Doctor Who: Every Series 3 Episode Ranked From Worst To Best
4. Gridlock
Series 3 continues the strange trend of the third episode comfortably being the surprise banger of the season with this brilliant little story.
Gridlock almost feels like a bottle episode in a sense since it takes place in rather limited locations. The Doctor takes Martha to New Earth - the first place he took Rose after his regeneration - but they land in the city's slums. Martha is unexpectedly kidnapped and the Doctor finds himself on the motorway, jumping between vehicles to catch up to her.
This lets us see many different aliens and whilst most of these appear to be humans in body paint, we do at least get Thomas Brannigan, a catkind man played by Ardal O'Hanlon who is show-stealingly charming. After avoiding the ferocious Macra, we also have the return of the Face of Boe - and, despite the early inclusion of the Vote Saxon posters - this is where the season's arc really kicks off.
This episode does so much with seemingly so little, turning the previously seen apparent futuristic utopia of New Earth into a scary and hopeless place. The Doctor, of course, reigns triumphant and assists in quite literally saving the human race from extinction.
For all of the so-so villains of series 3, Gridlock proves you don't actually need an obvious "bad guy" to make a story engaging.