back to article Ten top stories from New Who

We’ve already listed the stories that mark the very best that the many production teams behind the classic years of Doctor Who during the 1960s, 70s and 80s brought to our TV screens. It seems only fair, then, to do the same for the rebooted series’ run. Doctor Who returned in April 2005 with the story Rose, and there have …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Daleks and stairs

    The story Dalek did not show how Daleks deal with stairs for the first time. Anoraks would argue it was done in the 1960's comics but on TV it was actually at the end of part 1 of Remembrance of The Daleks in 1988.

    Davros is also seen hovering in a story a couple of years earlier but IMO that effect doesn't really work that well.

    1. graeme leggett Silver badge

      Re: Daleks and stairs

      "Revelation of the Daleks" (1985) is the one I think you are referring to.

      The hovering Dalek effect was redone a bit for inclusion in the DVD: the Restoration Team website says:

      "The original levitating Dalek that exterminates Grigory and Natasha ended up being rather confusing – the lighting and perspective on the model Dalek do not match the studio footage, and there is nothing to indicate that it is actually in mid air."

    2. Cthonus

      Re: Daleks and stairs

      Quite right. The stairs issue was cleared well before this reboot.

      And as for "the show’s design team got the look right" I'm with Ray Cusick - WTF are there bolts and rivets showing? This is supposed to be a high-tech mechanised society capable of building almost anything. It's not supposed to be a steam punk revival.

      I have to say I'm not taken with the new cybermen either - they're just chunky lumps of metal. All the older versions had something interesting about them whether it was the semi-humanoid faces of the Tenth Planet, or the later chest-units. Okay maybe the lace-up boots weren't the best design feature but a spray-painted wetsuit better suggests futuristic metallurgy than something that looks like it fell out of a Victorian foundry.

    3. Tom 13

      Re: Daleks and stairs

      Sorry, I'm sticking with the button popular at sf cons well before these fixes were put in place:

      Real Daleks don't climb stairs: they level buildings.

      1. James Micallef Silver badge
        Thumb Up

        Re: Daleks and stairs

        "Real Daleks don't climb stairs: they level buildings."

        Good point. However that won't work when the stairs are from floor -50 to 0 instead of 0 to 50

        1. Havin_it
          Trollface

          Re: Daleks and stairs

          >Good point. However that won't work when the stairs are from floor -50 to 0 instead of 0 to 50

          Once floors 0-50 are deposited in a smouldering heap on top of the stairwell, problem solved.

  2. Gordon 10

    Family of Blood FTW

    As the article says forget the MacGuffin - it shows the Doctor at his most human and most alien.

    The ending is my all time favourite - cant find the orginal monologue text but as Wiki states

    "Narrating this conclusion, the son realises that the Doctor was capable of defeating them from the start, but chose to hide instead out of mercy."

    The fact that the Doctor would rather run and hide to protect himself and his adversaries from his full terrible power is a massive highlight for me.

    As a general rule the best New Who stories have been those that show glimpses of what the 10th Doctor called the Timelord Victorious- a terrifying being capable of almost anything if not restrained by a conscience. Donna Noble alludes to the same thing in the Christmas special around the same period where she says he needs a companion to keep him human.

  3. graeme leggett Silver badge

    Not a "reboot"

    to borrow a title , 2005 onwards is the Resurrection of the Doctor - the programme does not reject the classic series nor replay it slightly differently, everything that happened up to 1996 is still acknowledged in the current run.

    1. deains
      IT Angle

      Re: Not a "reboot"

      Perhaps call it a graceful restart?

    2. Tom 13

      Re: everything that happened up to 1996 is still acknowledged in the current run.

      I disagree.

      The new show does feel like a reboot and rarely references the original. The time war acts as the reboot mechanism. And will likely be used in some way to get around the problem of the 13th doctor, whom we've already met and who was described as an embodiment of evil every bit as nasty as The Master except that with The Master he might win whereas the best he could do against himself is a draw.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: everything that happened up to 1996 is still acknowledged in the current run.

        I don't know about "rarely". Not so often as to become a complete slave to the past but often enough, and significantly more than name-dropping.

        The series starts with the return of the Autons, thereafter we get:

        UNIT

        Sarah Jane and K9

        Macra

        Sontarans

        Daleks

        Cybermen - the first reappearance of the cybermen is the old version in a museum case

        Davros

        Silurians

        Ice Warriors

        Great Intelligence

        1. Tom 13

          Re: everything that happened up to 1996 is still acknowledged in the current run.

          But it is mostly done in a reboot sort of way. UNIT is no longer constantly firing ineffective bullets and/or nuclear missiles. The monsters have all been redone in a reboot sort of way. Exactly like Star Trek did with Klingons and their makeup (and that was before we got old/new Kirk/Spock/etc.). In fact out of the list you have, the only thing that felt exactly like it did in the old show was Sarah Jane and K9. Sort of like Nimoy's appearance in new Trek. Which is why I say even though it hasn't been sold as a reboot, if *feels* like one.

          Whether this is a good or bad thing depends mostly on your point of view. I mostly enjoy the new show. Typically my grouncing only commences when someone actively asks me to compare them. But they are different; a difference most often attributed to a reboot. This one just happens to be a soft reboot instead of a hard reboot or worse the in your face reboot like they did with Trek.

          1. This post has been deleted by its author

  4. Brewster's Angle Grinder Silver badge

    I wouldn't have had Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel. I'm not a fan of Gridlock, either. Otherwise I concur. It's amazing how much Eccleston features and how little Matt Smith does.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      There hasn't been a really good Cyberman story since [controversially] 'The Invasion'. Apart from the sheer joy of pancaking Adric into a dinosaur, even 'Earthshock' isn't much cop.

      You can quickly whittle down the bad episodes in the new Who - just get rid of the ones where there's a happy ending brought about by the power of love and any one where the sonic screwdriver develops yet another miraculous power.

  5. Graham Marsden

    Ok, but....

    ... what about The Pandorica Opens? "Hello Stonehenge! [...] All of you shut up because *I AM SPEAKING*!"

    Silence in the Library? The wonderful first appearance of River Song.

    The Name of the Doctor? With the flashbacks to other Doctors and other companions?

    IMO All of these deserve to be in the Top 10 list.

    1. Tom 13

      Re: Ok, but....

      I don't recall watching Gridlock.

      Concur that Pandoirca and Silence should have been in the top. Not sure what I'd drop. Maybe being The Doctor and all, they should have gone with the top 13 - one episode for each of his lives.

    2. Robert Carnegie Silver badge

      Re: Ok, but....

      I don't like when the Doctor tells the monsters "Apparently you haven't heard of me or you'd already be running". The Library and the Pandorica have that.

      And I don't like "The Alliance" of monsters in the Pandorica story. These people just can't get along, and there isn't a compelling reason other than fan love to put them together... well... except that it probably surprises the Doctor, too, and it justifies the next paragraph.

      I like that the Pandorica is a prison to keep the scariest monster in the universe in, and what that turns out to be.

      I don't like, generally, the image of the TARDIS as a bomb to destroy the entire universe, although it does support a point of view that time travel is a rare and dangerous privilege. Still, destroying the universe is an overused threat‘ especially the "even the past never existed" version. Even killing the Doctor in a certain way will now destroy the universe by preventing him from preventing it from being destroyed. And we know our sofas are safe and the universe hasn't been destroyed... as of...the time now, 5:02pm, 22nd April, 2011. That's right, isn't it?

    3. Number6

      Re: Ok, but....

      Silence in the Library was going to be in the list but a mysterious power cut turned out the lights and it didn't make it.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Ok, but....

      "The wonderful first appearance of River Song."

      Oh, Jesus. Not River Song. Fan-fic wank at its very worst.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Vincent and the Doctor - great bit of humour when after Vincent appears with a broad Scottish accent and while you are wondering why they're getting the accent so wrong for a Dutchman he meets Amy hear's her accent and says something like "are you from Holland as well?"

  7. Andrew Moore

    Not surprisingly...

    ...Steven Moffat appears most in the list.

    Still waiting for that Doctor Who/Coupling crossover (or even better- Doctor Who/Press Gang)

    1. naylorjs

      Re: Not surprisingly...

      It's a pity that there's already a Dr Who story called Inferno :-)

      I like the list, and I would also add Asylum of the Daleks too.

      It does go to show what a great writer the Moff is.

      An honourable mention of The Doctor's Wife too.

  8. xeroks

    Midnight

    should really be on this list.

    A wee cracker it was, especially if you ever had a younger sibling realise how annoying it is to repeat everything you say.

    1. TRT Silver badge

      Re: Midnight

      Absolutely. Cracking acting and a monster that you never get to see. The reality that the real monster is inside the human, their psyche, their fears and xenophobias - ready to murder and deceive and manipulate in order to, what? Save their own miserable skins?

      And then in one glorious moment, simply one woman's epiphany, humanity's intrinsically good and altruistic nature is restored. This really swings you from the dark to the light of human nature. And the Doctor is totally out of control. He's really scared and he shows it. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, they say; is this why he is so fond of humans?

      And then that little bit at the end, when Donna jokes with him... "Don't. Just don't". The most menacing and threatening thing I've ever heard the Doctor say.

      Brilliant episode, and so often overlooked. It's equal second with Blink on my list of best Who stories ever.

    2. Graham Cluley

      Re: Midnight

      Midnight is superb.

      A fantastic piece of writing by Russell T Davies (just when I thought he'd run out ideas) and a terrific piece of acting by the small cast.

      I would rate it above Blink personally - although my wife thinks Midnight is the most boring episode of Who ever. Different folks, different strokes I guess.

      (Glad to see Girl in the Fireplace also make an appearance)

      1. TRT Silver badge

        Re: Midnight

        And... AND... it has a Troughton in it.

      2. Dan 55 Silver badge

        Re: Midnight

        Also there's no sci-fi in Midnight. Funny how the good RTD stories don't have any in, anyone would think he picked the wrong series to write for.

        1. TRT Silver badge

          Re: Midnight

          You're spot on there, pal. The only thing he waved his screwdriver for was to turn off the damned in-flight entertainment system so people had to talk to each other for a change.

  9. Matt C

    Ooooooo a list. Nothing more exciting to a Doctor Who fan than a list.

    I'd swap Rise of the Cybermen/The Age of Steel for The Doctors Wife and Gridlock for Midnight.

  10. Uncle Slacky Silver badge
    Headmaster

    "Precedes"...

    ...NOT "proceeds"!

    1. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

      Re: "Precedes"...

      Eh, like many of these Dr Who articles, the piece is riddled with typos. Clearly copyediting was not the priority for this series.

  11. MJI Silver badge

    Some good episodes

    Some of my favourites, Blink rightly no. 1.

    Not a fan of Gridlock.

    Would like to have seen the Library episodes in the list.

    Best ever part of a series were three episodes in a row.

    1) Human Nature

    2) Family of Blood

    3) Blink

    Most good DW in a row.

    Moffat definately best New DW writer

  12. Jad
    Pint

    "You can see why Christopher Ecclestone got the role, and see why it’s a such shame he didn’t want to take the character further."

    I'll raise a Pint to that!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      He's not bad in the new Thor movie.

      Though it would have benefitted from him saying 'Fantastic!' as he trashes Greenwich; and perhaps the Doctor popping up - saving London is his job isn't it? Can't leave it to Aussies...

  13. Vulch

    If "Dalek" had been called something like "Last of his kind" (by then we knew there were no other Timelords) and not had the big reveal trailed heavily beforehand, you could have spotted the moment the Dalek spoke its first words on a seismograph as everybody dived over the back of the sofa.

    "The Girl In The Fireplace" was helped by David Tennant and Sophia Myles being involved at the time.

    In "Human Nature/Family of Blood" there's a nice line where the human Doctor gives his parents names as Sidney and Verity.

    But "Blink" is pretty much the perfect time travel story, and bears repeated rewatching for the small details like where Sally Sparrow walks between an Angel and the camera, and the Angel changes position in the fraction of a second while it can't be seen.

    1. NightFox

      Couldn't agree with you more about your first paragraph. It had the potential to be one of THE classic TV moments of all time but the modern precedence of ratings over actual entertainment stole that from us.

  14. Blitheringeejit
    Unhappy

    Whatwhatwhatwhatwhat????

    No "The Doctor's Wife"???

    Head and shoulders above the lot. No disrespect to Davies, Moffat et al, but Neil Gaiman is in a different league.

    That is all.

  15. Oh Bother

    Best scene is in Vincent and the Doctor, where the 3 are lying on the ground and Vincent describes what he sees. Then the CGI kicks in and transforms the night sky into one of his paintings. Really quite beautiful.

    I'm going to add Turn Left into the mix. I did like Donna, no mawkishness from her :)

    Oh, good call on The Doctor's Wife there.

    1. DiViDeD

      @Oh Bother

      Have to agree about Turn Left. Superb acting from Donna, especially when I'd already decided she would be the worst possible companion, but ended up being amongst the best.

      I'd have to vote for the Library episodes, Vincent, The Doctor's Wife and of course Blink deserves the No 1 spot.

      But the vulnerability of the doctor in Human nature/Family of Blood was a joy to behold, especially when you learn he was hiding for the Family's safety, not his own.

      1. MJI Silver badge

        Re: @Oh Bother

        Turn Left is my favourite from RTD

  16. Mike Wilson

    "Dalek" my favourite, "Father's Day" also excellent

    I'm pleased to see "Dalek" on that list, it's the best Who I've seen. Christopher Eccleston really getting his teeth into a brilliantly written episode. Second to that for me is "Father's Day", the only one to bring a tear to this old softie's eye.

    1. TRT Silver badge

      Re: "Dalek" my favourite, "Father's Day" also excellent

      Liked the premise of Father's Day, hated the monsters though.

  17. SeanEllis

    I have a soft spot for "Love and Monsters"

    Another episode with not a lot of Doctor, but a look at how the existence of the Doctor warps the lives of those around him. "You can't imagine it. The Doctor's machine. The most beautiful sound in the world."

  18. Stevie

    Bah!

    Dalek was absolutely great - up until the very end. I looked hard but didn't see the shark until it was well and truly jumped. The story up until then had been wonderful. Chilling, absolutely suspension-of-disbelief worthy and it made my kid (who had laughed out loud in public when I had described the terrifying Dalek a couple of years before) shin up and over the back of the sofa. The best part was when she moaned in real terror: "Oh no, it can fly!"

    The ending sucked balls though.

    What happened afterward was predictable and an object lesson in "more is less". CGI ranks of Dalek hordes flying toward the screen in underwhelming waves of "meh". The possible exception to this was the Dalek Looney Bin, though it was a tad far fetched even in Dr Who terms. I liked the fact that the clues were there for a viewer to figure out rather than the answer being the result of some blither recited on the last but one page of the script to Make It All Didn't Happen.

    The Cyberman reboot was sheer brilliance. The story was better than average Who and the costume one of the best SF monsters I've ever seen on any sized screen.

    Blink was a very well plotted adventure, and for once the time travel theme was not used as a way of excusing blither for plot. I'll not argue the reviewer putting it at the head of the list.

    Ecclestone was the best reboot doctor to date. Shouty Doctor and Wet Doctor won't be missed much, but Ecclestone left an absence that was felt strongly.

    All in my opinion, of course, which shouldn't need saying but always does.

  19. BenR

    Missing from the list: (in no particular order)

    As suggested by others:

    The Doctor's Wife

    Silence in the Library

    Midnight

    Inexplicably omitted entirely:

    Waters of Mars (minus the piss-annoying robot)

    The Impossible Planet

    38 Minutes (I think that's what it's called - the one where they're falling into the star)

    1. graeme leggett Silver badge

      Re: Missing from the list: (in no particular order)

      Its "42" by Chris (watch me rewrite "Doctor Who and the Silurians" as "Hungry Earth/Cold Blood") Chibnall and directed by Graeme Harper

    2. MJI Silver badge

      Re: Missing from the list: (in no particular order)

      I found Midnight irritating, Waters of Mars annoying.

      I liked 42

  20. Number6

    List bigger on the inside

    Of course, that's the good thing about Dr Who, just like the Tardis, a list of the ten best can contain more than ten when you look into it.

  21. Paratrooping Parrot

    Gridlock

    I absolutely hated Gridlock. It was utter cack. Blink, on the other hand is probably the best episode there is.

    I also liked the episode with the happy/angry faces. There have been many very good episodes.

  22. ChrisCabbage

    The Doctor's Wife

    "The Doctor's Wife" was far and away the best episode I reckon.

    Although Gaiman dropped the ball with the more recent Cybermen episode. I do wonder if that one would have been better with a different take on the direction / production.

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