The Wrinkly Appreciation Index

Adding in "A Christmas Carol"!

The Pandorica Opens 92
The Time of Angels 86
Vincent and the Doctor 85
The Eleventh Hour 85
Flesh & Stone 84
The Big Bang 83
The Lodger 82
Amy's Choice 80
A Christmas Carol 79
The Vampires of Venice 78
Cold Blood 77
The Hungry Earth 73
The Beast Below 69
Victory of the Daleks 58

Interesting. Very interesting.

Extrapolating further, the weighted results when 2 parters are combined comes out as:

1st. The Pandorica Opens 87
2nd. Vincent and the Doctor 86 (recalculated up)
3rd. The Time of Angels 85
4th. The Eleventh Hour 85
5th. The Lodger 82
6th. Amy's Choice 80
7th. A Christmas Carol 79
8th. The Vampires of Venice 78
9th. The Hungry Earth 75
10th. The Beast Below 69
11th. Victory of the Daleks 58


And NOW compare this to the top three results, which were:

1st. The Eleventh Hour 20pts
2nd. Vincent and the Doctor 19pts
3rd. The Lodger 10pts
4th. Amy's Choice 7pts
5th. The Pandorica Opens 6pts
6th=.The Beast Below 2pts
6th=.Time of Angels 2pts

Completely different methodology I know but..........

And then take a deep breath and go for a lie down.

*lies down as rankings swirl around before his eye like little fireflys*

Do you know how far different we are from GB, Tony?

Actually, that's something I'd be interested to know too, stan.

Not a clue I'm afraid chaps. Don't venture into the rate threads there. Too horrible for words.

However, I'll do some calculations when I get a chance.

Probably very, very wise of you not to risk it, old fellow. I imagine the rate threads over there are bloodbaths.

OK, here's how the 14 episodes score at GB using the Wrinkly Appreciation Index. The score variation is in italics.

The Pandorica Opens 90 -2
The Time of Angels 87+1
The Big Bang 87 +4
Flesh & Stone 86 +2
The Eleventh Hour 84 -1
Vincent and the Doctor 84 -1
Amy's Choice 81 +1
A Christmas Carol 79 =
The Lodger 76 -6
Cold Blood 75 -2
The Hungry Earth 74 +1
The Vampires of Venice 74 -4
The Beast Below 73 +4
Victory of the Daleks 64 +6

To be honest they're very similar. The bottom 2 ranked, plus The Big Bang, score higher at GB, while we have greater regard for Vampires of Venice (+4) and The Lodger (+6). Apart from them, there's little more than a fag paper between the numbers.

I'll look at story rankings later when I have the time.

Now that is very interesting. Can we now draw the conclusion that for all the histrionic shirt-rending and vitriolic gnashing of teeth that takes place over on GB, that actually there's a solid core of rationality at play?

If so, I fear my view of the universe has suffered a serious knock!

Trouble is, and to be fair this was also the case at OG & DWF, the naysayers always shout loud and play dirty, whilst the vast majority sit back, on the whole, content and enjoying the programme.

The crap and vitriol was what drove us here in the first place back in 2008, and I don't think anything's changed. Hence why I avoid the episode threads at GB like an Eocene plague.

Excellent points. It really is amazing/alarming just how easy it is for a small and vocal hostile element can so easily distort the overall tone of a site like OG/GB.

A pity really, since it must put many potential people off joining in and becoming an active part of fandom.

And the Index continues with Series 6, starting with:

The Impossible Astronaut 79

A damned encouraging start to the new series.

Interestingly, exactly the same as A Christmas Carol. Updates will continue over the coming weeks.

Interesting indeed. I'll be following progress with a keen eye.

Encouraging? I think that score puts it in the bottom half of the Matt Smith era - and rightly so!

The Smith era average is 79.5, so it's right in the middle.

Which is why it's encouraging. It's still early days for the Smith era and so the fact that it's in the middle isn't at all bad.

This week's update:

Day of the Moon 80
The Impossible Astronaut 79



One other little side note. The Wrinkly Index for the combined story is 78. With rounding this is statistically so close to the individual episodes that it suggests that the whole was, indeed, the sum of the two parts.

That result sounds fittingly Moffian.

Pirates clearly didn''t cut the mustard with Wrinklydom.

Day of the Moon 80
The Impossible Astronaut 79
The Curse of the Black Spot 63

Is it the first story not to get a 5/5 from anyone?

Yes, I do believe that is the case. Although its rating is still 5 wrinkly points higher than Victory of the Daleks.

A staggering rating for Neil Gaiman's vision of Who.

The Doctor's Wife 97
Day of the Moon 80
The Impossible Astronaut 79
The Curse of the Black Spot 63