Which episodes of Doctor Who do you think are the best from David Tennant's time in the TARDIS? It's one of the most popular eras of the show, with Tennant often topping surveys to find the 'favourite Doctor'. To get you thinking guest contributor Nathan Browne takes a look back and presents his top 5 Tenth Doctor stories. Allons-y...
I won't lie, David Tennant is my favourite Doctor. And no, I'm not female, and I'm not 13. I've been watching the show for 30 years but Tennant had a quality about him that put him above his fellow Doctors, for me anyway. I think I would struggle to come up with 5 tenth Doctor stories that I think are weak!
As you will see, a couple of my choices are 'Doctor-lite' stories, because I don't see this article as just about the lead actor, it's about the Tenth Doctor's era, and it was a combination of Tennant, all the great supporting characters, Russell T Davies and the many other talented writers and people working behind the scenes that gave us this golden age.
Just outside of my top 5 would be Human Nature/Family Of Blood, The Waters Of Mars, Midnight, The Stolen Earth/Journey's End and Partners In Crime. All great stories and all episodes I will watch again and again.
I'm not a big fan of the Weeping Angels, outside of this story that is. Steven Moffat very cleverly gave us a 'Doctor-lite' story which feels like the Doctor is in it more than he actually is. Blink is often lauded upon by critics, and quite rightly so, it deserves all the praise it gets. Carey Mulligan carries the story so well, it's no surprise that people always want to see her back in the series. But I hope it remains a one off, I wouldn't want to tarnish this memory.
I can't help but love this story, it gets me emotionally. It's absolutely heartbreaking and could've only come from Russell T Davies. But it's not only the loss of Rose, the preceding 90 minutes are damn fine television too. I love the goading between the Daleks and the Cybermen, and seeing them go ballistic on one another was like a fanboy's dream.
It's another series 3 story. I know many people did not think this year lived up to the previous two and Martha wasn't as universally loved as Rose, but for my money the second half of the third series is the strongest run the show has ever had. Utopia gave me the biggest jaw dropping shock of any episode since the show returned in 2005, in fact probably ever, even more than John Hurt's reveal in The Name Of The Doctor. From the opening scene of the Doctor trying to leave Captain Jack behind, then the re-introduction of the Doctor's hand, and of course Derek Jacobi as Professor Yana. He was absolutely amazing, and I would have loved to have seen more of him as the Master after he regained his memory.
I think this is one of the bleakest Doctor Who stories that has ever been made, and yet it's also one of the finest. Throughout his time as executive producer Russell T Davis built an amazingly strong team of companions and supporting characters. It's credit to him that the one of the finest Tenth Doctor stories barely features the man himself. Bernard Cribbins, Billie Piper and Catherine Tate all excelled in this "what if?" story. What if the Doctor was killed? Who would save us then? It's a sombre 45 minutes as one by one his closest allies are wiped out, until an ordinary temp from Chiswick saves the day.
You jumped at 'that moment' too, didn't you?
There is so much to love about The Girl In The Fireplace. It's typical Steven Moffat with his wibbly wobbly timey wimey approach to Doctor Who. David Tennant and Sophia Myles had amazing on screen chemistry, it's a shame she didn't join the Tardis crew for a few more adventures. Then there's those creepy clockwork androids, one of the finest new monsters the show has given us. But the main reason I chose this as my number one Tenth Doctor story is because I feel it's the episode where David Tennant truly owned the part for the first time. He'd been brilliant since he woke up in The Christmas Invasion, but he still always seemed like the new boy to me. I'd really enjoyed Christopher Eccleston and I suppose I'd wanted him to continue on a bit longer. But Tennant totally won me over very quickly, he brings so much humour to the character but not in a way of belittling the show. His overall approach to the Doctor was exactly what I had been looking for, I just didn't know it until he was in the Tardis. For me, after watching this episode he was the Doctor, he was 'my Doctor', and I expect he always will be.
So what do you think are the best David Tennant Doctor Who stories?
Why not give us your top 5 in the comments below, and if you'd like to have your top 5 Doctor Who stories from Christopher Eccleston's era featured next week then contact us at warpedfactor@live.com.
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