10 Best Doctor Who Episodes For New Fans

3. The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances (2005)

Doctor Who is renowned for its cliffhangers and multi-episode stories and so a modern Nu Who two-parter might be the best place to start as a new viewer. Later episodes, particularly the Moffat-era ones, are quite arc heavy so a good starting point might be near the beginning of modern Who instead. The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances has everything you could possibly want and more. Chills, mystery, action and great characters. It's the best Ninth Doctor story which also features the introduction of the iconic Captain Jack Harkness and it effortlessly blends an iconic historical event with an alien threat as the Doctor and Rose investigate a creepy boy with a gas mask in the middle of the London Blitz. Like the Weeping Angels, there is something definitely unnerving about the look and sound of the gas mask boy. Moffat's first contribution to Doctor Who takes an ordinary phrase 'are you my mummy?' and makes it insidious. As it stalks the streets of a war-torn London, the Doctor and Rose discover the an alien spacecraft has unleashed a virus that is threatening to destroy humanity and the anti-hero that is Jack - the show's very own Han Solo - helps them out on their mission, subsequently becoming a semi-regular companion in his own right. What's more, it's also a story that shows just how clever the Doctor can be. Big, bold and with stunning imagery, this is the story that cemented the rebooted Doctor Who as great television and it is sure to continue its power of gaining the show new fans, too.