The Top Ten NuWho Episodes in Honor of the Tenth Aniversary

Ten years ago today, Doctor Who regenerated (see what I did there) onto our screens with Rose.  Since, four (five if you count the War Doctor) different actors have joined the eight that graced our screens previous to the reboot as one of the greatest characters of all time.

In honor of the 10 year anniversary, what are the 10 best stories since Doctor Who returned?



Everyone will have their own choices for this, of course, but here are mine!  Feel free to tell me where you agree and where you disagree in the comments!



10. ASYLUM OF THE DALEKS (Series 7 Episode 1, Story 226, written by Steven Moffat)

I was torn with what episode would go here.  Also in the running were (in chronological, not necessarily preferential order) DALEK (from series 1), HUMAN NATURE/FAMILY OF BLOOD (from series 3), MIDNIGHT (from series 4), THE STOLEN EARTH/JOURNEY'S END (from series 4), THE ELEVENTH HOUR (from series 5), and THE IMPOSSIBLE ASTRONAUT/DAY OF THE MOON (from series 6).  Any of those would definitely be in the discussing for deserving a spot, but I ultimately went with the season opener from series 7.

We knew this would be the last season for a pair of longstanding and awesome companions, Amy and Rory, and we knew that midway through the season we would get Jenna Coleman as new companion, Clara.  Therefore, it was quite a shock when Jenna Coleman showed up in this episode!  Not only that, but it was awesome to see Daleks from all eras of Doctor Who.  A great opening to a season that wasn't one of the strongest for the show (by the way, the two strongest seasons of NuWho in my opinion are series 8 and series 4).

9.  VINCENT AND THE DOCTOR (Series 5 Episode 10, Story 210, written by Ricard Curtis)

One of the most heart warming and wrenching episodes of all of Doctor Who.  The Doctor and Amy meet Vincent Van Gogh.  One of only three episodes on this list not written by Steven Moffat, this episode was written by Richard Curtis, the only episode of Doctor Who he has written.  He has written a ton of British comedic episodes, including many episodes of Blackadder, Mr. Bean, and The Vicar of Dibley.  He is also the screenwriter of some very well regarded films, including Love, Actually, Four Weddings and a Funeral, and War Horse.  His one foray into Doctor Who is as iconic as anything else that he has done.

8.  TURN LEFT (Series 4 Episode 11, Story 197, written by Russell T. Davies)

The second of the three episodes on this list not written by Steven Moffat, TURN LEFT was written by Russell T. Davies who we have to thank for the return of Doctor Who.  This is an episode that looks at the world that might have been had Donna not met the Doctor.  It also expertly sets up the end of the series and, sadly, the end of Donna's run as one of the best companions the Doctor has ever had.

7.  SILENCE IN THE LIBRARY/FOREST OF THE DEAD (Series 4 Episodes 8-9, Story 195, written by Steven Moffat)

Steven Moffat has done a lot of great things for Doctor Who, but his greatest accomplishment might be introducing two of the greatest characters in the Doctor Who universe.  One of those he introduced in this creepy two part story in the middle of series 4, River Song.  While some people complain about the resolution to the mystery of River Song, there is no denying that the character and the mystery surrounding her captivated viewers.  It was fascinating to see a character from the Doctor's future, one who knew him intimately, but the Doctor, like those of us watching the episode, was meeting her for the first time.

6.  THE EMPTY CHILD/THE DOCTOR DANCES (Series 1 Episodes 9-10, Story 164, written by Steven Moffat)

Unquestionably one of the scariest episodes in Doctor Who history (I would add a couple that are further along in this list as well as Midnight, which just missed the list to the scariest episodes in NuWho history), it also has one of the best conclusions of any storyline.  More importantly, however, is the fact that this story introduces the second of the characters I mentioned during the last story.

This is the story that introduces viewers to Captain Jack Harkness, who would go on to get his own fantastic spinoff, Torchwood.

Also, somehow, Captain Jack is currently in Starling City pretending to be called Malcolm Merlyn (See: Arrow).  That would explain the mystery of how he came back to life, at least.


5.  THE GIRL IN THE FIREPLACE (Series 2 Episode 4, Story 171, written by Steven Moffat)

An episode that beautifully captures the effect the Doctor can have on a person's entire life.  Coming in and out at various times throughout the entirety of the life of Madame du Pompadour (who in real life, share's my birthday, making this a yearly watch for me on my birthday), the Doctor has a profound influence on someone who herself had a profound influence on an entire country.  This is also a perfect episode to introduce someone to how great this show can be (although the one I usually use is still to come on this list).

4.  LISTEN (Series 8 Episode 4, Story 245, written by Steven Moffat)

This is another of the scariest episodes in the show's history.  An outstanding look on the idea of fear itself, LISTEN also manages to tie in some to the overall mythology of the show itself and give viewers an inkling into why the Doctor has spent all that time traveling throughout time and space.  This was also the episode where I got super excited about Peter Capaldi's take on the titular Time Lord.


3.  BLINK (Series 3 Episode 10, Story 186, written by Steven Moffat)

Besides being the first big role for Carey Mulligan who since starred as Daisy in the recent Great Gatsby remake, this is the episode of NuWho that I most often use to show new viewers how great this show can be.  The tensions of the Weeping Angels, one of the scariest monsters in the history of the show, the complexity of the plot, and the perfect explanation of the "timey-wimey" nature of the show of which this episode is just a part make this not only one of the best episodes/stories of NuWho, but one of the best in the entire 50 + year history of the show!

2.  THE DOCTOR'S WIFE (Series 6 Episode 4, Story 216, written by Neil Gaiman)

An episode that delved into the longest running companion of the entirety of the show, the TARDIS herself.  Sci-Fi genius Neil Gaiman (of American Gods, Neverwhere, Stardust, Coraline, Sandman, and much, much more fame) made this the first Doctor Who episode he had ever written, despite being a life long fan of the series.  Of course, there is some history of famous Sci-Fi writers working for the show (see Douglas Adams, he of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy fame).  Gaiman's episode brought back the TARDIS corridors to NuWho, which often made an appearance in Classic Who, and personified the TARDIS herself, leading to some great moments that fans didn't know they needed until they actually happened.

1.  THE DAY OF THE DOCTOR (50th Anniversary Special, Story 240, written by Steven Moffat)

50 years to the day after the show first aired, this special premiered as the largest world-wide simulcast of all time to that point.  Getting back to the heart of who the Doctor really is, this special fixed one of my main problems with NuWho, had a ton of nice Easter Eggs for fans of pre-2005 Doctor Who, and showed exactly how great a meeting of David Tennant's 10th Doctor and Matt Smith's 11th Doctor would be (spoiler alert: exactly as awesome, perhaps even more awesome, as you imagined).  This might be my all-time favorite story in the totality of Doctor Who.  It doesn't hurt (no pun intended) to add such a great actor into the time between the Doctor Who TV Movie featuring the 8th Doctor and the resurgence of Doctor Who that occurred exactly ten years ago today.  Furthermore, this special tied the new series inextricably to the classic series, proving once and for all that the show, despite the hiatus, is still Doctor Who, just like it was on November 23, 1963, just like it was on March 26, 2005, and just like it is today!

Until Next Time, find the majority of these episodes and more on Netflix and celebrate the return to our televisions of Doctor Who with whatever your favorite episodes of the show might be!

Doctor Who, The Doctor's Wife, first thoughts

Sorry, Blink.  Sorry Steven Moffat.  I have a new favorite episode of Doctor Who.

Neil Gaiman's fantastic episode, The Doctor's Wife.

Considering that many of us believe that River could be married to the Doctor, when the title was released, we thought that some more information about the Doctor and River's relationship might be revealed (and I would argue that perhaps it was, but more on that later), or perhaps it might mean that there would be revelation about the Doctor's Time Lord wife, assuming he had one at one point that led to his having a grand daughter, Susan Foreman, who traveled with him when the show began back in 1963.

However, the title seems to be referring to the TARDIS itself, and after travelling together for 700 or so years, the title probably works at least in common law purposes.

House, the junkyard planet outside the universe (voiced brilliantly by Michael Sheen, who played Tony Blair in The Queen and David Frost in Frost/Nixon, and David Frost was, of course, just referenced a couple of episodes ago) lures the Doctor to the planet in order to eat the TARDIS.  First, however, House must remove the matrix from the TARDIS and he places it instead in Idris.

This allows the Doctor and the TARDIS to finally have a face-to-face.

There were many beautiful moments throughout the episode as the Doctor, called My Thief by the TARDIS, and the TARDIS, as always, called Sexy by the Doctor, got to finally have the conversations which for 700 years had been too one sided.

In one fantastic moment, the TARDIS points out that she chose the Doctor as much as he chose the TARDIS, stealing him as much as he stole her.

But the best bit was confirmation of something that I had expected for quite some time.  While the Doctor doesn't always go exactly where (or when) he intends to, the TARDIS always makes sure the Doctor ends up where (and when) he is needed.

(Interestingly enough, another bit of confirmation that we got in this episode was that Time Lords can regenerate into the opposite sex.  Is a female Doctor in the future?)

I also loved that we saw a little more of the TARDIS interior this week, even if it was just a never-ending repetitive corridor.  But the running down those corridors was very reminiscent of Classic Who.

And we also got a return of the TARDIS console from the David Tennant era, so that was nice.

And a TARDIS re-materializing inside that console room.  A TARDIS, incidentally, designed by a young viewer in a contest on the British children's show Blue Peter.

I like to think of it as a TARDIS convertible.

The TARDIS herself was a little out of the regular flow of time, and therefore kept referencing things that hadn't quite occurred yet, such as the smell of rain hitting the dust.

Something she kept repeating as she died might be quite important, "The only water in the forest is the river."

If you did your homework from a few weeks ago, you'll already have re-watched the two part intro of River Song, Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead, so you'll know that River's consciousness is housed, and kept alive, in the Library computer, and you'll know that the Library is referenced as a forest.  Therefore, the line "the only water in a forest is the river" signifies to me that perhaps River's future isn't as bleak as it appears to be from our standpoint.

Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon really highlighted the anguish that River was feeling, since every new experience in her and the Doctor's relationship from the Doctor's perspective is actually the last from her perspective.  And she knows that one day she will see the Doctor and he will have no idea who she is, and she has said that that might just kill her.  We, of course, know that in a way it does.  But maybe it doesn't have to.

Her consciousness is still alive, so maybe there is some hope.  The Doctor saved her consciousness by placing it in the Library, not knowing how important she would become to him, maybe after he knows how important she is to him, he will be able to revive her in some other way and they will finally be able to continue their relationship in a more linear fashion.

Considering that River is in prison for killing a good man and an upcoming episode is entitled A Good Man Goes to War, which is also the mid-series finale, I have a feeling that very soon a lot more about the River/Doctor relationship will be clear to us.

I can't wait to see what happens next.

For an episode of the past to rewatch, I recommend School Reunion, which will give you a chance to remember Sarah Jane Smith but also features a great moment between Sarah Jane and Rose where they talk about the Doctor's relationship with the TARDIS, and, if you can get your hands on it (it has been released on DVD), The War Games, the last story of the second doctor.  It is the story where the name Time Lord is revealed and it is the only other story to include the distress cubes shown in this episode.

Until Next Time, seriously, I believe that was my favorite episode of Doctor Who ever.  Thank you, Neil Gaiman.

Look Behind You

As we get closer to the beginning of Season 6 (or 33 if you go back all the way to the classic Who) of Doctor Who, more and more material is coming out in regards to the show.

Recently, the BBC released a 1:48 web exclusive prequel written by Stephen Moffat and set in the Oval Office to set the tone for the upcoming season, and specifically the two part opening episodes, The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon.

These episodes will be set in (and for the first time ever for Doctor Who) shot in the United States.

Another big announcement that happened recently was that the BBC let slip the title for the Neil Gaiman (he of Stardust, Coraline, and Sandman fame) penned episode of this season of Doctor Who, which will be the fourth to air.  And that title is...


*POSSIBLE SPOILERS*


The Doctor's Wife



Which brings up all sorts of possibilities.

Until Next Time, we are getting closer and closer to April 23 and the new season of Doctor Who.  Remember to join in the conversation here if you are a fan of the show as after each episode we will dive in to the adventures of the last Time Lord.