The Doctor has been traveling with his TARDIS for hundreds of years, meeting feisty humans and evil aliens, and saving the world along the way. Since its revival in 2005, Doctor Who has been expanding on the Timelord's adventures, providing viewers with some of the best sci-fi the BBC has ever produced.
While Doctor Who is known for its long, timey-wimey arcs, the British show is also home to incredible standalone episodes that have attained fan-favorite status over the years. Whether it's outsmarting the terrifying Weeping Angels, battling Daleks, or fighting his own demons, the Doctor will always do his best to come out on top.
10 "The Angels Take Manhattan" Is Both Heartwrenching & Frightening
The Eleventh Doctor takes his companions, Amy Pond and Rory Williams, on a trip to 2012 New York so they can have a picnic in Central Park. Soon enough, their seemingly normal trip takes a turn for the worse when Rory is attacked by the Weeping Angels and gets sent back in time. Now in the 1930s, he reunites with his daughter River Song, who is working as a private detective called Melody Malone, while Amy and the Doctor try to find a way to bring him back.
"The Angels Take Manhattan" marks the return of the Weeping Angels and the last appearance of Rory and Amy. The episode is a mix of noir and horror aesthetics and has a heartwrenching ending that makes it the best Eleventh Doctor adventure of the seventh season.
9 "School Reunion" Is A Throwback To Classic Who
The Doctor takes on his "John Smith" alias once again in "School Reunion." Posing as a physics professor, the Tenth Doctor and Rose Tyler, who's working as a dinner lady, investigate the strange creatures haunting a secondary school. While on the job, they encounter the Doctor's old companion, Sarah Jane Smith, who's also doing her own investigation around the school. Now reunited, the Doctor and Sarah seem to fall into old habits, making Rose weary of her own importance to the Timelord.
The success of "School Reunion" led Doctor Who head writer Russell T. Davies to create a spin-off titled The Sarah Jane Adventures. Seeing the Doctor interact with Elisabeth Sladen's Sarah Jane is definitely a treat and gives an insight into his past and his character.
8 "The Girl In The Fireplace" Has A Terrific Ending Reveal
Landing on a seemingly abandoned spaceship in the 51st century, the Tenth Doctor, Rose, and Mickey Smith soon find that they're not as alone as they initially thought. Several time windows aboard reveal a strange, murderous plot against Reinette, Madame de Pompadour, a French aristocrat from the eighteenth century. The Doctor meets Reinette throughout her life as he and his companions try to figure out why a group of masked clockwork robots seem to be obsessed with her.
"The Girl In The Fireplace" is considered to be one of the best episodes of the show, as its writing and romantic setting make it a standout. The episode has an intriguing mystery at its core, beautifully designed villains, and a jaw-droppingly fantastic reveal at the end.
7 "The Day Of The Doctor" Celebrates Doctor Who's History
An urgent summon has the Eleventh Doctor and Clara Oswald rushing to the National Gallery to heed a message from Queen Elizabeth I. Back in the 1500s, the Tenth Doctor's tryst with the Virgin Queen turns nasty when the shape-shifting Zygons arrive on the scene. Upon meeting, the two Doctors must face the past they swore to forget lest Gallifrey falls again.
"The Day of the Doctor" is a celebration of Doctor Who's legacy in science-fiction and British television. As the 50th anniversary special, it follows the tradition of uniting multiple Doctors in one of the show's biggest adventures to date. It tied several ends related to the Last Great Time War without deviating from the main plot, making it a great episode for Who connoisseurs and beginners.
6 "Vincent & The Doctor" Is A Loving Homage To A Great Artist
While visiting the Musée d'Orsay in Paris with Amy, the Eleventh Doctor notices a strange creature peeking out of a window in a Van Gogh painting. Concerned, the Doctor and Amy travel back in time to nineteenth-century Provence to investigate. They find and befriend Van Gogh, who seems to be battling internal and external invisible demons on the regular.
"Vincent and the Doctor" is a favorite of many for its take on mental health and its respectful homage to Van Gogh. Its imagery and scenery, which are mostly based on Van Gogh's paintings, give the episode an incredibly endearing feel that makes it one of the most heartwarming of the Eleventh Doctor's era.
5 "Dalek" Explores The Doctor's Battle Scars
The Ninth Doctor and Rose are forcefully transported to the basement of an alien artifacts collector who proudly offers to show them their only living specimen called the Metaltron. Upon meeting this alien, a horrified Doctor realizes that it's in fact a surviving Dalek from the Last Great Time War. The Doctor faces an internal battle between his instincts, which tell him to destroy the Dalek, and his morals, which urge him to save it.
"Dalek" is a wonderful exploration of the Doctor's past, his motives, and his choices. It reintroduced the Daleks as the Doctor's archenemies and is the best standalone episode featuring Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor.
4 "Midnight" Is Lock-Room Mystery Perfection
While vacationing with Donna on the planet Midnight, the Tenth Doctor decides to take a short trip to see the Sapphire Waterfall. He takes a four-hour shuttle ride to his destination alongside six other passengers, including recently-divorced businesswoman Sky Silvestry. The Doctor is just getting to know his companions when a mysterious being creeps inside their shuttle and possesses Sky, making her repeat everything the others say.
"Midnight" is one of Doctor Who's most suspenseful episodes, made so by the cast's superb acting and the strange alien entity's lack of corporeal form. "Midnight" is a perfect episode for fans of locked-room mysteries and is the first of a few "companion-lite" episodes in which the Doctor goes solo for most of the runtime.
3 "The Doctor's Wife" Turns The TARDIS Into A Fully-Fledged Character
The Doctor finally communicates face to face with his beloved TARDIS in "The Doctor's Wife." After being tricked into visiting an asteroid by an entity known simply as House, the Eleventh Doctor, Rory, and Amy, must stop it from escaping and wreaking havoc in their universe. But when House transfers the TARDIS' consciousness into a woman's body, the Doctor must also find a way to restore his time machine before it's too late.
The episode was written by acclaimed English writer, Neil Gaiman, who's known for his fantastical stories such as The Sandman, American Gods, and Coraline. "The Doctor's Wife" explores the Doctor's relationship with his TARDIS, dishing out important details about both characters and how they feel toward each other.
2 "Blink" Is A New Who Masterpiece
After breaking into an old house and finding her name written on the walls, Sally Sparrow finds herself up against a terrifying group of statues called the Weeping Angels. When two people she knows get sent back in time, she decides to take the advice of a madman who keeps appearing as an easter egg in a series of DVDs.
The Weeping Angels make their chilling debut in the fan-favorite "Blink." The episode is written by Steven Moffat and has Carey Mulligan as Sally, who takes on the lead as the Tenth Doctor with a minimal but vital role. Many consider "Blink" to be new Who at its best, with a great dose of good acting, creepiness, and timey-wimey goodness.
1 "Heaven Sent" Is A Shakespearean Exploration Of The Doctor's Psyche
After losing Clara, a grieving Twelfth Doctor is teleported against his will into a room inside an old castle. A hooded figure, his captor, keeps following him around and tormenting him, asking him questions that the Doctor doesn't want to answer. As he tries to escape, his mind keeps wandering back to his TARDIS and Clara, who helps him understand what's happening.
"Heaven Sent" isn't technically a standalone, as it's the middle episode of a three-parter, but its structure allows the episode to work by itself. "Heaven Sent" reads like a Shakespearean play, with the Doctor going deep into his own psyche as he deals with Clara's demise and his uncertainty. Peter Capaldi's superlative acting is the driving force behind the entire episode, giving the Doctor a new introspective quality that he previously lacks.