Doctor Who: Every Doctor's BEST Episode

Not unlike the harassed junior doctors or family patriarchs he'd play in later life, Peter Davison's Fifth Doctor was often a slightly out of his depth victim of circumstance. The Caves of Androzani is therefore the best episode of his era, because it places him the grimmest, most impossible situation imaginable. 

This is no longer the Doctor who stood by and let the SIlurians and humans kill each other in Warriors of the Deep, this is a man who will go to hell and back to save a single life. Peter Davison is absolutely brilliant as a Doctor who quickly realises that his idealistic worldview is out of step with the grim realities of Androzani's corporate and military complexes. 

Davison is a superb actor, who was sometimes wasted in the role of a thinly characterised Doctor. Thankfully, writer Robert Holmes finally gives him a chance to showcase the nuances of the character in a send-off that's often cited as the very best Doctor Who story.