Doctor Who: Best And Worst Story Of Each New Who Doctor

There is a good consistency across the good episodes in the Eleventh Doctor’s era that makes it difficult to pick a single best episode. When we think about which episode had the most impact and which will be the most remembered however, there is only one clear choice; “Day of The Doctor”.

Matt Smith had the luck and the pressure of being the current incarnation of the Time Lord when the time rolled around to celebrate the shows 50th anniversary. A huge special episode was announced, penned by showrunner Steven Moffat, to be shown in simulcast across the world and to be shown in cinema screens across the world. “Day of The Doctor” was an event in TV history that the BBC really threw their weight behind. Imagine the pressure this puts on the youngest actor to ever portray The Doctor.

The episode sees John Hurt join the cast as a previously unseen incarnation, The War Doctor, and David Tennant return as the still amazingly popular Tenth Doctor. It is a huge compliment to Matt Smith then that he is never overshadowed by these two titans in the episode and is still the primary force that drives the special forward.

“Day of The Doctor” might be fan-service but a little fan-service once in a while is a good thing. Few shows can say they made it to 50 years and became the cultural landmark that Doctor Who has and for us to be awarded this celebration was fantastic. The episode finally wraps up the Time War arc that had been present since the shows return in 2005 and, through the magic of stock footage, is able to give us an incredible nostalgia boost as The Doctor and all of his prior incarnations (and one soon to come incarnation) unite to save Gallifrey.