General info for these polls
This poll series is about taking the 200+ episodes of Doctor Who that have aired since 2005 and collectively deciding which are essential viewing and which are skippable. Everyone will have their own metric for making that decision on a per episode basis - that’s what makes it fun!
This is, fundamentally, a pro Doctor Who space. We are glad Doctor Who exists. We enjoy watching it. If that’s not true for you, then you probably won’t have much fun here. It's a story that’s been collectively told across multiple formats by thousands of people over the course of 60+ years, so it is going to contain multitudes and have room for everyone. So be kind, and remember: it's just a TV show.
How it works:
Every day a new poll will drop, asking you to decide whether a random episode of post-2005 Doctor Who is essential viewing, worth watching, skippable, or best left unwatched (either for first time viewers or on a rewatch - it's up to you how you think of it).
Every poll will last for one week, giving it plenty of time to be shared around, but preventing too many active polls at once.
Two/three/multi-parters have been grouped together into single polls, both because that makes the most sense, and to slightly reduce the number of posts we had to make!
Every episode from 2005-2025 has already been queued and shuffled, so the polls will appear at random. This is so as not to advantage/disadvantage any particular series or make anyone wait too long for their favourite Doctor/Companion.
Every episode will be tagged with the episode title, series number (e.g. #doctor who series 1), Doctor number (e.g. #ninth doctor), and companion name(s) so if you don't want to see spoilers please filter the relevant tags/names/phrases.
Poll options
The poll options are broad, and everyone will respond differently, but if you want some help deciding they can be loosely understood like this:
Must watch = you always include in a rewatch/you would always recommend this episode to someone else watching Doctor Who/you think this episode should be watched even by people who don't watch much Doctor Who
Worth watching = you generally include this episode in a rewatch/you think someone watching for the first time should watch this episode at least once/you think most people who like Doctor Who will enjoy this episode
Skippable = you generally skip this episode on a rewatch/you think someone could leave this episode out of their Doctor Who experience without missing too much/you think this episode doesn't have a lot of value apart from as part of the complete canon
Best left unwatched = you basically never rewatch this episode/you try to pretend this episode didn't happen/you think people would have a better Doctor Who experience if they left this episode out/you feel it's unfortunate this episode was made at all
Imagery
Illustrative screencaps are all courtesy of the wonderful people at QuiteUnlikely and KissThemGoodbye.
Descriptions
Each description has been written in what is hopefully a consistent, excited/positive tone to avoid influencing people. If you feel an episode description is seriously biased for/against the episode please reach out, but we reserve the right to disagree.
Spoilers
These polls will contain spoilers for Doctor Who post-2005. If you do not wish to see spoilers you can block/mute this blog in its entirety, or blacklist the relevant Doctor, companion, or series in your blog's content settings.
Every poll will be tagged with the relevant Doctor(s) (e.g. #thirteenth doctor), companions (e.g. #martha jones), series (e.g. #doctor who series 11) and the episode name (e.g. #deep breath).
Questions and Messages
If you have any questions, or spot any issues with the polls, or want to discuss the results so far, feel free to send an ask.
Any hateful, trouble-making, or nonsense asks will be ignored, unless they're funny, in which case they will be mocked.
Ground rules
All the Nu!Who Executive Producers are middle aged white men who’ve been working in British TV for decades; they all go to the same weddings and the same dinner parties. They’re really not that different, so let's avoid the showrunner discourse. If you, personally, skip entire seasons because of a showrunner, then just click the relevant buttons and move on.
Doctor Who has been around for over half a century and the Doctor is thousands of years old. There is no canonical One True Pair; there’s barely a canon - so no trashing people's ships. If you, personally, skip episodes because of the influence of a ship, squick, headcanon, or fandom issue, then just click the relevant button and move on.
We will not be caveating episodes based on the conduct of writers, directors, producers or cast members. If, by your own standards, you consider an episode unwatchable because of someone who participated in making it, just click the button and move on.
Anyone attacking other users or being persistently hostile or insulting in the notes or comments will be blocked to keep the space fun and sane. Racists, transphobes, bots, or anyone otherwise determined to be a hateful arsehole will be blocked to keep the space humane.
Have fun xx