Doctor Who Top 20 (v. ariich's Top 30 starts page 3 - NEW UPDATES AGAIN)

[Scorpion]

As probably every knows by now, I really like doing lists. I don't know why, rankings are more often than not pretty inexpressive, but I enjoy doing them all the same, and writing a little about my choices is a lot of fun as well.

The idea to do a Doctor Who Top 20 was something pretty spontaneous, the idea came me when I saw the Top 20 Breaking Bad thread.

Others have indicated that they want to post their list later as well, here's the current list of people up next, in order:

- ariich - starts page 3: https://www.dreamtheaterforums.org/boards/index.php?topic=39316.msg1704624#msg1704624
- wasteland

This will not include anything from the classic era, mainly because I only know some of the stuff from there, like The Caves of Androzani, Logopolis, Evil of the Daleks or The Celestial Toymaker, not everything, as it is the case for the show's revival.

And, behold, here we start off!

20. The Crimson Horror (S7, Mark Gatiss)

Upon first watching, this didn't initially really impress me all that much. I didn't think it bad, per say, but certainly nothing amazing. But, upon rewatching this, I started to appreciate just how amazing this one actually is. Miss Gillyflower is an amazing villain, while many Who villains have certain redeeming values (as a person), she just oozes evil and insanity. That delivery of "the wrong hands" line is amazing and one of my favourites. Aida is great as well, I love that she doesn't forgive her mother at the end, and she is played fantastically. What else can I say? The story isn't THE most innovative thing I have ever heard, but it works well, and its the presentation that really sells it for me. Vastra, Strax and Jenny are great (though Strax's frequent jokes about grenades are a little tiresome) and here they really show that they can drive a story, not just be helpers of the Doctor, but show own initiative. Especially Jenny is great here.

19. The Beast Below (S5, Steven Moffat)

Over the course of this list, you'll find that I'm a massive Steven Moffat fanboy, and while I can certainly understand that his style does burn some people out, I can't get enough of it. His stories just seem to be brimming with creativity, and this one is no exception. Starship UK? Great. The worldbuilding here is excellent, especially the Smilers - love the Smilers. The whole resolution is brilliant as well - go Amy! - but personally, for me that's outshone by the Doctor's amazing performance here. His distress in the whole Tower scene is masterfully done, as one example of his performance. Amy is great as well, showing that she can really think on her own and influence stuff, not just being along for the ride, like I had the feeling with some companions of the RTD era. Liz Ten is, on the other hand, is... okay. Her story is interesting, really, but I felt that her character is a little forced. Still, a minor thing that in no way distracts from the greatness of this episode.

[masterthes]

Following. Great start so far

[senecadawg2]

I'll definitely be following the list. Doctor Who is somewhat of a recent discovery for me, as Robwebster turned me on to it a few months back. I loved racing through the episodes on Netflix, and this will be an excellent way for me to relive the enjoyment I got from that adventure. If I ever have the time to go through the episodes again, I may even want to put together my own list!

[ariich]

Good start, I particularly love the Beast Below, and I have no idea why Moffatt sees it as one of his weakest episodes.

Boo to no classic era though.

[Scorpion]

Two more from Series 7 (did I mention that I love Series 7?).

18. Asylum of the Daleks (S7, Steven Moffat)

Over time, especially over the RTD era, the Daleks became more and more ridiculous, and more and more a caricature of what they once were. However, Moffat does, in my opinion, have a knack for breathing fresh air into villains that seemed to have breathed their last interesting breath, as he already demonstrated with the Cybermen and the Autons in The Pandorica Opens, and Asylum of the Daleks continues this trend nicely. Unlike RTD's Dalek episodes, here it isn't about the masses of the Daleks, but about sneaking around, making the single Dalek, not just the masses, scary again in this episode. However, that's not all there is that makes this episode great - Oswin is a great character and an amazingly flummoxing way of introducing a new companion, and she really does steal the episode for me a couple of times. Rory's and Amy's marriage problems are fixed a little too quickly for my tastes, but the rest of this episode is amazingly stellar.

17. Hide (S7, Neil Cross)

This episode is amazingly small (5 actors in total, two locations) but large in scope and amazingly executed. The way that what first seems to be a ghost story shifts back to more familiar Who-terrain without losing any of the creepiness of the beginning is great. Both Alec Palmer and Emma Grayling are interesting and quite developed characters, though the professor is more so than his assistant. The interactions between the characters, especially between Clara and Emma on one side and the Doctor and Alec on the other are nothing short of splendid, but what really makes this episode for me is the amazing dialogue between Clara and the Doctor in the TARDIS where he shows just how blind he can be human problems that don't affect him at times. The small logical flaw of the Doctor saying that he can't take the TARDIS to a pocket universe and then does so, twice, later, is easily forgiven and not much of a black mark on this amazing story that is executed perfectly. Hard to believe that the same guy wrote Rings of Akhaten, actually.

[ariich]

Wow, I'd never really explicitly noticed that there are only 5 people in Hide. It's a great episode - as you say it's scope is huge given the small scale of the production.

[bout to crash]

That poor whale 

Good start

[senecadawg2]

Hide is maybe my favorite from Season 7. Excellente!

[Scorpion]

16. Dalek (S1, Robert Shearman)

While they are probably the most popular Doctor Who villain ever, this episode was the first that I had ever heard of the Daleks, and I think that is part of the reason why it hit me the way that it did - I was essentially like Rose in this episode (concerning the knowledge, at least), feeling sorry for the Dalek at the beginning, being shocked by the Doctor's hatred and being completely frightened of the power of the Dalek and the ruthlessness that it displayed, both in battle and in manipulating the Doctor ("You would make a good Dalek!"). Eccleston delivers what I'd consider to be his best performance here, showing a side to the Doctor that rarely is seen - the unbridled fury and rage of the Timelord. The way that Rose, despite everything that the Doctor tells her, keeps her humanity and kindness, even in the face of the Doctor's worst enemy, is amazingly heartwarming, and also shows one of the biggest problems that I have with Season 2, incidentally: while in Season 1, Rose was her own person, she lost pretty much every character development of Season 1 in Season 2, and that character is nowhere stronger than in Dalek. The way that the Dalek changes at the end is amazing and I couldn't help but feel sorry for it once it self-destructed, because it had gone from something to be feared to something to be pitied. Also, one last thing - until Moffat took over (and you could argue that even then it wasn't on the same level), the Daleks were never really scary again, at least, not as scary as that one lone Dalek that was wreaking havoc on everyone and everything in its path was in Dalek.

15. The Bells of St. John (S7, Steven Moffat)

An episode with this topic could have backfired massively, but I think that it worked like a charm. Technically being the episode that introduced Clara Oswald to us, The Bells of St. John is an amazing ride that never lets up, from start to finish. While I really like the main storyline of this episode (the way that the Doctor defeats Miss Kizlet is pretty amazing and I must say, I did not see that coming!), what really sells this one for me is are the small details that never fail to put a smile on my face - the phrase "The bells of St. John are ringing!", the book that Artie is reading and Clara's response, the way that the Doctor puts Clara to bed, with extra care, the Twitter joke that actually serves a purpose and the origins of Oswin, it all comes together to create an amazing episode that is, despite the serious danger that Clara finds itself, filled to the brim with original ideas and a lot of humour. That bit with the webcams is a little too easy for my tastes, but it's a clever idea and a nice touch all the same and doesn't really reduce my enjoyment of this episode in the least. Still really curious who the woman in the shop was, though, do you think we'll ever find out?

[ariich]

Two more fantastic episodes.

Dalek was such a great way to bring them in to the new series, shame they were then used so cheaply after that. I'm glad Moffat made Asylum of the Daleks as that was finally another great dalek story!

[senecadawg2]

Maybe it's because I wasn't familiar with their star power at the time, but 'Dalek' didn't do too much for me when I first saw it.

[Scorpion]

Two more fantastic episodes.

Dalek was such a great way to bring them in to the new series, shame they were then used so cheaply after that. I'm glad Moffat made Asylum of the Daleks as that was finally another great dalek story!

Yeah, I agree that under RTD's direction, the Daleks went to shit a little, and I'd say that was his greatest problem. I mean, I probably rag on RTD a lot more than he deserves, especially now that there's the direct comparison with Moffat, but a great part of his work was really, really good, and without him what is now my favourite TV show wouldn't exist, so... Still, the fact that for every finale he went into "Oh look, Daleks again!" mode really weakened the Daleks, because RTD's ideas just became more and more convoluted over time. Look at Bad Wolf / The Parting of the Ways, that's actually a really, really good finale, in my opinion, but with every finale from then on, they became weaker and that made it harder and harder for me to actually take the Daleks seriously. Good thing Moffat turned that around a little again.

[ariich]

Two more fantastic episodes.

Dalek was such a great way to bring them in to the new series, shame they were then used so cheaply after that. I'm glad Moffat made Asylum of the Daleks as that was finally another great dalek story!

Yeah, I agree that under RTD's direction, the Daleks went to shit a little, and I'd say that was his greatest problem. I mean, I probably rag on RTD a lot more than he deserves, especially now that there's the direct comparison with Moffat, but a great part of his work was really, really good, and without him what is now my favourite TV show wouldn't exist, so... Still, the fact that for every finale he went into "Oh look, Daleks again!" mode really weakened the Daleks, because RTD's ideas just became more and more convoluted over time. Look at Bad Wolf / The Parting of the Ways, that's actually a really, really good finale, in my opinion, but with every finale from then on, they became weaker and that made it harder and harder for me to actually take the Daleks seriously. Good thing Moffat turned that around a little again.

Actually, I know some people aren't so keen on it, but I loved the Series 3 finale, which incidentally is also the one that included no daleks at all.

But yeah, the way they were revealed at the end of Series 1 was also great, forgot about that. But from then on they became a cheap villain in some of the more silly episodes, and then kept coming back for the finales. The stuff at the end of Series 4 was really quite predictable, epic as it was.

[Scorpion]

14. The Eleventh Hour (S5, Steven Moffat)

Could there be a better episode to introduce a whole new era of Doctor Who than this one? I sincerely doubt it. Everything comes together in this episode to form the perfect fresh start. New Doctor, new companion, new TARDIS, new sonic, new writer... Moffat sure had no easy job with this one, but I'd say he delivered on pretty much every aspect.

Let's start with the central guy himself: Matt Smith. After Tennant's exit, I very much doubted that his successor would be able to live up to his legacy, but I only needed the sixty minutes of The Eleventh Hour to be swayed in that notion. Smith is AMAZING here, being able to portray both the serious and the more light-hearted moment of this episode convincingly and with ease. Be it the amazing show-down agaisnt Prisoner Zero, the badass telling-off of the Atraxi or what might just be my favourite humorous scene of Doctor Who, the food scene, Smith does everything great, like he's been doing it for years. Especially his interactions with younger Amy are some of my favourites.

Which leads us quite nicely to Amelia Pond, who is introduced in this episode - which is done pretty masterfully, by the way. Since we meet Amy as a young girl, but then miss twelve years of her life, we actually know more about her when she's properly introduced than with previous companions. Plus, the trust issues created by the Doctor's abandonment of her are set up here masterfully and will play a larger role in later episodes. What really sells Amy's character for me, though, is that she, while interested in the Doctor quite a bit, does not permit him to walk over her and even goes head-to-head with him (I love the scene with the car - maybe that's why the Doctor doesn't wear ties anymore?*) - a quality that I really liked in Donna as well. Karen Gillan delivers a great performance as Amy, making her the second star of this great episode.

Of course, even the best characters would be worthless if the story weren't actually up to scratch, but Moffat delivers on that front as well. The cracks, probably the most intriguing season arc that Doctor Who has ever had, are introduced in a great way and Prisoner Zero is an interesting villain, though he's not technically a villain at all - he doesn't want to destroy the Earth or anything, which makes him a pretty believable character - he's simply trying to survive, whatever the cost. The Atraxi are similar - they want to prevent his escape, whatever the cost, and the Earth just happens to get caught in the crossfire - actually, at times, they feel like the villain here. The way the Doctor tells them off at the end is amazing. If there's one criticism that I could level against the plot, it's that the Doctor got the experts on the conference call to trust him a little quickly (though I do love the scene: "And here's a personal favourite of mine: faster-than-light travel with two diagrams and. a. JOKE!"), but that's really nitpicking on a very very high level. All in all, this episode is simply fantastic and nearly my favourite opening episode of anything ever - but not quite.

*Of course it isn't. We know the reason: bow ties. are. cool.

[masterthes]

Your thoughts on Dalek are very much the same as mine. That was my intro to the Daleks as well. And for the record, I thought they were pretty frightening in the S2 finale

[wasteland]

Ohhhh, I'm following this and sign me up for the next free spot available!

[Scorpion]

13. Human Nature / The Family of Blood (S3, Paul Cornell)

I'll say what everyone is thinking right from the start: what makes this episode so fantastic is Tennant's amazing performance. By Season 3, I had gotten so used to his quirky style of playing the Doctor that he genuinely surprised me with how well he could play someone that is pretty much the polar opposite of the Doctor - John Smith. And John Smith is really the centrepiece of this amazing story, especially his romance with Joan Redfern. While the Doctor isn't really anyone that you can picture having a romance, John Smith is perfect for that and Tennant brings it all to life splendidly.

While most of this double episode features amazing acting by Tennant, two scenes in particular stand out. One is nearly before the confrontation with the Family, where John Smith breaks down as he realises that he must die for the world to be saved. The way that John Smith starts crying when he thinks of the future with Joan that he can, after all, never have now, that scene never fails to bring me to tears. The other scene isn't as emotional, but nearly as powerful: just after the Doctor has defeated the Family and the way that he punishes them after that. Again, Tennant is amazing, showing only cold rage on his face - the whole scene is topped off by Baines's spine-chilling monologue.

For me, what really hits home about that scene is that normally, Tennant's doctor is very peaceful (which isn't a bad thing at all), but here, he shows, perhaps for the first time in Tennant's tenure, that he is also the one that ended the Time War and has the blood of thousands of Time Lords on his hands (I'd also say Daleks, but given how many survivors there seem to be, I'm starting to doubt that any of them died in the Time War in the first place) and it is as powerful a reminder as it could be.

Speaking of amazing acting, heading the villains of this story, the Family of Blood, we have Baines / Son-of-Mine, and he's nearly as amazing as Tennant is. That unnerving smile of his is perfect and he plays the murderous maniac more convincingly than most other people I've seen trying to play that role. It's almost a shame that he's in this episode, because pretty much everywhere else, he'd easily be the star of the show, but here, he is eclipsed by the even more amazing Tennant and therefore rarely gets the recognition he deserves.

[wasteland]

Geat pick! Surely a highlight of the Tennant years!

[senecadawg2]

Eleventh Hour... 

My first ever DW episode, and I coulnd't have started at a better place!

[Scorpion]

12. The Angels Take Manhattan (S7, Steven Moffat)

Oh Steven Moffat you crafty bastard. That was brutal - you think you know how the Ponds are going to die, and then WAM! The rug gets pulled away from under you. I was literally screaming at the end for Rory to just get into the fucking TARDIS, but alas, he didn't hear me (surprisingly). And that final scene on the graveyard, with both the Doctor and Amy being dissolved to tears... great, great acting from both our leads and the way that River encourages Amy, even while the Doctor is trying to persuade her, is a nice touch.

Sorry for that bit - the story itself is actually great too: the concept of the Angels becoming massively powerful due to having a battery farm - which actually works surprisingly well as an idea and it sounds like something that the Angels would do - is very intriguing, River's book as Melody Malone is one of the show's better time paradoxes, in my opinion, especially that part with the wrist, and the whole temporal distortions - landing lights - trip to China thing is pretty clever. Of course, River and the Doctor are a great couple, like always, though I can understand why they piss some people off as well. Which reminds me: best line of the episode is easily "What are you doing?" "Oh, you know. Texting a boy."

However, as much as River and the Doctor are great here, this episode is really about the Ponds, and it's amazing what a long way they've come - both have matured incredibly as characters, especially Rory, who I, from his first appearances, never thought could be quite that... well, great. But here, he delivers on of his best parts ever for the show. Amy has come a long from the slow-trusting girl with abandonment issues that the Doctor met in Leadworth all those years ago, but what has matured the most is the relationship between the two - both the scene on the rooftop and the graveyard scene are proof of how deep their love runs and that's a great thing to see, not to mention greatly played by Gillan and Darvill.

Also, that final scene, with the last page is amazing. I love Amy's afterword, though it did get me thinking - "never let him see the damage." - maybe it wasn't as great after all? I guess we'll never know, and that's a good thing. Also, did Moffat seriously have that planned right from the start? 'Cause I swear that in The Eleventh Hour, we see that exact scene that is the final scene already, obviously having no idea about what it means, but I'm pretty sure that it's there. If so, hats off to Steven Moffat. If not, well, hats off anyway.

[wasteland]

I rewatched this episode just yesterday, and man, how powerful it still is. The final still picture of little Amelia smiling is a stab at the heart. 

It's not the first time I read about the afterword being an instance of "don't let him see the damage", even though that would be absolutely great and by far the deathliest blow SM would have ever dealt to a Doctor.

[Scorpion]

Yeah, you're right that that would be amazingly cruel. Anyway, I really like the possible implications of it, and the fact that it will probably never be revealed.

[wasteland]

Yeah, you're right that that would be amazingly cruel. Anyway, I really like the possible implications of it, and the fact that it will probably never be revealed.

But still I would say that few things could possibly tear apart two people who jumped off a building together and forsook the rest of their universe just to stay with each other. Let's be realistic, after Manhattan the Pond couple got quantum locked. 

Similarly, I am convinced that the woman from End Of Time was the Doctor's mother, no matter what RTD said, took back or never said.

[Scorpion]

11. The Doctor's Wife (S6, Neil Gaiman)

Neil Gaiman + Doctor Who? Yes please. From the first moment that I heard about this episode, I knew that it was going to be great, and Gaiman delivered, big time. The original idea behind this is completely amazing - how come nobody had that one before? - and it's executed amazingly. Aside of that, there are so many nice details here - like the information that Time Lords can change gender during regeneration, or the large amount of one-liners here - that the whole episode is always a very satisfying watch.

Let's talk about the one-liners a little here. I can't think of another episode of Doctor Who that has so many great one-liners, and while an overload on one-liners can easily ruin the feel of pretty much anything, they never feel gimmicky here or anything - they just fit. Be it the more serious one-liners like "You want to be forgiven." "Don't we all?" or the humorous ones like "She's a woman... and the TARDIS!" "Did you wish really hard?" or "Are all people like this?" "What?" "So much bigger on the inside.", they never fail their purpose and make this one of the best Doctor Who episodes in the dialogue department.

Speaking of that last one-liner, let's talk about Suranne Jones, who plays Idris/TARDIS in this episode. I doubt that it is an easy job to bring a sentient machine that probably has more of a history than pretty much every other Doctor Who character, to life, but Jones manages to do so splendidly. Yes, she brings enough weirdness to show that she's not actually a person, but she is very loveable at the same time - the moment where she becries the fate that has befallen her sisters is particularly touching, probably second only to the final scene and her touching goodbye to the man - well, Time Lord - that she has accompanied for longer than anyone else.

The plot here, of course, is great too. The way that House lures the Doctor to - well, himself is brilliant and something that would definitely work like a charm, given what we know about the Doctor. He's a great villain as well, never really like "I WILL KILL YOU!", but the way that he brings across his malevolence while sounding perfectly pleasant makes him even more interesting. The way that he manipulates the TARDIS when Amy are running from him - not that they really can - is pretty clever and creepy at the same time. The family names are a nice touch, for some reason I particularly like that the Ood is called Nephew.

So yes! A great episode and a great introduction of Gaiman to Doctor Who. While his second episode, Nightmare in Silver, isn't quite as good as this one, I still look forward to his contributions in the future.

[senecadawg2]

Brilliant episode. One of my favorites of all time!

[ariich]

YES! Wonderful ep.

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Hard to believe that the same guy wrote Rings of Akhaten, actually.

Dissing of Rings of Akhaten detected. Your death will be implemented.

[Scorpion]

Hard to believe that the same guy wrote Rings of Akhaten, actually.

Dissing of Rings of Akhaten detected. Your death will be implemented.

Akhaten isn't bad, per say, but Hide just makes it it's bitch.

[Scorpion]

10. The Snowmen (S7, Steven Moffat)

I was originally going to wait until tomorrow with this update, but since I just rewatched this one, I figured that I might as well do the write-up now. Anyway, this is far and away the best Christmas special that Moffat - or RTD, come to think of it - has ever written for Doctor Who, and it's beautiful on so many levels.

One of these levels is the Doctor's apathy at the beginning, which leads to some of the best moments of this episode, like "Those were the days." or "The universe doesn't care.", two lines which are so very unlike what we're used to with the Doctor, which makes their impact even more powerful. The way that the Doctor slowly leaves his apathy - well, is pulled out of by Clara - is heart-warming to watch, and the way that he tries to convince himself that he really doesn't care shows us yet again what a great actor Matt Smith is.

Speaking of Clara, she is great here. When I first watched this episode, I didn't really connect with her at all - mainly because she was a little Mary Sue-ish, a little too perfect, a little too knowledgeable, but of course that was all intended and when one knows the story behind what happens in the finale, it makes perfect sense and everything falls into place. One scene that has to be mentioned here in particular is the dialogue between Clara and Vastra, in which Clara is confined to one-word-answers. The way that she sees through Vastra's explanation of the Doctor is masterfully done and I can't think of many moments as breath-stopping and goosebumo-inducing as that moment when the Doctor hears her answer to Vastra's test.

What else? Vastra, Jenny and Strax are great as well, as always. Most of Strax's grenade jokes here are actually pretty funny, and that scene with the memory worm is pretty damn funny. Jenny doesn't play a very big part here, which is a little sad, because I really like her, but since the Doctor and Clara have to take the centre of the stage here, I do understand the motivation behind that. Also, the plot of the whole thing is pretty cool actually, and the resolution was pretty awesome - mainly because I really thought that is was all over, only for the Intelligence to come back with a vengeance.

Also, I don't think that you can talk about this episode without watching the closing scene of Clara's death. Again, on my first watching, when I heard her muttering Oswin's parting words, I got chills, and the Doctor's delivery of the line "It rained." is amazingly powerful, just as his final words in the TARDIS are. Really, while this episode, despite its title, is only very tangentially related to the Snowmen, it does a beautiful job at introducing us to the newest addition of the TARDIS crew - well, not quite, but close enough.

[masterthes]

I still think A Christmas Carol is my favorite Christmas special, but Snowmen is a close two

[wasteland]

Looks like we are synched in our rewatches! I have to say that so far Snowmen is the only episoe where Clara really clicks with me. And it's not even really her!

[ariich]

The Snowmen is really good, but I definitely prefer Christmas Carol overall.

[wasteland]

The Snowmen is really good, but I definitely prefer Christmas Carol overall.

Speak the truth, that's only because the Doctor wears a FEZ there, isn't it?

[Scorpion]

09. The Waters of Mars (S4, Russel T. Davies and Phil Ford)

I'll spoil something right away that probably isn't really much of a spoiler at all: this is the only RTD entry on this list, but damn, it's amazing. Normally, I'm not really a fan of RTD's style, and this placement probably only confirms this, because this about as far away from his own style as RTD ever got - this and Midnight, maybe.

Anyway, what makes this so special? It starts out pretty basic - people in space are attacked by an alien lifeform, in this case a virus, that picks them off one by one. The way that the virus spreads is pretty interesting, and the visuals of what it does to people are pretty creepy - especially those cracked mouths. Adelaide Brooke is also an interesting companion for the Doctor - well, not really a companion, but that's the closest to it that it gets here - very headstrong, like Donna, to an extent, but a totally different character. She doesn't come across as the most likeable person at first, but you quickly sympathize with her plight.

While the basic story is pretty straight-forward, one thing is very different here: the Doctor. When he arrives at the Mars base (named, wittily enough, Bowie Base One), he quickly realises what he is dealing with: a fixed point in time, something that can never be altered, by anyone. While he tells himself to leave all the time, because there is nothing that he can do, he doesn't really do anything to actually leave and it's quite evident that he is struggling with himself, and that he is pretty interested in what caused Adelaide to detonate the nuclear device.

Where the episode really picks up, however, is about fifteen minutes to the end. The Doctor finally leaves the Base and walks to the TARDIS across the red planet, as the Base explodes behind him, and he hears the screams of pain of everyone through his communicator. While this is certainly an extremely powerful scene, it's next to nothing in comparison with what comes next.

The Doctor snaps. Plagued by all the losses he has suffered, he decides no more and returns. What follows is actually pretty standard-fare - the Doctor saves the day in a creative manner - but somehow, it all feels wrong. Again, Tennant is a large part of why this is so amazing - his slightly demented facial expression, that becomes even more crazy all the time is as unsettling as it is brilliant acting. And it only gets better/worse - on Earth, the Doctor snaps completely, displaying arrogance that he so rarely shows, proclaiming himself as the Time Lord Victorious - the Laws of Time are mere playthings to him, and he has complete dominion over time.

Until Adelaide ends it all with one shot of her gun. The Doctor breaks down completely, recognizing that he has gone to far. Ood Sigma appears, like The Watcher in Logopolis, signalling that the end is near. However, the Doctor remains defiant and leaves with a defiant "No!".

While that was basically just a summary what I just wrote, I really couldn't describe what I love about this episode any better or any shorter. Again, Tennant is the star here, displaying a demented and crazy side to him that we have never seen, and it is arguably the most powerful moment of the RTD era on the show. To see Tennant snap in such a spectacular fashion, only to be brought back down to Earth so harshly... alone that is worth the inclusion in the Top 10. The rest, while good, is just the icing on the cake - the last ten minutes are arguably some of the best ten minutes of Doctor Who, ever, in my opinion.

[bout to crash]

Yeah, that was a crazy one!