ariich's Doctor Who top 30 starts hereA few pointers:
a.
Classic Who is in! I don't like it as much as New Who, but I've come to appreciate it's charm and there are some episodes that have really stood out for me, so I wanted to include them.
b. I've gone with the typical convention (as used in Wikipedia) as using Series 1, 2, 3, etc. to described New Who, and Season 1, 2, 3, etc. to describe Classic Who.
c. Spoiler: the only Doctors entirely unrepresented are 6, 7, and 8. I haven't actually got round to watching the TV movie which was Paul McGann's only screen appearance, but from what I know about it I wouldn't expect it to make this list (which doesn't mean I won't like it of course). As for 6 and 7, I've really enjoyed Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor, and both had some really good stories as well, just none that have really stood out as warranting a place on this list.
d. I'm doing a top 30, rather than a top 20, and you can't stop me.
So, without further ado, let's get cracking.
30. A Town Called Mercy (Series 7, 2012, Toby Whithouse)So, I start with a very recent episode, A Town Called Mercy, from the latest series. I remember the reactions to the episode being pretty mixed – some people really liked it whereas others weren’t all that fussed by it. But I really found myself attached to it, and even more so when I watched it again when re-watching all of New Who with my girlfriend.
I think there are two things that make me really like this episode, and a small spoiler – these are features that often stand out to me, so they’ll probably both come up again at some point!
The first is a question that I always love when it’s explored in TV, films or books in an interesting way: how do you decide between bad choices, and can you always know what the right thing to is? Kahler Jex is a really interesting character in this regard – you can sympathise with him, even though he’s done horrible things. As a family show Doctor Who doesn’t explore this sort of idea too often, but this is an occasion where they’ve done it really well, and his redemption is very moving.
The second is that there’s some really good character exploration in this episode. Even though this is more than two series in for Amy and Rory, the way they react to the above question and the way they interact with the Doctor, and with the whole host of supporting characters, still bring something new and interesting to their story.
29. The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit (Series 2, 2006, Matt Jones and Russell T. Davies)I know this is a very popular two-parter, and for good reason, because it has a bit of everything that makes Doctor Who so great.
Firstly, there’s the creepiness. The story is revealed quite slowly, and so there is a genuine feeling of mystery as the Doctor tries to figure out what’s going on. And when they discover the beast, the very concept is itself fantastic. Is it the devil, or is it just a creature whose image has been called the devil by so many civilisations? Is there any difference?
Then there’s the humour. It’s quite a dark story, but in true Doctor Who fashion there are some tremendous moments of comedy. My particular favourite is during a very normal, relaxed scene where an Ood is serving Rose lunch and out of the blue says “The Beast and his armies shall rise from the pit to make war against God.”
And finally, it does what Doctor Who has been doing since the 60s which is providing a really good group of interesting supporting characters. Yes, part of their main purpose is to start getting killed off, which can sometimes be too explicit (like the episode 42 for example) but here every character is fully formed and engaging.