Doctor Who: 10 Timey-Wimey Episodes (Written By Steven Moffat)

2. The Pandorica Opens/ The Big Bang

When you think of complex episodes of Doctor Who, the Series Five finale The Pandorica Opens/ The Big Bang is one of the first to come to mind. Definitely the show's most glorious and gleeful use of time travel, it actively breaks all of the rules in the Doctor Who world but, for one time only, it really works. The Doctor, we have been told countless times, cannot intervene in past events that he himself is already part of €“ except, it seems, when he really has to. As the universe is disintegrating due to the explosion of the TARDIS, the last place left in the universe is Earth but that is rapidly vanishing. To save reality, the Doctor has to use River's vortex manipulator to go back in time and release himself from the Pandorica €“ a prison built by his enemies €“ save Amy's life and finally steer the Pandorica into the exploding TARDIS to restart the universe. Got that? No, I understand. And, trust me, this is a streamlined version. Unashamedly timey-wimey, this two-parter finale is impossible not to love, just as it is impossible to fully understand until you've seen it a few times (for me it was that perennial question: 'so why is Rory a Roman?') It reminds us that when Steven Moffat took over as head writer for Doctor Who he left an indelible big bang on the Whoniverse. It had been totally rebooted and it would never be the same again. You have to wish good luck to who ever replaces him as, while Moffat's take on the show is clearly not for everyone, he is one hell of an act to follow.