Doctor Who: 10 Most Underrated Eleventh Doctor Episodes

While most TV shows are lucky if they make it to a second season, anyone who signs up to lead Doctor Who is pretty much guaranteed three seasons - possibly even more - right off the bat, should they wish to stay that long.

As a result, we get to spend a hell of a lot of time with each Doctor, and when reflecting on a particular era, it's inevitably the dizzying high points or momentous occasions - the regeneration episodes, the series finales - that filter through to the top, while a lot of the in-between or more middling stories tend to get left by the wayside.

Example: ask someone what the best or most popular Eleventh Doctor episodes are and you're bound to hear the likes of The Eleventh Hour, The Pandorica Opens, The Day of the Doctor, The Angels Take Manhattan - and others - in response.

So, we've gathered up a few episodes that you probably won't hear in response to that question, stories that, while not necessarily amazing (though a few are), are nonetheless deserving of more credit than they commonly get.

While The Doctor, The Widow And The Wardrobe is certainly one of Steven Moffat's lesser Christmas specials, it seems to get a lot of flack purely because it followed up the best Doctor Who Christmas special of the lot, A Christmas Carol (also scripted by Moffat) and as such, people expected a lot more out of it.

But just because the episode isn't incredible, that doesn't mean it's total rubbish, and there's a lot to enjoy here. Matt Smith is at his most goofily adorable in this episode, and his tour of the decked-out house (complete with hammocks!) is whimsical and silly in all the right ways. The wood creatures are an impressive feat of practical design, and there's a big soppy emotional punch during the scene where Madge guides the ship home and saves her husband.

This is definitely one of the more Christmassy Who specials too, with a snowy forest, giant presents, and rather pointed family message. The festivities are raised to a potentially sickening level if you're not in the right mood, but if it's getting toward the end of the year and you're not yet in the holiday spirit, then there are definitely worse things to watch if you want a quick shot of Christmas entertainment.

The concluding scene with the Ponds is great too, a touching and funny family reunion that also means the episode has a place in the ongoing continuity of the series.