Doctor Who: The Best of Ten

Ahoy!

Today I'm going to writing about a few of my favourite episodes from David Tennant's time as The Doctor.

Now, when I started this blog I said that I wasn't going to write about Doctor Who because if I did I'd end up doing it a lot and the last thing the internet needs is yet another blog full of fans ranting and raving about Doctor Who.

However, seeing as this is a quiet day for me, and I woke up with a craving for some classic Davey T Doctor Who, I figured I'd give you a quick run down of my all time favourite Tenth Doctor stories.

Now, I feel quite bad for David Tennant when it came to Doctor Who because he was, at heart, a fanboy and thus, must've understood that some of his episodes were weak at best. Unfortunately, that's nothing to do with his performance, more to do with some of the shoddy writing he was given to work with, or with the fact that RTD had a tendency to blow the entire budget on one or two big set pieces that were wasted on bad ideas.

When I first got into Doctor Who I was 14 years old and David Tennant had just taken over from Christopher Eccleston and, aside from the odd 'vintage' WHO episode I happened to catch on UKTV Gold or whatever it was, back in the late 90s/early noughties, I hadn't seen any Doctor Who but, with thanks to David, I became a full on card-carrying Whovian, and Tennant has, and always will be my Doctor.

The first episode I saw was Tennant's first full series outing, Doctor Who, Series 2, Episode 1: New Earth... And I was hooked. So without further delay, here is my list of David Tennant's top Doctor Who stories.

The Girl in the Fireplace.

1. The Girl in the Fireplace.
          For me, this Moffat penned historical romance/creepy clockwork horror was an absolute must-see and quickly became my favourite as a young fan. From the time jumping gateway's from the ship to the palace, to Archie the horse, there was nothing to not love. Of course, the absolute stand-out moment for me, is when the Doctor pretends to be utterly crunk out of his face in order to trick the (frankly terrifying) clockwork droids! Scary stuff.
   
2. The Idiot's Lantern.
    

   

   The Idiot's Lantern.

        By golly I love Mark Gatiss. I always have, always will. Now, before I got into Doctor Who I'd been reading a little known book by the Gat-Man called 'The Vesuvius Club' which features a bisexual Edwardian spy and lots of puns so, thanks to that, I was already a big fan of his work before I came to Doctor Who and saw this 50s set mastery of the macabre. This episode, however, further cemented my love of his writing. The Wire is a truly creepy villain and the fact that she has no physical embodiment makes for even more chilling viewing. And, of course, who can't love David Tennant with a great big greasy pompadour?!
   
3. Human Nature/The Family of Blood.
          Adapted from Paul Cornell's excellent 7th Doctor novel of the same name, this two-parter is sure

   

   Human Nature/The Family of Blood.

   to tug on the heartstrings. It also features some of Tennant's finest acting within the role given that the parts of The Doctor and his human counterpart John Smith feature entirely different personalities, accents and physical mannerisms. This, for me, is truly his finest work. It also features some stellar writing, wonderful acting from the supporting cast and sets up the series' biggest reveal!
   
4. Blink.
    

   

   Blink.

        Now, this opinion is a bit of a cliché, but Blink has got to be my all time favourite Doctor Who story. Ever. Moffat seemed to set out to reinvent the NuWho wheel with this episode and by jove did he succeed! Our first real taste of Doctor Who with little to no Doctor is deliriously satisfying; we have a strong lead in Carey 'Great Gatsby' Mulligan, the introduction of the most arse-tighteningly terrifying monster in the entire WHO canon and on top of that, the wonderful use of the easter-egg DVDs to introduce the Doctor into the mix when and where he was needed. If you only see one episode of Doctor Who, make it this one.
   
5. Midnight.
          Having only recently rewatched this, I must say, it's pretty darn memorable. Now, series 4 was

   

   Midnight.

   fairly weak, in my opinion (nowhere near as weak as series 3, mind) but this episode is well worth a watch. The 'monster' is a disembodied entity of some description which takes over a host body and begins stealing people's voices. It's truly harrowing to watch as the now, messianic figure of the Doctor (thanks, RTD! *rolls eyes*) is pulled down a couple of pegs as the fellow passengers on-board the shuttle-bus they're all trapped on begin to turn on him, and we see just how grating the Doctor's ego can be...
   
6. The End of Time (Parts I & II)
    

   

   The End of Time.

        Tennant's swansong is a favourite of mine, if only for the utterly bonkers antics of John Simm as The Master. If not for him, this entire fanwank of a story would've been too much to handle and would've been yet another Doctor-glorifying orgy of melodrama and cringe-worthy 'threats'. It is, however, thanks to Simm that he have a truly fearsome baddie and are allowed to enjoy these final moments with Tennant. By the time this episode aired we'd already been told Matt Smith would be replacing Tennant and I was very excited to see somebody new take over, not because I was aware of who Matt Smith was, but, thanks to the poor writing, I was bored of poor old David Tennant. And that's jut not fair. However, thanks to the Master, (and not to mention darling Wilf!) we have a fairly enjoyable end to Tennant's tenure as our favourite Time Lord.

So there you have it, dear reader, just a quick run down of but a few of my favourite David Tennant episodes of Doctor Who. I'm sure when Matt Smith leaves us at Christmas I'll do a list featuring the marvellous Doctor number 11! Until then, I look forward to the 50th anniversary with baited breath! I'll see you next time, chums!