Ranking The Doctor Who Series Premieres From Worst To Best

3. Deep Breath (Series 8)

First broadcast: Saturday 23rd August 2014 It doesn't get much more exciting than the first debut adventure featuring a brand new Doctor and it was a double whammy of fangasming last year when our latest hero burst into action in a feature-length adventure which was also simultaneously screened into cinemas around the world. Who says Doctor Who isn't a big deal? It all started with a Tyrannosaurus rex in the Thames, and thus the precedent for Peter Capaldi's era was spectacularly set. He was on fire - figuratively speaking - as soon as he stumbled out of the TARDIS and it took all of 30 seconds to forget that Peter had actually been in Doctor Who before. At least, until they referenced that very fact on screen. The episode signalled the start of a new chapter for Clara Oswald too, who was no longer a mere plot device but a fully fledged character in her own right after the resolution of her "impossible girl" storyline at the end of the last series. The popular Paternoster Gang also returned to ease the titular Time Lord transition and, if all that wasn't exciting enough, even the Eleventh Doctor himself made a cameo appearance as he reassured Clara and the viewers that it was OK to move on. Oh, and what about all that business with Missy and the promised land, then?! The future just got very exciting.