11 Times Doctor Who Reinvented Itself

There are only three times in the series history that the show came back for another season without the return of a single cast member. Not surprisingly, each one represented a massive change to the series, and all of them have found themselves in the upper reaches of this list.

In this case, celebrated writer Steven Moffat had taken the reins of Doctor Who as showrunner, bringing with him Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith and new co-star Karen Gillan as Amy Pond. Smith and Gillan had a dynamic which re-energized the show, and Steven Moffat filled his stories with visceral scares, witty dialogue and complex time travel plots.

The Eleventh Hour also introduced a new overarching mystery which involved mysterious cracks in the skin of the universe and the threat of something called the Silence. The show also soon reintroduced River Song, a character central to Moffat's storylines, who uniquely met the Doctor multiple times, but out of chronological order.

The Doctor, supporting cast and plots continued to go through changes over the next few years, but Steven Moffat's influenced was felt strongly for the following six seasons that he served as showrunner.