10 Doctor Who Episodes More Important Than You Realised

The Power of the Doctor regenerated Jodie Whittaker back into David Tennant, celebrated 100 years of the BBC, and brought back almost all of the surviving classic Doctors, along with multiple companions – most notably Tegan and Ace. So it's already a pretty important Doctor Who story.

However, it was also the very first Doctor Who story to air after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, marking a whole new era for the UK. She had reigned for every single bit of Doctor Who up to that point, which speaks to both her and the show's incredibly long tenures.

Rumoured to be a Doctor Who fan herself, the Queen is said to have received pre-release DVD copies of episodes (leading to the wild rumour that Prince William is hoarding missing episodes).

In just her first decade on the throne after her coronation in June 1953, The Queen reigned over one of the UK's most culturally important periods in recent memory. As well as Doctor Who, the 1960s saw the birth of Bond and the Beatles, cultural powerhouses that still define the United Kingdom's national identity to this day.

While Queen Elizabeth II wouldn't have seen The Power of the Doctor, there's an interesting parallel to be drawn with the Thirteenth Doctor handing off to a tired, world-weary Fourteenth Doctor, while a younger successor is already lying in wait.