2. Human Nature/ The Family of Blood
Written by Paul Cornell Series 3 Episodes 8 & 9 Paul Cornell is one of the most sadly underrated writers to work on Doctor Who. True, among the fans he's a complete legend for his work on the books and audio spin offs, but the brilliance of Human Nature what has really earned him the right to even more respect. One thing that people always say about the Tenth Doctor is that he's very human. Barely any of his stories take place away from Earth he came through his regeneration and landed the TARDIS in a council estate, for god's sake so it only seemed natural for the production team to commission an adaptation of Cornell's 'Virgin New Adventures' novel of the same name. The Family are terrifying creations, green balls of light that will carve out the contents of your mind and set up residence inside, and just to add a scary cherry atop a fear sundae, they can bring scarecrows to life in order to shepherd you to your death. Also, they're willing to disintegrate anyone with the poor enough judgment to get in their way. Simultaneously, they are unstoppable tanks like the Daleks and as creepy as the shadow-dwellers that are born from Moffat's pen. The insane 'Son of Mine' is one of the most memorable and distinctive villains from this series and Harry Lloyd makes you believe that he is an inter-dimensional, psychopathic shock of shining light. The scene when he tells you he wants to smash people into dust, turn the dust into glass and smash it all over again is particularly memorable in this regard. The story gives David Tennant the opportunity to explore two distinct characters each with completely defined quirks and personalities, and the script itself is an exploration of The Doctor's relationship with humanity. It's an exploration of what the character (particularly the tenth Doctor) wants from life and also what he is willing to give up to achieve it. Tennant will blow you away with his incredible abilities here. He'll fall in love before your eyes and break your heart along with his.