Doctor Who: All Of Series 8 And Last Christmas Ranked

7. Deep Breath

The sequence from the series opener's trailer of the dinosaur roaring next to the Houses of Parliament is so visually arresting it can now be considered iconic. Fortunately, there were many other things in the story that were just as good. The scene in which the Doctor and Clara in the restaurant is hilarious and nerve-wracking in turn and the final struggle between the Doctor and the half-faced robot, during which the audience is left to guess whether the Doctor threw the robot out of the door, is genuinely thought provoking. And who can forget Clara being hit in the face with a rolled-up newspaper? Classic. If any criticisms need to be made, though, it could be noted that tyrannosaurs really weren't that big - regardless of what Vastra thinks. Also, the meaning of the story's title wasn't immediately obvious to many viewers, since there wasn't sufficient emphasis placed on Clara taking her deep breath. Other commentators have written at great length about how Clara should have been more open to the Doctor's new appearance and those quibbles are hard to dispute. Lastly, it's unusual for a series opener to be ranked higher than the finale but, in this case, Series 8's opener ultimately felt more cheerful and thus more pleasing than its ultimate conclusion.