All 13 modern Doctor Who seasons ranked from worst to best
8. Series 1
Russell T. Davies and Christopher Eccleston had a difficult task when attempting to reboot Doctor Who in 2005. The show needed to engage longtime fans while also capturing the attention of modern viewers. That required a lot of experimentation and a good bit of info-dumping, which wasn't great for the quality of individual episodes.
The first half of Series 1 is relatively weak, although Eccleston and Billie Piper worked well together. Their personalities clashed in enjoyable ways, and fans were able to gradually get a sense for who both characters were. This period did its job, but it produced few episodes that fans love rewatching.
As the Series went on, however, it abruptly transitioned from bland episodes to incredibly powerful ones. The clash between the Doctor's rage and Rose's empathy in "Dalek" is the magic of the first season, which plays out again each time the Doctor feels he has no choice but to enact violence.
This leads to a strong finale, where Easter Eggs come together, Eccleston performs a great speech, and Rose proves why she deserves to be a companion. In the end, Davies found the perfect balance between fun, pain, and determination, a combination that kept the show going for another 20 years.