But of course, they at io9 expected disagreements, and in fact welcomed them and challenged us to come up with our own. So of course that's when I started. But I gotta give them credit: it's really hard to come up with a good ranking.
Even though I've seen every episode, giving a unique score to each episode was very difficult. And it is often difficult to compare old and new seasons of Doctor Who. I first came up with a ranking system. I'm not a film connoisseur-- that is, I'm not ranking these based on likelihood of me giving out awards. Instead, I ranked them on the likelihood that I'll watch them again.
From there, I gave each episode a score 1-10, on how much I would want to see that episode, and then went through them again adding decimal places until I had given each a unique number. Because I may have made mistakes my first sort, I decided to sort again.
The second time, I used 24-25 episode chunks from the first list, and sorted them individually, the idea being that I probably got the general vicinity correct, but if I scored something 8 when it should have been 9, then that would be a problem.
For good measure, I sorted one more time. This time, I used the "quick sort" method they teach in programming. I took one episode, ranked it 5, then took all the others and set them either better or worse than that one. Then I did the same on each half iteratively 'till I was done.
In hindsight, I should have just wrote a program that displays two episodes, and I select which one is better, then the program figures out which I like best. Oh, well.
Anyway, with these three sorts, I then ranked them 1-244, then averaged the score between the three, and then relabeled them 1-244 again, with ties being settled by sort #3. Then I divided the list into 10 25-story blocks, and gave each a nice heading. Looking at the list, there's still things I disagree with, but I figure perfection is impossible and so this is good enough.
10 - Excellent Stories that I really like
1 City of Death - Co-written by Douglas Adams, literary genius.2 Genesis of the Daleks - Daleks at their most terrifying. We meet their creator who made them emotionless killing machines of destruction, not cheesy frighted easily-defeatable trash cans.
3 A Christmas Carol - Everyone knows this Dickens' story, and we've likely seen many adaptations with twists. Even still, this one keeps it fresh, and is definitely the best Christmas special.
4 The Pirate Planet - The episode most clearly written by Douglas Adams, that man knows how to write!
5 Blink - Top of the list for many fans of Doctor Who, its creepiness is what makes it deserve to be up here despite the Doctor not being in it much.
6 The Doctor's Wife - The mind of the TARDIS is embodied and finally able to speak, while a malevolent entity takes over the TARDIS.
7 Nightmare in Silver - I've never really cared for the Cybermen, but Neil Gaiman really took these guys to a new level that I really like. Definitely the best Cybermen story out there.
8 The Girl in the Fireplace - Robots in the future are stalking a woman from the past. Here we really learn what it means to take the slow path.
9 The Day of the Doctor - The Doctor must meet his future selves and make a terrible choice. Should probably be lower, I probably ranked it high since I had just seen it. All the same, this is the 50th Anniversary Special and kind of a big deal.
10 The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit - Orbiting a black hole, Satan is let free.
11 Vincent and the Doctor - A broken man who sees things others cannot helps the Doctor, who in turn learns of his worth to others.
12 Amy's Choice - Given two realities, Amy must choose which is a dream, and which is reality. But really, she's choosing life with the Doctor or life with Rory.
13 The Brain of Morbius - An old evil Time Lord turns out to not be quite as atomized as widely believed.
14 The Fires of Pompeii - Sometimes, you can't save everyone. But the choice is still hard.
15 The Chase - The Daleks decide to go back in time and kill the first Doctor.
16 The Face of Evil - Xoanon has ultimate control over two cultures, which themselves represent the two natures of Xoanon's mind...
17 The Deadly Assassin - The Doctor returns to Gallifrey just as the Time Lords face their most dangerous crisis in their long history...
18 The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances - I like this story for its creepy kid, and for its happy ending.
19 The Lodger - The Doctor attempts to be normal. While trying to solve a mystery.
20 The Armageddon Factor - Kind of a dark story, the servant of the Black Guardian is also after the final segment to the Key to Time. I enjoy the over-the-top villians and the true Time Lord character of the Doctor.
21 The Aztecs - I like that every episode didn't always have to have aliens in it. Sometimes, the time period you end up is just dangerous. The Doctor makes a friend, and his companions show great courage in helping to escape the Aztec Empire.
22 The Movie - I didn't really care too much for this Master, but the Doctor really takes it away. It's too bad we didn't get to see more of him. I'll have to dive into the audio adventures.
23 The Keys of Marinus - Like with The Chase, I like the variety of scenes and variety of peril that the Doctor and companions end up in.
24 The End of Time - The Time Lords attempt to escape the Time War, and they aren't too happy.
25 The War Games - Besides meeting the Time Lords for the first time, I also like the opposite settings of the past wars of earth vs. the futuristic setting with the War Lord and War Chief.
9 - Really Good Stories that I would recommend
26 The Name of the Doctor - Kind of a simple story, maybe could be lower, but we learn why Clara is the Impossible Girl, and more importantly, she learns about the Doctor...27 Human Nature/The Family of Blood - The Doctor learns what it means to be human.
28 Journey to the Centre of the Tardis - I like a good lost-in-TARDIS-corridors story, but this time, the TARDIS is fighting back.
29 The Doctor's Daughter - The Doctor meets his daughter and teaches her not to fight.
30 The Curse of Fenric - An ancient evil is set loose on the world.
31 The Mind of Evil - I feel this story is up there in the fear category with Blink. A parasite that feeds on the evil of the mind turns on its masters.
32 The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone - I like the feeling of peril that comes along with this story. For me, it's like Blink but with the Doctor. Not nearly as good, though, since we miss the Time Travel aspect of the angels in this one.
33 The Mind Robber - The TARDIS sends everyone outside of reality to the land of fiction.
34 Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead - Even though the monster was lame, I like this for its heart-- River is sad that the Doctor isn't yet the man she knows. Meanwhile, Donna falls in love in a generated reality.
35 Midnight - The Doctor often brings an aura of respect and can charm his way out of trouble. This is not one of those times.
36 The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang - Here we learn how the cracks in the universe came to be. The Doctor must then save the the universe from never existing...
37 The Three Doctors - This is the first multi-Doctor story, and I enjoy the way they play off each other as they work to defeat an ancient hero of Gallifrey who is out for revenge...
38 Voyage of the Damned - Tragedy strikes the Titanic, but there's a lot of heart in this episode.
39 Utopia/The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords - I really liked the end of the Universe in the first episode, and the Doctor-Master banter in the second, but I didn't care so much for the final episode, so could really be lower on this list.
40 Remembrance of the Daleks - The Doctor brings the mystery back to Doctor Who, a much-needed relief after several seasons of cheesy Doctor Who stories. Also, the Daleks are pretty menacing and mysterious themselves. Set at the same time as An Unearthly Child, too.
41 The Unicorn and the Wasp - Written as a comedy, I thought this Agatha Christie mystery was pretty hilarious.
42 The Time of the Doctor - Again could be lower, just got this high due to being new, but the Doctor protects generations of people, and that pays a toll on him.
43 The Stolen Earth/Journey's End - Finally a story from new Doctor who with the Daleks nearly at their Time War strength. Companions unite to prevent them from destroying the multiverse.
44 The Rings of Akhaten - Great music, and great storytelling, and great willing to sacrifice.
45 The Girl Who Waited - Not as good as Amy's Choice, but a great story on being separated from the one you love.
46 Planet of the Spiders - Kinda long, but filled with the 3rd Doctor's heroics, and then ultimately his self-sacrifice in facing his fears.
47 The Invisible Enemy - I like this because you don't often get a villian like this-- a virus. This is also K-9's first appearance and he really pulls out all the stops.
48 Asylum of the Daleks - Rory and Amy are more distant, but of course that changes with an adventure in the TARDIS.
49 An Unearthly Child - The first Doctor story. Would be higher if it were only the first episode. But even though the cavemen are pretty dull, this is probably the best caveman story I'll ever see.
50 Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways - Ends with a lot of heart. Doctor just wants to save people, and Rose just wants to help.
8 - Good Stories
51 Turn Left - We get to see what an alternate reality without the Doctor would be like.52 Silver Nemesis - Could really be lower, but this is the 25th Anniversary Special. It's got mystery and some good time travel.
53 The Seeds of Doom - This and the next really could be higher, these are really good 4th Doctor season finales. This has a pod that tries to take over the world with plants.
54 The Talons of Weng-Chiang - A man from the future seeks to return, despite the horrible implications the machine has on himself.
55 The Dalek's Master Plan - Probably the best lost story, it's feels for me like The Chase but more epic in scope. The Daleks have a plan to destroy the Earth, but luckily the Doctor gets there in time and steals the core for their Time Destructor. This could really be higher, but as with all lost episodes, it's difficult to follow a reconstruction. Also, the Christmas episode had quite a different mood than the rest of the story.
56 Battlefield - This is the last time we get to see the Brigadier. Although retired, he decides to come back and be a hero, and he's great.
57 The Time Monster - I like the time travel in this one, how they make it to Atlantis, and the TARDISes inside each other, and the scene at the end with Kronos.
58 The Invasion of Time - The Doctor is acting strangely, but Leela shines with the outsiders, and the TARDIS shines with her vast corridors.
59 The Android Invasion - I like this one for all the duplicons. This is a really good story.
60 Victory of the Daleks - I like the idea that the Daleks trust the Doctor even more than they trust themselves. I liked this even more after seeing The Power of the Daleks.
61 Destiny of the Daleks - Davros comes back. Not really the greatest Dalek story, but the Doctor and Romana keep the story afloat.
62 The Keeper of Traken - We get to meet Nyssa, and we get to meet a mysterious villain who is seeking ultimate power...
63 The Hand of Fear - Sarah Jane Smith leaves the TARDIS. I like Eldrad as a villain here, and there is a brief heartfelt moment with the head of the nuclear facility.
64 Logopolis - Final 4th Doctor story, kind of sad. But we get the mystery of the Watcher, and TARDISes inside each other again, and a dramatic regeneration scene. But I'm still upset that because of the Master, large portions of the universe were destroyed.
65 Pyramids of Mars - Sutekh is an awesome villian, even though the mummies were kinda lame.
66 The Edge Of Destruction - Short 2-parter for the 1st Doctor, but the companions are all suspicious of each other, and it makes for a good mystery.
67 Planet of Evil - A mine leads to an anti-matter universe, but the consequences are dire for anyone who would take matter from that universe into ours.
68 Closing Time - The Doctor meets up with Craig again, now married and baby-sitting. This is actually a fairly good Cyberman story, but maybe just because they don't show up much.
69 The Shakespeare Code - Witches are trying to break free from their prison. A little magic, a little mystery, and some awesome Shakespeare.
70 The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood - Much better than the classic Silurian stories, but only has a bit better ending. The Doctor just wants humans and Silurians to get along, but inevitably someone makes a mistake. That's the part I dislike, but everything else is spectacular.
71 Army of Ghosts/Doomsday - I don't care much for the Rose/Doctor love story, but I like this story for the heartfelt moments we get. Not just with Rose and the Doctor, but with Jackie and Pete. Also the Daleks vs. Cybermen was really good.
72 The Next Doctor - I like the interaction here, of how the Doctor interacts with someone who seems to be his future self who had lost his memory.
73 Warriors' Gate - Another race besides Time Lords who are time sensitive. But the gateway back to regular space is collapsing in on itself.
74 The Caves of Androzani - This one is a favorite with the fans, and the 5th Doctor does some of his best stuff here. I like the self-sacrifice that he shows, and the dramatic regeneration. I just didn't like that almost everyone dies.
75 The Tomb of the Cybermen - The Cybermen are most predominately a 2nd Doctor villian, and this is the 2nd Doctor story where I think they do their best work. The Cybermen awake, and its up to the Doctor to trap them again in their tomb.
7 - Stories I like, but not my favorite
76 The Time Meddler - The first time we see another Time Lord and TARDIS.77 The Wedding of River Song - Kinda waky with time on top of itself, but it all works out in the end.
78 The Ark in Space - Aliens attacking sleeping space station.
79 State of Decay - We get to learn of an ancient enemy of the Time Lords-- the Great Vampires.
80 The Eleventh Hour - New Doctor, new companion.
81 Ghost Light - Ace faces her fears. The Doctor mentions his.
82 42 - I like this one for the emotional roller coaster Martha goes on as she is saved from death.
83 Survival - Last episode of classic Doctor Who, it's not the greatest story with the Master, and it takes a while to build up. But it's got horse-riding cat people.
84 The Dalek Invasion of Earth - The second story with the Daleks, they come and conquer the Earth. Also a little bit sad, as Susan leaves, the first companion to do so.
85 Inferno - The Doctor accidentally goes to a parallel reality and sees the destruction of that Earth, but is able to use that knowledge to save the Earth of our reality. This really should be higher despite its slow pace.
86 Robot - A little bit of danger, a little bit of mystery.
87 Arc of Infinity - Omega is back, and again wants to exist in our reality.
88 The Power of Kroll - Giant squid.
89 The Snowmen - (re-)Introduced to the Great Intelligence, and the mystery of Clara begins.
90 The Time Warrior - First story with Sarah Jane Smith. In this episode, you can really tell why she's the best companion.
91 The Sun Makers - People are being taxed to death, but the Doctor helps them start a revolution.
92 Planet of Giants - The TARDIS and its crew have shrunk, and we get to see the dangers of being small. Barbra spends too much time worrying alone about her imminent death, however.
93 The Rescue - Vicki joins the TARDIS, first new companion since the first episode. I like the concept of how she was kept prisoner. I didn't like that her pet got killed, though.
94 Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks - Shifty-eyed Daleks.
95 The God Complex - I think I'll just call this a better version of Horns of Nimon.
96 Cold War - This is really the best Ice Warrior story. Could really be higher, but there isn't much to say.
97 The Daleks - The first Dalek story. I don't like the slow pace of the story, but these Daleks are some of the most interesting Daleks we ever see.
98 Underworld - The Quest is the Quest.
99 The Angels Take Manhattan - I like the time travel and the paradox stuff. I don't at all care for the Statue of Liberty being an Angel.
100 The Ribos Operation - Kind of a good story. We meet the White Guardian, we get a Time Lord companion, and we get comedy relief from a couple scam artists.
6 - Stories I like well enough
101 The Robots of Death - People seem to really like this one. There's a pretty good mystery and some sort of killer on the loose. Yes, it could be higher, but I can't put all the 4th Doctor stories at the top, right?102 The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky - I never cared much for the Sontarans, but they're pretty good here. We get to have a whole army of them, and they seem like an actual threat. With the exception of The Invasion of Time they usually are just doing their own thing. Strategizing and stuff. But here they plan on wiping out the Earth.
103 The Claws of Axos - Weird organic ship, and the Doctor gets the Master to help him fix the TARDIS.
104 Partners in Crime - I don't care for the Adipose, but I like the idea of Donna looking for the Doctor, and it was just perfect when they met.
105 The Happiness Patrol - This episode is my earliest identifiable memory of an episode of Doctor Who so it gets a warm place in my heart. Or should I say in my soft center?
106 School Reunion - Sarah Jane Smith is back! I don't care for the aliens, but they bring a mystery for children to solve, so that's good.
107 Earthshock - The Cybermen are up to no good, but its the heart-wrenching ending that I'm watching this one for.
108 The Five Doctors - I like the concept and the plot, but perhaps there were too many characters and plotlines to follow for this one to be as good as envisioned.
109 Enlightenment - Final Black Guardian story, but kinda slow. But it's got space pirates, so that's good.
110 Dalek - A good introduction to the Daleks.
111 Gridlock - I liked the chase from car-to-car, and it ended well.
112 The Krotons - Interesting concept. Aliens controlling these people, teaching them, testing them so that they can eventually use them to pilot their ship.
113 The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon - Great story, good action and mystery, could really be higher up. But it felt like there was something missing in between the two, the plots didn't really seem very connected. First it's all about the astronaut, then suddenly its about the Silence for some reason.
114 The Curse of the Black Spot - Nothing like a siren leading you to your death.
115 Rose - Good introduction to Doctor Who.
116 Meglos - I just wish that the Doctor really got to fight his double. But it's got a dodecahedron and a cactus, so that's good.
117 Mawdryn Undead - The Doctor is about to have his remaining regenerations stolen from him.
118 Smith and Jones - We meet Martha, so that's nice.
119 Resurrection of the Daleks - Kind of a weird story with Davros coming back to cure a Dalek virus. It's really sad though when Tegan runs away giving her quick goodbye.
120 Snakedance - Tegan is again possessed by the Mara, but a much better episode than Kinda. More mystery, less insanity.
121 The Unquiet Dead - Ghosts and Charles Dickens.
122 The Mysterious Planet - The first part of Trial of a Time Lord, this is my favorite 6th Doctor story. They don't spend forever just wandering around. There's a giant robot and a mystery, and then there's the Time Lords putting the Doctor on trial.
123 Father's Day - Changing your own past is dangerous.
124 Terror of the Zygons - Loch Ness Monster, and alien duplicons.
125 The End of the World - Perhaps a little too alien for me, too.
5 - Average Stories, but there are better ones
126 The Bells of Saint John - Good introduction to Clara, but kinda easily-defeatable villain.127 The Moonbase - Lost episode with the Cybermen attacking the moon. Good mystery.
128 Kinda - Tegan has a weird dream, but not as weird as the men at the research base.
129 The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe - This should be higher. A heartwarming tale of a mother that doesn't want to ruin her kid's Christmas by telling them their father is dead.
130 The Evil of the Daleks - Lost episode where the Daleks force the Doctor to give the Daleks the strengths of humanity. We meet the Dalek Emperor.
131 Castrovalva - The Doctor needs peace as his regeneration isn't going so smoothly. We see the TARDIS corridors, and an MC Escher country, but would be better if the Doctor were more in it.
132 Carnival of Monsters - The Doctor and Jo arrive in a miniscope and are terrorized by beasts.
133 The Dominators - The Doctor saves a peace-driven planet from the Dominators.
134 Planet of the Dead - A bus is blown out of time and space to a desert planet, and they need to work together to get back and save the earth from also becoming a desert.
135 The Beast Below - Space Whale shows some odd behavior.
136 Mission to the Unknown - The only episode with no Doctor or companions, acted as a prequel to The Dalek's Master Plan. In fact, the io9 article counted it with that story.
137 A Good Man Goes to War - Lots of action, and mysteries solved.
138 Full Circle - We get to meet Adric, and there's a mystery.
139 The Romans - Actually pretty good. The Doctor and Vicky have a fun adventure, while Ian and Barbara are captured and become slaves. Humorously they end up in the same place without realizing it.
140 The Invasion - The Cybermen invade earth. Feels similar to The Dalek Invasion of Earth, but at 8 episodes, I think this moved too slowly.
141 The Sontaran Experiment - A lone Sontaran is performing experiments on humans to learn their weaknesses.
142 Image of the Fendahl - I like the part about an ancient skull possessing the lady, but I'm not sure about the giant slugs.
143 The Masque of Mandragora - An interesting story where an alien force gives an astrologer great power. Just not that interesting.
144 The Stones of Blood - I thought that the Ogri were scary. The justice machines could have been scary if they weren't instead annoying.
145 The Enemy of the World - The Doctor impersonates an evil dictator that looks just like him. I would probably like this one a lot more now that it is no longer a lost episode.
146 Colony in Space - Space farmers struggling to survive, mining company trying to take over, and mysterious aliens caught in the middle with the fate of the galaxy at stake.
147 The Ark - Kind of two stories really. First the Doctor cures a virus they accidentally bring, then they return later after the balance of power has shifted.
148 Revenge of the Cybermen - Cybermen are trying to destroy the planet of gold. This is where we are introduced to their weakness to gold. I wish we had the discovery of their weakness, not a mild reference to it.
149 Dinosaurs on a Spaceship - Dinosaurs in space are good.
150 The Ultimate Foe - The exciting conclusion to Trial of a Timelord, The Doctor must fight the Valeyard. Could have been a lot better, though. Lots of taunting, not a lot of action.
4 - Decent Stories, but had some Problems
151 The Seeds of Death - Ice Warriors attempt to take over the Earth. Takes them forever, though.152 The Androids of Tara - Romana immediately finds the 4th segment to the Key to Time, but then an unrelated story breaks out with her looking just like the princess and getting involved in the local politics.
153 The Gunfighters - The Doctor is confused with Doc Holiday, but luckily the sheriff knows better. Then they end up getting involved with some sort of family feud ending with a shootout at the OK Corral.
154 Hide - Good story, good mystery, good suspenseful moments, lousy monster.
155 Death to the Daleks - Daleks are drained of their energy, and have to resort to projectile weapons. Pretty good twist for the Daleks, but I guess it just wasn't enough for me.
156 The War Machines - Supercomputer builds some crazy machines to take over London. Dodo just mysteriously leaves with hardly a goodbye.
157 The Power of Three - The long invasion. Once the cubes finally do something, they are too easily defeated. The real story is just that the Doctor never stays, never becomes part of others' lives.
158 Let's Kill Hitler - Hitler actually just has a cameo, the real story is to finally progress the second main plot of this season: that the Doctor is going to get killed.
159 The Celestial Toymaker - I really like the concept, though some of the games the Toymaker makes Steven and Dodo play are kinda lame.
160 The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People - Everyone has a doppelganger, but they just can't get along.
161 The Daemons - I feel like the Daemons could have been more menacing, but it does have a great ending.
162 Planet of Fire - Did you forget about Kamelion? Yeah, me too. Lots of wandering around. But at least we get a good farewell to Turlough, and we get to meet Peri.
163 The Greatest Show in the Galaxy - For being the greatest show in the Galaxy, there weren't a lot of spectators. And I'm not sure how the Gods of Ragnarok were being entertained. This could have been a more epic story, but I was mostly bored until the end.
164 A Town Called Mercy - A town gets caught up between a fight from an alien that wants revenge on another alien that wants redemption.
165 The Horns of Nimon - The Nimon attempt to invade a planet. There's a few good moments, but overall, it just wasn't doing it for me.
166 The Power of the Daleks - The 2nd Doctor's first story. Ben and Polly don't know what to make of this stranger, and the Doctor isn't making it any easier for them. Luckily the Daleks recognize him as the Doctor. All the same, the story went too slowly for me.
167 The Sensorites - Peace-loving aliens fear the humans as a threat. Nice story, but takes forever.
168 Spearhead from Space - 3rd Doctor's first story, and we meet the Autons. The Doctor steals the show, leaving the Autons forgettable.
169 New Earth - Lady Cassandra is back, and she takes over Roses body. But at least the Doctor saves a whole new race, so that's nice.
170 Night Terrors - A kid is scared of everything.
171 The Green Death - Don't pump your waste into the ground, otherwise you'll get giant maggots. The supercomputer was okay, I guess. Sad ending for the Doctor, when Jo leaves the show.
172 Revelation of the Daleks - Davros is using humans to create new Daleks. Also learn that the Daleks have split into two groups: One follows Davros, while the other follows the Dalek Emperor. However, most of the screen time is taken up by Peri and the Doctor wandering around.
173 The Runaway Bride - An angry bride just wants to get married, and the alien is a giant spider. But is also revealed to be an ancient enemy of Gallifrey, so that's cool, I guess.
174 Terror of the Autons - The Autons return, this time really freaky looking. We also meet the Master for the first time, so that's good.
175 Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel - We never had much of an origin story for the Cybermen in classic Doctor Who. This was different, but a great way to introduce them. Strange voiceover at the end pretty much ruined the climax.
3 - Could be Good Stories, but They had Problems
176 Terminus - The Doctor must save the universe, while Turlough is trying to kill the Doctor under orders from the Black Guardian. But more importantly, will they ever figure out how to not get lost in spaceship corridors and ventilation ducts?177 The Reign of Terror - The Doctor and companions get caught up in the French Revolution.
178 Nightmare of Eden - People are being drugged, and it makes for a good mystery. At least, it would if it weren't so obvious.
179 The Mutants - The Marshall is the highlight of the story with his over-the-top antics. But the alien mutants just didn't do it for me.
180 The Christmas Invasion - The first episode with the 10th Doctor, but he's unconscious through most of it.
181 The Abominable Snowmen - We get to meet the Yeti and Great Intelligence for the first time. Just hard to follow with it being a lost episode.
182 The Web of Fear - Second story with the Yeti and Great Intelligence, this time in the London Underground. Also first story with the Brigadier. Could be better now that they found most of these episodes.
183 Planet of the Daleks - Follows from Frontier in Space, but didn't seem to have much to do with the other. Some Thals learn the true meaning of courage, but that's about it.
184 Horror of Fang Rock - The only story where we meet the Rutans, who are supposed to be in constant war with the Sontarans. Everyone dies, so I'm not sure what the point of the story was.
185 The Space Museum - The Doctor and companions arrive out-of-sync with time, and discover that they will become exhibits in the museum. It's a great concept, trying to prevent your own destiny. I felt like it could have been better though. Especially if there was less getting lost.
186 Planet of the Ood - We learn the true nature of the Ood, while the Doctor does nothing but explain what's going on.
187 Doctor Who and the Silurians - An ancient race from Earth millions of years ago are upset that it isn't theirs anymore. The Doctor tries and fails at diplomatic relations.
188 The Idiot's Lantern - TVs that eat your face off.
189 The Long Game - News company holding back the progression of humanity for some reason.
190 The King's Demons - The Master tries to prevent the creation of the Magna Carta.
191 The Crimson Horror - Takes a while for the Doctor and Clara to show up. Kinda more about Madame Vastra, Jenny, and Strax. Alien slug parasite and a crazy lady. Ada was pretty good, though.
192 Dragonfire - A weird-looking Dragon guards a treasure in a planet of ice, but to find it, everyone is going to have to wander around a ton. But we meet Ace for the first time, hand have a touching goodbye for Mel, so that's nice.
193 Tooth and Claw - Werewolf attacks, aided by ninja monks. But it's a bad computer generated werewolf, and the story pays more attention to Queen Victoria. Maybe more interesting if you're British.
194 The Ice Warriors - First meet the Ice Warriors, but much of it is lost and hard to tell what's going on.
195 Paradise Towers - The Doctor and Mel just want to get to the top of a tower, but they inexplicably get lost. And they get caught up in all the problems of the crazy people who live there. But there's a menace living in the basement, so I guess that's nice.
196 Frontier in Space - Earth and Draconia are accusing each other of attacking them. When the Doctor and Jo are attacked in the first episode, they realize that there is really a third party at work. They then spend 6 episodes trying to convince people that they're telling the truth.
197 The Leisure Hive - Some weird machine that does tricks is redesigned to grant eternal youth. Or create an army? I'm not sure what's going on.
198 The Underwater Menace - A mad scientist is trying to raise Atlantis. Or destroy the earth, whichever.
199 Frontios - People sink into the ground. Turns out they are getting used by giant alien potato bugs or something.
200 The Mark of the Rani - We meet the Rani, another renegade Time Lord, who is easily manipulated by the Master.
2 - Pretty Dull
201 The Wheel in Space - Cybermen attempt to take over a space station. Hard to follow though with it being a lost story.202 The Tenth Planet - We meet the Cybermen for the first time. The 1st Doctor's last story, but he isn't in it much. And the Cybermen are easily defeated, so kinda lame.
203 Attack of the Cybermen - The Doctor returns to Telos (from The Tomb of the Cybermen) since they are again awake and ready to prevent the destruction of their home planet (in The Tenth Planet) somehow. But the TARDIS chameleon circuit is fixed for the first and only time, so that's kind of interesting.
204 The Creature from the Pit - Big blob alien turns out to be an ambassador kidnapped to maintain a monopoly on a couple scraps of metal.
205 Time Flight - The Doctor finally makes it to Heathrow Airport (on accident) and helps solve a mystery involving disappearing airplanes. Maybe not that bad, but just wasn't engaging for me.
206 Boom Town - Slytheen trying to destroy the earth to sail somewhere else for some reason. All the same, tons better than the earlier Slytheen episode since we are introduced to the Heart of the TARDIS.
207 The Vampires of Venice - Fish aliens.
208 The Waters of Mars - Water becomes contaminated, and takes over humans. But the real story is how you can't change history. Or maybe you can? Or maybe not really.
209 Invasion of the Dinosaurs - Dinosaurs are good, but the story is way too slow. The ending reveal, climax, and resolution is good, though.
210 Black Orchid - Nyssa has a doppelganger, which has very little to do with the plot. The Doctor gets to play Cricket, but us Americans have no idea what's going on.
211 Four to Doomsday - Alien frogs.
212 Day of the Daleks - Worst Dalek story. They know they'll eventually invade earth, but I guess they want to invade sooner? Or make it easier? Anyway, they go back in time to accomplish this. The paradoxes are fun enough, but the story wasn't very engaging for me.
213 The Ambassadors of Death - Men in space suits are highly radioactive, and they slowly move around and kill whatever they eventually touch.
214 The Faceless Ones - People are disappearing, how long will it take the Doctor to finally figure out what's going on?
215 The Lazarus Experiment - Human becomes scorpion-man if junk DNA gets activated apparently.
216 The Curse of Peladon - The Doctor soothes the savage beast.
217 Time and the Rani - The Rani uses the Doctor for her nefarious plan.
218 Fury from the Deep - Something underwater is attacking people with gas and foam, or something?
219 The Savages - City is sucking life out of the savages outside.
220 The Massacre - A dull story, but the Doctor's lines near the end are some of the best he ever said.
221 The Visitation - Some sort of weird reptile is trying to take over the world, or something? And it's really easy to forget where you parked the TARDIS, I guess?
222 The Macra Terror - Giant crabs have enslaved humans, but would probably be creepier if it wasn't in lost episodes.
223 Terror of the Vervoids - Plants take over a ship, but the Doctor kills them all. This was really your defense, Doctor?
224 Marco Polo - The Doctor and companions travel all across China. Some stuff happens occasionally.
225 The Two Doctors - The 2nd Doctor is turned into an alien with a large appetite for some reason, but the 6th Doctor sabotages the Sontaran's time machine.
1 - Painful or Boring to Watch
226 Galaxy Four - The classic tale of beauty vs. ugly, or something. Hard to say with lost episodes.227 The Sea Devils - Like the Silurians, but from the ocean, and with similar results.
228 The Awakening - So there's this face statue that's waking up, and stuff happens.
229 Love and Monsters - Alien blob. Probably supposed to be a comedy with a happy ending. There is no happy ending.
230 The Twin Dilemma - Alien slug. Oh, and the Doctor tries to kill Peri. Should probably be lower.
231 Fear Her - Whispering girl captures people in drawings.
232 Warriors of the Deep - Everyone dies, and all the Doctor can do is prevent them from taking the world with 'em.
233 The Smugglers - Hard to really buy Ben and Polly as the Doctor's companions with the episode lost. Actually, this should be higher, I think I likely confused it with a different lost episode.
234 The Myth Makers - Trojan war. Would be better if it weren't lost.
235 The Monster of Peladon - Back on Peladon for what feels like an identical story.
236 The Crusade - I'm not even sure what's going on here.
237 The Web Planet - Painfully slow moving plot. Feels like a lost story, but it really isn't.
238 The Highlanders - We meet Jaimie, but the episode is lost and hard to follow.
239 Timelash - Deformed man wants to deform Peri and marry her. The Doctor dramatically sacrifices himself. How did he survive? "I'll explain one day. A neat trick." C'mon, really, writers?
240 Delta and the Bannermen - A bunch of weird stuff happens, and everything turns out okay, I guess?
241 Aliens of London/World War Three - Aliens with flatulence? No thanks.
242 Mindwarp - Space slugs and the story is altered by the Valeyard. But Peri falls in love, so that's nice, I guess.
243 The Space Pirates - So boring. Space Pirates aren't supposed to be boring! This could even be lower on the list, but I guess I'm biased against space slugs.
244 Vengeance on Varos - Space slugs.
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