Our Best Of Who Awards feature series reaches its massive 'mid-season' climax as I reveal my the greatest Who adventures...It's within reaching distance- Doctor Who is now a mere five days away from returning proper to our screens with its new 50th Anniversary season. With that in mind, our Best Of Who Awards feature series will enter a hiatus period whilst Who is back on air, with the feature articles resuming once the season has concluded broadcasting in May. Today, though, as a grand mid-season send-off, we're looking back at the best Whoniverse adventures presented to viewers since the show's return in 2005. Here's our guide to the Top 15 Greatest Modern Stories (So Far):
15. THE SNOWMEN (2012)- This cracking Christmas Special reintroduced Jenna-Louise Coleman as new companion Clara Oswald. In Victorian London, the Doctor's battle against the sinister Doctor Simeon, old enemy the Great Intelligence and killer snowmen was simply vintage Who, a spectacular display of Steven Moffat's writing talents to this day.
14. THE TIME OF ANGELS/FLESH AND STONE (2010)- Another Moffat tale, this one from much earlier in the Matt Smith era. Combine the deepening mystery of River Song with a return from the terrifying Weeping Angels and the powerful Cracks In Time, and you've got one of the show's greatest two-parters yet which constantly innovates in the midst of its stunning cliffhanger.
13. THE DOCTOR'S WIFE (2011)- Neil Gaiman and Doctor Who always seemed like a perfect match, and this Series Six adventure was definitive proof. The Doctor's Wife was a part-whimsical, part-tearful and part-bonkers romp for the Doctor, Amy and Rory, testing their limits like never before when the TARDIS became human and a living asteroid attempted to manifest itself in the real universe...
12. VINCENT AND THE DOCTOR (2010)- If ever there was a truly emotional episode of Who that warranted a place on this list, though, it would have to be this stunning Series Five instalment from Richard Curtis. Tony Curran shone brightly as Vincent Van Gogh, Bill Nighy had a fantastic cameo and the use of Athlete's Chances in the amazingly constructed time-travelling final scenes was beautifully done.
11. MIDNIGHT (2008)- One-off Doctor Who adventures in the show's modern era have often been amongst the most inventive stories. Indeed, Russell T Davies' Series Four story Midnight was one such brilliant example, bringing the Doctor to the brink of sheer defeat when a terrifying creature took control of a resident on his bus and the passengers started to lose their wits. Stunning stuff!
9. THE ANGELS TAKE MANHATTAN (2012)- Everyone had high hopes for the final adventure of the Ponds, yet it would have been tough to anticipate just how much of a success Angels was. There was River Song, a living Statue of Liberty, New York in 2012 and 1930, terrifying new incarnations of the Weeping Angels and so much more, but ultimately it was the satisfying climax to the Pond era that really made Steven Moffat's Series Seven mid-season finale incredible.
8. THE PANDORICA OPENS/THE BIG BANG (2010)- Bringing Series Five to a big conclusion must have seemed like a challenging prospect for Steven Moffat. Nevertheless, particularly with the opening instalment, the Moff raised the stakes for the TARDIS crew dramatically, reintroducing Rory and River as the universe began to reach its end in what turned out to be the perfect climax to their first season.
7. A CHRISTMAS CAROL (2010)- Modern day Christmas Specials of Doctor Who have often varied quite considerably in terms of quality. A Christmas Carol is one of the glorious exceptions to this rule. Michael Gambon owns his role as Kazran, and Matt Smith and Katherine Jenkins are both on fine form in what proved to be a musical, masterful time-shifting festive epic...
6. THE GIRL WHO WAITED (2011)- Another time-warped adventure for the Doctor and his team, The Girl Who Waited defied all the laws of time and yet succeeded marvellously in doing so. Nick Hurran's direction, Karen Gillan's heartbreaking portrayal of two different Amy's, the stunning visual effects and so much more ensured that this Series Six adventure will never be forgotten.
5. ASYLUM OF THE DALEKS (2012)- He's a sly one, old Steven Moffat. It would have been simple enough for Asylum Of The Daleks to be a bland Dalek opener to Series Seven, yet not only did the Moff bring the fear back into Skaro's most infamous inhabitants, it introduced Jenna-Louise Coleman as a part of the Oswald legacy in the most spectacular fashion imaginable. Exterminate!4. THE GOD COMPLEX (2011)- Toby Whithouse has had a fair few cracking episodes on Doctor Who, but undoubtedly The God Complex has to rank as his best. Sure, David Walliams is hilarious as Gibbis, but the true heart of this Series Six story are the concepts of fear and faith, both exemplified to glorious dramatic effect by one of Britain's most talented writers.
3. THE WATERS OF MARS (2009)- David Tennant's final four adventures had their missteps- The Next Doctor and Planet Of The Dead are fairly average, and the cactus people almost managed to ruin The End Of Time- yet there's one shining highlight among the 2009 Specials. The Waters Of Mars is a morally challenging, time-shifting Doctor Who epic that puts most of Who to absolute shame, showcasing Tennant's absolute mastery of the role of the Tenth Doctor like never before!
2. HUMAN NATURE/THE FAMILY OF BLOOD (2007)- Another absolutely fantastic Tennant story, this time from Series Three and carrying a thrilling premise- what if the Doctor became human? David Tennant, Freema Agyeman, Jessica Hynes and Harry Lloyd worked brilliantly in tandem to create an inevitably human and thus totally empathetic piece of Who magic.
1. THE IMPOSSIBLE ASTRONAUT/DAY OF THE MOON (2011)- For me, though, it had to be the Series Six premiere two-parter which scooped up the gong. In The Impossible Astronaut and Day Of The Moon, we have two Doctor Who masterpieces where not Steven Moffat nor the cast nor the production team are afraid to do something recklessly different in the hope of ensuring the best possible debut of their second full season since the 2010 change of hands. I'm a big fan of America episodes anyway, but it was the audacity of the Doctor's death arc, the stunning Melody regeneration cliffhanger, the expansion of River's storyline and the Nixon homages that made it all such a joy to watch. Quite simply, if ever I need even a slight reminder as to why Doctor Who remains perhaps the greatest shot on television to date, then The Impossible Astronaut/Day Of The Moon is easily my first definitive port of call!
SPECIAL MENTIONS GO TO...Dalek, The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit, Utopia, Turn Left, The Stolen Earth/Journey's End, The End Of Time, The Eleventh Hour, The Vampires Of Venice, The Lodger, A Good Man Goes To War and A Town Called Mercy, all of which are most certainly fab Who stories in their own right, but were just eluded a place on the Top 15.
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