Rankings and reviews

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Welcome to the Randomiser

Romana: What is it?

The Doctor: Well, it's called a randomiser and it's fitted to the guidance system and operates under a very complex scientific principle called pot luck.

[The Doctor sets the TARDIS in motion.]

The Doctor: Now no one knows where we're going. Not even the Black Guardian.

Romana: Not even us.

The Armageddon Factor, episode 6

How do you watch Doctor Who?

Doctor Who has been running for over fifty years now. To date, there are more than 850 episodes, something like 300 stories, and (more than?) thirteen Doctors. So, you sit down for a relaxing evening of Doctor Who — how on earth do you decide what to watch?

Because, let's face it: there's a lot of Doctor Who that you wouldn't necessarily choose to watch. Perhaps you cycle endlessly among a few stories from the Hinchcliffe years. Perhaps you've been slowly working your way through from the beginning, terrified of the day when you'll finally have to face the Loose Cannon reconstruction of The Savages. Or perhaps you're just watching Season 17 over and over again, in a fabulous beige, studio-bound chronic hysteretic loop. Whatever your preference, you're probably leaving a lot of your favourite programme appallingly unwatched.

That's where the Randomiser comes in.

Just press the Choose another story button, and the Randomiser will choose a new Doctor Who story for you. And not even you will know where you're going next. Will you find yourself on a post-apocalyptic Earth, matching wits with Humker, Tandrell and a twitchy faceless giant robot? Will you be shrunk to the size of an ant, fighting off domestic cats in a garden somewhere in the Home Counties? Or will you be hurled backwards in time to prehistoric Earth, to be menaced by Antony Ainley in a fatsuit and his fearsome retinue of turd-shaped protein agglomerations?

Who knows?

Extravagant future plans

At the moment, The Randomiser will choose at random a single Doctor Who story for your enjoyment. You can select from the Classic Series, the New Series or both. You can decide to avoid or include certain Doctors. You can make sure it doesn't choose a story that's missing completely, or a story with any missing episodes. If you're pressed for time, you can even choose a maximum length for your story. The Randomiser can also remember the stories it's already chosen, so you can make sure it doesn't choose any of those stories again.

But there's more to come. There are some more features I'm considering implementing, including more reviews and ratings for each story, and maybe some different criteria for choosing stories.

Bit out of practice, but I've had some wonderful feedback

If you want to suggest some useful features I haven't thought of, feel free to tweet me at @dwrandomiser. And I'm always happy to hear any other kind of feedback. How are you using this site? What do you think of the choices it makes for you? What project should I embark upon next?

The Doctor. In the TARDIS. Next stop: everywhere.