10 Best Episode Runs In Doctor Who History

When it came to celebrating Doctor Who’s 50th anniversary and writing out the Eleventh Doctor while introducing the Twelfth, Steven Moffat scored an absolute hat-trick.

Unlike previous multi-Doctor stories where old Doctors assemble simply for the sake of it, The Day of the Doctor is an introspective character piece, bringing three incarnations together for a very specific reason. It not only resolves a plot point from eight years prior, but sets the show up for the future, with a winning turn from John Hurt and a delightful cameo from Tom Baker.

Appreciation has grown for the following episode The Time of the Doctor over the years, and rightly so. The idea of the Doctor dropping everything to protect a town full of strangers is so simple, but so effective. And very very Doctor-y! And what better way to honour the impact of Matt Smith’s raggedy incarnation than by surrounding him with children and children’s drawings? It's an emotional, poignant conclusion for an all-timer Doctor.

And last but not least, Deep Breath is a tremendous start for the Twelfth Doctor, with some wonderful scenes between him and Clara as they rebuild their relationship. The feature-length runtime affords much more breathing space (pun intended) than the average Doctor debut, and Capaldi shines as a rougher, but no less enigmatic version of the character.

It's a fantastic trio of episodes with some of the most fan-pleasing, gut-wrenching, and dramatic moments in the show. As episode runs go, it doesn't get much more memorable than this.