Doctor Who: EVERY Steven Moffat Episode Ranked Worst To Best

2. The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances

The Empty Child Doctor Who
BBC

You might notice a bit of a theme with the top three. As I just mentioned, Doctor Who is best when it's scary, and Moffat set the spooky bar pretty high right at the beginning of his Whoniverse journey.

The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances are responsible for an entire generation of children being traumatised by the sight of a gas mask and an entire generation of British parents being irritated by said children running around muttering, "Are you my mummy?"

Moffat immediately demonstrates his knack for cooking up unique, layered, and memorable baddies, managing to deliver the most traumatising of monsters while also telling a story of kindness, love, and the need for nurture.

This story also introduced Captain Jack Harkness who livens up any episode he appears in, and as quickly became the norm for Moffat's stories, there's plenty of harmless innuendo for the adults to laugh at while their kids are hiding behind the sofa. It ticks every box for what makes an ideal Doctor Who story.

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Ellie has been part of the WhatCulture team since 2021 where she began as a freelance presenter for the WhoCulture channel. As a diehard Whovian with a BA (hons) degree in Drama and Acting, this role was the perfect opportunity for her to combine her screen presence training with her extensive Doctor Who knowledge. From there, she branched out to various other WhatCulture channels, including TrekCulture, and became a full time Content Producer/Video Presenter in 2023. Ellie is now a regular fixture on both WhoCulture and TrekCulture and has become a well respected public figure within both fandoms, building up a substantial following across her social media platforms and being given the opportunity to represent the channels and the wider communities at several industry events. Her favourite Doctor Who character is River Song and her favourite Star Trek character is Captain Janeway - which tells you everything you need to know about how she approaches her role within a generally male dominated field.