Best Of Who Awards: Top 5 Greatest Present Day Episodes

Life on Earth can be an adventure too, as our Best Of Who Awards continue!
We're now just a mere three weeks away from Doctor Who's return to BBC1 with its 50th Anniversary season of blockbuster adventures. With that in mind, plus the fact that season premiere episode The Bells Of Saint John will be a modern day London-set urban thriller, it's time to continue our Best Of Who Awards feature series. This time around, we're looking for the Top 5 Greatest Present Day episodes in this sci-fi drama icon's fifty-year history, so without further ado, let's take a trip back to the present...
5. THE SONTARAN STRATAGEM/THE POISON SKY (2008)- One of a number of effective 2005-2012 stories on this list that deals with the out of the ordinary occuring in our day-to-day world, this reintroduction of the Sontarans features a twist on GPS with the ATMOS concept. Throw in UNIT, Martha, references to the Brigadier, human clones and the brilliant Wilfred Mott into the mix, and bar Luke Rattigan and stereotypical creepy workers, you've got a surefire recipe for success!
4. AN UNEARTHLY CHILD (1963)- Okay, admittedly this is a slight deviation in that only the opening episode, An Unearthly Child, takes place in what was a present day setting. Nevertheless, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright's stumbling upon a rusty police box in the 76 Totters Lane junkyard made for captivating viewing on November 23rd, 1963. Fifty years on, this inert mix of the old and the new works wonders for fans old and new.
3. THE LODGER (2010)- James Corden making an appearance on Doctor Who was always going to cause ripples in the time and space continuum  It was hard to anticipate, though, just how much of an impact Gareth Roberts' adaptation of his present day Doctor Who Magazine comic strip story The Lodger would have on future stories of this setting. The flat share premise is gloriously entertaining, the Doctor's escapades on football pitches and in industry offices often hilarious and above all, the chemistry between Smith and Corden a beautiful display of 'bromance' to behold.
2. SCHOOL REUNION (2006)- How do you reintroduce a classic series companion into modern day Who? School Reunion is the exact answer, bringing the late and great Elizabeth Sladen back into the fray as Sarah-Jane Smith amongst journalist articles, school computer frenzies, fish and chips and brilliant academic concepts that throw the show firmly back into 21st century territory. Again, a stunning example of how the old and the new can intertwine into a defining masterpiece.
1. THE POWER OF THREE (2012)- Make no mistake, The Power Of Three isn't perfect. As with The Eleventh Hour, the present day hospital sequences often feel rushed and outdated, and yet this is a brilliant standalone present day episode which features the integration of a host of social and other modernist elements such as TV crazes and social networks which work magnificently. It's a truly stunning step forward for the art of storytelling in this time period of the TARDIS crew's travels, and indeed a fitting penultimate instalment in the era of the Ponds, an era that can never be forgotten- and nor should it, eh?