"how is harvey wallbanger one word?!"
Okay, I knew that after buying the Doctor Who box set there would be
some high-level intensive fangirling to follow, but I didn't know it would
turn into this. But, hey, what the hell - I'm proud I finished this, and this
was actually really fun to put together. Although it was a little hard
condensing my favourite episodes into just thirteen; I left off the
honourable mentions, because there were too many to name! There
are a lot of double episodes on this list as well, but I consider them
one episode, so hopefully you do too. Enjoy!
13.
Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways (1.12 and 1.13)
written by Russel T Davies
directed by Joe Ahearne
"I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself. I take the words.
I scatter them... in time and space. A message to lead myself here."
Funny how I give RTD such a hard time when he's the most prominently
featured writer on this list. This episode is quite possibly my favourite
finale in the first four years of Nu Who. Bad Wolf is just loads of fun, and
PotW delivers such a satisfying conclusion. Perhaps not as sharp as
Doomsday (which is not even on this list, what even happened), but still
better - I think - than Last of Time Lords and Journey's End.
12.
Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead (4.08 and 4.09)
written by Steven Moffat
directed by Euros Lyn
"Everybody knows that everybody dies. But not every day. Not today.
Some days are special. Some days are so, so blessed. Some days, nobody dies at all."
This episode makes me really excited for the future of Doctor Who. Even
though I'm not completely convinced on River Song, I like that we're
getting a taste of Moffat's Who. I really like when time makes sense on this
show, like when River realised she was going to die and, most importantly,
that Eleven knew she was going to die. The monster was creepy, and there
were some terrifically beautiful scenes as well, particularly the "ghosting"
scene. I really like it when Catherine Tate is given the material where she
can really act, and she knocked it out of the park in this episode.
11.
School Reunion (2.03)
written by Toby Whithouse
directed by James Hawes
"You can spend the rest of your life with me, but I can't spend the rest of mine with you.
I have to live on. Alone. That's the curse of the Time Lord."
This episode is a lot of fun. I love Rose as a lunch lady, I love Sarah Jane,
I love K-9, I love the subtext of the Doctor and Rose's relationship becoming
text and becoming text in a really splendid and cruel way at that. I most
especially love the scene where Rose and Sarah Jane bond over the
Doctor's idiosyncracies after fighting over him. This is an episode that I will
watch from start to finish and enjoy simply for the character interaction and
dialogue, and not for the monster of the week. Sorry Giles.
10.
Human Nature/Family of Blood (3.08 and 3.09)
written by Paul Cornell
directed by Charles Palmer
"He never raised his voice. That was the worst thing - the fury of the Time Lord - and then we discovered why.
Why this Doctor, who had fought with gods and demons, why he had run away from us and hidden.
He was being kind."
This episode was my first Who episode ever. Well, the first episode that I
really enjoyed. After watching Blackpool, I remember hearing that Tennant
had been cast as the new Doctor and after that I'd always wanted to
check it out but never got around to it until I caught 42 on TV and sat
down and watched it. I liked it. I saw the ad for this episode after it, and I
made a point of watching it the week after and I was hooked. Instantly
hooked. Re-watching this episode recently, I'm a little surprised by how
much I loved it the first time round because it's by no means perfect.
John Smith is really annoying, and I can't imagine the infinite patience
that Martha has every time he treats her like an idiot. On the otherhand,
this episode really showcases how awesome Martha can be when the
writers aren't using her as a device to prove that the Doctor doesn't fall in
love with all of his companions. Still, this episode is thoroughly enjoyable
and creepy and I think could only have happened with Martha as the
companion.
9.
The Long Game (1.07)
written by Russel T Davies
directed by Brian Grant
"The thing is, Adam, time travel is like visiting Paris.
You can't just read the guidebook, you've got to throw yourself in. Eat the food,
use the wrong verbs, get charged double and end up kissing complete strangers - or is that just me?"
Human Nature may have been my first real Tennant experience, but this
episode was my first Eccleston experience, of which I'm ashamed to say I
only checked out because of my beloved Simon Pegg. I highly regret that
now because I've seen since series one in its entireity and really believe it
to be the best written series of them all. Even though this episode feels a
lot like it's saying, "see, not all companions are like Rose, some are a bit
stupid," the entire way through, I really love it for its simplicity and its wit
and I adore seeing Nine and Rose as a team, especially after they were a
tad disjointed in Dalek.
8.
New Earth (2.01)
written by Russel T Davies
directed by James Hawes
"You're so different."
"New-New Doctor."
Yay! This episode is loads of fun. This episode is a bit like School Reunion;
I'll pop it on because I feel like watching it. I love seeing Ten and Rose
finding their way with each other, and add to that the body swap and the
creepy cat nuns, and you've got a rolicking good time.
7. Turn Left (4.12)
written by Russel T Davies
directed by Graeme Harper
"Doctor, what is it? What's Bad Wolf?"
"It's the end of the universe."
There's nothing I like more than a good "what if?" episode and this episode
is right up there. Evidently, what if Donna didn't meet the Doctor on
Christmas Eve would mean mass genocide, but let's let RTD have his fun.
This episode is a little bit big, I suppose, though if you think about it, each
stage of England's slide into Depression makes sense, even though as a
whole it still does feel a little too big for its boots. Rose was great,
however, and Catherine Tate really blew me away, acting-wise. At the
end of the day, I like that Rose had to bound across universes and
that Donna had to sacrifice her life in order for the Doctor and Donna to
have their first meeting. I like it when things like that get a context
- albeit, a fairly abstract one in this case.
6.
The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit (2.07 and 2.08)
written by Matt Jones
directed by James Strong
"I've seen fake gods and bad gods and demi gods and would-be gods;
out of all that, out of that whole pantheon, if I believe in one thing, just one thing... I believe in her."
This episode, oh my God. Watching this episode was a really stressful
experience and I was sitting on the couch. I love a lot of things about
this episode, particularly the fact that they had the balls to use Satan
on Doctor Who. Rose was also really terrific in this episode. She saved
lives on her own! Hooray! I also like the fact that for most of The
Impossible Planet everybody is relaxing while something evil is
happening elsewhere. When shit does start to go down, it's sooooo
much more satisfying..
5.
Partners in Crime (4.01)
written by Russel T Davies
directed by James Strong
"I'm not drifting. I'm waiting."
I so enjoyed watching this episode for the first time. I was practically
itching for the Doctor and Donna to reunite, and when they did, well, I
don't think anyone was disappointed by that reaction. The Adipose were
wonderfully clever and cute, and there were a lot of really great, really
funny moments in this episode. This is another episode I'll just watch
whenever because it's so enjoyable and entertaining.
4.
Aliens of London/World War Three (1.04 and 1.05)
written by Russel T Davies
directed by Ken Boak
"Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North."
The first double episode of series one and one of the best ever, in my
opinion. Love Harriet Jones and idgaf. I love Rose's painfully awkward
reunion with Jackie and Mickey, love the monsters, love the fact that
they were brought back in Boom Town, love Mickey saving the day,
love Nine and Rose fangirling about Downing St. Love it all.
3.
The Unicorn and the Wasp (4.07)
written by Gareth Roberts
directed by Graeme Harper
"I know, but isn't that a bit weird? Agatha Christie didn't walk around surrounded by murders, not really.
That's like meeting Dickens - surrounded by ghosts - at Christmas!"
"Well..."
After The Doctor's Daughter, I was a little bit disillusioned by Series 4. I
loved Partners in Crime and that was pretty much it. Then came along this
episode. What a joy this is. So much to love! Love Agatha Christie, love
the murder-mystery, love the Doctor's "detox", love the Doctor and Donna
being a real team. I even love the twist at the end where it turned out
that the priest was an alien wasp. Lolsoamazing.
2.
Midnight (4.11)
written by Russel T Davies
directed by Alice Troughton
"Ah, I'll be fine. Taking a big space truck with a bunch of strangers across a diamond planet called Midnight...
What could possibly go wrong?"
What a creepy/brilliant episode. I really love the concept behind this. It's
so simple and yet so effective And even though, this episode is quite
clearly saying, "lol, so okay, this is why the Doctor can't go anywhere
alone", it's still pretty much flawless from start to finish. I said it. Flawless.
1.
Blink (3.10)
written by Steven Moffat
directed by Hettie McDonald
"But listen - your life could depend on this - don't blink.
Don't even blink. Blink and you're dead. They are fast, faster than you could believe.
Don't turn your back, don't look away, and don't blink."
Were you expecting anything else? Though fandom has already collectively
jizzed over this episode, I'm about to jizz some more. There's nothing I
don't like about this episode. How many television episodes can you say
that about? I love how creepy it is. I love how the Doctor is an Easter Egg.
I love Sally Sparrow. I love the complete mindfuckery of the time traveling.
I even love the hammy "don't blink" montage at the end. As good as RTD
can be, he never wrote an episode as good as this. Bring on Series 5, nerds!
Caps: demon-cry.net
Retouching the caps took forever, so please don't repost these anywhere else without credit.
I don't have a Tumblr so it would be easy to reblog without credit, but please don't. Honesty, folks. Honesty.
Thank you for checking this out! Comments are very much appreciated. :D