Ranking Doctor Who stories and writers

What with the 50th Anniversary last year, I thought it would be fun to sort the Doctor Who stories of the 21st Century into my personal order of preference. I wrote a Python script that repeatedly asked me Is Story A better than Story B? and used my answers as the basis of a binary sort that put the stories in order. The following is completely subjective, and I probably wouldn't even get the same result if I did it again, but here it is anyway.

1. Blink by Steven Moffat
2. The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances by Steven Moffat
3. The Girl in the Fireplace by Steven Moffat
4. Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead by Steven Moffat
5. The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon by Steven Moffat
6. The Time of Angels / Flesh and Stone by Steven Moffat
7. The Rebel Flesh / The Almost People by Matthew Graham
8. The Crimson Horror by Mark Gatiss
9. The Doctor's Wife by Neil Gaiman
10. The Day of the Doctor by Steven Moffat
11. Cold War by Mark Gatiss
12. Midnight by Russell T Davies
13. The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood by Chris Chibnall
14. A Town Called Mercy by Toby Whithouse
15. Human Nature / The Family of Blood by Paul Cornell
16. Night Terrors by Mark Gatiss
17. Asylum of the Daleks by Steven Moffat
18. The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit by Matt Jones
19. Hide by Neil Cross
20. The Name of the Doctor by Steven Moffat
21. Nightmare in Silver by Neil Gaiman
22. The Time of the Doctor by Steven Moffat
23. The Bells of Saint John by Steven Moffat
24. The Angels Take Manhattan by Steven Moffat
25. The Wedding of River Song by Steven Moffat
26. The Eleventh Hour by Steven Moffat
27. The Girl Who Waited by Tom MacRae
28. A Good Man Goes to War by Steven Moffat
29. Let's Kill Hitler by Steven Moffat
30. The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang by Steven Moffat
31. The Unquiet Dead by Mark Gatiss
32. 42 by Chris Chibnall
33. The Power of Three by Chris Chibnall
34. Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS by Steven Thompson
35. Dinosaurs on a Spaceship by Chris Chibnall
36. The God Complex by Toby Whithouse
37. The Doctor's Daughter by Stephen Greenhorn
38. Planet of the Ood by Keith Temple
39. The Vampires of Venice by Toby Whithouse
40. The End of Time by Russell T Davies
41. The Waters of Mars by Russell T Davies and Phil Ford
42. The Stolen Earth / Journey's End by Russell T Davies
43. The Fires of Pompeii by James Moran
44. Utopia / The Sound of Drums / Last of the Time Lords by Russell T Davies
45. Rise of the Cybermen / The Age of Steel by Tom MacRae
46. Amy's Choice by Simon Nye
47. The Snowmen by Steven Moffat
48. The Curse of the Black Spot by Stephen Thompson
49. Victory of the Daleks by Mark Gatiss
50. The Rings of Akhaten by Neil Cross
51. The Unicorn and the Wasp by Gareth Roberts
52. The Sontaran Strategem / The Poison Sky by Helen Raynor
53. The Beast Below by Steven Moffat
54. School Reunion by Toby Whithouse
55. Vincent and the Doctor by Richard Curtiss
56. The Lodger by Gareth Roberts
57. Tooth and Claw by Russell T Davies
58. Dalek by Robert Shearman
59. Closing Time by Gareth Roberts
60. The Shakespeare Code by Gareth Roberts
61. Planet of the Dead by Russell T Davies and Gareth Roberts
62. Daleks in Manhattan / Evolution of the Daleks by Helen Raynor
63. Rose by Russell T Davies
64. Smith and Jones by Russell T Davies
65. Army of Ghosts / Doomsday by Russell T Davies
66. Partners in Crime by Russell T Davies
67. A Christmas Carol by Steven Moffat
68. The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe by Steven Moffat
69. Turn Left by Russell T Davies
70. The Lazarus Experiment by Stephen Greenhorn
71. New Earth by Russell T Davies
72. The Next Doctor by Russell T Davies
73. Bad Wolf / The Parting of the Ways by Russell T Davies
74. The Idiot's Lantern by Mark Gatiss
75. Gridlock by Russell T Davies
76. Father's Day by Paul Cornell
77. The Runaway Bride by Russell T Davies
78. The Christmas Invasion by Russell T Davies
79. Fear Her by Matthew Graham
80. Aliens of London / World War Three by Russell T Davies
81. The Long Game by Russell T Davies
82. Voyage of the Damned by Russell T Davies
83. The End of the World by Russell T Davies
84. Boom Town by Russell T Davies
85. Love & Monsters by Russell T Davies

As you can see, there's a lot of Steven Moffat stories at the top, and a lot of Russel T Davies at the bottom. Also, many of Steven Moffat's best stories were written before he was showrunner - a showrunner has to write more episodes, so they're not always going to be his absolute best. I also sorted the writers in order or the median rank of their stories, and got the following results.

1. Neil Gaiman

   Stories written

   2

   Best

   The Doctor's Wife (9)

   Worst

   Nightmare in Silver (21)

2. Matt Jones

   Stories written

   The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit (18)

3. Steven Moffat

   Stories written

   21

   Best

   Blink (1)

   Worst

   The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe (68)

   Typical

   The Bells of Saint John (23)

4. Mark Gatiss

   Stories written

   6

   Best

   The Crimson Horror (8)

   Worst

   The Idiot's Lantern (74)

   Typical

   Night Terrors (16)

   The Unquiet Dead (31)

5. Chris Chibnall

   Stories written

   4

   Best

   The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood (13)

   Worst

   Dinosaurs on a Spaceship (35)

   Typical

   42 (32)

   The Power of Three (33)

6. Steven Thompson

   Stories written

   Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS (34)

7. Neil Cross

   Stories written

   2

   Best

   Hide (19)

   Worst

   The Rings of Akhaten (50)

8. Tom MacRae

   Stories written

   2

   Best

   The Girl Who Waited (27)

   Worst

   Rise of the Cybermen / The Age of Steel (45)

9. Toby Whithouse

   Stories written

   4

   Best

   A Town Called Mercy (14)

   Worst

   School Reunion (54)

   Typical

   The God Complex (36)

   The Vampires of Venice (39)

10. Keith Temple

    Stories written

    Planet of the Ood (38)

11. Phil Ford

    Stories written

    The Waters of Mars (41)

12. James Moran

    Stories written

    The Fires of Pompeii (43)

13. Matthew Graham

    Stories written

    2

    Best

    The Rebel Flesh / The Almost People (7)

    Worst

    Fear Her (79)

14. Paul Cornell

    Stories written

    2

    Best

    Human Nature / The Family of Blood (15)

    Worst

    Father's Day (76)

15. Simon Nye

    Stories written

    Amy's Choice (46)

16. Stephen Thompson

    Stories written

    The Curse of the Black Spot (48)

17. Stephen Greenhorn

    Stories written

    2

    Best

    The Doctor's Daughter (37)

    Worst

    The Lazarus Experiment (70)

18. Richard Curtiss

    Stories written

    Vincent and the Doctor (55)

19. Helen Raynor

    Stories written

    2

    Best

    The Sontaran Strategem / The Poison Sky (52)

    Worst

    Daleks in Manhattan / Evolution of the Daleks (62)

20. Robert Shearman

    Stories written

    Dalek (58)

21. Gareth Roberts

    Stories written

    5

    Best

    The Unicorn and the Wasp (51)

    Worst

    Planet of the Dead (61)

    Typical

    Closing Time (59)

22. Russell T Davies

    Stories written

    24

    Best

    Midnight (12)

    Worst

    Love & Monsters (85)

    Typical

    Turn Left (69)

    New Earth (71)

A surprise at the top of the list - despite having written 7 of the top 10 episodes on my list, Steven Moffat only comes third on the writers' list. This is because his season opener and finale episodes from his time as showrunner tend to rank a bit lower (although still respectable). It also shows how difficult it is to make the comparison when the number of episodes written varies so much. RTD fans will no doubt be howling with rage that he comes bottom of the list of writers, but despite everything he did for the show, he just so happens to have written more of the episodes I find weak than anybody else. Midnight was very good though, and narrowly missed out on getting into the top 10. One thing that's not surprising is that Steven Moffat's weakest episode was a Christmas Special - Christmas Specials are generally weak. You're free to debate these lists as much as you like. However, please don't try to convince me that Love & Monsters has any redeeming features at all.