DOOMSDAY
Edging its way into the Top 10 is the series 2 finale where we bid farewell to the 2005 revival’s first companion. Picking up from predecessor “The Army of Ghosts,” “Doomsday” kicks off with a battle between the Daleks and Cybermen and the dialogue exchange we’d all been waiting for – “We would destroy the Cybermen with one Dalek! You are superior in only one respect.” “What is that?” “You are better at dying.” The Cult of Skaro unleash millions of Daleks, and humans are massacred in the crossfire. In order to prevent the destruction of Earth, The Doctor and Rose open the void and end the war at a great cost.
Well, you know the rest. The star-crossed lovers are separated in the parallel universes with no way of reconciling (well, not for another two series anyway). The Doctor burns up a sun “just to say goodbye,” for a genuinely harrowing closing scene. And frankly, the episode deserves its place just for those last five minutes. From the imagery of the two lost lovers clinging to the walls that separate them to The Doctor’s long lost “I love you” on Bad Wolf Bay, “Doomsday” is an iconic adventure that broke the hearts of many Doctor Who fans. |
THE BIG BANG
After the universe ending in “The Pandorica Opens,” you might have been expecting a war against the assorted nasties of time and space. Instead, we got a relatively quiet four-hander which largely confined itself to a museum. The previous weeks’ cliffhanger was quickly tied up and the focus turned to rebooting the Universe and restoring everything that had fallen through the cracks. Armed with a mop, a fez, and the ultimate prison, The Doctor saves the day – but wipes himself from history in the process. The cleverest use of wedding day rituals you will EVER see restore him, and just in time to dance like your uncle at the Ponds’ wedding!
A puzzle box of a story ties the series together in a beautiful bow, while still leaving a few threads of intrigue. The genius writing, stylish directing and compelling acting make “The Big Bang” the highest ranking finale on this list. |
THE DOCTOR DANCES
The concluding part to John Barrowman’s Doctor Who debut is spine-tingling, heart-warming and rib-tickling all within the space of 45 minutes (and often all at the same time). As the mysterious gas mask zombies multiply and advance, The Doctor and Rose track down an alien spacecraft which contains the answers to both Jack and Nancy’s deepest secrets. The fraudulent ship Captain Jack intended to sell contained nanogenes, which tried to heal a dying Jamie and created the “virus.”
Owing a lot to both fairytales and genre horror, “The Doctor Dances” is terrifying and troubling, yet touching. Barrowman’s energetic performance landed him his own spin-off series and regular reappearances throughout Russel T. Davies’ tenure, but acting props must also go to Billie Piper and Christopher Eccleston who lay the groundwork for series 2’s love story with their compelling chemistry. Still giving children nightmares to this day, the Gas Mask Zombies are one of the most memorable monsters and their origins are just as memorable as their disturbing appearance. |
THE DOCTOR’S WIFE
One of the most anticipated stories for years, “The Doctor’s Wife” was penned by acclaimed Coraline writer Neil Gaiman. When The Doctor, Amy and Rory are drawn outside of the Universe by Time Lord distress calls, they find themselves on a living planet which uses its inhabitants as puppets. The episode then answers the cry of many a fanfiction as the TARDIS is personified. What follows plays out much like one of Gaiman’s novels, with all of the gothic atmosphere, horrific dread and quirky humour we’d come to expect from the man who brought us Stardust and The Graveyard Book.
This star-appointment is by no means a headline grabber, though. Neil is a life-long Doctor Who fan and spent two years crafting this script into the genius it became. Suranne Jones gives a riveting performance as Idris, flicking between outrageous flirting with The Doctor and frustration at being trapped inside a human mind at the drop of a hat. Fingers crossed Neil Gaiman writes for the show again, because “The Doctor’s Wife” is a sheer triumph. Article Continues Below |
FOREST OF THE DEAD
It’s almost strange now, looking back at “The Forest of The Dead” and “Silence in the Library” – knowing all we do about River Song. Back then she was a mystery, as much a stranger to us as she was to David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor. But looking back (having seen the rest of her life played out with Eleven), her exit is made all the more poignant.
A surprising amount of “Forest” is set within CAL’s virtual world, where we find out the consequences of Donna being saved from the library. As the Vashta Nerada begin to pick off the expedition crew one by one, The Doctor has several lives on his hands and he won’t be able to save everyone this time. When River chooses to sacrifice herself to save the others, we’re given a tearful farewell to a woman The Doctor doesn’t know yet. That her death is so poignant and heartbreaking when we’ve barely known her an hour and a half is testament to Moffat’s writing, and fully justifies his appointment as showrunner which was announced just before broadcast. |
THE EMPTY CHILD
When a metal cylinder crashes to Earth, The Doctor and Rose chase it to London during the Blitz. There, they encounter a mysterious gas mask-clad child who is asking for his “Mummy.” The “gas mask zombie” displays its mysterious telekinetic powers and chases caring orphan Nancy through the war torn streets of London with Rose, The Doctor and Time Agent Jack hot on it’s heels.
This episode introduces John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness, a role which he has since become synonymous with. While Jack may be a humourous bachelor, tension and horror drive this episode – and there are bucket loads of both throughout. From the light flickering menace of the young child to Nancy’s terror at her supernatural stalker, “The Empty Child” strikes the perfect balance between heart break, emotion, sci-fi themes and so much more. |
THE GIRL IN THE FIREPLACE
“The Girl in the Fireplace” presents one of the most unique concepts we’ve seen in Doctor Who. A futuristic spaceship is tied to the French house of a young Madame de Pompadour via the future chief mistress’ bedroom fireplace. The Doctor weaves in and out of her life and helps fight off mysterious Clockwork Robots who haunt her. The episode is an ambitious love story which explores the heart-break and anguish that knowing The Doctor can bring. A tragic ending brings the story full circle and rounds off a beautiful biopic of one of history’s most interesting figures.
The imagination and fairy-tale qualities of “The Girl In The Fireplace” bring a unique twist to the format, and the self-contained story could easily fill a feature length movie. When The Doctor realizes Reinette has passed, his crippling sorrow is evident. After Tennant and Myle’s bubbling chemistry, we really feel the character’s loss and anguish. He’s got a knack for choosing women with habits of disappearing under tragic circumstances. |
SILENCE IN THE LIBRARY
The biggest library in the universe provides a surprisingly eerie backdrop for River Song’s final outing. When she and a team of explorers come face to face with The Doctor and Donna, she is hurt to see that the former hasn’t met her yet. Pitted against the psychological trickery of the Vashta Nerada (“count the shadows”), the team set up their defenses and begin to venture around the library. But as they go deeper into its shelves, Miss Evangelista is killed and mourned in a harrowing scene where her “echo” confesses her fears to Donna.
The high concept sci-fi and boggling mystery of River Song contribute towards a compelling episode that has all of the makings of a Doctor Who classic. While it may not quite reach the danger of “The Stolen Earth,” the cliffhanger in “Silence in the Library” is genuinely graphic and surely disturbing to the children watching. Moffat is known for his terror, and it doesn’t get much scarier than this. |
VINCENT AND THE DOCTOR
A deep and hard-hitting character study into the haunted life of Vincent Van Gough provides the best historical figure episode in Doctor Who‘s history (and that’s saying something, as we’ve seen a lot of them). When Amy and The Doctor visit him, the painter is a broken man with a load of “useless” paintings and no respect from his peers. The events of “Vincent and the Doctor” may be laced with humourous one-liners, but the madness and Greek-style tragedy of his character is deeply affecting and eventually touching.
The wobbly CGI chicken monster could well be all that denied Richard Curtis’ Who debut from reaching the top spot, as everything else was pitch perfect. From the allusions to Amy’s sadness at having lost (and forgotten) Rory, to Vincent’s screaming fits of craze and rage, “Vincent and the Doctor” brings the character-driven emotion to a beautiful episode with magic and charm aplenty. |
BLINK
Well, no surprises there then. Easily topping the poll with over 68% of you choosing it as your favorite, Steven Moffat’s 2007 masterpiece adds our list to another of its victories. But the constant lauding from fans, critics and award voters shouldn’t make anyone complacent about the merits that “Blink” has. There’s a reason The Moff occupies seven places of the top 10 – his intricate plotting and sharp dialogue set him above the rest of Doctor Who‘s writers. It’s ironic, really, that a “Doctor-lite” episode should be chosen as the fan favourite episode about the 900 year old time traveller. Again though, that’s just testament to the characters of Sally Sparrow and Larry Nightingale; they can breathe without the Time Lord.
Star-to-be Carey Mulligan gives an understated performance as Sally, never letting the character veer into melodrama but still providing all of the passion and emotional investment we require from a lead. But it’s the Weeping Angels that “Blink” owes the majority of its success to. We’ve gushed enough about them in the past, but the fact that they regularly top Best Monsters polls just goes to show how much “Blink” and the Angels owe (and compliment) each other. Oh, by the way, don’t look at the image to the right for too long. That which takes the image of an Angel becomes itself an Angel. Sleep well! |
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