New-Who’s 10th Anniversary: Top 10 Stories

[Gman]

1) Human Nature/The Family of Blood:
Everything that can be done right IS done right! David Tennant's finest acting is on display. The nature of both The Doctor (both kind and Time Lord Rassilon cruel beyond belief) and his human alter ego is explored. Race relations and the nature of love are explored with suability and dignity. And foreshadowing of events to come later in the season.

2) Army of Ghosts/Doomsday:
We finally get to see a Dalek vs. Cybermen battle royale and an instantly classic companion is sent away in a completely heartbreaking fashion. The Doctors loss of a companion has never been better (sorry Earthshock).

3) Rose:
Speaking of Rose. The episode that renewed The Doctor. Thank you RTD, Christopher Eccleston, and Billie Piper!

4) School Reunion:
The story that confirmed New Who is a continuation of the classic series. And the return of the all-time best companion, Sarah Jane Smith! Instead of a light hearted reunion, the writers dared explore what happens when The Doctor discards his companions and the emotional toll it has on both The Doctor and the companion.

5) Utopia/The Sound of Drums/The Last of the Time Lords :
Both Derek Jacobi and John Simms turns as The Master were brilliant, fun, and cruel. The insane Master murdered without a thought and with glee and then went on to torture our hero Time Lord. And we loved it all!

6) The Stolen Earth/Journeys End:
Davros revealed the true heart of The Doctor. An almost God-like creature who turns all around him into foot Soldiers so he doesnt have to get his hands dirty. And Davros insane genius was right! A great reunion of companions while one endures another heartbreaking loss.

7) The Day of The Doctor:
More of a (early) 10 year anniversary than a 50th. David Tennant once again out acts anyone around him (well maybe not John Hurt) and the Time War comes to a fitting close.

8) The Name of the Doctor:
Speaking of the above, the mystery of The Impossible Girl is solved, we get new scenes of old Doctors (and even some interaction with the first), the TARDIS' true form is finally revealed, and a mysterious unknown Doctor is introduced!

9) Blink:
A companion that we all wish could have happened in Sally Sparrow and New Who's only classic adversary/monster is introduced: The Weeping Angels!

10) Deep Breath:
Peter Capaldi!

Honorable Mention in The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances:
We get "Are you my mummy?" and "Everybody lives!" (not to mention Captain Jack!)

Honorable Mention Runner Up in Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways:
A FANTASTIC speech by The Doctor as he's ending his 9th life. We liked you CE, we really did.

[Driver]

What-- only one Matt Smith episode?

 

this is really tough... I have to go look up episode names...

[The Human Torch]

My gut reaction response is;

 

Blink

Silence in the Library

pick any 6 episodes of Eccleston's run

 

However I do really like several Smith and Capaldi episodes.

[Gman]

What-- only one Matt Smith episode?

I can only give Team Matt Smith and Steven Moffat so many kudos. My quota was met here.

[R.CAllen]

hahaha like there have even been 10 good episodes at all

 

[ edit: okay fine here we go ]

 

1) The Lazarus Experiment / 42 / Human Nature / Family of Blood / Blink / Utopia / Sound of Drums / Last of the Time Lords

So basically something happened in Summer 2007? I'm not sure all of these individually are better on their own than the next 9 (some are, obviously, and some can't be, I'm not even sure if I've seen all of 42) but it's kind of cool how for a while there every episode felt better than the last one.

 

2) Dalek

Worth it alone for Christopher Eccleston yelling at the Dalek through the TV screen.

 

3) Rose

Extraordinarily good opening and the template for everything that’s wonderful and everything that’s horrible about the series. It’s all here – bad sound mixing, awful pantomime comedy (OH NO A BIN IS EATING ME HEEELP!), curious over-emphasis on not only the companion but a genealogy’s worth of associated persons, semi-impressive sounding dialogue thrown out very quickly so the audience doesn’t notice it makes no sense (DON’T HURT ME BECAUSE OF THE SHADOW PROCLAMATION! What’s a shadow proclamation? IT’S WHAT I SAY SO THEY DON’T HURT ME UNTIL THEY DO!).

 

4) Love & Monsters

A lot of the best Doctor Who has no Doctor Who in it.

 

and

 

5) The Lodger

And a lot of the best Doctor Who has no Doctor Who setting in it. Actually, put it another way, a lot of the best Doctor Who makes it clear that the abandoned base on a faraway planet could very well just be right upstairs or down the street and you’d never even know, would you?

 

6) The End of the World

It became instantly clear that there weren’t just going to be Star Trek style aliens but also Farscape style aliens? And that’s something I really like – more than one kind of alien. And I just really like the bit where they play the Britney Spears song on a jukebox (“The ancients called it – EYE POD!”).

 

7) Space/Time

A lot of the best Doctor Who isn’t even Doctor Who proper at all.

 

8) The Vampires of Venice

Sometimes there’s this thing with me where even the more pedestrian and boring of episodes really work for me (see also: Impossible Planet / Satan Pit, Mummy on the Orient Express).

 

9) Asylum of the Daleks

Some might think that adding the extra fillip of “You could be a Dalek and not even know it!” to a classic sci-fi monster is gilding the lily but they’d be wrong.

 

10) Last Christmas

Maybe it’s just that it’s the most recent Xmas episode and I tend to really like those (which is maybe weird considering I’ve never had and never will have a Christmas) but this really fired on all cylinders for me from start to finish.

 

Honorable mentions : Robot of Sherwood, Flatline, Silence In The Library / Forest of the Dead, The Girl In The Fireplace, Hopefully Whatever They Do Next Will Be Good Too

[Ryn]

1) The Lazarus Experiment / 42 / Human Nature / Family of Blood / Blink / Utopia / Sound of Drums / Last of the Time Lords

So basically something happened in Summer 2007? I'm not sure all of these individually are better on their own than the next 9 (some are, obviously, and some can't be, I'm not even sure if I've seen all of 42) but it's kind of cool how for a while there every episode felt better than the last one.

Martha Jones.

[Driver]

This was really hard.. but my top 10 of the revival...

 

10. The Name/Night/Day of the Doctor

This storyline was, for me, when most all questions were finally answered, the slate was wiped clean from long running dangling plot threads and the sense of continuity felt light again. The revival itself was meant to honor continuity, but not be mired in it or be overly confusing so you could dive in. Over its run it built up enough of its own clutter that was fun, but it was time to solve things and move ion. They did that-- but also gave us multiple valentines to past Doctors and the best multi-Doctor story to date.

 

9. Human Nature /Family of Blood

This story is probably the best when it comes to showing how complex the Doctor is and how much of a front he puts up. We see him when he's not afraid to love (with amnesia and thinking he is human) and at his most cruel (when he punishes the family). When it comes to showing the soul of a timelord, this one is it.

 

8. 11th Hour

When I first saw this episode I thought it was magical. I was sad about losing Tennant, unsure about Smith-- but I LOVED the set-up for Amy, who remains my favorite companion. The idea of seeing the Doctor briefly, then not again for a decade and having the encounter completely effect her life was something they'd never done before, and I loved it. I also liked this era not afraid to admit it was from Amy's point of view. I guessed when I first saw it that when my son would eventually watch Dr. Who, this one would be his fav-- and it was, and Matt Smith is his favorite Doctor.

 

7. School Reunion

Before the connections to classic Who became more common, this story was one of the first-- much like 11th Hour it showed how different things can be for the companion. Sarah Jane being so much older, and the Doctor looking and acting younger AND him admitting he has trouble with goodbyes and people aging around him made for a great study with how the Doctor sees his companions. Plus, K9.

 

6. Rose

The "pilot" as it were, because while the plastiques were a so-so villain, the stripped down, straight-edge new school approach to Who was exciting to see. Again, sticking close the the companion's POV is a shift that future writers learned to run with.

 

5. Empty Child / Doctor Dances

Everything a Doctor Who story should have: kind of scary, weird scifi stuff, angry Doctor, happy Doctor. Death-- but a happy ending. Oh, and Jack.

 

4. Bad Wolf

The first time nuWho did it's mythology building/closing thing, and done well. Everything with Rose pays off, the Daleks feel like their classic selves, and Eccelstone gives his best performance as the Doctor-- and we are introduced to Tennant who pretty much defined nuWho.

 

3. End of Time

Much like Bad Wolf-- you have Tennant giving his final performance everything he has left. A wrap up to the Master storylines (for the time being) and one of the more action-packed episodes they've done. I loved the end-- where you think he'd escaped it-- until Wulf knocks on that glass... then it was heartbreaking.

 

2. The Girl Who Waited

Obviously, seeing companions effected by the Doctor is a theme I enjoy-- and this episode was one of the best. The actual set-up, villain and story weren't super amazing in terms of the annals of Whovian chronicles... but old, sad and abandoned warrior Amy Pond was simply amazing. She was brilliant and the pain on her face was pain you could feel. This is also where we finally realized that while Amy might follow the Doctor anywhere, Rory actually comes first for her. It's also the first time Rory stepped up from being a sidekick to Amy-- and the ultimately super dark solution to erase old Amy from space/time was rough.

 

1. Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead

I know a lot of people don't like River Song, and even more dislike Donna Nobel-- I happen to think they are both great, and ultimately very different styes of companions for the Doctor. This storyline had the great Banter between the Doctor and Donna that is hilarious-- but it was also scary and adventurous, full of weird science, companion left behind drama, and ultimately both really sad, but ultimately a happy ending. I will agree River got a little too cutesy and affected later in the series, but here (her first appearance, but the oldest form of the character) she was well rounded and interesting. This was the first time we ever saw somebody able to one-up the Doctor in terms of secrets. Seeing him get a taste of his own medicine was great-- while it also added to the mythology and dropped great hints for the future. So in terms everything I like (which you can see in this list) this storyline had it all.

 

No Capaldi episodes. His first run was fun, and I think he's a great Doctor-- but I'm still waiting for the OMG mind blowing episodes...

[Gman]

hahaha like there have even been 10 good episodes at all

 

1) The Lazarus Experiment / 42 / Human Nature / Family of Blood / Blink / Utopia / Sound of Drums / Last of the Time Lords

So basically something happened in Summer 2007? I'm not sure all of these individually are better on their own than the next 9 (some are, obviously, and some can't be, I'm not even sure if I've seen all of 42) but it's kind of cool how for a while there every episode felt better than the last one.

 

2) Dalek

Worth it alone for Christopher Eccleston yelling at the Dalek through the TV screen.

 

3) Rose

Extraordinarily good opening and the template for everything thats wonderful and everything thats horrible about the series. Its all here bad sound mixing, awful pantomime comedy (OH NO A BIN IS EATING ME HEEELP!), curious over-emphasis on not only the companion but a genealogys worth of associated persons, semi-impressive sounding dialogue thrown out very quickly so the audience doesnt notice it makes no sense (DONT HURT ME BECAUSE OF THE SHADOW PROCLAMATION! Whats a shadow proclamation? ITS WHAT I SAY SO THEY DONT HURT ME UNTIL THEY DO!).

 

5) The Lodger

And a lot of the best Doctor Who has no Doctor Who setting in it. Actually, put it another way, a lot of the best Doctor Who makes it clear that the abandoned base on a faraway planet could very well just be right upstairs or down the street and youd never even know,would you?

 

 

10) Last Christmas

Maybe its just that its the most recent Xmas episode and I tend to really like those (which is maybe weird considering Ive never had and never will have a Christmas) but this really fired on all cylinders for me from start to finish.

Could not agree more concerning the Martha Jones era and these blocks of stories. New Who did hit a very strong peak during this period.

 

I could not agree LESS concerning The Lodger and Last Christmas. These stories, to me, represent everything wrong with New Who. A complete disregard to The Doctor's memories, experiences, and even by their Sci-Fi standards, complete nonsense and unbelievability.

 

And yes, since Day One the sound mixing combined with every Director's and Writer's mandate to talk as fast as you can (the whole reason Jenna Coleman was cast was due to her ability to talk as fast as Matt Smith) make it sometimes a very difficult viewing and listening experience.

 

 

Driver's Choices:

 

Spot on with Name/Night/Day and Human Nature/Family of Blood.

 

But I REALLY don't want to go down the road again with 11th Hour and End of Time. I still cringe and my eyes spasms over watching these horrid examples. But I will give you props for the Amy Pond props. I quite enjoyed her too. The hair, those legs, that attitude! MOAR!

 

And sorry and yes, I am in the camp of NO to River Song and Donna Noble. Just never got the big deal for the two. No hate. Just "meh"

[monkeygirl]

I'm only sure of my #1 at this point-Blink-by a wide margin.

[Ryn]

"Blink" is my go-to introducing new people to the show. Just enough to tease the Doctor and his abilities in a suspenseful, creepy, exciting, well-paced, and well-acted bit of television.

[monkeygirl]

And sorry and yes, I am in the camp of NO to River Song and Donna Noble. Just never got the big deal for the two. No hate. Just "meh"

 

 

I'm okay with River but cannot STAND Donna Noble-or maybe Catherine Tate, not sure. I've only seen her in Dr. Who and The Office and didn't care for her in The Office, so I may dislike the actor and not the character.