Doctor Who Season 8 Episodes Ranked Worst to Best

Hello, and welcome to my blog. This first post will detail all 12 episodes of Doctor Who Series 8 (not including Last Christmas) from worst to best.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

#12-In the Forest of the Night
In the Forest of the Night was the 10th episode of the series. It had a strange plot, as the Doctor landed on Earth only to find it was covered in a massive forest. He teams up with Clara, Danny Pink and a little girl called Maebh to stop the supposedly evil trees, but find out that the trees are actually good guys, saving the earth from a giant solar flare.

This episode is a particularly poor piece of work, as it features some of the worst villains ever: Trees and Fireflies. I really hope no episodes like this manage to squirm their way into Season 9.

Rating: 4.5

#11-Robot of Sherwood

Robot of Sherwood was the 3rd episode of the series. It saw the Doctor and Clara travel to Nottingham 1190 and meet the legendary Robin Hood and his Merry Men. They are forced to face Robots and the Sheriff of Nottingham, and the overarching plot of Season 8, of Heaven and Missy, is also continued in brave fashion.

The episode is good, but would've fit better in a Matt Smith or David Tennant episode than with Peter Capaldi,

Rating: 6.5

#10-Into the Dalek
Into the Dalek was the second episode of Series 8. It featured a plot based on the classic sci-fi film Fantastic Voyage where scientists shrink themselves and then go inside a human body. However this time, the Doctor, Clara and a small taskforce must go inside a Dalek to cure the dying creature, which strangely declares that it must slaughter its own kind: Daleks.

This episode was originally pitched as a video game to Steven Moffat, but he decided to use it as a story idea and gave it to writer Phil Ford (The Waters of Mars, Dreamland) to make something out of. The episode was brilliant in some places, such as the hatred speech, the sacrifice and the antibodies, but not-so-brilliant in other places such as the Dalek fight at the end and the memory scene, both of which were not done nearly as well as they could've been.

Rating: 7.5

#9-Kill the Moon

Kill the Moon was the 7th episode of Series 8, and one of the worst. This episode has sparked a lot of debate among fans; some have loved it, some of hated it. For me, it is middling. Featuring a strange plot about the moon being an egg containing a space-dragon-thing, and giant alien spiders being the egg's bacteria, the episode also saw schoolgirl Courtney come along for the ride, like Angie and Artie in Nightmare in Silver.

The episode was a critical success, but for me it went far below expectations. I thought the graphics were good and the acting was superb, but apart from that everything felt a little underdone. The episode could've been a lot better and a lot more freaky.

Rating: 7.5

#8-Time Heist

Time Heist is the 5th episode of Series 8. It sees the Doctor, Clara, a cyborg called Psi and a shapeshifter called Saibra unknowingly agree to rob the most secure bank in the universe. With a telepathic creature called the Teller hunting them through the deepest vaults of Bank Karabraxos, a creature that can read your thoughts and suck your brains out through your skull.

The episode, written by Steve Thompson (Curse of the Black Spot, Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS), felt a lot more like a classic Doctor Who episode than New Who, and the story would've also been better as a two-parter. Except for these complaints, however, this episode was mainly good, and is definitely Steve Thompson's best episode of Doctor Who.

Rating: 7.5

#7-Mummy on the Orient Express

Mummy on the Orient Express is the eight episode of Series 8. It sees the Doctor and Clara land on the Orient Express, a train flying in space, but find out that the passengers are being plagued by a mummy-like creature called the Foretold, which targets people and then gives them 66 seconds to live.

The episode is a brilliant one, and features some really creepy ideas. It also connects to another Doctor Who episode, The Big Bang, as the Doctor answers the call for help he got then. The episode could've been better, with Clara playing a bigger part, and us learning more of the Foretold. But except for these minor errors, this episode was a success.

Rating: 8

#6-The Caretaker

The Caretaker is the sixth episode of Series 8, following the events of Time Heist. It sees the Doctor go undercover as a caretaker at Coal Hill School, where Clara works. It also documents the first meeting between the Doctor and Danny Pink, and an old school robot creature called the Skovox Blitzer trying to destroy the world to get back to its own.

The Caretaker is a brilliant episode of Doctor, as it is moving, hilarious and has one of the best monsters of the season. Also, the chemistry between the Doctor and Danny Pink is comedy gold, and, finally it features schoolgirl Courtney in a big role, who would return for an outer-space adventure in Kill the Moon.

Rating-8

#5-Flatline

Flatline is the ninth episode of Series 8, following Mummy in the Orient Express. The episode saw the Doctor get stuck in a shrunken-down TARDIS. Clara then teams up with a graffiti artist called Rigsy and a crew of construction workers to face 2D creatures known only as "The Boneless".

One of the scariest episodes of the season, it is also one of the best. This is probably due to Jamie Mathieson writing it, also the writer of previous episode Mummy on the Orient Express. Hopefully, Mathieson's Season 9 episode, The Girl Who Died, will be equally as good, if not even better.

Rating: 8.5

#4-Deep Breath

Deep Breath is the first episode of Series 8, and one of the best. It features Peter Capaldi in his first, full-length episode of Doctor Who (having first appeared in 2013's Day of the Doctor) and also features the return of the Patternoster Gang (Madame Vastra, Jenny, Strax).

The episode was a critical success, and is far the best debut episode for a Doctor. Written by head writer Steven Moffat (The Eleventh Hour, The Impossible Astronaut, The Day of the Doctor), this episode began the best series of Doctor Who so far in spectacular fashion.

Rating: 8.5

#3-Listen

Listen is the fourth episode of Series 8. Written by Steven Moffat (Blink, Silence in the Library, A Good Man Goes to War), this episode is about the Doctor answering the question "Are we ever alone?"

The episode is brilliant, as it features young Rupert Pink, who would later, in his adult life, become Danny, and also sees Clara forced to hide under the bed of a young boy...who turns out to be the Doctor. The episode if full of inspirational storytelling, and can be defined as one of the best Doctor Who episodes of the era.

Rating: 9

#2-Dark Water

Dark Water is the penultimate episode of the series, and the penultimate episode on this list. The episode saw Danny Pink die, the Doctor and Clara travel to a place called Heaven, the Cybermen return, and Missy reveals herself as the Mistress: "Well, I couldn't keep calling myself the Master, now, could I?"

This episode was a critical success, and is almost definitely in my top 10 Doctor Who episodes. The big reveal and cliffhanger scene were amazing, and the character of Seb was just hilarious. I really hope to see some episodes as good as this in Season 9, as that would make the series an instant success.

Rating: 9

#1-Death in Heaven

And taking top spot is the finale of the series, Death in Heaven. A 60-minute long episode, this episode is the best episode of the series. Carrying on from the gripping cliffhanger of the previous episode, the episode saw the dead rise from their graves as Cybermen, the Doctor become world leader and the return of Kate Stewart, Osgood and the entirety of UNIT. The episode was touching, moving, scary, dark and, most of all, action-packed.

The episode was a brilliant addition to the series, and a fitting end for both the series and Danny Pink.













Rating-9