Doctor Who backdrop
Action & Adventure•Drama•Sci-Fi & Fantasy

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!

Binge this in 5d 3h•Peaking at 9.3/10

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 saves planets for a living—more of a hobby actually, and

Airs on
BBC One
BestEpisodes
WorstEpisodes
BestSeasons
AllEpisodes

Seasons13

All12345678910111213

Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Click to reveal
    Doctor Who Season 3 Episode 10 - Blink
    9.3/10(132 votes)

    #1 - Blink

    S3:E10

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

    Director:Hettie Macdonald
    Writer:Steven Moffat

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  2. Doctor Who Season 4 Episode 9 - Forest of the Dead (2)
    9.2/10(85 votes)

    #2 - Forest of the Dead (2)

    S4:E9

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

    Director:Euros Lyn
    Writer:Steven Moffat

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  3. Doctor Who Season 4 Episode 8 - Silence in the Library (1)
    9.0/10(83 votes)

    #3 - Silence in the Library (1)

    S4:E8

    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

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  4. Doctor Who Season 2 Episode 13 - Doomsday (2)
    8.8/10(80 votes)

    #4 - Doomsday (2)

    S2:E13

    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

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  5. Doctor Who Season 3 Episode 9 - The Family of Blood (2)
    8.7/10(76 votes)

    #5 - The Family of Blood (2)

    S3:E9

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

    Director:Charles Palmer
    Writer:Paul Cornell

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  6. Doctor Who Season 5 Episode 10 - Vincent and the Doctor
    8.7/10(89 votes)

    #6 - Vincent and the Doctor

    S5:E10

    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

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

    7. Trending NowTRENDING NOW

    The 20 WORST Episodes of Doctor Who

    READ
  7. Doctor Who Season 9 Episode 11 - Heaven Sent (1)
    8.7/10(85 votes)

    #7 - Heaven Sent (1)

    S9:E11

    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

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  8. Doctor Who Season 1 Episode 10 - The Doctor Dances (2)
    8.6/10(92 votes)

    #8 - The Doctor Dances (2)

    S1:E10

    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

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  9. Doctor Who Season 1 Episode 13 - The Parting of the Ways (2)
    8.6/10(89 votes)

    #9 - The Parting of the Ways (2)

    S1:E13

    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

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  10. Doctor Who Season 1 Episode 9 - The Empty Child (1)
    8.5/10(98 votes)

    #10 - The Empty Child (1)

    S1:E9

    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

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  11. Doctor Who Season 2 Episode 4 - The Girl in the Fireplace
    8.5/10(93 votes)

    #11 - The Girl in the Fireplace

    S2:E4

    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

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  12. Doctor Who Season 3 Episode 8 - Human Nature (1)
    8.5/10(76 votes)

    #12 - Human Nature (1)

    S3:E8

    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

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  13. Doctor Who Season 2 Episode 8 - The Impossible Planet (1)
    8.4/10(84 votes)

    #13 - The Impossible Planet (1)

    S2:E8

    Rose finds herself further away from home than ever before, on a desolate world in the orbit of a Black Hole. Trapped with an Earth expedition and the mysterious Ood, the time-travellers face an even greater danger as something ancient beneath the planet's surface begins to awake.

    Director:James Strong
    Writer:Matt Jones

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  14. Doctor Who Season 4 Episode 10 - Midnight
    8.4/10(81 votes)

    #14 - Midnight

    S4:E10

    While visiting Midnight, a beautiful and luxurious planet full of lavish and high-tech cities, a terrifying problem arises that leaves The Doctor powerless.

    Director:Alice Troughton
    Writer:Russell T Davies

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  15. Doctor Who Season 5 Episode 1 - The Eleventh Hour
    8.4/10(89 votes)

    #15 - The Eleventh Hour

    S5:E1

    The Doctor has regenerated into a brand new man, but danger strikes before he can even recover. With the TARDIS wrecked, and the sonic screwdriver destroyed, the new Doctor has just 20 minutes to save the whole world - and only Amy Pond to help him.

    Director:Adam Smith
    Writer:Steven Moffat

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  16. Doctor Who Season 6 Episode 1 - The Impossible Astronaut (1)
    8.4/10(79 votes)

    #16 - The Impossible Astronaut (1)

    S6:E1

    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

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  17. Doctor Who Season 6 Episode 2 - Day of the Moon (2)
    8.4/10(74 votes)

    #17 - Day of the Moon (2)

    S6:E2

    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

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  18. Doctor Who Season 10 Episode 11 - World Enough and Time (1)
    8.4/10(68 votes)

    #18 - World Enough and Time (1)

    S10:E11

    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

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  19. Doctor Who Season 1 Episode 6 - Dalek
    8.3/10(97 votes)

    #19 - Dalek

    S1:E6

    The Doctor is shattered and Earth is in danger as he and Rose discover the Time Lords' deadliest enemy beneath Utah.

    Director:Joe Ahearne
    Writer:Robert Shearman

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  20. Doctor Who Season 2 Episode 9 - The Satan Pit (2)
    8.3/10(81 votes)

    #20 - The Satan Pit (2)

    S2:E9

    The TARDIS lands in a base on a planet orbiting a black hole, an impossible situation that stumps even the Tenth Doctor. The base crew are drilling to the centre of the world, to claim the power that keeps it in orbit for themselves. However, an ancient evil is down there too, and he is awake…

    Director:James Strong
    Writer:Matt Jones

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  21. Doctor Who Season 3 Episode 12 - The Sound of Drums (2)
    8.3/10(76 votes)

    #21 - The Sound of Drums (2)

    S3:E12

    Harry Saxon becomes Prime Minister and his reign of terror begins – but that's only the start of his ambitions, as he announces mankind's first contact with an alien race, the Toclafane. An audacious plan spanning the whole of time and space begins to close around the Earth, in the penultimate episode of Russell T Davies's Doctor Who.

    Director:Colin Teague
    Writer:Russell T Davies

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  22. Doctor Who Season 4 Episode 11 - Turn Left
    8.3/10(73 votes)

    #22 - Turn Left

    S4:E11

    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

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  23. Doctor Who Season 4 Episode 13 - Journey's End (2)
    8.3/10(78 votes)

    #23 - Journey's End (2)

    S4:E13

    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

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  24. Doctor Who Season 5 Episode 12 - The Pandorica Opens (1)
    8.3/10(71 votes)

    #24 - The Pandorica Opens (1)

    S5:E12

    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

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

  25. Doctor Who Season 5 Episode 13 - The Big Bang (2)
    8.3/10(72 votes)

    #25 - The Big Bang (2)

    S5:E13

    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

    Be the first to start the conversation for this episode

Best Episodes Summary

"Blink" is the best rated episode of "Doctor Who". It scored 9.3/10 based on 132 votes. Directed by Hettie Macdonald and written by Steven Moffat, it aired on 6/9/2007. This episode scored 0.1 points higher than the second highest rated, "Forest of the Dead (2)".