Doctor Who: Peter Capaldi’s 9 Coolest Stand Alone Episodes

Just a few years back, we had a very different Doctor Who on TV.

In 2013, Peter Capaldi stepped into the role and went on to play a perturbed Time Lord who was only a white lab jacket away from being a live-action Rick Sanchez. Eventually, that unrelenting moodiness subsided to a more fun-loving version of himself, (hence the sunglasses and electric guitars) but he was still one of the edgiest and most substantial incarnations in the show's history.

Across the whole breadth of his tenure, whether he was nasty or nice, Capaldi gave it his all. There were good eps and less good eps, but he always manged to play the part full pelt. It allowed for a strand of highly memorable two-parters, and even the odd three-parter, but it also meant that the stand alone episodes were, by large, equally brilliant.

Furthermore, it could be said that the power of the stand alone ep was never stronger than during the Capaldi saga. So it's only fitting that we retrospectively celebrate some of the best ones. If you slept on these, then now's the time to hunt them down and catch up.

This stand alone ep gave Doctor number 12 a true run for his money, so much to the point that he goes blind at the end of it. Even more poignant is the fact that he spends the final segment of the episode pretending to everyone that he got his sight back. How's that for brave?

The rest of the ep is also highly noteworthy. It sees The Doctor, Bill and Nardole, responding to a distress call in outer space, which leads them to face to face with some space suit-controlled zombie-types who are attempting to wipe out the desperate survivors. The twist is that the mastermind behind the undead menace is nothing more than a money-hungry capitalist algorithm, which the Doctor is able to outsmart with some old fashioned economical logic.

The most likeable feature of this episode however, is The Doctor's charisma. It's pure fire from start to finish. The crankiness, sarcasm, and selflessness of his personality is exemplified at it's best in this story, and reminds us of Capaldi's worth during every scene.