3. The Day Of The Doctor
The clue's in the title, really. Doctor Who celebrated its momentous 50th anniversary in 2013 and the far reaching festivities defied the realms of TV itself as millions of fans across the globe united for the premiere of its commemorative feature-length escapade, The Day of the Doctor, which was simultaneously screened into homes and cinemas around the world. Helmed by Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor, the historic escapade marked the returns of David Tennant and Billie Piper as the ever popular Tenth Doctor and Rose Tyler (OK, so she was actually the Moment, but she was meant to be Rose Tyler!) and even industry icon Sir John Hurt came along for the party as he was introduced as a secret incarnation of our titular Time Lord that hadn't even existed until the climactic closing moments of the previous episode. Seriously. It was big. So big, in fact, that over 12 million people tuned in for the TV event of the year (and that was just in the UK - it broke ratings records in America and Australia) and the episode - described as a "love letter to the fans" - subsequently won a prestigious BAFTA and was named by Doctor Who Magazine readers as the best story in the show's history. It hasn't quite managed to reign supreme on this particular occasion, but making it to third place is still an impressive feat to be proud of. There have been over 100 NuWho episodes, after all, so when you put it like that...
Dan Butler
Doctor Who Editor
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.
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