Every Doctor Who Finale - Ranked Worst To Best
3. The Parting Of The Ways (Season 1)
The first finale of the show since its return set an incredibly high bar for the others to match. This finale pit Christopher Eccleston's Doctor against the Daleks for the second time under the guidance of the Dalek Emperor. If there was one thing this episode proved, it was the Eccleston deserved a far longer run as The Doctor.
Given that this was the first season of the show, it arguably had the element of surprise with viewers not knowing what to expect. To say it over-delivered would be a massive understatement. While the power of the Daleks has somewhat faded over the course of the series, here, they were a greater threat than ever. In fact, they were so powerful that they had the doctor outright beaten.
This led to the first big reveal of the shows run, the origin of Bad Wolf. The reveal shocked many if not all of its viewers and showed just how high the stakes were given that Rose had to absorb the heart of the TARDIS to defeat the Daleks.
While future finales would eclipse it in quality, nobody can deny just how great it is and how important it was in setting an example for later finales to follow.