It’s 2020, and this year has already brought us a whole new set of  Doctor Who adventures. As Series 12 has recently left our screens, now is as good a time as any to reflect on every official TV episode broadcast to date. I have watched the entire history of Doctor Who many times since I was a kid. For years, I have tried to determine, in my head, which is the best Doctor Who story ever made… my personal absolute favourite. It has been a hard task ranking all of the 295 stories (spread over 861 episodes) of Doctor Who that there have been over the past 57 years. But finally, I did manage to whittle it down to a definitive list, presented in the style of the polls conducted by Doctor Who Magazine. Please remember that this list is based purely on my own opinion as a hardcore Doctor Who fan.

Re-examining the episodes in this list has presented a few revelations to me. Like many other popular British TV shows, Doctor Who can be quite formulaic and repetitive – even for a programme that is partly meant for children. The same thing tends to happen in every episode. This seems surprising given that the central character can travel anywhere in time and space and can do almost anything. However, this does not lessen the fact that there are some episodes of Doctor Who that simply stand out from all the rest.

After this list, I have also included a personal ranking of other episodes from Doctor Who spin-offs and other media, such as Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures. So without further ado, let me reveal what I consider to be the ultimate ranking of every episode of Doctor Who.

Full Episode Ranking:

This ranking list is roughly divided into eight categories: Elite; Classics, Great, Good, OK, Below Average, Bad and Awful.

Elite    

Classics 

★★★★★

Great

★★★★☆ 

Good 

★★★☆ 

OK

★★★☆☆

Below Average 

★★☆☆ 

Bad

★★☆☆☆ 

Awful 

★☆☆☆☆

But what do the fans think…

The table below shows how the Doctor Who fandom regards all of the television stories transmitted up to the present day. There are two columns, one for the 2014 Doctor Who Magazine poll and also one for a 2020 poll conducted on Twitter.

Here’s a chronological Doctor-by-Doctor breakdown of my own results, ranked on a category-by-category basis:

By Doctor:

R. The Fugitive Doctor (Jo Martin)* – 2020

1. Fugitive of the Judoon – CLASSICS (#54)
2. The Timeless Children – OK (#190)

1. The First Doctor (William Hartnell) – 1963-1966

1. The Daleks’ Master Plan – CLASSICS (#22)
2. The Tenth Planet – CLASSICS (#27)
3. The Dalek Invasion of Earth – CLASSICS (#59)
4. Marco Polo – CLASSICS (#62)
5. The War Machines – GREAT (#81)
6. The Chase – GREAT (#85)
7. The Time Meddler – GREAT (#88)
8. The Edge of Destruction – GREAT (#99)
9. The Celestial Toymaker – GREAT (#103)
10. The Rescue – GREAT (#114)
11. The Romans – GREAT (#116)
12. Mission to the Unknown – GREAT (#118)
13. The Aztecs – GREAT (#120)
14. An Unearthly Child – GREAT (#122)
15. The Ark – GOOD (#142)
16. The Myth Makers – GOOD (#168)
17. The Crusade – GOOD (#174)
18. The Keys of Marinus – OK (#185)
19. The Gunfighters – OK (#202)
20. Planet of Giants – OK (#208)
21. The Reign of Terror – OK (#209)
22. The Massacre – OK (#211)
23. The Savages – BELOW AVERAGE (#224)
24. The Daleks – BAD (#254)
25. Galaxy 4 – BAD (#266)
26. The Sensorites – BAD (#270)
27. The Smugglers – BAD (#277)
28. The Space Museum – AWFUL (#285)
29. The Web Planet – AWFUL (#289)

 2. The Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) – 1966-1969

1. The Tomb of the Cybermen – ELITE (#9)
2. The Evil of the Daleks – CLASSICS (#16)
3. The Power of the Daleks – CLASSICS (#33)
4. The Invasion – CLASSICS (#36)
5. The War Games – CLASSICS (#46)
6. The Web of Fear – CLASSICS (#55)
7. Fury from the Deep – CLASSICS (#57)
8. The Enemy of the World – GREAT (#86)
9. The Abominable Snowmen – GREAT (#92)
10. The Macra Terror – GOOD (#160)
11. The Seeds of Death – GOOD (#176)
12. The Krotons – OK (#183)
13. The Mind Robber – OK (#200)
14. The Moonbase – BELOW AVERAGE (#226)
15. The Wheel in Space – BELOW AVERAGE (#229)
16. The Faceless Ones – BELOW AVERAGE (#232)
17. The Ice Warriors – BELOW AVERAGE (#243)
18. The Highlanders – BAD (#255)
19. The Underwater Menace – AWFUL (#279)
20. The Dominators – AWFUL (#291)
21. The Space Pirates – AWFUL (#295)

 3. The Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) – 1970-1974

1. Spearhead from Space – CLASSICS (#28)
2. Inferno – CLASSICS (#29)
3. The Silurians – CLASSICS (#31)
4. The Three Doctors – CLASSICS (#45)
5. The Green Death – CLASSICS (#52)
6. The Dæmons – CLASSICS (#63)
7. Carnival of Monsters – GREAT (#66)
8. The Time Warrior – GREAT (#70)
9. The Sea Devils – GREAT (#83)
10. The Curse of Peladon – GREAT (#96)
11. Frontier in Space – GREAT (#105)
12. The Mind of Evil – GREAT (#108)
13. Terror of the Autons – GREAT (#110)
14. Day of the Daleks – GREAT (#112)
15. Planet of the Spiders – GOOD (#145)
16. The Ambassadors of Death – GOOD (#154)
17. Planet of the Daleks – GOOD (#170)
18. The Claws of Axos – OK (#188)
19. The Monster of Peladon – OK (#198)
20. Death to the Daleks – OK (#199)
21. Invasion of the Dinosaurs – BELOW AVERAGE  (#218)
22. The Mutants – BELOW AVERAGE (#241)
23. Colony in Space – BAD (#262)
24. The Time Monster – BAD (#264)

 4. The Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) – 1974-1981

1. Genesis of the Daleks – ELITE (#4)
2. The Talons of Weng-Chiang – ELITE (#7)
3. The Deadly Assassin – CLASSICS (#13)
4. Terror of the Zygons – CLASSICS (#15)
5. City of Death – CLASSICS (#17)
6. The Robots of Death – CLASSICS (#24)
7. The Brain of Morbius – CLASSICS (#26)
8. The Seeds of Doom – CLASSICS (#37)
9. The Ark in Space – CLASSICS (#41)
10. Pyramids of Mars – CLASSICS (#61)
11. The Androids of Tara – GREAT (#76)
12. The Pirate Planet – GREAT (#80)
13. The Stones of Blood – GREAT (#89)
14. Horror of Fang Rock – GREAT (#98)
15. The Face of Evil – GREAT (#119)
16. Robot – GOOD (#131)
17. The Leisure Hive – GOOD (#133)
18. The Sun Makers – GOOD (#139)
19. State of Decay – GOOD (#141)
20. The Creature from the Pit – GOOD (#159)
21. Image of the Fendahl – GOOD (#163)
22. Logopolis – GOOD (#165)
23. The Keeper of Traken – GOOD (#167)
24. The Hand of Fear – GOOD (#175)
25. Shada – OK
26. Revenge of the Cybermen – OK (#182)
27. Destiny of the Daleks – OK (#186)
28. Full Circle – OK (#191)
29. The Sontaran Experiment – OK (#192)
30. Warriors’ Gate – OK (#203)
31. Planet of Evil – OK (#206)
32. The Masque of Mandragora – OK (#213)
33. The Armageddon Factor – BELOW AVERAGE (#231)
34. The Ribos Operation – BELOW AVERAGE (#236)
35. The Android Invasion – BAD (#246)
36. The Invasion of Time – BAD (#257)
37. Meglos – BAD (#259)
38. Nightmare of Eden – BAD (#260)
39. The Power of Kroll – BAD (#272)
40. The Invisible Enemy – BAD (#275)
41. The Horns of Nimon – AWFUL (#284)
42. Underworld – AWFUL (#293)

 5. The Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison) – 1981-1984

1. The Caves of Androzani – ELITE (#1)
2. The Five Doctors – CLASSICS (#14)
3. Earthshock – CLASSICS (#23)
4. Mawdryn Undead – GREAT (#95)
5. Snakedance – GREAT (#97)
6. Enlightenment – GREAT (#102)
7. The Visitation – GREAT (#107)
8. Planet of Fire – GREAT (#117)
9. Kinda – GOOD (#137)
10. Resurrection of the Daleks – GOOD (#140)
11. Castrovalva – GOOD (#146)
12. Frontios – OK (#181)
13. The King’s Demons – BELOW AVERAGE (#217)
14. Black Orchid – BELOW AVERAGE (#219)
15. Arc of Infinity – BELOW AVERAGE (#222)
16. The Awakening – BELOW AVERAGE (#238)
17. Four to Doomsday – BAD (#248)
18. Terminus – BAD (#267)
19. Warriors of the Deep – AWFUL (#278)
20. Time-Flight – AWFUL (#283)

 6. The Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) – 1984-1986

1. The Two Doctors – GREAT (#93)
2. Vengeance on Varos – GREAT (#101)
3. Revelation of the Daleks – GOOD (#173)
4. The Trial of a Time Lord – OK (#196)
5. Attack of the Cybermen – BELOW AVERAGE (#216)
6. The Mark of the Rani – BELOW AVERAGE (#235)
7. Timelash – AWFUL (#292)
8. The Twin Dilemma – AWFUL (#294)

 7. The Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) – 1987-1989, 1996

1. Remembrance of the Daleks – CLASSICS (#35)
2. The Curse of Fenric – CLASSICS (#53)
3. The Happiness Patrol – GREAT (#72)
4. Paradise Towers – GOOD (#129)
5. The Greatest Show in the Galaxy – GOOD (#156)
6. Survival – GOOD (#158)
7. Ghost Light – GOOD (#164)
8. Battlefield – OK (#180)
9. Dragonfire – BELOW AVERAGE (#221)
10. Silver Nemesis – AWFUL (#281)
11. Delta and the Bannermen – AWFUL (#288)
12. Time and the Rani – AWFUL (#296)

8. The Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann) – 1996, 2013

1. The Night of the Doctor – CLASSICS
2. Doctor Who: The TV Movie – GOOD (#169)

W. The War Doctor (John Hurt)* – 2013

1. The Day of the Doctor – ELITE (#8)
2. The Night of the Doctor – CLASSICS
3. The Name of the Doctor – CLASSICS (#44)

9. The Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) – 2005

1. The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances – ELITE (#3)
2. Dalek – ELITE (#10)
3. Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways – CLASSICS (#12)
4. Father’s Day – CLASSICS (#65)
5. The End of the World – GREAT (#91)
6. The Unquiet Dead – GREAT (#121)
7. Rose – GOOD (#128)
8. Boom Town – GOOD (#153)
9. Aliens of London/World War Three – OK (#177)
10. The Long Game – OK (#204)

10. The Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) – 2005-2010

1. Blink – ELITE (#2)
2. Midnight – ELITE (#5)
3. The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit – ELITE (#6)
4. The Waters of Mars – CLASSICS (#19)
5. The Stolen Earth/Journey’s End – CLASSICS (#20)
6. Human Nature/The Family of Blood – CLASSICS (#21)
7. Army of Ghosts/Doomsday – CLASSICS (#30)
8. Turn Left – CLASSICS (#32)
9. Utopia/The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords – CLASSICS (#34)
10. School Reunion – CLASSICS (#39)
11. Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead – CLASSICS (#40)
12. Time Crash – CLASSICS
13. Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel – GREAT (#67)
14. The Girl in the Fireplace – GREAT (#69)
15. The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky – GREAT (#71)
16. The Christmas Invasion – GREAT (#84)
17. The Unicorn and the Wasp – GREAT (#87)
18. The Fires of Pompeii – GREAT (#100)
19. The End of Time – GREAT (#106)
20. Planet of the Ood – GREAT (#113)
21. The Shakespeare Code – GOOD (#125)
22. Tooth and Claw – GOOD (#126)
23. Gridlock – GOOD (#155)
24. Love & Monsters – GOOD (#166)
25. Partners in Crime – OK (#178)
26. The Lazarus Experiment – OK (#193)
27. The Idiot’s Lantern – OK (#205)
28. Voyage of the Damned – BELOW AVERAGE (#214)
29. The Runaway Bride – BELOW AVERAGE (#215)
30. The Infinite Quest – BELOW AVERAGE
31. The Doctor’s Daughter – BELOW AVERAGE (#220)
32. Planet of the Dead – BELOW AVERAGE (#227)
33. 42 – BELOW AVERAGE (#230)
34. Smith and Jones – BAD (#245)
35. The Next Doctor – BAD (#256)
36. New Earth – BAD (#258)
37. Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks – BAD (#269)
38. Dreamland – BAD
39. Fear Her – AWFUL (#282)

11. The Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) – 2010-2013

1. The Day of the Doctor – ELITE (#8)
2. Vincent and the Doctor – CLASSICS (#25)
3. The Eleventh Hour – CLASSICS (#38)
4. Cold War – CLASSICS (#43)
5. The Name of the Doctor – CLASSICS (#44)
6. The Doctor’s Wife – CLASSICS (#51)
7. The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon – CLASSICS (#56)
8. The Bells of Saint John – GREAT (#68)
9. The Snowmen – GREAT (#75)
10. Amy’s Choice – GREAT (#77)
11. The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone – GREAT (#78)
12. The Angels Take Manhattan – GREAT (#90)
13. The Lodger – GREAT (#94)
14. A Good Man Goes to War – GREAT (#104)
15. The God Complex – GREAT (#109)
16. The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang – GREAT (#111)
17. The Girl Who Waited – GREAT (#123)
18. The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood – GOOD (#124)
19. The Rebel Flesh/The Almost People – GOOD (#127)
20. Hide – GOOD (#132)
21. The Crimson Horror – GOOD (#138)
22. The Vampires of Venice – GOOD (#144)
23. Dinosaurs on a Spaceship – GOOD (#152)
24. A Town Called Mercy – GOOD (#162)
25. The Beast Below – OK (#184)
26. The Wedding of River Song – OK (#189)
27. A Christmas Carol – OK (#212)
28. The Time of the Doctor – BELOW AVERAGE (#225)
29. Night Terrors – BELOW AVERAGE (#234)
30. Victory of the Daleks – BAD (#244)
31. Nightmare in Silver – BAD (#249)
32. The Power of Three – BAD (#250)
33. Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS – BAD (#252)
34. Closing Time – BAD (#253)
35. The Rings of Akhaten – BAD (#261)
36. The Curse of the Black Spot – BAD (#265)
37. Asylum of the Daleks – BAD (#273)
38. Let’s Kill Hitler – AWFUL (#286)
39. The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe – AWFUL (#287)

12. The Twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi) – 2013-2017

1. Heaven Sent – CLASSICS (#11)
2. World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls – CLASSICS (#18)
3. Mummy on the Orient Express – CLASSICS (#42)
4. The Zygon Invasion/The Zygon Inversion – CLASSICS (#47)
5. The Magician’s Apprentice/The Witch’s Familiar – CLASSICS (#48)
6. Dark Water/Death in Heaven – CLASSICS (#49)
7. Listen – CLASSICS (#60)
8. Flatline – CLASSICS (#64)
9. Under the Lake/Before the Flood – GREAT (#73)
10. Deep Breath – GREAT (#74)
11. Knock Knock – GREAT (#79)
12. Into the Dalek – GREAT (#82)
13. The Pilot – GOOD (#135)
14. Extremis – GOOD (#147)
15. Oxygen – GOOD (#148)
16. The Woman Who Lived – GOOD (#150)
17. The Husbands of River Song – GOOD (#157)
18. Thin Ice – GOOD (#161)
19. Face the Raven – GOOD (#172)
20. Time Heist – OK (#179)
21. Twice Upon a Time – OK (#187)
22. Empress of Mars – OK (#194)
23. Last Christmas – OK (#197)
24. The Return of Doctor Mysterio – OK (#201)
25. The Caretaker – OK (#210)
26. The Eaters of Light – BELOW AVERAGE (#228)
27. The Girl Who Died – BELOW AVERAGE (#237)
28. The Lie of the Land – BELOW AVERAGE (#239)
29. Robot of Sherwood – BAD (#247)
30. Kill the Moon – BAD (#251)
31. Hell Bent – BAD (#263)
32. The Pyramid at the End of the World – BAD (#271)
33. Smile – BAD (#274)
34. In the Forest of the Night – BAD (#276)
35. Sleep No More – AWFUL (#280)

13. The Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) – 2018-present

1. Spyfall – CLASSICS (#50)
2. Fugitive of the Judoon – CLASSICS (#54)
3. The Haunting of Villa Diodati – CLASSICS (#58)
4. Rosa – GREAT (#115)
5. The Woman Who Fell to Earth – GOOD (#130)
6. Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror – GOOD (#134)
7. Resolution – GOOD (#136)
8. Kerblam! – GOOD (#143)
9. The Witchfinders – GOOD (#149)
10. Arachnids in the UK – GOOD (#151)
11. Can You Hear Me? – GOOD (#171)
12. Ascension of the Cybermen/The Timeless Children – OK (#190)
13. Orphan 55 – OK (#195)
14. It Takes You Away – OK (#207)
15. The Ghost Monument – BELOW AVERAGE (#223)
16. The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos – BELOW AVERAGE (#240)
17. Praxeus – BELOW AVERAGE (#242)
18. Demons of the Punjab – BAD (#268)
19. The Tsuranga Conundrum – AWFUL (#290)

If we tabulate the above Doctor-by-Doctor results, we can see how they compare to one another in terms of my score given to each of their episodes.

I genuinely love all of the Doctors in their own way and so it is arguably unfair to rank them because they are all good. For me, each of them brings something different to the role. When I rewatch each of the Doctor’s eras, I can see why every Doctor is someone’s favourite. However, every Doctor Who fan has a favourite Doctor… including me.

Favourite Doctor:

David Tennant is still regarded by most fans as the best iteration of the Doctor in the programme’s history. I know that my phenomenally mainstream view does not lessen this fact. However, most people tend to love the Doctor that they grew up with the most. And for that reason, the charismatic Tenth Doctor will always be my favourite. His is the golden era that gripped me as a child and led to my lifelong obsession with Doctor Who. For that, I will always be grateful to him and I can think of no finer and more passionate actor to embody the role of the Doctor.

Before we get onto the rankings of the various TV spin-offs, films and other Doctor Who media, I wish to include a brief discussion of my favourite companion, monsters, Master, seasons and behind-the-scenes writer from the programme’s history.

Favourite Companion:

Favourite Monsters and Villains Personal (Top 10) Ranking:

1. Daleks
2. Cybermen
3. The Master
4. Weeping Angels
5. Davros
6. Silurians / Sea Devils
7. Ice Warriors
8. The Great Intelligence / Yeti
9. Sontarans
10. Zygons

Favourite Master:

For me, the definitive Master will always be the original, the Machiavellian Roger Delgado. He had a sinister but charming quality that made him the ultimate Moriarty to the Doctor’s Sherlock Holmes. This was the intention of the late Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks, who both masterminded the character behind the scenes back in the early 1970s.

However, it was John Simm who really set the template for how the modern version of the Master should be played, if Michelle Gomez and Sacha Dhawan’s similarly maniacal portrayals are anything to go by. You can even see Simm’s influence in Andrew Scott’s performance as Moriarty in Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat’s hugely popular series Sherlock (2010-2017). Given the early inspiration for the creation of the Master, it seems like this reminiscent performance from Scott may be more than just a coincidence.

Favourite Writer:

As you have probably ascertained from the above poll results, I regard the period between 2005-2010 to be a truly golden age for Doctor Who, with 2008 being the best overall year for the programme in terms of quality. This is primarily because 2005-2010 was the era of the show that I grew up with as a child, but also because of the huge popularity of the programme and the ensuing spin offs of Doctor Who at the time. Series 1-5 of the new series of Doctor Who, plus Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures, were, generally speaking, better than all of previous and subsequent Doctor Who on television.

In retrospect, it is clear to me that Russell T Davies presided over the best era in Doctor Who‘s entire history. Given the fact that this era of the show is continually held in very high esteem by most newcomers to the programme, I know now that simple childhood nostalgia does not entirely cloud my judgment. The RTD tenure (Christopher Eccleston and David Tennant) was the period in which Doctor Who became a mainstream success, where the general public watched it in numbers almost unseen in the programme’s history. The show was catapulted back into the public consciousness. Many fans today wish that Doctor Who could return to this level of mainstream popularity in the UK.

Although Steven Moffat did keep up the standard (mostly) throughout his time as head writer, I can’t help but feel that he was less capable of structuring the overarching plot of an entire series in comparison to his predecessor Davies. However, many people consider Steven Moffat to be one of Doctor Who’s greatest individual writers. Certainly a lot of his standalone episodes feature very highly in my own list as well as those of most other fans. The 50th Anniversary year of Doctor Who was an extraordinary celebration of a television institution and Steven Moffat should certainly take a lot of credit for this.

If the late, great Robert Holmes and Terrance Dicks were alive to see what their work would inspire in both a young Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat, I’m sure that both of these titans of Doctor Who writing would be very proud indeed.

At this point, I also wish to include a brief personal ranking of every individual season of Doctor Who to date. This ranking roughly correlates with the hierarchy of episodes above.

Individual Seasons Personal Ranking:

Classic Doctor Who (20^th Century)

1. Season 14
2. Season 12
3. Season 13
4. Season 7
5. Season 10
6. Season 5
7. Season 26
8. Season 25
9. Season 19
10. Season 8
11. Season 9
12. Season 16
13. Season 2
14. Season 22
15. Season 18
16. Season 21
17. Season 3
18. Season 1
19. Season 6
20. Season 4
21. Season 20
22. Season 11
23. Season 15
24. Season 17
25. Season 23
26. Season 24

New Doctor Who (21^st Century)

1. Series 4
2. Series 1
3. Series 5
4. Series 3
5. Series 2
6. Series 9
7. Series 8
8. Series 7
9. Series 6
10. Series 10
11. Series 12
12. Series 11

Overall

1. New Series 4
2. New Series 1
3. New Series 5
4. New Series 3
5. New Series 2
6. Classic Season 14
7. Classic Season 12
8. Classic Season 13
9. Classic Season 7
10. Classic Season 10
11. Classic Season 5
12. Classic Season 26
13. Classic Season 25
14. Classic Season 19
15. Classic Season 8
16. Classic Season 9
17. Classic Season 16
18. New Series 9
19. Classic Season 2
20. Classic Season 22
21. New Series 8
22. Classic Season 18
23. Classic Season 21
24. New Series 7
25. Classic Season 3
26. Classic Season 1
27. Classic Season 6
28. Classic Season 4
29. New Series 6
30. New Series 10
31. Classic Season 20
32. Classic Season 11
33. New Series 12
34. Classic Season 15
35. Classic Season 17
36. Classic Season 23
37. New Series 11
38. Classic Season 24

Having now revealed and extensively examined the full ranking results of the past 57 years of Doctor Who, it’s time to examine the Doctor Who spin-offs and other media to see how they stack up.

Films

Personal Ranking of the Peter Cushing films                        ★★★☆☆ 

TV Spin-Offs

Personal Ranking of episodes from K-9 & COMPANY (1981)           ★★☆☆☆ 

Personal Ranking of episodes from TORCHWOOD (2006-2011)        ★★★★★

Personal Ranking of episodes from THE SARAH JANE ADVENTURES (2007-2011) ★★★★★

Personal Ranking of episodes from K-9 (2009-10)             ★☆☆☆☆

Personal Ranking of episodes from CLASS (2016)                ★★☆☆☆

For New Viewers

Watching Doctor Who alongside its spin-offs as they were originally broadcast is the best order to first view all of the branches of the oak tree that is Doctor Who. To make things easier, I have included a list here of the entirety of the Doctor Who universe on TV (including the spin-offs Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures) in chronological order to show the continuity. This will help new viewers to watch it all in the right order.

Classic Doctor Who: 1963-1989, 1996

William Hartnell

Classic Doctor Who, Season 1       ★★★★☆

Classic Doctor Who, Season 2       ★★★★☆

Classic Doctor Who, Season 3       ★★★★☆

Patrick Troughton

Classic Doctor Who, Season 4      ★★★★☆

Classic Doctor Who, Season 5      ★★★★★

Classic Doctor Who, Season 6      ★★★★☆

Jon Pertwee

Classic Doctor Who, Season 7      ★★★★★

Classic Doctor Who, Season 8      ★★★★☆

Classic Doctor Who, Season 9      ★★★★☆

Classic Doctor Who, Season 10    ★★★★★

Classic Doctor Who, Season 11     ★★★☆☆

Tom Baker

Classic Doctor Who, Season 12    ★★★★★

Classic Doctor Who, Season 13    ★★★★★

Classic Doctor Who, Season 14    ★★★★★

Classic Doctor Who, Season 15    ★★★☆☆

Classic Doctor Who, Season 16    ★★★★☆

Classic Doctor Who, Season 17    ★★☆☆☆

Classic Doctor Who, Season 18    ★★★★☆

K-9 & Company: A Girl’s Best Friend  ★★☆☆☆

Peter Davison

Classic Doctor Who, Season 19    ★★★★☆

Classic Doctor Who, Season 20    ★★★☆☆

Classic Doctor Who, Season 21    ★★★★☆

Colin Baker

Classic Doctor Who, Season 22    ★★★☆☆

Classic Doctor Who, Season 23    ★★☆☆☆

Sylvester McCoy

Classic Doctor Who, Season 24    ★☆☆☆☆

Classic Doctor Who, Season 25    ★★★★☆

Classic Doctor Who, Season 26     ★★★★★

Paul McGann

The 1996 TV Movie    ★★★☆☆

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObftWPbUPvs&feature=emb_title

New Doctor Who: 2005-present

Christopher Eccleston

New Doctor Who, Series 1    ★★★★★

David Tennant

New Doctor Who, Series 2    ★★★★★

Torchwood, Series 1    ★★★★☆

The Sarah Jane Adventures: Invasion of the Bane   ★★★★☆

New Doctor Who, Series 3    ★★★★★

The Sarah Jane Adventures, Series 1    ★★★★★

Torchwood, Series 2    ★★★★★

New Doctor Who, Series 4    ★★★★★

The Sarah Jane Adventures, Series 2    ★★★★★

New Doctor Who: The Next Doctor, Planet of the Dead    ★★★☆☆

Torchwood, Series 3: Children of Earth  ★★★★★

The Sarah Jane Adventures, Series 3   ★★★★☆

K-9, Series 1    ★☆☆☆☆

New Doctor Who: The Waters of Mars, Dreamland, The End of Time    ★★★★★

Matt Smith

New Doctor Who, Series 5    ★★★★★

The Sarah Jane Adventures, Series 4    ★★★★★

New Doctor Who, Series 6    ★★★☆☆

Torchwood, Series 4: Miracle Day    ★★☆☆☆

The Sarah Jane Adventures, Series 5  ★★★★☆

New Doctor Who, Series 7    ★★★☆☆

• John Hurt

New Doctor Who, 50^th Anniversary Special: The Day of the Doctor    ★★★★★

New Doctor Who: The Time of the Doctor   ★★☆☆☆

Peter Capaldi

New Doctor Who, Series 8   ★★★★☆

New Doctor Who, Series 9  ★★★★☆

Class, Series 1   ★★☆☆☆

New Doctor Who, Series 10  ★★★☆☆

Jodie Whittaker

New Doctor Who, Series 11  ★★☆☆☆

• Jo Martin

New Doctor Who, Series 12   ★★★☆☆

Where is the best place to start watching Doctor Who?

If you wish to watch Doctor Who in the same way as any other TV show, i.e. start at the beginning and work your way through, then that is a perfectly reasonable method. Most episodes of Doctor Who are relatively self-contained stories, meaning a new viewer can start basically at any point in the series history. However, there are (uniquely for such a long-running television programme) multiple, ideal jumping-on points where you can start watching Doctor Who and just continue in broadcast order. Here are a few of them:

CLASSIC DOCTOR WHO

An Unearthly Child (1963) – SEASON 1

The Power of the Daleks (1966) – SEASON 4

The Tomb of the Cybermen (1967) – SEASON 5

Spearhead from Space (1970) – SEASON 7

The Three Doctors (1972-3) – SEASON 10

The Time Warrior (1973-4) – SEASON 11

Robot (1974-5) – SEASON 12

The Deadly Assassin (1976) – SEASON 14

The Leisure Hive (1980) – SEASON 18

The Keeper of Traken (1981) – SEASON 18

The Five Doctors (1983) – SEASON 20

Attack of the Cybermen (1985) – SEASON 22

Remembrance of the Daleks (1988) – SEASON 25

NEW DOCTOR WHO

Rose (2005) – SERIES 1

Blink (2007) – SERIES 3 

The Eleventh Hour (2010) – SERIES 5

The Snowmen (2012) – SERIES 7

Deep Breath (2014) – SERIES 8

The Pilot (2017) – SERIES 10

The Woman Who Fell to Earth (2018) – SERIES 11