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The Best Episodes of Doctor Who

Every episode of Doctor Who ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Doctor Who!

The Doctor is a Time Lord: a 900 year old alien with 2 hearts, part of a gifted civilization who mastered time travel. The Doctor...
Genres:Action & AdventureDramaSci-Fi & Fantasy
Network:BBC One

Best Episodes Summary

"Blink" is the best rated episode of "Doctor Who". It scored 9.8/10 based on 24926 votes. Directed by Hettie Macdonald and written by Steven Moffat, it aired on 6/9/2007. This episode scored 0.2 points higher than the second highest rated, "Heaven Sent (1)".

  • Blink
    9.8/1024,926 votes
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    #1 - Blink

    Season 3 Episode 10 - Aired 6/9/2007

    Only the Doctor can stop the Weeping Angels, but he's lost in time.

    Director: Hettie Macdonald

    Writer: Steven Moffat

  • Heaven Sent (1)
    9.6/1013,501 votes
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    #2 - Heaven Sent (1)

    Season 9 Episode 11 - Aired 11/28/2015

    Trapped in a world unlike any other he has seen, the Doctor faces the greatest challenge of his many lives. One final test. And he must face it alone.

    Director: Rachel Talalay

    Writer: Steven Moffat

  • Forest of the Dead (2)
    9.4/1011,721 votes
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    #3 - Forest of the Dead (2)

    Season 4 Episode 9 - Aired 6/7/2008

    As the shadows rise, the Doctor forges an alliance with the mysterious River Song.

    Director: Euros Lyn

    Writer: Steven Moffat

  • Silence in the Library (1)
    9.3/1011,422 votes
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    #4 - Silence in the Library (1)

    Season 4 Episode 8 - Aired 5/31/2008

    The Doctor and Donna land in a frightening position in the far future. While investigating a derelict library, the duo come face to face with the disembodied mind of a little girl, an archaeological team led by a woman from the Doctor's future, and swarms of flesh-eating creatures that are seen only as shadows.

    Director: Euros Lyn

    Writer: Steven Moffat

  • Vincent and the Doctor
    9.3/1013,403 votes
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    #5 - Vincent and the Doctor

    Season 5 Episode 10 - Aired 6/5/2010

    Terror lurks in the cornfields of Provence, but only a sad and lonely painter can see it. Amy Pond finds herself shoulder to shoulder with Vincent van Gogh, in a battle with a deadly alien - saving the world has never been so ginger! But can even the Doctor save Vincent?

    Director: Jonny Campbell

    Writer: Richard Curtis

  • The Girl in the Fireplace
    9.2/1013,407 votes
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    #6 - The Girl in the Fireplace

    Season 2 Episode 4 - Aired 5/6/2006

    On a seemingly abandoned spaceship in the 51st century, the Tenth Doctor, Rose and Mickey find time windows leading to 18th century France and a group of clockwork androids using them to stalk a young woman throughout her life.

    Director: Euros Lyn

    Writer: Steven Moffat

  • Doomsday (2)
    9.2/1010,909 votes
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    #7 - Doomsday (2)

    Season 2 Episode 13 - Aired 7/8/2006

    Humanity is caught in the crossfire as the Cybermen and the Daleks wage war against each other. When the mysterious Genesis Ark opens, the Tenth Doctor is faced with an impossible decision: saving the world could mean losing Rose Tyler forever…

    Director: Graeme Harper

    Writer: Russell T Davies

  • The Family of Blood (2)
    9.2/1010,528 votes
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    #8 - The Family of Blood (2)

    Season 3 Episode 9 - Aired 6/2/2007

    It's 1913, and war comes to England early as the terrifying Family hunt for the Doctor.

    Director: Charles Palmer

    Writer: Paul Cornell

  • Journey's End (2)
    9.2/1010,148 votes
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    #9 - Journey's End (2)

    Season 4 Episode 13 - Aired 7/5/2008

    The Earth has been overwhelmed and the universe faces dominion by the resurgent forces of a terrifying and limitless empire led by one of The Doctor's greatest enemies. Aiding the Time Lord in a final battle are several of his closest allies and companions, but for one of them, a price will be paid...

    Director: Graeme Harper

    Writer: Russell T Davies

  • Midnight
    9.1/1010,704 votes
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    #10 - Midnight

    Season 4 Episode 10 - Aired 6/14/2008

    While visiting the planet Midnight, a beautiful and luxury planet, full of lavishs and hightech cities, a terrifying problem arises that leaves The Doctor powerless.

    Director: Alice Troughton

    Writer: Russell T Davies

  • The Stolen Earth (1)
    9.1/108,920 votes
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    #11 - The Stolen Earth (1)

    Season 4 Episode 12 - Aired 6/28/2008

    The Earth has been moved, and it's a race against time as Donna and the Doctor try to find it before the Daleks destroy everything; they head for the Shadow Proclamation and the Medusa Cascade. Meanwhile on Earth a veritable bevy of ex-companions join together to contact the Doctor and take down the Daleks. Can Captain Jack, Sarah-Jane, Martha Jones and Rose find the Doctor in time...

    Director: Graeme Harper

    Writer: Russell T Davies

  • The Big Bang (2)
    9.1/108,893 votes
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    #12 - The Big Bang (2)

    Season 5 Episode 13 - Aired 6/26/2010

    The Doctor is gone, the Tardis has been destroyed, and the universe is collapsing. The only hope for all reality is a little girl who still believes in stars.

    Director: Toby Haynes

    Writer: Steven Moffat

  • World Enough and Time (1)
    9.1/106,368 votes
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    #13 - World Enough and Time (1)

    Season 10 Episode 11 - Aired 6/24/2017

    Friendship drives the Doctor into the rashest decision of his life. Trapped on a giant spaceship, caught in the event horizon of a black hole, he witnesses the death of someone he is pledged to protect. Is there any way he can redeem his mistake? Are events already out of control? For once, time is the Time Lord’s enemy.

    Director: Rachel Talalay

    Writer: Steven Moffat

  • The Empty Child (1)
    9.0/1010,999 votes
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    #14 - The Empty Child (1)

    Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 5/21/2005

    After chasing an unexplained capsule through time, the TARDIS lands in London, during an air raid. Rose investigates when a small child wearing a gasmask, standing on a rooftop, continuously calls out for his mummy. After floating above the city on a barrage balloon, Rose is swept off her feet by another time traveller – Captain Jack Harkness. Meanwhile, The Doctor follows a teenaged girl to a meeting of the homeless children of the Blitz. Here, the child in the gasmask is terrorising them with a parade of strange events, constantly asking for his mother.

    Director: James Hawes

    Writer: Steven Moffat

  • The Doctor Dances (2)
    9.0/1010,197 votes
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    #15 - The Doctor Dances (2)

    Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 5/28/2005

    After narrowly escaping the gas mask monsters, The Doctor, Rose, and Captain Jack try to stop the mutated people from infecting other victims. But it soon becomes apparent that one of the group may indirectly responsible for the virus. The answer lies at the bomb site, but time is running out...

    Director: James Hawes

    Writer: Steven Moffat

  • The Parting of the Ways (2)
    9.0/109,705 votes
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    #16 - The Parting of the Ways (2)

    Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 6/18/2005

    The fate of the Universe is hanging in the balance as the Dalek fleet begin their invasion of Earth. The Doctor must decide whether to sacrifice every human being on Earth in order to save every other living creature in the universe from the Daleks. Either way, he knows he must send Rose home...

    Director: Joe Ahearne

    Writer: Russell T Davies

  • The Pandorica Opens (1)
    9.0/108,673 votes
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    #17 - The Pandorica Opens (1)

    Season 5 Episode 12 - Aired 6/19/2010

    The Doctor's friends unite to send him a terrible warning; the Pandorica - which is said to contain the most feared being in all the cosmos - is opening. But what's inside, and can the Doctor stop it?

    Director: Toby Haynes

    Writer: Steven Moffat

  • A Good Man Goes to War (1)
    9.0/109,048 votes
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    #18 - A Good Man Goes to War (1)

    Season 6 Episode 7 - Aired 6/4/2011

    Amy Pond has been kidnapped and the Doctor is raising an army to rescue her as the drama continues. But as he and Rory race across galaxies, calling in long-held debts and solemnly given promises, his enemies are laying a carefully concealed trap. In her cell in Stormcage, River Song sadly acknowledges that the time has come at last – today will mark the Battle of Demons Run and the Doctor’s darkest hour. Both sides will make their sacrifices and River Song must finally reveal her most closely guarded secret to the Doctor.

    Director: Peter Hoar

    Writer: Steven Moffat

  • The Doctor Falls (2)
    9.0/106,359 votes
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    #19 - The Doctor Falls (2)

    Season 10 Episode 12 - Aired 7/1/2017

    “Without hope, without witness, without reward.” The Mondasian Cybermen are on the rise. It’s time for the Doctor’s final battle…

    Director: Rachel Talalay

    Writer: Steven Moffat

  • Human Nature (1)
    8.9/109,603 votes
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    #20 - Human Nature (1)

    Season 3 Episode 8 - Aired 5/26/2007

    England, 1913. A schoolteacher called John Smith dreams of adventures in time and space. The Doctor, along with Martha, heads to a boarding school, but what he finds is far from ordinary...

    Director: Charles Palmer

    Writer: Paul Cornell

  • Turn Left
    8.9/109,133 votes
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    #21 - Turn Left

    Season 4 Episode 11 - Aired 6/21/2008

    Whilst attending a carnival on the Chino-planet of Shan Shen, Donna is cajoled into having her fortune read, where her past is carefully examined. With the Doctor missing, Donna must work with Rose, a traveller from a parallel universe, to prevent darkness encompassing the whole of the universe.

    Director: Graeme Harper

    Writer: Russell T Davies

  • The Doctor's Wife
    8.9/109,346 votes
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    #22 - The Doctor's Wife

    Season 6 Episode 4 - Aired 5/14/2011

    The Doctor receives a distress signal from an old friend. Could there really be another living Time Lord out there? Hopes raised, he follows the signal to a junkyard planet sitting upon a mysterious asteroid in a Bubble universe, populated by a very strange family, as the time-travelling drama continues. The Doctor, Amy and Rory are given the warmest of welcomes by Auntie, Uncle and Nephew. But the beautiful and insane Idris greets them in a more unusual fashion – what is she trying to tell the Doctor? As the Doctor investigates, he unwittingly puts his friends in the gravest danger.

    Director: Richard Clark

    Writer: Neil Gaiman

  • The Angels Take Manhattan
    8.9/109,514 votes
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    #23 - The Angels Take Manhattan

    Season 7 Episode 5 - Aired 9/29/2012

    The Doctor’s heart-breaking farewell to Amy and Rory – a race against time through the streets of Manhattan, as New York’s statues come to life around them… With Rory’s life in danger, the Doctor and Amy must locate him before it’s too late! Luckily, an old friend helps them and guides the way.

    Director: Nick Hurran

    Writer: Steven Moffat

  • The Impossible Astronaut (1)
    8.8/108,736 votes
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    #24 - The Impossible Astronaut (1)

    Season 6 Episode 1 - Aired 4/23/2011

    Placing his life entirely in their hands, the Doctor agrees to search for the recipient of the fourth envelope - just who is Canton Everett Delaware the Third? And what is the relevance of their only other clue: 'Space 1969'? Their quest lands them - quite literally - in the Oval Office, where they are enlisted by President Nixon himself to assist enigmatic former-FBI agent Canton, in saving a terrified little girl from a mysterious spaceman.

    Director: Toby Haynes

    Writer: Steven Moffat

  • Day of the Moon (2)
    8.8/108,121 votes
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    #25 - Day of the Moon (2)

    Season 6 Episode 2 - Aired 4/30/2011

    The Doctor is locked in the perfect prison. Amy, Rory and River Song are being hunted down across America by the FBI. With the help of new friend and FBI-insider, Canton Everett Delaware the Third, our heroes are reunited to share their discoveries, if not their memories. For the world is occupied by an alien force who control humanity through post-hypnotic suggestion and no one can be trusted. Aided by President Nixon and Neil Armstrong's foot, the Doctor must mount a revolution to drive out the enemy and rescue the missing little girl. No-one knows why they took her. Or why they have kidnapped Amy Pond...

    Director: Toby Haynes

    Writer: Steven Moffat