Doctor Who: The Doctor's Regeneration Episodes Ranked Worst To Best

There was always a danger of the first part looking somewhat dated, what with shows like Big Brother, The Weakest Link and Trinny and Susannah's makeover show incorporated into the Game Station concept. Shows that are either no longer on the air, or have passed the peak of viewing popularity many years ago.

However the macabre twist of disintegrating contestants and the eviscerating cosmetic surgery is something we've similarly seen in dystopian-future set films. Plus it evokes glee (or groaning) of television nostalgia. The zap-happy Anne Droid is an ingenious take on the original Queen of Mean.

And how! When it disintegrates Rose, we're all stunned and desolate like the Doctor because we believe she's been killed. And because we hadn't got used to the never-ending retconning of major character deaths that became de rigueur for Doctor Who later on.

Of course it turns out that Rose is alive having been transported to a Dalek spaceship. Cue the Oncoming Storm.

The Doctor's confrontation with the Dalek Emperor reveals how insane his greatest nemesis has become; "The (human) bodies were filtered, pulped, sifted. The seed of the human race is perverted. Only one cell in a billion was fit to be nurtured."

That repugnance of humanity Is harrowingly demonstrated when the mass panicked cries of people on Floor Zero are followed by the sound of Dalek gunfire. Thank goodness for Rose's ceaseless determination, along with Mickey's agressive revving of an engine.

Farewell Mr Fantastic. Hello big hair and side burns: this is the best of the NuWho regeneration scenes as the Ninth Doctor bows out with no nonsense northernness and humour. Now, time to check that slight weakness in the dorsal tubercle...