Into The Vortex...Revisited

[MacNimon]

Way back in 2006, when PS migrated here from EzBoard, we began a thread Into The Vortex in which we rated and commented on every Doctor Who story ever filmed. You'll find the original thread here. It has been a number of years though since the last update, and in the intervening years we have had several new Doctors to add to the mix. The thread was very interesting to do at the time, seeing how things developed from week to week, and it'll be interesting to see how stories from recent times fit in the scheme of things.

I'm not quite sure exactly the best way to do the follow-up at the moment; if I can find the original database I used at the time we should be able to go back and amend the votes for previous stories and thus possibly their place on the table. However, if I can't find it (and given how long ago this was, there are certainly no guarantees of that!) all that will mean is that the list, as it is at the moment, is written in stone and that future stories will simply be slotted into position.

I've just checked and it looks like the last update was back in 2008, after Tennant's 3rd complete season. Here is the list of stories as we voted for them, from first to last, as it stands at the moment.

Vortex Results Thread

I'm obviously not quite ready to proceed with this at the moment, a bit of preparation is going to be needed, but here's where we'll be starting from...

Overall results (Stories up to the end of Series 4)


1. Human Nature/The Family Of Blood 9.16
2. The Robots of Death 9.15
3. Inferno 8.979
4. The Talons of Weng-Chiang 8.975
5. Bad Wolf/The Parting Of The Ways 8.969
6. Dalek 8.94
7. The Seeds of Doom 8.88
8. Pyramids of Mars 8.84
9. The Power of the Daleks 8.80
10. City of Death 8.67
11. The Web Of Fear 8.631
12= The Daleks' Master Plan 8.619
12= The War Games 8.619
14. The Caves of Androzani 8.58
15. Horror of Fang Rock 8.55
16. School Reunion 8.533
17. The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances 8.531
18. Genesis Of The Daleks 8.50
19. Army of Ghosts/Doomsday 8.47
20. Earthshock 8.45

21. Turn Left 8.41
22. Black Orchid 8.38
23. Rise of the Cybermen/Age Of Steel 8.37
24. The Evil of the Daleks 8.36
25. The Aztecs 8.32
26. Terror of the Zygons 8.315
27. Father's Day 8.313
28. The Five Doctors 8.30
29. The Mind of Evil 8.29
30. Remembrance of the Daleks 8.28
31. The Curse of Fenric 8.26
32. The Time Warrior 8.23
33. The Invasion 8.21
34. The Green Death 8.20
35. The Ark In Space 8.18
36. The War Machines 8.16
37. The Daleks 8.14
38=The Massacre 8.13
38=Tooth and Claw 8.13
40= Blink 8.13

41. Spearhead From Space 8.10
42. Enlightenment 8.03
43. Tomb Of The Cybermen 8.023
44. Day of the Daleks 8.022
45. State of Decay 8.00
46. Terror Of The Autons 7.98
47. The Girl in the Fireplace 7.97
48 Silence In The Library/Forest Of The Dead 7.91
49. Full Circle 7.90
50. Frontios 7.89
51. The Keeper of Traken 7.88
52. Revelation of the Daleks 7.86
53 The Stolen Earth/Journey’s End 7.85
54. The Three Doctors 7.84
55. The Deadly Assassin 7.80
56. The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit 7.77
57= An Unearthly Child 7.70
57= Destiny of the Daleks 7.70
59. Logopolis 7.69
60 The Fires Of Pompeii 7.68

61. The Curse of Peladon 7.67
62. The Androids of Tara 7.66
63. The Moonbase 7.64
64. Ghost Light 7.631
65. Mawdryn Undead 7.625
66. The Stones of Blood 7.61
67. Gridlock 7.58
68. The Sontaran Experiment 7.552
69=Invasion of the Dinosaurs 7.550
69= The Awakening 7.550
69=The Shakespeare Code 7.55
72. The Ambassadors Of Death 7.54
73=Image of the Fendahl 7.50
73= The Unquiet Dead 7.50
75. The Dalek Invasion of Earth 7.48
76. The Visitation 7.47
77. The Mind Robber 7.452
78. The Brain of Morbius 7.447
79. Fury Of The Deep 7.42
80. The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky 7.41

81. The Daemons 7.41
82. The Time Meddler 7.40
83. Smith & Jones 7.29
84. Rose 7.28
85= The Faceless Ones 7.25
85= Planet of the Spiders 7.25
87. Mission to the Unknown 7.21
88. The Crusade 7.19
89. Marco Polo 7.18
90. The Seeds of Death 7.17
91=Utopia/The Sound Of Drums/LOTTL 7.13
91=Voyage Of The Damned 7.13
93. The Macra Terror 7.125
94. Carnival of Monsters 7.11
95. Robot 7.10
96. The Christmas Invasion 7.09
97. The Idiot's Lantern 7.073
98. The Claws of Axos 7.066
99. The Ribos Operation 7.05
100. Love & Monsters 7.03

101=Doctor Who And The Silurians 7.00
101=Kinda 7.00
101=The Two Doctors 7.00
104. Revenge Of The Cybermen 6.98
105. Planet of Fire 6.975
106= The Hand of Fear 6.97
106=The Abonimable Snowmen 6.97
108. The Sea Devils 6.96
109. Resurrection of the Daleks 6.95
110. Midnight 6.94
111. The Enemy Of The World 6.94
112. Survival 6.87
113. The Unicorn And The Wasp 6.85
114. Snakedance 6.85
115= The Romans 6.83
115= Attack of the Cybermen 6.83
117. The Tenth Planet 6.79
118. Boom Town 6.78
119. Planet Of The Ood 6.76
120. Vengeance On Varos 6.76

121. The Ultimate Foe 6.74
122. Castrovalva 6.73
123. Nightmare of Eden 6.71
124=The Ice Warriors 6.70
124=Death to the Daleks 6.70
126. The End of the World 6.69
127. Frontier In Space 6.62
128. Warriors' Gate 6.619
129. The Leisure Hive 6.60
130. Partners In Crime 6.59
131. The Rescue 6.59
132. The Runaway Bride 6.50
133. The Mark of the Rani 6.45
134. The Keys of Marinus 6.44
135. The Savages 6.40
136. 42 6.39
137. The Lazarus Experiment 6.37
138. The Myth Makers 6.35
139. Arc of Infinity 6.34
140. The Underwater Menace 6.32

141. The Next Doctor 6.32
142. Planet of Giants 6.30
143. The Wheel In Space 6.27
144. The Face of Evil 6.26
145= The Ark 6.25
145= Terror of the Vervoids 6.25
147. The Chase 6.23
148. The Smugglers 6.20
149= The Dominators 6.17
149= The Sun Makers 6.17
151. The Pirate Planet 6.16
152. Fear Her 6.13
153. The Krotons 6.12
154. New Earth 6.10
155. Aliens of London/World War 3 6.093
156. The Gunfighters 6.091
157. Mindwarp 6.063
158. Shada 6.06
159. The Greatest Show In the Galaxy 6.03
160. The Android Invasion 6.00

161. The Edge of Destruction 5.96
162. The Mysterious Planet 5.88
163. Galaxy 4 5.87
164. The Reign of Terror 5.80
165. The Masque of Mandragora 5.79
166= Meglos 5.75
166= The Long Game 5.75
168. Planet of Evil 5.72
169. Planet of the Daleks 5.67
170. The Sensorites 5.66
171. The Doctor’s Daughter 5.65
172. The Invisible Enemy 5.64
173. The Creature from the Pit 5.58
174= The Space Museum 5.50
174= The Armageddon Factor 5.50
176. The Highlanders 5.40
177. The Invasion of Time 5.39
178. Terminus 5.36
179. The Web Planet 5.32
180. The Horns of Nimon 5.305

181. The Time Monster 5.30
182. The King's Demons 5.26
183= Silver Nemesis 5.22
183= Colony In Space 5.22
185= Daleks In Manhattan/ Evolution Of The Daleks 5.21
185= TV MOVIE 5.21
187= Warriors of the Deep 5.18
187= Delta And the Bannermen 5.18
189. The Power of Kroll 5.17
190. The Mutants 5.13
191= The Monster of Peladon 4.97
191= The Happiness Patrol 4.97
193. Battlefield 4.82
194. Four To Doomsday 4.75
195. Dragonfire 4.74
196. Paradise Towers 4.68
197. Underworld 4.59
198. Time-Flight 4.58
199. The Celestial Toymaker 4.55
200. Time And the Rani 4.47

201. Timelash 4.30
202. The Space Pirates 4.29
203. The Twin Dilemma 4.03

[Dirk Gently]

This is a good idea.

[Andrew Curnow]

Agreed!

[Paul Clement]

This should be interesting. I struggle to remember which stories which in the more recent series, which I'll attribute to my age rather than the stories being unmemorable. The story titles however, often are rather unremarkable.

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[SiHart]

Looking forward to this!

[Wayne]

Bring it on!

[MacNimon]

I've been having a look around my various external hard drives as well as our laptop and desktop over the past week or so and have yet to find a copy of the database I was using back when we did this thread. I know that I saved it, it's just a question of where I stored it afterwards...

So it looks like we'll be taking the above list of stories as our starting point. Not that there's anything wrong with that, as we're the guys who voted for it...I just wondered though whether, with the passage of a few years, that Human Nature would still sit at the top of the table with that narrow margin. Maybe take the opportunity to do it all again from scratch soon - maybe at a more relaxed pace of a story rather than a season per week and see if we can tweak things a bit so that it's not just a straight re-run of what went before - and see if things have changed any...but for the moment we'll just be tagging recent seasons onto the existing table.

Here we go, then...the most recent story on the list (at #141) is The Next Doctor, which means that next up are...


THE SPECIALS (no, not that old 70s/80s group...)

So, everyone, marks out of ten please for...

Planet Of The Dead
Waters Of Mars
The End Of Time

[Wayne]

Talk about starting at the bottom......

Planet Of The Dead 2/10 - A point for each of Michelle Ryan's buttocks.

Waters Of Mars 3/10 - Best of a bad bunch.

The End Of Time 1/10 - A point for finally seeing off Tennant. Even though the way it was done was truly excruciating.

Sorry, but this my most disliked bunch of stories of all.

[Andrew Curnow]

A point for each of Michelle Ryan's buttocks

You're posting well today, Wayne!

[Dirk Gently]

He must have got some last night.

[SiHart]

Planet Of The Dead 4
Waters Of Mars 6
The End Of Time 3

[Rob McCow]

Planet Of The Dead 3/10 - Little did we realise that they were trying to make the entire PLANET of viewers WISH they were DEAD.

Waters Of Mars 4/10 - More like Water of M'arse.

The End Of Time 6/10 - Little did we realise that they were trying to make the viewers WONDER what TIME it would END.

Total shambles all round really. The fire's burned out. There are some great moments in each of these, but it's as if they didn't have a clue how to bring it all together. The biggest missed opportunities of the new series. Thank heavens for Matt Smith.

[Andrew Curnow]

Planet of the Dead 7/10
I actually really like this one - it's sort of inconsequential, but is very enjoyable, with some lovely moments. I'm never quite sure why it's so unpopular, maybe it's because it's the label of 'Special' overhyping it?

Waters of Mars 7/10
I like this one more every time... except the ending. In 2009 I assumed the end, with the Doctor going a bit 'power mad', was setting up to lead in to Tennant's finale, but it wasn't at all which confused me. Every time since, although I've obviously known, the ending just seems messy and doesn't quite work for me. It's a shame, because the gathering sense of doom as the episode unfolds is really well done.

The End of Time 7/10
It's a sprawling mess, the resurrection of the Master is cack-handed, and the first episode is a rambling runabout for no good reason... and yet, I have a fondness for this one, mainly because of David Tennant and of course Bernard Cribbins. It manages to be 'epic' which is entirely appropriate for the tenth Doctor's swansong, and when I'm in the right mood for it I really like it.


So in different ways I like them all, but none of them is an absolute favourite.

[Wayne]

You're posting well today, Wayne!

Thankee kindly.

and @Tim

[Dirk Gently]

OK here's the voting from the Smeg Head jury...

Planet Of The Dead. I like this story in a throwaway bank holiday viewing kind of way. I'm not really sure why people have such a low opinion of it. It's not special despite being called one but I enjoy it. I'm caught between 6 & 7...6/10.

Waters Of Mars. I do like this. It's the best 'special' by far. The over controlling Doctor at the end only to have his control taken from him by is well played. 8/10.

The End Of Time. Oh my, what a drawn out trip. If it wasn't for Bernard Cribbins (and the Noble family & the Silver Cloak) I would mark this lower. 5/10.

[Darren]

... Michelle Ryan's buttocks are worth at least 8!

Planet of the Dead 5 - A bit meh
Waters of Mars 8 -Actually quite gripping
The End of Time 4 - John Simm's Master could have been so good without RTD

[duncan]

Planet of the Dead 6/10.
Waters of Mars 8/10. I actually quite liked this one and is by far the best of the "specials".
The End of Time 5/10

[Perry Vale]

I'm glad others have gone first, I don't feel as mean now.....

Planet Of The Dead - 3/10 (also for Michelle Ryan)
Waters Of Mars - 1/10
End Of Time - 5/10 (all marks for Bernard Cribbins)

[Darren]

Why only 1 for waters of mars?

[Perry Vale]

I can think of nothing good to say about it.

[Paul Clement]

Planet of the Dead 5/10
Waters of Mars 5/10
End of Time 6/10

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[MacNimon]

Planet of the Dead 4/10
Waters of Mars 5/10
End of Time 6/10

Not a particularly exciting bunch. The great scenes with Tennant and Cribbens boost the score of EOT, but this is balanced out by John Simm's OTT Master and, as Andrew says, is a bit rambling.

[MacNimon]

Time to move on now...and a new Doctor once again. Would Matt Smith be an improvement on, or a disappointment after, David Tennant?

SERIES 5

Marks out of 10, please, for...

The Eleventh Hour
The Beast Below
Victory Of The Daleks
Time Of The Angels/Flesh And Stone
Vampires Of Venice
Amy's Choice
The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood
Vincent And The Doctor
The Lodger
The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang

and

A Christmas Carol

[Paul Clement]

Eleventh Hour 4/10
Beast Below 6/10
Victory of the Daleks 5/10
Time of the Angels/Flesh & Stone 6/10
Vampires of Venice 4/10
Amy's Choice 7/10
Hungry Earth/Cold Blood 5/10
Vincent & The Doctor 6/10
The Lodger 6/10
Pandorica Opens/Big Bang 6/10
Christmas Carol 5/10

Such a poor season storywise, but Matt Smith was great in the role.

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[Wayne]

The Eleventh Hour -5/10
The Beast Below - 5/10
Victory Of The Daleks - 3/10
Time Of The Angels/Flesh And Stone - 8/10
Vampires Of Venice - 3/10
Amy's Choice - 8/10
The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood - 6/10
Vincent And The Doctor - 4/10
The Lodger - 3/10
The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang - 5/10
A Christmas Carol - 2/10