The Fantasy Review‘s list of 10 truly epic Doctor Who stories.
#1 – The Ark (Season 3 – First Doctor)
One of my favourite stories from the 1960s is The Ark. It’s one of the most epic Doctor Who stories because of the scale of time. The First Doctor and his companions land on an Ark – a ship travelling from a dead Earth looking for a new home – at a relatively early part of their journey.
Halfway through, you think you’re finished but the TARDIS re-materialises on the Ark again, only many years into the future. The Doctor and his companions have become legends and the power dynamics between humans and an alien species have switched.
It’s a fun, relatively fast-paced story for the era of the show, which also deals with some pretty deep themes. Well worth a watch.
#2 – The Enemy of the World (Season 5 – Second Doctor)
The Enemy of the World is one of the best Doctor Who stories that deals with a human enemy rather than an alien one. The opening scenes of the Second Doctor skipping down the beach to the sea for a paddle, then running away when people come shooting at him are hilarious – so many memorable moments from this story.
It’s an epic story because of the grand complexity of it all. This is one of the best spy thrillers ever told – and it’s a Doctor Who episode! Take your time and savour this one – and Patrick Troughton’s fantastic performance as both the Doctor and the identical villain!
#3 – The War Games (Season 6 – Second Doctor)
This is a bittersweet story as it’s both the best final story for a Doctor before regeneration, but also it’s goodbye to Troughton’s incredible Second Doctor (and Jamie and Zoe).
Stuck in a strange place divided into sections, where in each one a different war is being fought, watched on by the War Lord (a rogue Time Lord), the Doctor and his companions must find a way of taking everyone back to their own times and stopping these horrible War Games from taking place.
It’s exciting, funny, and the stakes are very high. I could rewatch this epic Doctor Who story on repeat!
#4 – Inferno (Season 7 – Third Doctor)
A fan favourite story from the Third Doctor’s era, Inferno is our first parallel Earth story in the show and it’s fantastic. Having a parallel Liz Shaw, Brigadier, and everyone else is very fun and shows off their acting capability – but the story is very dark for the parallel characters.
This is one of the most epic Doctor Who stories because it’s the end of the world, and only by returning from the parallel world can the Third Doctor prevent the same destruction taking place on the Earth in his universe.
#5 – The Three Doctors (Season 10 – Third Doctor)
In my opinion, the only time they did the Omega character perfectly is in the special, The Three Doctors. It is a shame William Hartnell was too ill to be in it more than he is, but his youthful/elder wisdom from the TARDIS monitor is wonderful to have, and steers the slightly manic Second and moody Third Doctors in the right direction.
This story is set in another universe too – one of antimatter. Omega wishes to return, but the antimatter will destroy the universe of matter, so the three Doctors need to stop him, and the Time Lords bring them together to do just that.
#6 – Genesis of the Daleks (Season 12 – Fourth Doctor)
Anyone who tells you Genesis of the Daleks is overrated is lying to you. Not only is it the best Davros story, it’s one of the best Dalek stories – after this they struggled to make a great Dalek story for a very long time.
The Doctor’s greatest nemesis is still being developed on Skaro and the Time Lords send the Fourth Doctor to prevent their creation. This story is epic in theme – looking at the complex moral discussions of destroying a race of beings – but it is also epic in visuals and location.
Skaro is Hell. War rages on and there’s a mad scientist on one side and desperate scientists trying one final weapon on the other – and between them a radioactive wasteland full of mutants from past experiments.
#7 – Shada (Season 17 – Fourth Doctor)
This is not technically a story from Doctor Who, as it never completed filming, but they spliced animated scenes with what they did film on location and it’s definitely one of the most epic Doctor Who stories.
Shada is the prison of the Time Lords, and someone wants to access it. The tale is sweeping, full of reveals and mad dashes. I don’t want to spoil it for people who haven’t seen it! Best going in knowing very little.
#8 – The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang (2005 Reboot Series 5 – Eleventh Doctor)
And we enter the modern era. There are a few stories to choose from that could be considered epic, but the first that comes to mind is Season 5 final two-parter, The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang.
The crack in time is expanding, swallowing everything in the universe. Entire planets, galaxies, solar systems, are ceasing to exist. And it all the Doctor’s fault (sort of).
I remember watching this as it came out and being blown away by the sheer scope of the story – and the Doctor himself. Never is the Doctor more arrogant and swuarve than in The Pandorica Opens, telling all the alien spaceships in the sky to run away and hide from him.
This two-parter is just the prime example of epic Doctor Who!
#9 – The Day of the Doctor (2005 Reboot 50th Anniversary – Eleventh Doctor)
The 50th Anniversary episode, the Day of the Doctor, is epic in the sense that since 2005 we had thought Gallifrey was gone, and the Doctor destroyed it. This was a defining factor in the character for three regenerations – and with this story, everything we thought we knew was about to change.
Do I think Gallifrey should have been brought back? Not really – but that’s for another article. What can’t be denied though is the emotional impact of this story. It’s mind-blowingly good, and probably the best anniversary episode in all of Doctor Who history.
#10 – Heaven Sent (2005 Reboot Series 9 – Twelfth Doctor)
The last on this list of epic Doctor Who stories is Heaven Sent. What starts as a quiet episode with just the Doctor and a singular monster haunting the corridors of a tower becomes one of the most beautiful examinations of death, mortality, and grief in all media.
This might sound rude, but I don’t go into an episode of Doctor Who expecting to see “art” – I expect to see (mostly) silly monsters and the Doctor saving the day in an unexpected Doctor-ly way.
In Heaven Sent we get a truly epic piece of art that outshines all other episodes of Doctor Who – it stands alone as a singular work of fiction televison anyone should just switch on and watch.
What did you think of this list of epic Doctor Who stories? What favourite do you think I missed??
