30 The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang

Series 5 Episode 12-13

Doctor: 11th

Companion: Amy Pond, Rory Williams, River Song

First aired: 19th and 26th June 2010

Writer: Steven Moffat

Matt Smith's first series as the Doctor finished with a bang, quite literally, in a timey-wimey story that concluded the series-long arc, while laying the foundations for the rest of the Smith era. Summoned to Stonehenge in roman Britain by River Song, the Doctor discovers the Pandorica, a prison for the most deadly being in the universe, and it's opening, bringing hoards of the Doctor's enemies to see it. There's so much happening in this story and it's the kind of thing only Steven Moffat's brain could make sense of! The coincidences around Amy are a great set-up for the story, and the use of Stonehenge as the location makes it immediately memorable a visual. The Cyber Guard chasing Amy was terrifying, and I loved Rory returning to save her! The Big Bang is a bit of a headfuck but it ties everything together really well, and even on rewatches, I find myself forgetting how one or two of the plot strands are resolved because everything happens in the wrong order...! It's a great finale for the 11th Doctor too, and Matt Smith gets to show off his range, from his speech to the spaceships, to the delicate farewell to Amy in the Pandorica and his bedside monologue with young Amelia as the timeline unravels. It's a superb conclusion to an excellent, magical series, and unquestionably Smith's best finale. (and River Song as Cleopatra is a hoot)

Ah my fave Who story! The first episode is amazing and followed up by some great timey wimey stuff!

Series 5 In general doesn’t put a foot wrong and culminates in an epic final!

Edited January 20Jan 20 by ElectroBoy

TPO/TBB were a great finale to what was essentially a great series, the idea that all the doctors greatest enemies united to defeat him was an interesting idea (shame they were all basically defeated in 2 seconds) and the return of Arthur Daville as Rory was welcome and well done, shout out to young Amelia too (still would of loved to see as an actual companion for an episode or 2) one of the best finales of new who and definitely the best of the Matt Smith/ Steven Moffat bunch

29 Dark Water / Death in Heaven

Series 8 Episode 11-12

Doctor: 12th

Companion: Clara Oswald

Also featuring: Missy, Danny Pink, Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, Osgood

First aired: 1st and 8th November 2014

Writer: Steven Moffat

From one Moffat finale to another! The final episodes of series 8 saw a particularly strong pay-off because of how tight-knit the character drama had been throughout. A grieving Clara takes her emotions out on the Doctor before they embark on a journey that's guaranteed to have huge ramifications, especially when the real nature of the 3W Institute is revealed. Firstly, I think it's important to highlight how phenomenal Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman were in this story. The scene at the volcano is one of my favourites in all of Who, and I think the Doctor's line afterwards - "do you think I care for you so little that betraying me would make a difference?" - is one of the best, most hard-hitting lines in the show's history, and it speaks volumes of how far the Doctor and Clara's relationship has come over series 8. Michelle Gomez is also incredible as Missy, and the twist of her being the Master was one I didn't see coming - my jaw dropped! She pitched the role just right throughout, from being hilarious and flirtacious to downright cruel (murdering Osgood!). The reveal of the Cybermen was also great, even if they played second fiddle to Missy in the end. I thought Danny Pink's story got the right sort of closure (Last Christmas is more of an epilogue in my mind), tragic but the way it leads to the Doctor and Clara parting ways just feels right. This episode is the highest ranked series 8 episode, and though it may not have placed any episodes in my top 20, it's worth mentioning once more just how consistent this episode is - it felt like Moffat had been given a new lease of life as showrunner through the genius casting of Peter Capaldi.

Hmmm Dark Water is a good episode, but things just lose it for me in Death in Heaven. The graveyard scenes goes on, and on and on... also not a fan of the CyberBrig + Danny Pink was such a bland character.

The Missy reveal is great, as is the Cybermen raising from the graves, but yeah the last 20-30 minutes of DIH kinda kill it for me.

Haven't seen it for a while though! maybe I need to rewatch it/ potentially re-evaluate

The CyberBrig is cringe and didn't translate the way Moffat indended, I don't think, but thankfully it's such a tiny moment in an otherwise excellent finale that I can excuse it

DIH/DW what a pair of episodes to finish series 8, big shout out for Jenna Coleman during that volcano scene here acting was so raw , Peter capaldi was fantastic too, personally Danny wasn't around enough to miss him myself I was more pissed off by Missy killing Osgood 🤣🤣 Michelle Gomez was the perfect casting choice and portrayed bat shut crazy Missy well, Kate was an afterthought , Cyberbrig was a choice , great episodes with a potentially controversial message (although it did start a weird obsession of the master and cybermen constantly teaming up 🤣🤣)

28 Village of the Angels

Series 13 Episode 4

Doctor: 13th

Companion: Yasmin Khan, Dan Lewis

Also featuring: Inston-Vee Vinder, Bel, Professor Jericho, Claire Brown

First aired: 21st November 2021

Writer: Chris Chibnall & Maxine Alderton

We're making good progress to the top of the countdown now, and we've hit an inevitable point - one of our Doctors now departs the countdown! Jodie Whittaker's highest placed episode is from Flux (series 13), and features an iconic villain. After a Weeping Angel appears in the TARDIS, the Doctor, Yaz and Dan become stranded in Medderton, a village in 1967, but a search for a missing girl sends Yaz and Dan further back in time at the hands of a Weeping Angel. The Doctor joins forces with Professor Jericho and a girl named Claire, whose mind was being controlled by an Angel. This episode was a welcome return for the Angels, and pretty intriguing to see them written by someone who isn't Steven Moffat. Whilst a Chibnall script would often have me sceptical, he did get most of the iconic villains right, and he certainly did here (alongside Maxine Alderton of course). The Angel lore is built upon, with the image of an Angel becoming itself an Angel... in Claire's mind! Genius. The scenes between the Doctor, Claire and Jericho were the best parts of the episode largely. The Angel appearing through the TV is truly terrifying too. Yaz and Dan's side story was also quite interesting too and it helped show how scary the Angels can be on a wider scale. While this episode's largely more standalone in the grand scheme of things in Flux, the cutaway scenes to Bel watching Azure trick Flux survivors into becoming prisoners of the Passenger form was actually pretty unsettling. I must also say, this episode has one of the most jaw-dropping cliffhangers of all time! Its undoing wasn't so great but that's thankfully not part of this episode x

VOTA fun episode glad chibnall didnt mess with the Angel law and was good to see them again outside of Moffat, maybe RTD or a future showrunner might bring them back (or even the silence 🤞) definitely the strongest episode of the flux, is it the best episode of jodies Tenor maybe not id probably gone with TPOTD but its definitely up there

27 Extremis

Series 10 Episode 6

Doctor: 12th

Companion: Bill Potts, Nardole

Also featuring: Missy

First aired: 20th May 2017

Writer: Steven Moffat

The Monk trilogy saw a considerable variation in quality - its second instalment, The Pyramid at the End of the World, landed at #119, while part 3, The Lie of the Land, was down at #154. Part 1 is leaps and bounds ahead, though! The Doctor is visited by the Pope after the Veritas, a text kept inside the Vatican that has been newly translated, leads people to suicide. This is one of the most intriguing concepts in the show I think, and it doesn't get the credit it deserves! Perhaps it's because the subsequent episodes don't quite build on this episode in the right way, but that doesn't stop this episode being a phenomenal set-up. A simulation of a full-scale world invasion is a stellar idea, especially when the characters start to realise that's the case too. The concept of the Veritas is intriguing, especially when tied into the fact that the Doctor's still blind. The scene where Bill and Nardole visit CERN and we see the random number generator in action is eerie, and the Monks actually feel scary in this episode. It lands the comedic elements well, too - from Nardole being a badass ("nothing secret about it, babydoll") to the Pope interrupting Bill's date I also love the flashback scenes where we learn that it's Missy inside the vault - yet more examples of the chemistry Peter Capaldi and Michelle Gomez have on screen.

Extremis is an interesting story and sets up the Monk trilogy well. There are some great moments in it and we also get to find out who is in the vault as well!

Feels like its been ages since I last saw it - need to give it a rewatch.

Agree Extremis was an interesting concept that the following 2 episodes didnt live up to, props for the doctor being blind carrying over some actually dramatic continuity, props to the Pope scene did make me chuckle too, the 3 leads gelled well in this one definitely one of the strongest in season 10

26 Gridlock

Series 3 Episode 3

Doctor: 10th

Companion: Martha Jones

First aired: 14th April 2007

Writer: Russell T Davies

I genuinely used to consider this as a dud episode, and one of the few low-points of RTD's first stint as showrunner. We're all works in progress, right? The Doctor takes Martha to New New York so she can see the future, but a lot has changed since his last visit. The entire population is stuck underground on the motorway, trying to get out of the city after a deadly virus broke out, but the traffic jams have lasted years and people's cars have become their homes, with no sign of a way out. I think the slower pace of this episode is what made it not work so well for me as a kid, but as an adult, it's what I appreciate. It's a true character study, looking at how different types of people are handling being stuck. There's the likes of Brannigan and Valerie, who are part of a community and lift each other up as they make the best of their life, then there's Milo and Cheen, so desperate for a way out that they steal Martha for a third passenger to be able to access the fast lane, and the opportunistic "pharmacists" selling mood patches. Every character feels distinctly human, and that's the beauty of the episode, especially when they all come together to sing. I loved seeing the Face of Boe again, and his secret was of course a jaw-drop at the time. Were the Macra wasted? Probably a little, but they still added some tension to the episode, particularly when Milo and Cheen had to turn their car off to make it silent. Major shoutout to David Tennant and Freema Agyeman for that final scene, as Martha puts her foot down and demands to know more about the person she's risking her life alongside. It's so well acted on both their parts, and I love it when episodes have breathing space like that.

Gridlock in the top 30 is certainly something x

On a more serious note, great to see some Moffat finales finishing high up! The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang is such an epic story, and really paid off the fairytale theme and feel of series 5. To pick up on an earlier comment though - the point of all of his enemies being there wasn't to be defeated? They were there for a reason and it culminated in the perfect trap for the Doctor.

Dark Water / Death in Heaven is a really brilliant story too and again really plays into the horror aspect of the Cybermen brilliantly while at the same time having a good pay-off with the introduction of Gomez as the Master (by far and away the best, most complex incarnation of the modern era). My only downside to these episodes really is Danny taking centre stage for a lot of it, because I really couldn't care less about him as a character.

Surprised but happy to see Village of the Angels finish so high too; that and War of the Sontarans were certainly the two strongest episodes of Flux and Chibnall's take on the angels stayed faithful enough to Moffat's while still bringing something new and tying it together with everything happening.

Gridlock nice little episode, not bad by any stretch of the imagination , it just feels like its very high for what's ultimately a very basic episode, Ardal O'hanlon was very well cast as Brannigan, but overall it was very slow and sluggish a bit like the speed the vehicles were moving 🤭, the Face of Boe revelation was intriguing although as we didnt find out what it meant for another 7 episodes didnt make the 3 year wait for him to tell the doctor as impactful as it should of been definitely feel its in the lower half of series 3

Gridlock is alright and a novel idea, plus nice to see the Macra… but I don’t think it would be near my top 50. It’s good Who but probably more an 8/10 (on a good day)

Edited January 25Jan 25 by ElectroBoy

25 73 Yards

Season 1 Episode 4

Doctor: 15th

Companion: Ruby Sunday

Also featuring: Carla Sunday, Cherry Sunday, Mrs. Flood, Kate Lethbridge-Stewart

First aired: 25th May 2024

Writer: Russell T Davies

With Ncuti Gatwa unable to start filming immediately due to prior commitments with the final Sex Education season, it fell to Millie Gibson to carry much of the first episode filmed for 2024's season 1. After Ruby accidentally steps on a fairy circle on the Welsh coast, the Doctor goes missing and Ruby's left alone. Even more weirdly, there's a woman in the distance who follows her wherever she goes, and anyone who approaches her runs scared from Ruby. This episode is a bold one, because we never really learn the truth about what goes on, and I know that bothers some, but I absolutely love the open-endedness of this episode. Again, it's a character study of Ruby, and Millie Gibson plays an absolute blinder throughout, especially given this was her first time playing the character! The concept of the woman being 73 yards away no matter where Ruby goes is terrifying, and the cinematography is perfect, particularly with the shot of the woman stood underneath the crooked tree. I think the episode's at its best when it's in rural Wales, as it feels more claustrophobic in that village pub in the middle of nowhere, with a pretty unfriendly group of people around. The latter part of the episode is still great, though - Carla abandoning Ruby is pretty unsettling, and there's some good political commentary through Roger ap Gwilliam. A stellar episode of the show and one that still has me thinking about what's going on after all this time! It's also the highest placed episode of season 1, but there's one more Ncuti episode to come.

Also Calum don't start xxx

73 yards on the other hand was a very interesting concept, necessitated by what was going on behind the scenes, Millie Gibson was fantastic here, the scene with here mum abandoning her was heartbreaking, the Susan triad cameo seemed more forced just to get her in the episode though, definitely one of the strongerbepisodes of Season 1, borderline if it was the best though