Kicking off our countdown of NuWho's greatest episodes is a Twelfth Doctor episode which became an instant classic when it was broadcast to critical and fan acclaim last year. The show's incumbent Time Lord, Peter Capaldi, was still making the TARDIS his own at this point and, in a series which relies on defining its titular hero through the means of pitting him against a plethora of the universe's deadliest foes, perhaps this episode's unique selling point is that it doesn't actually feature a villain at all. Well, not a literal villain, at least. Series 8's Listen gave fans a tantalising insight into what really scares the grand old man of time and space and it was a pretty big risk to base an entire episode on the premise of a metaphor. With Steven Moffat's stellar script being brought to life by the formidable forces of the show's latest leading duo, it more than paid off as the episode is widely cited as one of the highlights of the Twelfth Doctor's debut series, as well as one of NuWho's greatest offerings to date. And who could forget that final scene, in which Clara Oswald encounters the Doctor as a child? She was just as shocked as the rest of us when she realised who the young boy was and the shocking twist was an unexpected but appreciated insight into our hero's formative years on Gallifrey. The moral of the story? Fear makes companions of us all. And speaking of fear...
Dan Butler is the Doctor Who Editor at WhatCulture.com. When he isn't writing his own articles or editing other people's, he can be found trawling the internet for gifs of Steven Moffat laughing. Contact him via dan.butler@whatculture.co.uk.
