15. Dalek Doc Tor
The return of the Daleks in the revived series of Doctor Who was greatly anticipated and the episode Dalek did not disappoint. The series so far had made out that the Daleks were long since gone and extinct. The Doctor however gets a nasty surprise in a dark cell containing the Metaltron. With nothing but a blue light as a reference point, the Doctor innocently offers his help and introduces himself. Two flashing lights accompany the response. The croaky voice repeats the Doctors name back at him, then repeating it again with added venom. The Doctor backs away refusing to believe a Dalek could have survived. The lights in the cage turn on revealing a battered but nonetheless angry Dalek. When the Dalek tries to exterminate the Doctor, it has no power in its weapon, which the Doctor uses to his advantage to bully the Dalek before getting one up and trying to exterminate it first. Its a marvellously atmospheric scene and a superb performance by Christopher Eccleston. That combined with the joy that the Daleks were back after 17 years!
14. Spearhead From Space Autons
The 70s took Doctor Who into a brand new direction. The first new story of the decade certainly made its mark with one of the most memorable scenes in Doctor Who history. In the middle of London, shop window dummies spring into life and smash open shop windows beginning on their rampage. A policeman hears the disturbance only to be confronted by some armed dummies dressed in the height of 80s fashion. Of course they shoot him dead and many more follow. Its the moment that cemented the Autons place as iconic monsters. Taking the objects we see every day in the streets. Immobile objects designed to look like living things suddenly coming to life is terrifying. They are worse than the walking dead. They were never alive, but theyre made to kill. This is how the Auton invasion starts.
13. The Pirate Planet It is Not a Toy!
Even though 'The Pirate Planet' comes at a time when Doctor Who was starting to get increasingly silly and Tom Baker becoming increasingly flippant, who would have thought that a script by Douglas Adams would bring about one of Tom Bakers most dramatic moments. When the Pirate Captain shows the Doctor his trophy room, he is actually showing the Doctor his collection of planets crushed to the size of tennis balls. Conceptually that much matter condensed to such size would collapse and form a black hole. The Captain boasts that each of the planets is delicately balanced against one another to prevent such a calamity. The Doctor looks at the collection astounded, which the Prate Captain mistakes for appreciation. The usually amicable Doctor hits the roof disgusted at the fact hes been asked to appreciate what is nothing more than a toy. The bombastic Pirate Captain bites back, defying the Doctors claim. To which the Doctor begs bewildered, Whats it for?. Its a powerful performance from both Tom Baker and Bruce Purchase, lending a great bit of gravitas to something that could have been made light of.
12. The War Games - The Time Lords
The War Games is probably underrated because its the longest surviving Doctor Who story left. At ten episodes, it is a little daunting, but it shouldnt be, because it holds itself throughout each and every episode. There is a bit of a slump about the middle but its not half as noticeable as it is in some shorter stories. The revelations keep coming, right up until the end, and the end is probably the biggest reveal of the lot. For the first time we learn that the Doctor is a Time Lord, he can live forever and he left his home world because he was bored. Its so brilliantly simple and yet brilliantly marvellous. The final episode is where there is a different feeling of danger. Having called his own people to help sort out everything happening in The War Games the Doctor then has to leg it back through time before the Time Lords capture him. But even that doesnt work as the TARDIS plays up, but also the Time Lords are capable of exerting control on the ship, ultimately bringing it back to their home world. Theres immediately the feeling that the game is up. No other force has been able to control the TARDIS like that, apart from in The Mind Robber when the TARDIS blew up. During the brief visit to the Time Lords, despite seeing them and hearing them and finding out their name, we dont learn an awful lot about them. But we see some dark things. One of the Time Lords is able to punish the War Lord with a power coming from his eyes, they erase the War Lords planet from history by time looping it, they send Jamie and Zoe back home and wipe their memories of the Doctor and finally sentence the Doctor to exile, forcing him to change his appearance in a fairly scary scene. The Time Lords maintain their image of being mythical and all powerful, even god-like beings. Sadly its something we wouldnt really see again. These are the Time Lords that began the Time War.
11. Earthshock Episode One Cliffhanger
As cliffhangers go, this one is pretty textbook on the surface. But picture this. 1982, the enemy in question had not been seen for 8 years or so and unlike nowadays there was no publicity or Radio Times covers. A Radio Times cover was in fact offered but turned down. So Earthshock on the surface seemed fairly unremarkable. However the first episode was actually remarkably good, then at the end of the episode, the excitement factor peaks when suddenly Cybermen! Heavily redesigned and pretty sophisticated looking Cybermen, for the 80s at least. Its a remarkable achievement and an impact of that scale wouldnt be felt until probably Oswin Oswald being in Asylum of the Daleks. Now you get it.