10 Best Episode Runs In Doctor Who History
Life with the Doctor involves an awful lot of running. But which of those runs was the best?
Doctor Who’s unique format means that its episode quality is all over the place. When you’re covering such a wide range of styles and genres, not every story is going to be universally loved.
However, occasionally, a stone-cold classic will come along – one of those episodes that is unquestionably brilliant, and everyone agrees. And more occasionally still, the show will score a winning streak, where a banger is followed by another… and another… and maybe even another. It’s rare, but not unheard of. The only question is... which of these streaks is the best?
For this list we’re only counting runs of three consecutive bangers or more (so great stories like The Girl in the Fireplace, Vincent and the Doctor, and World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls are automatically disqualified, due to not being surrounded by other great stories). And since we're only focused on individual episodes, we’re only dealing with the revived series here.
Modern Who has had some truly incredible episodes, but when has it been most consistent? From exceptionally strong mid-series runs to epic era handovers, there’s certainly some stiff competition…
10. The Halloween Apocalypse - Village Of The Angels
Doctor Who always responds to adversity with a plucky go-getter attitude. When faced with a global pandemic, the Chibnall-era production team opted to go bigger, not smaller, and gave us the show’s first series-long story in over 30 years.
And for the most part, the results were really quite good.
From the moment The Halloween Apocalypse opens on the Doctor and Yaz suspended upside-down on an acid planet, Flux is a rollercoaster ride that doesn’t let up. The serialised format opened up some fresh possibilities for the show (a recurring cast of characters, ongoing plot threads, weekly cliffhangers) and it worked so well that you have to wonder why it took so long for the revived era to give it a go.
War of the Sontarans and Village of the Angels are widely considered the standouts of the series, serving as terrific showcases for the Sontarans and the Weeping Angels. But kudos must also go to The Halloween Apocalypse for setting everything up so skilfully, and Once, Upon Time for being such a unique, trippy chamber piece. And throughout it all, Sam Spruell and Rochenda Sandall are exceptional as new villains Swarm and Azure.
Unfortunately, Flux’s two closing episodes are far less remarkable than what came before. But those first four parts don’t really drop the ball.