Doctor Who: Every Doctor's First Episode Ranked Worst To Best

The Eleventh Hour had to make sure that Doctor Who could survive the loss of David Tennant and Russell T Davies. By the time the episode finished, the show's future was assured, thanks to an exceptional performance by Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor.

Steven Moffat writes a deceptively simple story of an alien prisoner loose on Earth, which allows Smith the chance to demonstrate every facet of the modern Doctor. We get the chaotic energy of the fish fingers and custard scene, the poetry of the apple, and the big confrontational speech on a rooftop.

Smith pulls all of this off beautifully, and gives the most fully-formed Doctor performance since Tom Baker in Robot. His awkward physicality is brilliant for the new Doctor, like a baby gazelle learning to run.

On top of this, there's Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill bringing sitcom couple energy to Doctor Who, Olivia flippin' Colman, the Doctor literally eyeballing one of the monsters-of-the-week, and a long-overdue cameo by Sir Patrick Moore.

It's one of Doctor Who's most confident and thrilling debuts. The Eleventh Hour? More like The Finest Hour!