The 20 best Doctor Who stories of the last 20 years (and the five worst)

Telegraph

26-03-2025

Happy birthday to 'Nu Who'. The relaunched and rebooted version of the BBC's sci-fi institution made its long-awaited debut at 7pm on 26 March 2005, meaning it's now clocked up 20 years back on TV.
To mark two decades of shiny new adventures in time and space, we've combed through all 151 episodes so far to pick the 20 greatest stories of the post-reboot era. Just in the interests of BBC-style balance, we've also named and shamed the five worst.
Pass the sonic screwdriver and reverse the polarity of the neutron flow, we're going in. Geronimo…
The 20 best Doctor Who stories of the last 20 years
20. The Power of the Doctor (2022)
The Jodie Whittaker era was frustratingly patchy but saved its best for last, going out with a fan-pleasing bang. In a feature-length episode to mark the BBC's centenary, the 13th Doctor battled her biggest foes - the Master, Daleks and Cybermen – aided by former companions and five previous Doctors. These comeback cameos had miraculously been kept secret but there was still one last plot twist to come when Whittaker regenerated into… David Tennant. Again. What? What?
19. The God Complex (2011)
Doctor Who meets 1984 meets The Shining. This horror-tinged Matt Smith episode, written by Toby Whithouse who has just rebooted Bergerc for TV, was set in a maze-like hotel with shifting rooms, each containing a guest's worst fears. A surreal and sinister mystery ride took in a Minotaur, nods to previous Who monsters, creepy ventriloquist's dummies, a gag about The Apprentice, David Walliams as a cowardly mole-man and an appearance from young Amy Pond, waiting for her 'raggedy Doctor' to return.
18. Utopia/The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords (2007)
This three-part series finale resurrected the Doctor's renegade Time Lord nemesis in swaggering style. Near the end of the universe, trillions of years in the future, sweet old Professor Yana (Derek Jacobi) raced to save the last of humanity – before, in a shock reveal, identifying himself as the Doctor's old foe, the Master, and then regenerating into John Simm. He promptly invaded 21st-century Earth, became UK Prime Minister and aged the captive Doctor by 100 years. An epic yarn with killer cliffhangers.
17. The Eleventh Hour (2010)
Fish fingers and custard, anyone? Giant eyeballs for pud? A fresh chapter began with showrunner Steven Moffat taking the reins and Matt Smith making a winningly eccentric debut. The newly regenerated 11th Doctor crash-landed in an English village and met companion Amy Pond, all while trying to return a shape-shifting alien prisoner to the intergalactic police. Influenced by The Prisoner and Tim Burton's films, it was a wild, quirky ride. Cameos from Patrick Moore and Olivia Colman added to the giddy fun.
16. The Star Beast (2023)
'Why did this face come back?' The first and best of the 60th anniversary specials reintroduced David Tennant as the Doctor, Catherine Tate as companion Donna Noble and Russell T Davies as showrunner. A pacy, perky, propulsive romp found bug-like alien warriors crash-landing on Earth in pursuit of a cute furry creature known as the Beep the Meep (voiced by Miriam Margolyes). It reset and re-energised the franchise, pulling in the biggest ratings for five years.
15. The Stolen Earth/Journey's End (2008)
Writer Russell T Davies pulled out all the sci-fi stops for this rollercoaster series finale, roping in characters from spin-offs Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures to help defeat the Daleks. After a regeneration cliffhanger at the midway mark, the excitement climaxed with Rose (Billie Piper) getting her happy ending with the half-human Doctor in a parallel world – followed by a heart-rending goodbye to companion Donna Noble (Catherine Tate). She was destined to return 15 years later.
14. The Waters of Mars (2009)
Towards the end of David Tennant's first stint, the 10th Doctor landed on Mars. A human colony's crew had been infected by an intelligent water-borne virus. Their base had to be destroyed to prevent it spreading to Earth. When the Doctor rescued the formidable Captain Adelaide Brooke (Lindsay Duncan), she morally objected to rewriting history and shot herself. Dark, haunting and with that shock suicide ending, it was a worthy swansong for director Graeme Harper, who'd worked on the show in various capacities since the Sixties.
13. World Enough and Time/The Doctor Falls (2017)
This blockbuster series finale not only told an origin story for the Cybermen, but was the first ever multiple Master episode, with Missy (Michelle Gomez) meeting her earlier incarnation (John Simm). It was gut-wrenching when companion Bill (Pearl Mackie) was shockingly shot and converted into a Mondasian Cyberman, before the 12th Doctor (Peter Capaldi) made an heroic last stand. The First Doctor (David Bradley) even popped up for a cameo. Epic, emotional and haunting.
12. Dalek (2005)
When the franchise got its long-awaited reboot, fans waited impatiently for the perennial pepperpot villains to return, too. Six weeks in, their comeback eschewed grandiose space battles in favour of a gritty, grungy thriller in an underground bunker. The Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) realised he wasn't the sole survivor of the apocalyptic Time War when he discovered the last Dalek in the universe, hidden among a collection of alien artefacts. Expectation-defying and surprisingly affecting.
11. Midnight (2008)
'He will knock four times.' We sometimes get 'Doctor-lite' episodes for production reasons. This one was 'companion-lite' and all the more tense for it. While Donna (Catherine Tate) relaxed in a space spa, Tennant's Doctor was trapped aboard a tourist shuttle with an unseen monster outside. The locked room mystery turned truly chilling when passenger Lesley Sharp became possessed and began repeating everyone's words. As the humans turned on each other, a claustrophobic fight for survival began.
10. The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances (2005)
'Are you my mummy?' was one of the creepiest refrains in Who history. A highlight of the first post-reboot series saw the Tardis land in wartime London. While the Doctor was pursued by a ghostly boy in a gas mask, companion Rose (Billie Piper) became entangled in the ropes of a barrage balloon, before being rescued by a rogue Time Agent – our first sight of recurring sidekick Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman). Richard Wilson guest-starred. There was even a happy ending, complete with hoofing.
9. Vincent and the Doctor (2010)
One of the most emotive episodes ever. Written by romcom king Richard Curtis, this historical gem saw the 11th Doctor help Vincent van Gogh hunt down an invisible monster that only he could see. Cue a sensitive exploration of mental illness and the redemptive power of art. Sets were modelled on his paintings and Tony Curran was devastating as the tortured artist – not least in the deeply moving Musée d'Orsay climax (with a Bill Nighy cameo), where the Doctor took Van Gogh to the future to show how his work would be remembered. Sob.
8. The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone (2010)
Inspired by Alien and its sequel Aliens, Steven Moffat wrote this cinematic two-parter as a more action-based follow-up to Blink, with the Weeping Angels taking centre stage again. River Song (Alex Kingston) also returned, summoning the 11th Doctor to a planet where an order of soldier monks waged war on the creepy statues in a stone labyrinth. Full of thrills, spills and scares, with Karen Gillan stealing the show as Amy Pond. Look out for Streets frontman Mike Skinner as a security guard.
7. 73 Yards (2024)
The standout episode so far of the Ncuti Gatwa era was this haunting folk-horror. When the 15th Doctor vanished from a Welsh clifftop after breaking a fairy circle, companion Ruby Sunday (a never-better Millie Gibson) searched for him while being followed by an eerily mysterious woman who always kept the titular distance away from her. An unsettling mini-movie which writer Russell T Davies proudly said was 'one of the greatest things I've ever made'.
6. The Day of the Doctor (2013)
Creating a 50th anniversary special which propelled the show forward while paying homage to Who history was no easy task. Steven Moffat worked miracles with this multi-Doctor story (always a hoot). David Tennant teamed up with Matt Smith to defeat the Zygons. Billie Piper returned, Joanna 'Stacey' Page played Elizabeth I, John Hurt arrived as secret incarnation The War Doctor, Tom Baker popped up for a poignant cameo and Peter Capaldi's 'attack eyebrows' made their Tardis debut. Simulcast in a record-breaking 94 countries, it was a surprise-packed, celebratory thrill-ride which felt like a proper TV event.
5. The Girl in the Fireplace (2006)
An imaginative period romp which was also a moving treatise on love and memory. Inspired by The Time Traveler's Wife, which writer Steven Moffat would later adapt for the screen, it saw the Doctor riding horses, dancing at balls and battling clockwork robots in 18th century Versailles. His vulnerability came to the fore as he fell in love with famed French courtesan Madame de Pompadour (Sophia Myles), only for her to tragically die. Humour, heroism, heartbreak and lavish costumes. Ooh la la indeed.
4. Human Nature/The Family of Blood (2007)
In this rip-roaring and poignant two-parter, Tennant's Doctor temporarily turned human to evade a clan of intergalactic hunters. Hiding his Time Lord essence inside a fob watch while posing as schoolmaster Mr Smith, he fell in love with widowed school nurse Joan Redfern (Jessica Hynes). Outside the window, though, scarecrows were coming to life and the First World War loomed. An ambitious and thrilling adventure. The rare foray into romance was unexpectedly affecting.
3. Heaven Sent (2015)
A firm fan favourite. When news leaked out that Peter Capaldi would star in a solo episode, few expected this virtuoso dazzler. As he mourned the death of Clara (Jenna Coleman), the 12th Doctor was trapped alone in an endless castle, pursued by a cloaked creature called The Veil. As the narrative looped and the truth about his prison was gradually revealed, it built into a rich psychological portrait which brought new depth to the Time Lord. Epic yet minimal, it was an acting masterclass in what was essentially a one-man play.
2. Blink (2007)
Don't turn your back. Don't look away. And you guessed it, don't blink. The Doctor himself has rarely been so absent from an episode. That didn't stop this small but perfectly formed adventure becoming an all-time classic. Writer Steven Moffat created the greatest monster of the post-reboot era in the Weeping Angels. A pre-Hollywood Carey Mulligan brought plucky heroine Sally Sparrow to sparkling life as she fought off the deadly statues. A heart-rending portrayal of ageing as well as a deeply creepy horror, it was fiendishly clever and heaps of fun. A wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey masterpiece.
1. Rose (2005)
In terms of its importance in Who history, this pivotal instalment cannot be overestimated. With the show laughed off our screens 16 years ago and consigned to the kitschy sci-fi scrapheap, the comeback episode had to get things right. It did so in swaggeringly confident style. Christopher Eccleston lent credibility as the Ninth Doctor. Young viewers were drawn in by the clever casting of Billie Piper as companion Rose. Special effects were no longer shonky and London landmarks were smartly deployed. It whisked the franchise into the 21st century, restored it to Saturday primetime and set the 'Nu Who' template – all in 45 minutes of fast, funny, just-scary-enough family entertainment. Welcome back.
And the five worst…
Fear Her (2006)
Unconvincingly set on the opening day of the 2012 London Olympics, this hokey honker saw the 10th Doctor meet a lonely girl who could make people disappear by drawing them. It was a last-minute, low-budget replacement for an episode due to be scripted by Stephen Fry. Cheap filler with bad acting and a monster which was literally a scribble. As a further indignity, it had to be removed from iPlayer and re-edited to cut a guest appearance from newsreader Huw Edwards.
The Rings of Akhaten (2013)
The worst Matt Smith episode saw the 11th Doctor take new companion Clara (Jenna Coleman) to marvel at a ring system of planets, only to get embroiled in a hokey religious festival and battle a parasitic mind monster. Full of ropey aliens, soppy sentiment and cod-spiritual singing, it had a rubbishy rushed ending that even Smith couldn't carry off. A CBeebies-worthy flop
The Tsuranga Conundrum (2018)
Too many Jodie Whittaker episodes misfired but this one was a particular turkey. The 13th Doctor and her three companions were brought aboard an automated medical ship after being injured by a sonic mine. They were soon locked in a tedious tussle with a daft junk-munching monster called the Pting. One review called it 'Casualty in space' but it wasn't even that good.
The Doctor's Daughter (2008)
What could be weirder than David Tennant's wife playing his daughter? This plot hole-ridden clunker featured Georgia Moffett as the Time Lord's cloned offspring. Her real-life father is Peter Davison, so she's literally a Doctor's daughter – a fact which is more interesting than the episode. There was so much pointless running along generic spaceship corridors that it felt like a Star Trek parody.
Space Babies (2024)
Doctor Who is usually better at being scary than gratuitously cute. Witness this patronisingly lightweight episode where talking babies on a space station – under the care of an AI nurse called Nan-E – came under threat from a creature called The Bogeyman. Which turned out to be made from actual bogies. No, really. Snot joking.