59 episodes (46 stories), 7 specials. It's all based on my personal taste (which in some cases has altered from my original reviews), but do you agree with my order? Feel free to offer your own Top 10's in the comments below:
46. "Love & Monsters" (series 2, w: Russell T. Davies)
Atrocious Doctor-lite filler starring comedian Peter Kay in a green fat-suit (the result of a Blue Peter kid's competition), complete with an epilogue sex-joke about oral sex with a paving slab. Music by E.L.O. The nadir of nu-Who.
45. Fear Her (series 2, w: Matthew Graham)
Nonsensical claptrap about a little girl in suburbia whose drawings come to life, featuring a very stupid "scribble monster" and The Doctor running with the 2012 Olympic Torch.
44. Rose (series 1, w: Russell T. Davies)
Considering this was the very first episode of RTD's tenure, it's a wonder the audience bothered to tune in for episode 2. Man-eating, burping wheelie-bins. Enough said. Quite why RTD decided to pay homage to the man-eating sofa from the classic era is beyond anyone's comprehension.
43. Aliens Of London / World War Three (series 1, w: Russell T. Davies)
This is the first episode of kid's spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures, at least in spirit. An alien invasion plot featuring flatulent, baby-faced aliens and a pig in a space-suit. Bleugh.
42. Boom Town (series 1, w: Russell T. Davies)
Unwanted sequel to the above stinker, partly rescued by a great scene with The Doctor and an alien Slitheen in a restaurant, but otherwise a big waste of time.
41. The End Of The World (series 1, w: Russell T. Davies)
Not too terrible, but still evidence of the show finding its feet in the early days. Also included the first sign of RTD's ability to make you cringe when Britney Spears' "Toxic" accompanied the destruction of planet Earth.
40. The Long Game (series 1, w: Russell T. Davies)
A very '80s-feel to this episode, featuring a toothy alien turd hanging from the ceiling that's apparently in charge of a frosty-looking Simon Pegg.
39. Voyage Of The Damned (special, w: Russell T. Davies)
Abominable festive special that ripped-off that Futurama episode featuring a spaceship equivalent of the Titanic. Also featuring Antipodean popstar Kylie Minogue, who kindly reminds us why her film career peaked with Street Fighter.
38. The Doctor's Daughter (series 4, w: Stephen Greenhorn)
There's a good idea hidden in here somewhere, but the twist-ending didn't really land its punch and the title was another annoying tease – although, rather worryingly, the coda means there's another potential spin-off for The Doctor's genetic progeny, if the kids ever grow bored of Sarah Jane.
37. New Earth (series 2, w: Russell T. Davies)
The first true adventure for Billie Piper and David Tennant, involving space-cat nuns, the unwanted return of fleshy trampette Cassandra and the unintentionally hilarious Face Of Boe (whose lack of facial expression I always thought meant "Boe" was short for "Botox".)
36. Partners In Crime (series 4, w: Russell T. Davies)
Actually, this was an okay reintroduction of Donna (toned down from the shrieking caricature we met in "Runaway Bride"), although everything was so formulaic it was possibly scripted via a Final Draft add-on.
35. Gridlock (series 3, w: Russell T. Davies)
An ode to Douglas Adams; good intentions, a few fun visuals, but ultimately an implausible and ridiculous idea of people stuck in a planet-wide traffic jam that's lasted decades.
34. School Reunion (series 2, w: Toby Whithouse)
A sub-Buffy episode featuring Buffy alumnus Anthony Head, only really worth watching for the return of Sarah Jane Smith and K9 the robot dog for old-school fans.
33. 42 (series 3, w: Chris Chibnall)
Another episode that followed a predictable formula aboard a spaceship with yet another masked alien stalking corridors. Very forgettable.
32. Daleks In Manhattan / Evolution Of The Daleks (series 3, w: Helen Raynor)
Again, there's a good idea in here somewhere – particularly the idea of a Dalek evolving itself to humanoid form – but this two-parter felt messy and again overegged the pudding with "pig men". Some hideously clichéd New Yoik accents, too.
31. The Lazarus Experiment (series 3, w: Stephen Greenhorn)
A rather perfunctory episode, really, but there was modest entertainment in this tale of a decrepit scientist who uses technology to restore his youth... only to become a crab-like monster. Mark Gatiss' performance and some decent effects make it worthwhile.
30. Rise Of The Cybermen / The Age Of Steel (series 2, w: Tom MacRae)
It was a nice idea to bring back the Cybermen in a parallel universe, so you can rewrite their back-story and update their design (er, to include flared trousers?), but while these episodes were quite fun, the metal men lacked menace. Star Trek basically stole the Cybermen idea and updated them to be far more interesting and threatening. You may know them as The Borg.
29. The Idiot's Lantern (series 2, w: Mark Gatiss)
Expectations were high for Mark Gatiss' script, as he made such a good impression with "The Unquiet Dead" in series 1, but this just didn't click. A '50s-set episode where the enemy was inside television signals, hoping to gain a foothold thanks to the Queen's Coronation broadcast – it sounds better in your imagination.
28. Planet Of The Ood (series 4, w: Keith Temple)
Sometimes you suspect episodes are written purely to put expensive alien makeup to good use, because I don't know anyone who wanted to see more of the Ood. Still, this episode was pretty decent and developed the aliens quite well. Indeed, they become rather important figures in the Who mythology.
27. Smith And Jones (series 3, w: Russell T. Davies)
Easily the best premiere, this episode slickly introduced Martha Jones as the new companion (someone less naïve than Rose), and the idea of dumping a hospital on the Moon is the kind of crazy idea that seems to work on Doctor Who. Good fun.
26. The Unicorn And The Wasp (series 4, w: Gareth Roberts)
Agatha Christie episode that had great fun weaving many murder-mystery clichés and tropes through your standard Who plot. Not quite as good as it might have been, but a fun little episode.
25. Planet Of The Dead (special, ws: Russell T. Davies & Gareth Roberts)
It's difficult to engage with emotionally, but this special episode about an London double-decker finding itself transported through a wormhole to an alien desert planet was still good fun. A similarly incongruous idea to the "Smith & Jones" hospital-on-the-moon premise, no? I liked Michelle Ryan as the temporary companion, too – but hated her being a cat burglar.
24. The Next Doctor (special, w: Russell T. Davies)
Perfectly enjoyable and fun Christmas episode, and the payoff to an extensive "tease campaign" that co-star David Morrissey would be taking over from David Tennant in the role. A far better use of the Cybermen, with a steam-punk ending involving a giant robot trashing Victorian London that delivered some thrills.
23. The Sontaran Stratagem / The Poison Sky (series 4, w: Helen Raynor)
A welcome return for the Sontarans (the potato-headed villains many children giggled at during the classic run of Who), who were given a pretty healthy reboot here. The storyline made enough sense, the makeup was fantastic for the villains, The Doctor was on top-form, it’s always fun when UNIT are involved, and I generally had a lot of fun with this.
22. The Shakespeare Code (series 3, w: Gareth Roberts)
An episode that benefitted from filming in the reconstructed Globe Theatre, this was another of Who's historical episodes where famous faces (in this case William Shakespeare) get to help The Doctor defeat the week's nemesis (in this case, witches). Good fun, actually.
21. Tooth And Claw (series 2, w: Russell T. Davies)
A werewolf in Victorian Scotland, featuring Queen Victoria herself, with some clever blurring of reality and fiction. This episode also setup the entire Torchwood mythos, featured arguably The Mill's best CGI creature yet, and was a basically a good yarn with great atmosphere.
20. Bad Wolf / The Parting Of The Ways (series 1, w: Russell T. Davies)
Alright, the first part is plain awful with its immediately dated parodies of reality TV (Big Brother, The Weakest Link), but the second part finale was very good. It was the first time we saw the true might of nu-Who's effects budget in a full-on Dalek attack, the resolution to the story made sense of series 1's Bad Wolf leitmotif, and Christopher Ecclestone regenerated into David Tennant to cap the comeback year. Bravo!
19. The End Of Time: Part One / The End Of Time: Part Two (special, w: Russell T. Davies)
Similarly to the preceding two-parter, this was a very mixed bag with a terrible first part – but part 2 just about rescued things, and there was plenty to enjoy. It was self-indulgent and nonsensical, but you can't deny the death of Tennant's Doctor was an emotive event that will linger in kid's memories for many years to come.
18. The Runaway Bride (special, w: Russell T. Davies)
Sometimes overlooked, because Catherine Tate's performance was incredibly irritating its in raw form, but The Runaway Bride is actually a very solid Christmas special if you can look past brash Donna. The Queen of Racnoss must rank as one of nu-Who's more imaginative creatures, and the stakes felt quite fresh and easily understood for once.
17. The Christmas Invasion (special, w: Russell T. Davies)
It's bizarre that this episode worked so well, seeing as the newly-regenerated Doctor didn't appear for very long. But moments worked so well that RTD reused them the following year (the killer Christmas tree, the robot Santas), and the style of mind-control used by the invading aliens would be recycled for Torchwood's "Children Of Earth", too. It also gave us The Doctor's lopped off hand, which would later pay a prominent part in series 4's finale...
16. Utopia / The Sound Of Drums / Last Of The Time Lords (series 3, w: Russell T. Davies)
Another flawed finale, but I absolutely adore how RTD revealed The Master's identity with Derek Jacobi. That whole sequence is a highlight of nu-Who (you could hear the fans squeeing with delight as it aired), and despite the fact the subsequent episodes included some terrible moments (the aged, goblin-like Doctor, or The Master being thwarted thanks to.. well, "faith" in his Christ-like nemesis), I still kind of enjoy John Simm's impish performance as the Moriarty to The Doctor's Sherlock.
15. The Stolen Earth / Journey's End (series 4, w: Russell T. Davies)
Okay, these episodes were very guilty of going completely overboard, finding a way to unite every character from every nu-Who spin-off, then setting up a threat that was "the end of reality itself". But, it was kind of irresistible in its extravagance, the restyle of Dalek creator Davros was brilliant, and part 1's cliffhanger (The Doctor, apparently fatally wounded and regenerating) had the nation gripped and gossiping all week.
14. Army Of Ghosts / Doomsday (series 2, w: Russell T. Davies)
There's a trend appearing, in how the first parts of most finale's are quite terrible. Yes, "Army Of Ghosts" isn't great, but it was rescued by the brilliant cliffhanger of surviving Daleks emerging from that Void Ship, and then "Doomsday" made many fans happy with its Cyberman vs. Dalek fights. But more than that, this episode's resolution actually made complete sense (both metal enemies sucked back into their respective dimensions because they were covered in residual inter-dimensional energy), and the beautiful farewell to Rose in the denouement was perfect.
13. Turn Left (series 4, w: Russell T. Davies)
It’s an old sci-fi staple, but seeing Donna live an alternative life, where The Doctor doesn't exist and humanity is thus battered by all manner of invading extra-terrestrials, was handled very nicely. The return of Rose worked well, too, as she helped Donna restore the timeline.
12. The Waters Of Mars (special, w: Russell T. Davies & Phil Ford)
The basic setup felt old-hat (remote station, alien menace on the loose, ignorant humans for The Doctor to protect and marvel over), but it helped that the alien "Flood" were genuinely unnerving enemies, the atmosphere was palpable, and the final 20-minutes took the episode, and The Doctor, into some startling fresh emotional territory. A shame this new, megalomaniac version of The Doctor wasn't allowed a few more outings on-screen before his demise.
11. The Unquiet Dead (series 1, w: Mark Gatiss)
The first ever nu-Who episode that delivered on the promise of more Doctor Who. Why is it episodes tend to work better when they're set in the past? I daresay it's because the BBC are adept at bringing British history to life, which definitely helped this episode. Simon Callow as Charles Dickens? Perfect. Dickens helping The Doctor defeat aliens that need dead hosts to survive. A great idea. Fun, spooky sci-fi.
10. Father's Day (series 1, w: Paul Cornell)
The most emotional episode of nu-Who's first series, as Rose defies The Doctor and changes time so that her father isn't killed in a traffic accident. Okay, so the winged creatures that descend to patch-up the timeline don't make a lick of sense, and have never been referred to again, but the soul of this episode was in having Rose meet her father for the first time, and the heartbreaking resolution (while predictable) was masterfully handled.
9. Dalek (series 1, w: Robert Shearman)
A highlight of that fledgling year: our first look at The Doctor's greatest enemy, a Dalek. What made this episode so great was how it made these ambulant "pepper pots" into a formidable foe again, after years of ridicule in pop-culture. They can fly up stairs! They dissolve pesky bullets! They open doors and suck your face off with their "sink plunger" limbs! Even better, it gave the Dalek in question a real sense of identity and a clear character arc, while also laying the seeds of the "Time War". Great storytelling.
8. The Fires Of Pompeii (series 4, w: James Moran)
Can The Doctor change the past, to avert a terrible disaster? Sure, it's an old chestnut for any time-travel sci-fi to tackle, but "The Fires Of Pompeii" did a very good job, and the aliens lurking in Mount Vesuvius were a sight to behold. Indeed, this entire episode was a visual delight – both in terms of visual effects, and through the location shooting in Italy. A really good, gripping story.
7. The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit (series 2, w: Matt Jones)
So good, it's basically been remade a few times since (see "42" and "The Waters Of Mars"), but this tense horror where The Doctor eventually discovered "Satan" deep underground was a marvellous mix of creeps, claustrophobia and excellent special-effects.
6. Midnight (series 4, w: Russell T. Davies)
It's ironic that Russell T. Davies' best episode is by far his most restrictive and insular. A simple, spooky tale where a group of tourists are trapped inside a shuttle, shielded from the outside world, only to discover than an unnamed entity has infiltrated their craft and possessed a woman. A truly great Twilight Zone-esque instalment, where The Doctor finds himself disbelieved as cabin fever takes grip.
5. The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances (series 1, w: Steven Moffat)
The first two-part episode that really justified the extended running time and gave everyone their first taste of Steven Moffat (a man who, up until that point, was best known as a comedy writer.) Set in World War II during the Blitz, it featured a creepy boy in a gas-mask constantly enquiring "are you mummy?" and the idea of infectious bodily injuries. Imaginative, compelling, smart and gripping from beginning to end. No wonder Moffat became RTD's successor.
4. Silence In The Library / Forest Of The Dead (series 4, w: Steven Moffat)
Moffat again, turning in another inventive story about a planet-sized library that mixed Scooby Doo-style thrills into a story whose direction was completely unpredictable. And that's the key to Moffat's work: you actually have to use your brain a bit, but it's worth it for the pay-off. It also setup a companion called River Song that The Doctor has yet to meet in his timeline, and as a testament to how strong Moffat's work is – I grinned more at The Doctor opening the TARDIS door with a finger snap than is perhaps healthy.
3. The Girl In The Fireplace (series 2, w: Steven Moffat)
Steven Moffat loves episodes involving time-travel and romance, and this is probably the best example of that. The premise alone is a beauty; as The Doctor discovers a futuristic ship containing time portals back to 18th-century France, which are being used by clockwork droids to travel back to kill Madame de Pompadoure. Owing something of a debt Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife, this was a charming and very moving story. Beautiful, clever, witty and ingenious.
2. Human Nature / The Family Of Blood (series 3, w: Paul Cornell)
A rare example of Doctor Who adapting a New Adventures novel for the small-screen, the success of this two-parter makes you wonder why RTD didn't do the same thing again. This was a superb episode, with The Doctor escaping a seemingly unstoppable foe by transforming himself into a human, erasing his memory, and living as an affable schoolteacher in the early-2oth century – with companion Martha as the only person aware of his deception.
The family of villains who eventually find the Doctor were an unusual, interesting bunch, but the real kicker here was the climactic moments where teacher "John Smith" faced an agonizing choice: whether or not he should turn his back on his human life and the love of a good woman, to reassert his Time Lord identity to save the day. Absolutely fantastic from start to finish with fine performances from Tennant and guest-star Jessica Hynes.
1. Blink (series 3, w: Steven Moffat)
You may have noticed that I hold Steven Moffat in high regard, as all of his episodes make my Top 10. The great thing is, my taste feels totally justified. He has yet to disappoint me. "Blink" is still my absolute favourite episode of nu-Who, which is quite extraordinary given the fact it barely features The Doctor at all! No, actress Carey Mulligan takes the lead as Sally Sparrow in this episode, which concerns living statues ("The Weeping Angels") that only move to attack you when you have your eyes closed, or blink. And if they touch you? Well, you're zapped back in time to live out your existence in the past.
Carey Mulligan's performance is first-rate (indeed, she's now touted as the next big thing in British cinema, having wowed critics in An Education last year), and fans begged for her to become The Doctor's fulltime companion. There's little chance of that now, sadly -- but it's heartening to see the Who fan-base recognize talent when they see it. The episode itself is pure genius and, one or two nitpicks aside, pretty robust in its temporal back-flips. Very scary, incredibly involving, and just beautifully put together. If you have any friends who turn their nose up when you mention Doctor Who – show them "Blink". It's not just one of the best Doctor Who episodes ever, it's one of the best science-fiction episodes ever.
So, in my opinion that all means...
The best Russell T. Davies-penned episode was "Midnight"
The best Steven Moffat-penned episode was "Blink"
The best premiere was "Smith & Jones"
The best finale was "Army Of Ghosts"/"Doomsday"
The best special was "The Waters Of Mars"
The best Christmas special was "The Christmas Invasion"
The best Dalek episode was "Dalek"
The best two-parter was "Human Nature"/"The Family Of Blood"
The best series 1 episode was "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances"
The best series 2 episode was "The Girl In The Fireplace"
The best series 3 episode was "Human Nature"/"The Family Of Blood"
The best series 4 episode was "Silence In The Library"/"Forest Of The Dead"
