Doctor Who: Every Post-Regeneration Episode Ranked Worst To Best
Here we go again... and again and again...
Even a good few months before Steven Moffat was officially named as Russell T Davies' replacement as Doctor Who showrunner, he had already expressed his understandable excitement to his predecessor:
"Another thing: I've started. I've written the first few pages of my first episode. Couldn't stop myself. It was like incontinence. Well, hopefully not completely like incontinence. But anyway."
The high-octane creative energy pulses powerfully through Moffat's superb series five opener, The Eleventh Hour. The post-regeneration episodes are unique as our minds are mainly and eagerly concentrated on the newly-regenerated Doctor - are they funny? Sarcastic? Sexy? A right old misery? Life and soul? Right handed? Left handed? A gambler? A fighter? A coward? A traitor? A liar? A nervous wreck? Do they have a gob on them? Are they disappointed that they're still not ginger? More importantly, what will they end up wearing?
A new Doctor has rigorously road tested themselves against renegade Time Lords, teeth-encrusted warriors, and, err, something or other from The Twin Dilemma.
Before we delve into the Doctor's somewhat erratic behaviour gone by, a brief honourable mention must go to The Stolen Earth/Journey’s End, as the Tenth Doctor did regenerate but had vanity issues at the time and kept the same face. Now then, hold on to your Jelly Babies, allons-y!
11. The Twin Dilemma (Sixth Doctor)
Clearly a week is a long time in TV land, as Doctor Who went from one of the greatest stories ever (The Caves of Androzani) to what Russell T Davies described as the "the beginning of the end". That's quite an impressive feat, in a way.
The story-line is instantly forgettable. The only memorable bits are spotting a young Kevin McNally, seeing the twins play a version of Ben Wyatt's The Cones of Dunshire board game, oh and stranglegate - though Peri should count herself lucky it wasn't Quentin Tarantino's hands around her neck.
The Titan 3 base looks impressively imposing on the TARDIS scanner, but is disappointing as Mount Rushmore when the Doctor and Peri get up close. Even the slowly sweeping shot that's meant to convey the dramatic desolation of Jaconda is painfully laborious. It feels so disjointed and flat that the Doctor and Peri might as well have taken a one-way trip to Palookaville.
The change from Peter Davison's charming and sweet Fifth Doctor to Colin Baker's edgier and colourfully challenged incarnation, similarly parallels the move from Roger Moore's lover James Bond portrayal to Timothy Dalton's rebel 007 - at first not nearly as well-loved as their predecessors, but nowadays given the praise they deserve.
Of course, Baker's braggadocious debut episode isn't a fair refection on Old Sixie for newcomers, who is deservedly afforded character development thanks to Big Finish. However you've got to love his look of mild bemusement when Lieutenant Lang points a gun at him.