10 Greatest Cold Opens In Doctor Who

Human Nature throws the audience in at the deep end with a disorientating scene of Ten and Martha retreating into the TARDIS under heavy gunfire. The Doctor grabs Martha, asking if 'they' saw her face, before strapping a strange device to his head, handing her a pocket watch and activating the device. The entire sequence is intentionally frantic, which makes the sudden jump to 1910's rural Britain all the more confusing.

The Doctor wakes up confused, seemingly confirming the events in the TARDIS as a dream, but his manner is almost immediately off. It's revealed that this is not the Doctor, but John Smith - a character, who, thanks to one of David Tennant's career-best performances, feels like an entirely new man.

He recounts his reoccurring dreams to his maid, Martha, who ensures him they're nothing more than a fantasy, though it's clear to the audience that, whilst John Smith is blissfully unaware that his dreams are in fact real, Martha is still herself. The scene is capped off with the compelling reveal that the Doctor, or John, is one hundred percent human, setting up an intriguing mystery that unraveles beautifully over the course of the episode.

This is a very unconventional cold open for the show, with a brief action sequence at the start that transitions into a peaceful, slow burn of a scene. But this doesn't make it any less intriguing - quite the opposite. It's clear that this episode is going to explore fresh territory, and straight off the bat the cold open establishes this episode as a standout classic.