shed" feel. Notable for the appearance of Simon Pegg as The Editor - a character you can't help feeling could've been so much more; and a finger-clicking gag you can see coming a mile away.

Father's Day. (3/5)

A good idea, rather clumsily executed. Didn't really grab me, but by this point, I'd had enough of episodes featuring Mickey and Rose's Mother, and as Rose's Mother has been kinda portrayed as an irritating squeak, I just couldn't get involved in all this mushy over-emotional claptrap. Has its moments, and the Reapers were great (if under-developed), but not really my cup of tea, and probably the only episode I felt was too long.

The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances..(5/5)

Back on track. Well crafted and spookiest yet. This is what Doctor Who is all about. None of this namby-pamby hoighty-toighty, wibbly-wobbly plot on the back of a fag packet and jokes Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson did years ago. Oh, no. Smart writing, scares the kids (and grown-ups), and the humour has never fitted so perfectly as it does here. Best two-parter of the series.

Boom Town (1/5)

Why they chose to return to the Slitheen here, I'll never know! Budgetry reasons? Stuck for a story? Madness? Well, I didn't think they'd beat "Aliens Of London" for pure unadulterated drivel, but they did! Instantly forgettable, and will possibly go down in history as worst episode ever!

Bad Wolf (2/5)

Another over-indulgence. Homages to some of the worst TV shows in history masquerading as satire. This is weak. Not clever. Not funny. Just embarrassingly weak. Would go down as second worst episode ever, if it wasn't for the last ten minutes.

Parting Of The Ways. (5/5)

Not so much a battle as handbags at five paces, but that doesn't really matter when what's on offer here is some of the most exciting and emotionally heart-wrenching writing of the series. So neatly packaged, and so superbly executed, that you can't help wondering if this really was written by the same guy who made (allegedly) a complete balls-up of so many previous episodes? Plot-holes and inconsistencies aside, and let's completely block out the tow-truck scenes, and even without following the Doctor and Rose's journey, this episode alone must surely impress the BAFTA boffins.

All-in-all, a fine series. Distinctly uneven in places mind, with some parts best being forgotten, but when it’s good, it really is “fantastic”. Marvellous to see it back and ending so magnificently. Billie Piper was stunning, and Chris Eccleston is gonna be the hardest act to follow since Tom Baker. Truly sad to see him leave, and hope he eventually finds peace with his newfound "hero" status. The casts and crew have obviously put their heart and soul into this series and it shows. The "Bad Wolf" UK paranoia stuff and web tie-ins were works of genius (even though turning out to be a bit of a damp squib) - thanks to everyone here for keeping this so interesting - now, can they can pull this off twice!? Roll on Season #2!

This quick review and ratings are for fun only. Any adverse reactions from persons living or surfing is purely coincidental.

I agree with your logic entirely, where I differ is in the application - if a series throws up too many very poor episodes then I just stop watching it. "Enterprise" is a case in point - it would have made a good movie as an idea but they got neither the cast, the stories nor the tone right for a series and I gave it my best shot out of my Star Trek loyalty but it just wasn't worth it so I binned it and shed no tears when some time later someone told me it was cancelled. In the world of today there's no reason to continue watching something I don't like or don't consider worthwhile...life's too short