Doctor Who: 10 Most Underrated Episodes Of The Revived Series

6. The Curse Of The Black Spot

Here's another example of an episode that largely suffered as a result of its position within its respective series. The show was always going to struggle to maintain the momentum established in Series 6's blockbuster US two-part premiere, The Impossible Astronaut and Day of the Moon, but, to all intents and purposes, The Curse of the Black Spot managed to do it. The Steve Thompson penned adventure proved that a pirate's life certainly is for the Doctor but then The Doctor's Wife came along and practically stole any attention that its predecessor had achieved. Damn you, Neil Gaiman. Only not really, because The Doctor's Wife is fantastic and underrated it is certainly not. Back to 1699, though, and the Doctor, Amy and Rory found themselves in deep water when the TARDIS became marooned aboard a pirate ship, the Fancy, which was being haunted by a mysterious and beautiful sea creature. As it turns out, though, the misunderstood sea siren - majestically brought to life by a floating (and not to mention green) Lily Cole - wasn't out to harm the crew at all. In fact, she was a virtual doctor who was actually trying to treat their injuries by transporting them to a nearby spaceship (relativity speaking it was nearby, although it was actually in another dimension) to give them the treatment they needed. This proved to be particularly useful for Rory Williams who died (again!) but at this point that was largely to be expected. In a nutshell, this is a brilliant standalone story of swashbuckling action and it's one that's definitely worth revisiting if you've ever got a spare 45 minutes. Unlike the rest of Series 6, it's not particularly arc heavy either (excluding another brief appearance from the enigmatic "Eye Patch Lady") and there's a brilliant guest turn from Downton Abbey's very own Hugh Bonneville as the ship's commander Captain Avery who even gets a spin at piloting the TARDIS which is pretty enviable. All of that plus Amy Pond swings into action for a sword fight and the Doctor is very almost made to walk the plank. What's not to love?