The Fantasy Review’s list of Steven Moffat’s Best Doctor Who Episodes.
#10 – The Eleventh Hour (Season 5, Episode 1)
The Eleventh Hour is Steven Moffat’s first episode as showrunner for season 5, episode 1. This is my favourite new Doctor episode from all of modern Doctor Who
This episode just perfectly encapsulates the character of the Doctor and introduces us to both Amy and Rory, who would go on to become some of my favourite companions.
Moffat wanted to go for a more fairytale-like style of narrative for the 11th Doctor’s seasons, and what better way to do this than make the Doctor a kid’s best friend found at the bottom of the garden?
#9 – The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances (Season 1, Episodes 8 & 9)
These episodes terrified us all as kids. If you didn’t feel scared watching these when you were younger, there might be something wrong with you and you should get that checked out!
The producer of both The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances has even said that they had to remove some sound effects for the masks growing on faces because it was too visceral for a kid’s show!
Before Matt Smith’s seasons of Doctor Who, Steven Moffat’s episodes were always the scariest and often the highlight of the seasons when Russell T Davies was showrunner. These two episodes are something special. They scared me, and I wanted to come back next week to be scared all over again!
#8 – A Good Man Goes to War (Season 6, Episode 7)
One of my favourite parts of Moffat’s era with the 11th Doctor is how epic he made the character. He took the arrogance of 10 from Waters of Mars and made it less toxic – it became bravado used only when the Doctor needed to scare some bad guys away.
However, this strategy goes horribly wrong for the Doctor, because now he scares the bad guys too much, and they’ve come together to get rid of him.
A Good Man Goes to War is a continuation of this theme and I adore it, even if the overall plot for season 6 was insanely complex when first watching it!
This is, of course, also the episode we get River Song’s full reveal which was both awesome and a little weird, in a wibbly wobbly, timey wimey way!
#7 – The Pandorica Opens (Season 5, Episode 12)
I just mentioned the theme of the Doctor’s enemies uniting to get rid of him. At the end of season 5 we see the 11th Doctor locked away in the Pandorica, preventing him from destroying all of reality with the TARDIS blowing up.
They forgot to think, however, that maybe someone else could drive that thing!
In The Pandorica Opens, there are many emotional scenes – some are expanded upon in the next episode – but the one that always gives me the chills is the Doctor’s speech at StoneHenge.
He just gets up on a rock, looks up at all the spaceships above his head, and with no weapons and no plan he tells the universe that he is so badass, he can beat them all and they know it. So, run.
#6 – Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead (Season 4, Episodes 8 & 9)
Going back to Moffat’s days of scaring the hell out of kids, Silence of the Library and Forest of the Dead was a two-parter that introduced River Song and creeped us out with the Vashta Nerada.
I was genuinely jumpy around shadows for years after watching these episodes, and some of the jump scares and body horror was not age appropriate! But I loved it, and I wanted to be scared again, and I will always treasure these episodes.
These episodes came towards the end of season 4, which was already turning out to be one of the best seasons of Doctor Who since 2005. I think us fans cling onto the episodes that had the biggest impact on us when we first watched them, and these two have so much to offer.
From two emotional storylines (the little girl, and River’s sacrifice), to the brilliantly scary Vashta Nerada, Silence of the Library and Forest of the Dead are two of the best Doctor Who episodes of all time!
#5 – The Day of the Doctor (50th Anniversary Episode)
The build-up to the 50th Anniversary special, Day of the Doctor, was absolutely massive. Doctor Who was enjoying amazing viewing figures and everyone was talking about what was coming up for the special.
What we got was something better than I could have hoped for. It was a shame Eccleston was unable to come back as the 9th Doctor (not going into the drama on that one right now), but John Hurt’s War Doctor was a great substitute and kind of forced Moffat to come up with another complex character layer for the Doctor.
Davies destroyed Gallifrey in his worldbuilding when he rebooted the show, and Moffat brought it back. Not only was that what so many fans wanted – to have Gallifrey as part of the show again – but it also worked really well as a completion of the Doctor’s arc.
He spent so much time grieving his home and his people, and feeling guilty for being the cause, that it was an immensely satisfying experience to see him be able to free himself of all of that. It did, of course, then change his feelings of guilt into fear, because nothing scares him more than the return of the Time Lords. Daleks he can deal with. Time Lords? They are tricky maniacs.
#4 – The Time of Angels / Flesh and Stone (Season 5, Episodes 3 & 4)
A lot of people would have expected to see Blink on this list of Steven Moffat’s best Doctor Who episodes, but I wanted to include just one Weeping Angels story and season 5, episodes 3 make up my favourite Weeping Angels story.
The Time of Angels and Flesh and Stone come very early on in Moffat’s first season of Doctor Who. He’s just had a fun episode with the Daleks in WWII and now it is time to be creepy again.
I have rewatched this season of the show so many times, and I still get a kick out of seeing the Doctor from the future pop in to talk to Amy. I mean, how did I miss this when I first watched it? I think I noticed the jacket was gone, but I didn’t think much about it.
Of course, this is when we see River Song again, for the first time since season 4 in the Library. We get the beginnings of all the hints to who she is and what she’s done, and honestly, if all mystery boxes were done like this, I would love most new shows out right now! Sadly, none are being executed as well as River Song’s identity and backstory.
#3 – Boom (Season 14, Episode 3)
Yes, I am a massive fan of Boom. Russell T Davies came back and then Moffat came back to show him up! (I’m being very unserious here – please calm down).
Boom was like a Doctor-lite episode of the show, but with the Doctor in it. He’s stuck on a landmine for the whole episode and everything happens around him.
I’m not a fan of how it ended, but to be fair, this episode is an example of an incredible premise that does not have an easy solution.
From the set design to the music, Boom looked, sounded and felt like an incredible experience to watch. However, it was the dialogue which really elevated it into something special. Ruby and the 15th Doctor haven’t had much time to connect or show the audience how well they work together by episode 3 of this season, so this was the show’s chance to show us.
Boom will go down as a classic of NuWho, along with episodes like Heaven Sent and Midnight.
#2 – World Enough and Time / The Doctor Falls (Season 10, Episodes 11 & 12)
It might surprise some people to see the finale to Capaldi’s last season as the 12th Doctor on this list of Steven Moffat’s best Doctor Who episodes, but I genuinely think World Enough and Time and The Doctor Falls make for one of the best stories Moffat has ever written for the show.
We got two Masters, with the return of Simm’s insane incarnation, the Mondasian Cybermen, and one of the most tragic companion storylines of all time. This story hits HARD in absolutely every way and no one can tell me otherwise.
#1 – Heaven Sent (Season 9, Episode 11)
Yes, Heaven Sent is top of the list. Call me a cliché. Call me boring. Call me unoriginal. Fine. If thinking Heaven Sent is Moffat’s best Doctor Who episode, then I am a boring, unoriginal cliché and I’ll have to live with that!
The 12th Doctor has just lost Clara. She is not everyone’s favourite companion, but her time with the 12th Doctor is when her character really started to shine, especially towards the end of season 8 and throughout season 9.
The Doctor and Clara’s relationship goes from romantic with 11 to something beyond romance and friendship with the 12th incarnation. This is love, but it’s a complex, deep, unimaginable and indescribable love, and that is what Heaven Sent is all about.
Sure, we get to Gallifrey in the end. Yay. No, the willingness to spend BILLIONS of years punching a wall, just so he could try to get Clara back from the brink of death – breaking every rule he always stood for – is the culmination of this incense love 12 has for Clara.
