You can count on it!

Liz Sladen/Sarah Jane Smith was, without a shadow of a doubt, the best, most beautiful and sexiest assistant, in the history of Dr Who.

Key to Time was bobbinsall the way through,long and drawn out,didnt understand any of it! Nimon,I agree wasnt great.Papeir mache was so 70's!

Well, seeing as it was so cringeworthy bad that it drove me away from 'Doctor Who' for a few years, my vote has to go to 'The Horns of Nimon', whatever the guy at message 2 says!

In polls in the years immediately after it was shown it was always down as one of the worst of any 'Doctor Who' story, and I think was voted THE worst more often than not. However, that was before 'Time and the Rani' and 'Delta and the Bannermen' which, for me, are the worst two 'Doctor Who' stories ever by some way.

It was interesting to see that 'Nimon' was not in the bottom 5 DW stories in the recent poll somewhere or other and wasn't even down ad the worst TB if memory serves (Underworld may have got that 'accolade'), so views do change. I remember when 'Warriors of the Deep' first came out I thought it was the worst story since 'Nimon', but now just see it as a below average story.

Ignoring 'Nimon', my vote would probably go to 'The Invasion of Time', which was both boring and silly.

Meglos gets my vote. Just so dull!

Season 18 is very, very good in my opinion with it being far more 'grown up' than the increased descent into silliness shown (City of Death aside) in Season 17. I have watched the first three parts of the Leisure Hive and think that it is perhaps the most underrated serial in the entire original 26-year run of the series. Of course, Meglos is the worst (found it a bit slow but still OK) but every season (including the new one) has to have a 'clunker' in it.

There are certainly some highlights in the series but as it progressed, it degenerated in terms of writing and overall look. I think there were many earlier stories which were far more grown up in tone than series 18 and much of what followed.

The Leisure Hive was OK but there is a definite change in Doctor Who from that point on and it's not for the better.

Invasion of Time is just awful. A very poor send off for Leela and K9 Mark 1.

I was really shocked just how dreadful it was when I saw it on video last year. Some of the locations they used for TARDIS interior shots were just plain daft.

And I must agree with the earlier poster about his final season - apart from Meglos, which is bad rather than awful, I think it's a great season.

I recall not being that ond of Creature From The Pit or the Ribos Operation as being too dull.
Ditto Underworld.

Invasion Of Time has aged terribly and now looks like what it whas...a desperate filler

So are you saying that 'Nimon' is better than 'Leisure Hive' and that the Graham Williams stories are better than what came after?!

JNT was (at first) a breath of fresh air to the series, after Williams presided over some of the worst Doctor Who stories ever ('City of Death' is a notable exception), prior to Sylvester McCoy. His problem was that he stayed in the role too long.

I agree that JNT was good at first, but there were some clangers during the Sylvester McCoy era. I detested "Delta & the Bannermen" and "The Greatest Show in the Galaxy"; and don't forget "Paradise Towers"!

When they introduced the 'starfield' title-sequence, the series started to lose its spookiness. Peter Howell's version of the theme tune was acceptable, but not a patch on the original.
Then, they changed the theme arrangement in 1986 and 1987.

Somewhat detrimental, in my book. Sticking it on opposite "Coronation Street" didn't help either.

No, that would be a very simplistic interpretation of my point! I was talking in general terms meaning that the majority of what came before TLH was better than the majority of what came after. However, there are always exceptions.

Although I'm a hugh DW fan, I actually am one of those people who would have to look up which episodes were in a particular series if someone mentioned it by number and saying "the Graham Williams stories" doesn't actually mena a lot to me. I'd have to check up on whoat those were too.

I always found The Ribos Operation the most dull story ever. Even rubbish like The Invisible Enemy or The Nightmare on Eden are watchable perhaps because they are so bad, but Ribos was just plain boring from start to finish.

For me it has to be The Horns of Nimon. Bad from start to finish. Acting from all concerned ranged from poor to over the top and the effects were just dismal. I don't know how they had the nerve to put it out for transmission. Early Baker will always have a special place in my heart but his last season wasn't as bad as people make out. Logopolis, Traken, State of Decay and Full Circle were quite good.

The worst?

Very tricky.

THE SUNMAKERS?

UNDERWORLD?

THE ANDROIDS OF TARA?

Quite possibly "Underworld" with a few from the dire Season 18 coming close second to fourth.

Well she still looks pretty much the same! Amazing how little she has aged in 30 years!

Back to topic, my worst TB story has to be Nimon also, it looked like it was put together in about 10 mins! BUT it did have Janet Ellis in it!

I think I heard Billie Piper (or one of the cast members!) say on the 'Doctor Who - Regeneration' documentary on Radio 2 that Sarah Jane shows Rose what she'd be like 'on the other side of the spectrum'. I think she means that Sarah Jane will act like a bit of a know-it-all during the episode - Rose will feel trampled on by Sarah's knowledge, and the Doctor and Sarah's 'rekindiling flame'.

I wonder if this is a theme that will run throughout the next series...Rose will start to feel sidelined by The Doctor's crusade and whilst they both know they have this bond, it becomes increasingly apparent that she is not the most important factor in his life.

On reflection she was the best assistant. The ones after her might have showed cleavage and worn short 'dresses', but Sarah Jane was the best!

I always thought that "The Leisure Hive" was boring and crap. All I remember is that the best thing was the new opening titles and theme music! (I was about 19 at the time). "Meglos" was also a pile of pap (IMO) - and those awful CSO/Chromakey images were BAD!
But when I saw "Full Circle" - that changed my mind - it was much better from then on, and carried on watching [I would have anyway!].
So worst for me (as in Tom):-
1: The Leisure Hive
2: Meglos
3: Robot (sorry...but yes, it was a bit naff)
4: Horns Of Nimon (although, I did love the panto-style of it) (it was Christmas after all!)
5: The Sunmakers (got bored!)

Let's face it though, Tom did a hell of a lot of Classic stories which we all remember and love over his seven years.

I loved the Tom Baker era, but in seven series you had to have a few bad episodes. For me it'd be between Revenge of the Cybermen and Destiny of the Daleks as to which was the worst.

I was about to rip into someone for suggesting that tom was the worst doctor then

I always thought Logopolis was a bit boring!

Can anyone help me lovcate a Tom Baker story. It is set aboard a spaceship and has a hideous green slime creature (slug like) as the monster. When I was a kid it scared the hell out of me! What was the story called? Please help!"

Sounds like The Ark In Space. One of the best stories of them all.

Oh thanks Dave. Kind of you. I'll check it out!