Top 10 Scenes from New Who

 In honor of Doctor Who's 57th anniversary yesterday I'm dedicating a Top 10 post to my favorite moments from the show. This are the scenes that are just so good I pretty much have them memorized! I couldn't really rank them (save my number one pick) because they range in tone and emotion so these are in no particular order. All of my moments are from NewWho (2005-Present) and, though I still like the show, I haven't enjoyed the writing as much during Capaldi and Whittaker's time as the Doctor - I'm warming up to the writing more with Whittaker but have only seen most of her episodes once.

If you are super afraid of ruining even one single plot point turn away! Otherwise entries where the clip gives too much of the ending away are marked as spoilers.

Allon-sy!

10. Hello, I'm the Doctor

If there is one thing Matt Smith excels at it is oration. I'm glad his ability was expanded upon as the show went on - giving him some truly excellent monologues. His first episode had a speech that wasn't quite a monologue, but certainly convinced a host of people that, yes, Matt Smith could be the Doctor. Couple that with one of my favorite pieces of orchestration from the entire show, and... yeah - this gets me pumped every time.

9. Dalek

This episode is your reward for making it through the first 8 episodes. The weak have been weeded out and remaining viewers are ready to understand why this show is a cultural phenomenon. Even as a newcomer I immediately new that the Dalek was bad news - I can only imagine how old fans watching the new series felt when that voice in the dark croaks, "Doctooor?"

8. Everybody Lives (Series 1 - The Doctor Dances)

The ending of a great two parter and our first time going to the past. The gas mask people were the first genuinely scary thing I had seen on the show. (Daleks are scary IN-universe, but they don't scare me.) With a literal ticking bomb adding to the intensity of the episode the finale where the Doctor realizes how things can be fixed. Little did we know that the triumphant line, "Just this once, everybody lives!" was more a promise than an exclamation.

7. Amy and Rory's Wedding (Series 5 - The Big Bang)

After the Doctor erases himself from time to close the rift, we see the preparations for Amy's wedding. We all knew what was coming - you don't write the Doctor off of Doctor Who - the only question was how! And no better way than for Amy to recite the famous wedding poem, by the time she reaches 'something blue' you are bouncing in your seat!

6. Neil Armstrong's Boot (Series 6 - Day of the Moon)

The way the Doctor defeats the Silence is just so outlandishly clever that it really should be seen in the context of its episode! This is one of my favorite uses of historical framing on the show - taking an event we are familiar with (Apollo 11 moon landing) and building a great scenario around it.

5. It's Not a Painting

The 50th Anniversary Special is so good! I think we are safe here on the spoiler side if you skip to 1:45, as this scene was shown in the trailers and is absolutely amazing! The 'I Am the Doctor' orchestration returns to perfectly augment the scene! I can't believe the meat of the scene only lasts one minute! (Honestly the entire special is like that - it always feels feature length but is far from it.)

4. River Song (Series 4 - Forest of the Dead)

This one hits you harder on the rewatch. First time view the episode it's sad - but the second time after finishing the series? Absolutely devastating. Also from what is the scariest story arc in the entire series as far as this bibliophile is concerned.

3. Breaking the Wall (Series 9 - Heaven Sent)

It took me until this scene to really get Capaldi. I found his episodes merely 'meh' but after this point I was able to go back and enjoy them much more!

2. The 10th Doctor Meets Sarah Jane Smith

This scene just makes me happy - Tennent's giddiness absolutely leaps off the screen as he is introduced to one of the legends of classic Doctor Who.

1. Vincent Van Gogh

My favorite episode contains my favorite moment in all of Doctor Who! Happy, sad, confusing, inspiring... this scene is all of them and more. It is such an out of place scene in the series - completely unlike any other in the new run. But that is part of why it works - if every historic episode ended this way it would be trite, if this episode was like the others it would feel somehow incomplete. I love it and never fail to tear up watching it.