The thing about putting together a personal list of the 50 Greatest Stories in Doctor Who history is that something, rather several somethings, always fall through the cracks. My list is, as always accessible via the 50 for 50 page, and while I generally hold to the list….
- It was put together nearly a year ago. Times and tastes change, even excluding for the purposes of the original list the nine Matt Smtih episodes that have aired since December 15, 2012 (original list cut off date). A story which once held sway may wane for any number of reasons.
- Looking at the other 50 for 50 lists, I can’t believe I left some of ‘those’ stories off my own list. All of us are smarter than one us (that’s the theory at least).
With that in mind, and in no particular order, here are a few stories which should have made my own list.
- Gridlock. Any story which moves even an old experienced fan should, it would seem, automatically make the list. The end of Gridlock did this in spades. Nice nods to Doctor Who history appeared from the Macra down to Gallifrey and the Time War.
- The Web of Fear. A bit of a cheat going on here. I’d always loved episode 1 but couldn’t justify a better ranking for myself without a much bigger bite of the story to work from. The find of The Web of Fear earlier in the autumn not only justified my affection for episode 1 but for the story overall.
- Logopolis. A story that’s all about atmosphere and big ideas. Delivered on both definitely, just not to my list apparently.
- The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang. Horrific internal inconsistency going one here. In the 2010 Dynamic Rating Table for Matt Smith’s first season I rated these stories as the best of the season, ahead of A Good Man Goes to War which I rated #15 on my overall list. Surely then these two would be higher, or at least equivalent to that. Apparently not. Not on the list at all. What was I thinking?
- The Masque of Mandragora. A lovely Holmes/Hinchcliffe/Baker/Sladen pseudo-historical and it didn’t make the list. Again what was I thinking (must have been having one of my ‘spells’).
There are probably more that I could rattle off, but I’d rather not dwell on my inconsistencies. In case you think it’s easy to put one of these lists together, think again. It’ll take much longer than you think, especially in the mushy middle of your rankings. Still we enjoyed ourselves.
And the #1 selection is yet to be revealed.