87 The End of the World

Series 1 Episode 2

Doctor: 9th

Companion: Rose Tyler

Also featuring: Jackie Tyler

First aired: 2nd April 2005

Writer: Russell T Davies

Our first proper trip in the TARDIS in New Who saw a visit to Platform One, a space station five billion years into Rose's future, where rich aliens gather to watch the Sun expand and the Earth be destroyed. It's an episode that involves a range of tones, and this is its biggest strength. Rose's sadness over the loss of her planet, no matter how far into her future it is, grounds the entire episode, while Platform One and its guests provide some colourful, camp fun, from the Moxx of Balhoon to the "last human" Lady Cassandra. It's early days for both our main leads, but Eccleston excels at playing a range of emotions, from comedic ("air from my lungs", "what you gonna do, moisturise me?"), to serious (his argument with Rose, bringing Cassandra back after she teleported away), to a focused action hero (running through the spinning fan blades). Billie's much the same with Rose, and I love that we see how Rose adapts to such an intense surrounding, through moments such as her conversation with plumber Raffalo. The actual plot is a little thin, but the strength of the character development, of the side characters as much as the leads, more than makes up for it - Cassandra's plan would make much less sense without us getting to know her spiteful character in a conversation with Rose, and Jabe's sacrifice would mean nothing if we didn't see her heroism alongside the Doctor. The cherry on top is the final scene with the Doctor and Rose back on Earth, proving that the relationship 9 and Rose had is quite unlike any other pairing, grounded in the zeitgeist of 2005. Far from being the meatiest episode of series 1 but a strong choice for second episode and it does a lot of things right.

The Legend of Ruby Sunday/Empire of Death - Most of the other problems of the next season finale are also present here, it's a shame as the first part is well done and left a great cliffhanger with a lot of tension, but the second part is a hell of a whimper. I agree pretty much with all problems stated, and I still maintain that if Russell wanted to appear clever with this twist, he should've made it so it makes sense, like how she makes it snow when she's around or the fact the God of bloody Death couldn't see that she was just ordinary (though given he was beaten by putting him on a leash, maybe he wasn't so smart).

Kerblam! - One of the better ones from this season, the robots actually looked properly threatening and it was good to see the fam actually all have things to do, they really messed up with the ending though, by making Charlie commit an act of terror, you're literally making us think the corporation was in the right, it's like Jeff Bezos suddently interfered with the writing, not good x

The End of Time - A very messy and over the top finale which probably was a bit below par for Tennant's last adventure given how iconic he was and still is, RTD was running out of ideas and I just don't think we needed yet another Master story so soon after the last one but the Gallifreyans were quite fun. I did still get some enjoyment out of it and Tennant carries it well, I think the resolution with Wilf is a good conclusion to his arc of him getting too arrogant, and 'I don't want to go' still gets me :'(

Joy to the World - Mixed bag, the Time hotel is a good concept but not enough is done with it and the conclusion is both rushed and feels incredibly cheesy with the star and the pandemic reference. I love the sequence with Anita and think that's one of those quieter, human moments that the show really does well, and it shows how he needs that human connection after Ruby, I'm mixed on the way he treats Joy before the climax as it did seem a bit uncharateristically cruel.

Ascension of the Cybermen/The Timeless Children - Another one with a decent first part before completely quashing it in the second half, the Cybermen look good but they're completely underused, Ashed is dealt with way too quickly and insultingly given how good a character he was and the final with the Time Lord cybermen looked like cosplayers and they just pressed a button and that was that, and that's not even covering the big reveal and the exposition dump that led to it. I don't mind the concept of the Doctor having past lives that weren't known to her, but it was delivered hoakily and I feel he just abandoned it after seeing the amount of backlash, it's barely mentioned in the final episode and hasn't been called back to since! One of the many reasons why I hate the toxic discourse around the show these days.

The Sontaran Strategem/The Poison Sky - I think this one wasn't bad, it just suffered from being in a really high quality season, it just doesn't stick in my mind much, despite the fact it had UNIT. The Sontarans were well designed but not as well done as other classic villains. It's not often I say this, but Chibnall did it better as they were much better in Flux (and Strax under Moffat, bless him x)

The Doctor's Wife - And I thought Daleks in Manhattan being so high was egregious!! I admittedly haven't revisited it in a while so I'm basing this on memory, but this is one of my favourite Smith stories and would be top 20 minimum for me. It gets both the horror aspects and the emotional aspects down brilliantly, I get chills watching Amy and Rory become more and more tormented by the uncle twisting reality and the graffiti scenes are terrifying. As for the Doctor and Idris, Suranne Jones was a great choice and I think it's really powerful seeing the Doctor finally talk to who will always be his companion. Moffat was born to write a story like this, for shame xx

The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon - Ooft, what have you got against the Smith era? x Again, basing this on memory, but it was a great introduction to the series and set the timey-wimy stuff up very well, it would get a bit old but it certainly caught my intrigue and managed to be a great dramatic piece as well.

The End of the World - Now this is one I have revisited recently along with all of S1, and while it isn't amongst the best of that season, it's a very good first space episode that I think did well showing what the current show could do with showing space that wasn't possible in the classic era. It's a simple but effective story, though it is secondary to the chemistry between the Doctor and Rose though, they are figuring each other out and the slower pace allows them to reveal more of who they are, the final scene is great as well with Rose responding to the question with wanting chips, just showed how excellently cast they both were.

TiA/DOFM, what a way to open a series not many series start by literally "killing" off the main character more so before he could regenerate (although if he was trying to regenerate even if wasn't him doesnt that leave a plothole in the whole TOTD christmas episode (yes TTC retconned it even more but still)) canton another character that was made out to be very important to the doctor but never to appear again though, loved the character though but was obsessed with Marks work on supernatural so of course he was gonna be good, the silence were a fantastic monster up there with the weeping angels in terms of new who, shame we didnt get to see them much after the matt Smith era, but yeah overall thats how you open a series 👌👌

TEOTW a fantastic introduction into time travel aspects, rumour has it most of the series budget was used on this episode leading to set redesigns later in the series, and it shows the visuals were far beyond anything we had seen on tv at that point, was a strong episode in showing how much of a relatable character Rose was and her pairing with the doctor just worked so well, cassandra was an easy to hate character from the off definitely one of the stronger episode 2s

I wouldn't say it left any plotholes at all by the time the story was complete, we just didn't know all of the facts at this point. We don't know whether the Timeless Child contradicts it or not because we don't know whether they'd have the ability to regenerate again after being killed while doing so. But at the end of the day time was rewritten and it was the Teselecta so no regenerations were used.

"I don't want to go" kills me every time I watch that episode. He was the best Doctor hands down. That's why I gave up on the show, until the latest doctor, I tuned back in after they brought Tennant back

27 minutes ago, Henessy Lake said:

"I don't want to go" kills me every time I watch that episode. He was the best Doctor hands down. That's why I gave up on the show, until the latest doctor, I tuned back in after they brought Tennant back

You missed so many good episodes between!!

1 hour ago, Henessy Lake said:

"I don't want to go" kills me every time I watch that episode. He was the best Doctor hands down. That's why I gave up on the show, until the latest doctor, I tuned back in after they brought Tennant back

Kills the episode even more for me - the overly long self indulgent tour of companions isn’t the best either

You should treat yourself and watch the Moffat era :)

Edited September 29, 2025Sep 29 by ElectroBoy

41 minutes ago, ElectroBoy said:

Kills the episode even more for me - the overly long self indulgent tour of companions isn’t the best either

Which pisses me off even more that Ruby didnt get a goodbye like hello RTD favouritism much, like i get eccelstone didnt need the tour Rose was still with him, Jack was "presumed dead" and adam well we know his views 🤣🤣

Let us mourn "The End Of The World" leaving us with a traditional earth ballad:

86 The Magician’s Apprentice / The Witch’s Familiar

Series 9 Episode 1-2

Doctor: 12th

Companion: Clara Oswald

Also featuring: Missy, Kate Lethbridge-Stewart

First aired: 19th and 26th September 2015

Writer: Steven Moffat

One thing Moffat deserves a lot of praise for is how bold his series openers were. Each one took a different angle/approach and set the tone for the series that followed, and The Magician's Apprentice did just that. We meet a boy trapped in a warzone, who turns out to be a young Davros. The Doctor faces a dilemma - does he save him? There's heaps to enjoy in this episode, and the Doctor is at the heart of it. Peter Capaldi gives a stellar performance, firstly as the Doctor having something of a mid-life crisis, playing electric guitar on a tank in 1138 but mostly through his scenes with Davros. The episode also does "every Dalek ever" much better than Asylum of the Daleks does, so it feels like a love letter to many past Dalek designs. Missy and Clara have superb chemistry too, and they steal the show in The Witch's Familiar for me. The scenes of Clara inside the Dalek were genius, and a really imaginative way of exploring how the Daleks work. I do find parts of The Witch's Familiar to be a bit slow, it's quite talking-heavy, and it's by no means bad, but it's not one I gravitate to for a rewatch that much. The Doctor stealing Davros' chair feels a bit icky too given it's effectively a wheelchair, despite the cool imagery of Capaldi in the chair. That aside, a great two-parter that poses some fantastic ideas and moral dilemmas.

TMA/TWF was a great opener (not sure if missys return was a tad too quick essentially just 1 episode after her demise but hey Michelle gomez is always a good thing) the moral dilemma was an interesting one too which was handled well, The doctor on the tank was an impressive visual which has probably gone down as one of the more iconic in recent who, the clara missy pairing was genius and would of loved to see more off it another great opener though

85 The Snowmen

2012 Christmas Special

Doctor: 11th

Companion: Clara Oswin Oswald

Also featuring: Madame Vastra, Jenny Flint, Strax

First aired: 25th December 2012

Writer: Steven Moffat

All of the highest placed episodes starring Matt Smith and Jenna Coleman side by side are the special episodes either side of series 7B, and the first of those to drop is The Snowmen. The Doctor, living reclusively after losing Amy and Rory, meets a Victorian barmaid while snowmen come to life around London. The design of the snowmen is terrifying and I think it's one of the best integrations of a festive theme into the show, and the Ice Governess was horrifying too...! I also really enjoy Victorian Clara, I think she feels more fleshed out in one episode than modern Clara did in any of 7B, because there was plenty of time spent setting up her character. The Paternoster gang are fantastic as always, too - Strax's saga with the memory worm makes me chuckle every time, and Vastra's "I am a lizard woman from the dawn of time, and this is my wife" superbly sums up how daft Doctor Who is, in the best way...!! The Great Intelligence is the only element which lets the episode down - I find it to be a pretty weak "big bad" - and it's otherwise a strong festive outing that I wish had been drawn more on for actual Clara's characterisation.

The best Christmas special dropping out already, oh boy... and right after The Magician's Apprentice/The Witch's familiar too, OH BOY. The latter is definitely the strongest Missy ever was in my opinion. The series 10 arc was good but didn't go far enough in testing her potential loyalty to the Doctor right until the last minute and obviously series 8 was all about mystery and intrigue and conjoined with the Cybermen in the finale. Her scenes with Clara were all amazing

The snowmen fantastic episode probably the strongest smith/Coleman episode (if clara splinters were such a big thing why did we only get 3 in the end) would of preferred victorian clara travelling with the doctor, why didnt we get TPG spinoff 😢, the snowmen were expertly done definitely a strong episode and even stronger christma episode 🙌🙌

8 minutes ago, 777666jason said:

The snowmen fantastic episode probably the strongest smith/Coleman episode (if clara splinters were such a big thing why did we only get 3 in the end) would of preferred victorian clara travelling with the doctor, why didnt we get TPG spinoff 😢, the snowmen were expertly done definitely a strong episode and even stronger christma episode 🙌🙌

To be fair we did end up seeing a lot of splinters in The Name of the Doctor when we got around to the arc being explained and I don't think seeing a new Clara splinter (and her dying) every week would've been too enjoyable or satisfying by the time the arc concluded.

4 minutes ago, Calum said:

To be fair we did end up seeing a lot of splinters in The Name of the Doctor when we got around to the arc being explained and I don't think seeing a new Clara splinter (and her dying) every week would've been too enjoyable or satisfying by the time the arc concluded.

Not every week but maybe a couple more and technicalities in the finale 🙄🤣

84 Listen

Series 8 Episode 4

Doctor: 12th

Companion: Clara Oswald

Also featuring: Danny Pink

First aired: 13th September 2014

Writer: Steven Moffat

Another slight hot take here, though I do want to stress that I do really enjoy every episode at this point so even missing the top 80 is still a strong showing...! Juggling a difficult dinner date with Danny, and an inquisitive Doctor, Clara ends up delving into the past and future of both the men in her life, fuelled by the same nightmare. This is one of the most experimental episodes in New Who and for that I have to give it credit, as the episode doesn't actually have a villain really. The entity in young Rupert Pink's bedroom is never explained, likewise at the end of the universe, which adds a lot of intrigue to the episode, and I enjoy how it's tied back to the Doctor's own nightmare as a young child, and how Clara deals with the aftermath of knowing she created that fear inadvertently. What drags the episode down a little is the pacing, which is naturally a bit chaotic when there's so much travelling back and forth. The Danny Pink history lesson is a little dull, too, and it feels especially odd that we see Orson Pink, who we're left to assume is a descendent of Danny and Clara, when we know at the end of the very same series, Danny is killed - wibbly wobbly indeed. It's definitely a good episode though and it's a great example of how, in my view, it felt like Moffat was revitalised when writing for a new Doctor in Capaldi.

Listen... a bit like Heaven Sent is an episode I feel I should like more than I do. But whilst Capaldi is good in both actually, Listen just falls flat for me.

The Snowmen meanwhile is great. Love the more darker Eleventh Doctor; the setting and working with the Paternoster Gang is great, as is Victorian Clara. It goes a bit mushy at the end... but then it is a Christmas Story, so I can cut it some slack.

Yeah the whole Orson potentially being a dependant then poof Danny died few episodes later was weird, other than that another great episode, tying back to the barn in the day of the doctor was a nice touch too

83 The Christmas Invasion

2005 Christmas Special

Doctor: 10th

Companion: Rose Tyler

Also featuring: Mickey Smith, Jackie Tyler, Harriet Jones

First aired: 25th December 2005

Writer: Russell T Davies

David Tennant's first outing as the Doctor was also the show's first (modern) Christmas special, though for much of the episode, the lead character was absent...! A newly regenerated Doctor crash-lands the TARDIS at the Powell Estate before collapsing, leaving Rose to face a new alien threat with only the help of her family. The kitchen sink angle that RTD went for with series 1 continued to pay off here - it allowed Rose, Mickey and Jackie to lead the show for much of the episode without it feeling unusual or strange, and the chemistry between them all was very watchable in any episode. David Tennant does hit the ground running as the Doctor, though, with an energetic and varied performance, including comedy ("I need you to shut up" ) and ruthlessness ("no second chances"). The Sycorax were memorable villains who I'm surprised haven't made a comeback at any point since, obviously the ship we saw got destroyed but there's nothing to say there aren't any more out there! I loved seeing Harriet Jones again too, and it's interesting to see how quickly she soured in the Doctor's estimations, perhaps some commentary from RTD on how even the "good" politicians can behave, which still feels quite pertinent now. It's a tiny bit slow in parts and UNIT aren't remotely memorable in this episode, but the show definitely succeeds in making a festive episode with striking imagery such as the "pilot fish" robot Santas, whilst also rooting it in science fiction and making it feel like a natural episode of Who, setting the tone for Christmas episodes to follow.