10 Best Doctor Who Moments Of 2024
Which of this year’s Doctor Who moments brought joy to the world?
Ncuti Gatwa may have made his Doctor Who debut at the end of 2023, but 2024 was his first full year as the Doctor – and it was certainly a year to remember.
We got nine new episodes, including our first full-length season since 2020. Along the way we encountered a bogeyman, man-eating slugs, cosplaying birds and the Gods of Music and Death.
And that wasn’t all. There was more ancillary content (including new instalments of Doctor Who: Unleashed), nationwide cinema screenings for the Season 1 finale and the first in-person SDCC panel in six years. The Fifteenth Doctor was even immortalised as a waxwork at Madame Tussauds!
In production terms, production wrapped on both the Fifteenth Doctor's second season (which, according to RTD, is coming sooner than we think) and UNIT/Sea Devil spin-off The War Between the Land and Sea.
We have both to look forward to. But before then, let’s take a moment to reflect on the past 12 months.
From shock reveals to dramatic denouements, via new takes on old classics and a musical extravaganza, what were the moments that made Doctor Who rock in 2024?
10. The Death Of Ruby Sunday
Due to the return of former showrunner Steven Moffat, Boom was the most hotly-anticipated episode of Season 1. And it didn't disappoint.
With the Doctor stuck on a landmine, the story progressed in a manner reminiscent of Moffat’s 2022 thriller Inside Man – a bad situation that just gets worse… and worse… and worse.
First, a young girl wanders into this warzone looking for her father, only to find out he’s dead. Then a trigger-happy Anglican Marine marches in and summons a trigger-happy ambulance, before the most devastating development of all – Ruby is shot dead.
It’s a masterfully executed moment and that's largely because it makes total sense within the story, and doesn't feel contrived.
Ruby has to shoot Mundy to distract the ambulance, but in doing so, she inadvertently marks herself as a threat to Mundy’s would-be lover Canto, and throughout it all, the Doctor must stay pinned to the spot, unable to save her.
And then there's Murray Gold's deeply evocative score, and Ncuti Gatwa's heartbreaking reaction. Ruby doesn't stay dead of course, but it’s testament to the strength of the moment that part of you believes she might.