Doctor Who: 5 Great Ninth Doctor Stories

By Chris Swanson /

2. Father€™s Day (Story 163, 2005)

Paul Cornell, who had showed us his chops over the years with the New Adventures novels and a lot of work with Big Finish (plus, hey, he created Bernice Summerfield!), wrote this bittersweet character study of a story, where Rose tries to save her father from dying and, in the process, almost destroys the world. Now there€™s a lot of stuff that doesn€™t quite work here, like the Reapers, who we never saw before and never see again, but the emotional core of a young woman who never got to know her father really resonates well. It€™s also one of those rare stories that allows Camille Coduri to show what she is capable of as an actress. Seldom has Jackie been a better, more interesting character than she was in this story.