With Ncuti Gatwa’s first season now over, here’s our ranking of every Doctor Who Season 14 episode, from Space Babies to Empire of Death.
It’s been a wild ride. Doctor Who Season 14 has left us in the wake of so many weird, wonderful, and downright insane storylines. The Doctor and Ruby Sunday have taken viewers to futuristic worlds, altered pasts, and everywhere in between, so it’s only right that we look back on their newest adventures.
The new season of Doctor Who has covered a lot of ground. From The Beatles to Sutekh and Mrs Flood to Susan Twist, there’s been a lot to see over the eight episodes and one Christmas special, and we’re here to rate them all.
Without further ado, here’s our ranking of all the Doctor Who episodes in Season 14.
9. Episode 1 – Space Babies
It’s such a shame that the new Doctor’s first real episode is such a damp squib and messy piece of work. It’s hard to tell what the worst part of Space Babies is – the lackluster villain, the horrific nightmare material that is the army of CGI talking babies, or the feeling the audience is being rushed through an empty story.
The Doctor and Ruby spend the entire episode either running around and screaming in glee or fear, or cooing over the rubber-faced, snot-nosed demonic offspring that occupy an abandoned baby farm. The episode has no stakes, makes no sense, and does the worst thing a Doctor Who episode can be guilty of – having an ending that’s all coincidence and no reason.
8. Episode 8 – Empire of Death
Empire of Death – the grand finale, the big daddy of Doctor Who Season 14 – is baffling in its laziness and lack of impact. After reintroducing the destructive deity Sutekh and gearing up for a huge reveal of Ruby Sunday’s mother, Empire of Death came around and weakly dropped everything on the ground as if to say: “Here it is, like it or leave it.”
So, after a whole season of speculation and theories, the big finisher did nothing to satisfy viewers. Everyone likes a good red herring every now and again, but they have to be good. Simply throwing your hands up and saying: “Well, we tricked you!” means nothing if the result doesn’t have at least a little purpose.
Sorry to everyone who wanted something meaningful and well-rounded because this is what you get instead.
7. Episode 7 – The Legend of Ruby Sunday
At least the first half of the two-part finale was somewhat more palatable because it still posed some intriguing questions and teased us with the possibility of satisfying answers. Plus, the final five minutes were actually bone-chilling, injecting some much-needed horror into an otherwise pretty tame season.
However, things were brought down by a ridiculously rushed introduction, where every key theory –- Susan Twist and the Doctor’s granddaughter, to name a few – were addressed and brushed off in hilariously blasé fashion. This might have worked well enough as a standalone episode, but it only serves as a preamble to a disappointing finale.
6. Christmas special – The Church on Ruby Road
Put simply, The Church on Ruby Road isn’t the best Doctor Who Christmas special there’s ever been, nor is it the worst. It’s a perfectly fine, if a little underwhelming, introduction to Gatwa’s Doctor. Its biggest crime is simply not being clear enough in defining the new Doctor’s personality. It feels as though he’s already been running around on several adventures we’ve missed.
His and Ruby’s meeting is one of the episode’s better parts. It makes their eventual partnership feel like fate rather than coincidence. But what doesn’t work is the cheeky band of singing goblins, a concept that isn’t quite as fun as Russell T Davies thinks it is, and a rather boring ending. Overall, it was a pretty decent start that could have been a little bit better.
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5. Episode 5 – Dot and Bubble
It’s easy to see what Dot and Bubble was trying to be — a social commentary hidden in the depths of a futuristic Black Mirror ripoff that never quite makes the impact it’s trying to have. Everyone’s read the famous Joker review: “If you’ve never swam in the ocean, then of course a pool seems deep.” The same sentiment applies here.
It also feels strange to have the Doctor – whose emotional battering forms the climatic “twist” of the episode – mostly absent for the episode, save for appearances on the evil digital halo that serves as a social platform. There’s no denying that the question of racism in Fifteen’s universe is one worth investigating, but did it have to be shoved into the last five minutes of an otherwise bland adventure, and did it have to be written by Russell T Davies?
4. Episode 2 – The Devil’s Chord
In order to enjoy The Devil’s Chord, you simply need to ignore the bargain basement version of The Beatles. (Seriously, the episode includes some of the worst John Lennon and Paul McCartney impressions you’ll ever see.) But if you can get over this giant blip, The Devil’s Chord is actually a fun throwback that has some good jokes and a killer villain in Maestro.
The Devil’s Chord’s biggest redeeming quality is the ability to have fun. No, the episode wouldn’t have worked nearly as well had Jinkx Monsoon not put on such an operatic and dramatic spin on Maestro (A prime example of someone literally stealing the show.) Ultimately, the idea of music being taken from the universe produces some playful moments that stand out among the rest of the season, and it is a good concept in itself.
3. Episode 3 – Boom
Boom was the episode that turned hesitant viewers around on Season 14 and made us say: “Hey…maybe they’re cooking.” Having the Doctor stuck in one place during the entire episode feels very “Old Who”, and finally gave Ncuti Gatwa a chance to show us what he could do. Thankfully, there’s depth, sadness, and fear, all of which he pulls off aptly.
It was also the first time Millie Gibson gave us reason to believe in Ruby, with the episode’s emotional crux coming from her lack of knowledge about herself and her origins. It’s a great one-and-done adventure that somehow managed to save the season just after it began.
2. Episode 4 – 73 Yards
There are some who don’t like a “Doctor-lite” episode, but 73 Yards is a perfect example of when the show actually thrives without its titular Time Lord. There’s one obvious sell for this episode: the mysterious and genuinely frightening figure who stalks Ruby through time, always staying 73 Yards away from her. This is creepy and unnerving in a way Doctor Who hasn’t managed to be in a long time.
However, there’s also a deep-rooted sense of confusion and sadness coming from Ruby that solidifies this as one of the best companion episodes, period. Nobody can avoid the looming sense of dread, much like Ruby can’t avoid her stranger.
1. Episode 6 – Rogue
When it comes to the best episode of Doctor Who Season 14, there’s no question about it: Rogue is as good as it gets. It’s one of a few instances where we get plenty of Doctor and Ruby screen time, and the Bridgerton aesthetic and meta-commentary is fun, silly, and wonderful to watch. We also get a villain that feels very classic Who, with the Chuldurs’ ridiculous bird-like visage bringing levity to their body-snatching ways.
And, of course, how could we not talk about Rogue himself? Jonathan Groff and Ncuti Gatwa are a perfect double act, bringing us some of the best banter the show’s produced in a while. The romance is real, their chemistry is palpable, and there’s a touch of sweetness to the whole affair that makes it feel earned and genuine.
If we don’t see more of Rogue, it’ll be a crime. But even more importantly, this just proves that expanding the writer pool produces great things.
For more, check out our guide to Doctor Who Season 15. You can also get to know all the Doctor Who Season 14 villains and find out how to revisit them all with our guide on how to watch Doctor Who Season 14. You can also check out our feature on why The Fifteenth Doctor’s costume is secretly brilliant.
