Introduction
Finally time caught up to David Tennant’s incarnation of the Doctor. At least for another 10 years… Anyway, with a new showrunner in Steven Moffat also came a new Doctor in the form of eternally babyfaced Matt Smith. Despite some very accurate criticism about Moffat’s ability to write female characters, Doctor Who Series 5 largely stuck the landing with only a few dodgy episodes. Here’s looking at Victory of the Daleks (which was a childhood favourite of this writer but looking back why we wonder?) for no reason. Anyway, with all that being said, here is some history about Doctor Who Series 5 before we commence the list properly.
History
Doctor Who Series 5 debuted in April 2010 on BBC One with The Eleventh Hour, which went on to become the most viewed series premiere since Rose, and ran for 13 episodes until the two part finale The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang in July 2010. Alongside Smith’s debuting Eleventh Doctor, Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill also debuted as Amy and Rory (the two recurring companions until a certain series 6 episode in Manhattan). Doctor Who Series 5 generally received high praise, especially for the two part episodes like The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone and The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang. However, critics pointed out much weaker, but slightly higher production value episodes like The Vampires of Venice and Victory of the Daleks. So with the history out of the way, here are our picks for the best episodes of Doctor Who Series 5!
10. The Beast Below (S5, E2)
Kicking off our list of the best Doctor Who Series 5 episodes is The Beast Below. And in only his second episode, Moffat was already committing to traumatising a generation with the creepy looking robots known as the Smilers. God those things will haunt your dreams… Anyway, when The Doctor and Amy end up in a futuristic version of the UK called Starship UK they discover something far more sinister at play. Also, kudos to Moffat for an interesting conundrum involving the leader of Starship UK, Queen Elizabeth, and her awareness about what is truly carrying Starship UK through the universe. Although that last point feels weirdly on the nose but hey ho… Overall, a solid mid tier Moffat Doctor Who episode.
9. Cold Blood (S5, E9)
Whilst the more iconic two part episodes in Doctor Who Series 5 naturally draw more attention, the third one is a lot more hit and miss. Anyway, when The Doctor, Amy and Rory end up in Wales they encounter a drilling operation which threatens a classic Who monster: The Silurians. All this escalates when the Doctor has to play hostage negotiator in order to try and bring back the innocent humans caught in the crossfire of the Silurian’s misguided attack. All this is tense enough without the prospect of the Silurians declaring war should the Doctor fail in his attempt to once again bring peace to both races.
8. The Lodger (S5, E11)
Now yes, does this episode go against everything we as a country have said about James Corden for the past decade? Yes. However, we can begrudgingly admit he’s kind of good in this episode. After the TARDIS teleports away without him, The Doctor traces the source of the problem to a random two storey house owned by Corden’s character: Craig. However, the mystery soon becomes how does no one remember Craig’s house having a second floor? Also, this episode starts the trend of the Eleventh Doctor being weirdly good at football for no apparent reason so that’s a plus. Overall, an unexpectedly funny episode made by Smith and Craig’s chemistry.
7. Flesh and Stone (S5, E5)
Speaking of those iconic two part episodes, we now come to Flesh and Stone. Now whilst Doctor Who Series 5 largely avoided too much silliness, the ending of Flesh and Stone is equal parts weird and hilarious. And yes we’re referring to the whole walk like you can see idea. Weird ending aside, Flesh and Stone is otherwise an excellent conclusion which looks to have given the Doctor a victory over the Weeping Angels as he seals them beyond time. However, the best part about this episode is easily the chilling conversations between The Doctor and Angel Bob as the Angels attempt to manipulate the Doctor’s humanity by impersonating the man they murdered. Oh and don’t forget the dad joke at the end before the Doctor defeats the Angels. A great episode overall.
6. The Eleventh Hour (S5, E1)
And so we come to the opening episode of Doctor Who Series 5: The Eleventh Hour. And from the get go this episode immediately gets across everything the audience needs to know about Smith’s Doctor. Wacky, eccentric yet beneath all of that there’s the same darkness and confidence of the 9th and 10th Doctors. Whether he’s eating fish fingers and custard or threatening an alien police force to leave Earth alone, Matt Smith does a great job in his first episode. Also, in another forgotten Doctor Who cameo, Dame Olivia Colman appears as one of the forms of the alien in this episode. Truly a great introduction episode to the Eleventh Doctor and just a great Doctor Who episode overall.
5. Amy’s Choice (S5, E7)
Now for as much as we should rightfully call out Moffat’s down right bad writing of female characters, he does at least redeem himself here. When some dream pollen ends up in the TARDIS’s fans, it starts making the Doctor, Amy and Rory jump between two dreams. One is where Amy and Rory (with an awful ponytail) are married and live in a quaint village full of murderous alien pensioners. The other dream isn’t much better as the trio are in a TARDIS slowly floating towards a dying, cold star which is freezing them to death. Also, huge credit goes to Toby Jones for his great portrayal of the Dream Lord, a supposed manifestation of the pollen in the TARDIS. Overall, a very emotional and well done episode.
4. The Big Bang (S5, E13)
Did you know our whole universe was in a hot damn state? Until 40 million years ago when the Doctor restarted the universe? Cheesy Big Bang Theory segue aside, this is the follow up (and series finale) to The Pandorica Opens. Here, The Doctor is stuck bouncing through time trying to reunite with all his companions and put reality back into place. Unfortunately for the Doctor, reality is getting closer and closer to collapse. This episode’s high point is definitely when River Song shoots the Doctor’s fez off in one of Smith’s weird eccentricities as the Eleventh Doctor. Overall, an excellent finale to both Series 5 and the Pandorica Opens.
3. The Time of Angels (S5, E4)
Finally, we’ve arrived at the aforementioned The Time of Angels. When a space cruise liner crashes into an old temple, The Doctor, River and Amy have to investigate along with an army of heavily armed Church clerics led by Father Octavian. However, what starts as a relatively small task soon turns dangerously quick as Amy gets locked in a room with a Weeping Angel. But that is nothing on the incredible reveal once the Doctor and co enter the Temple and start walking past dozens of statues, thus resulting in one of the cleverest uses of The Doctor waffling about alien species you’ll ever see. An excellent episode which forms the absolute peak of the Weeping Angels in Doctor Who.
2. The Pandorica Opens (S5, E12)
Narrowly missing out on the top spot in our best Doctor Who Series 5 episodes is The Pandorica Opens. This is already a great episode from the set up as River Song delivers the Doctor a message from his enemies: a mysterious box called the Pandorica is opening and it supposedly contains the most dangerous creature alive. What follows is another very good, if slightly obvious in hindsight, twist involving the Doctor’s role in his enemies’s message. While some parts of this episode feel a little off, like the whole rogue Cyberman head attacking Amy, the final shots of The Doctor being dragged to the Pandorica by his enemies all united against him is incredibly powerful. An excellent episode topped only by one of the most emotional episodes of Doctor Who ever.
1. Vincent and the Doctor (S5, E10)
And our pick for the best Doctor Who Series 5 episode is….. Vincent and the Doctor. Now as mentioned above, this is arguably one of the most emotional episodes of Doctor Who ever because of its ending. Before all of that though, The Doctor and Amy encounter Vincent Van Gogh being haunted by a monster which you can’t see. Smart move from Moffat there saving some of the VFX budget. However, even after saving Vincent from the monster he still doesn’t believe that anyone will care or remember him in the future.
Enter the Doctor who takes him to the National Gallery and shows him huge swathes of people admiring his work. Firstly, this will bring a tear to your eye. Secondly, a random Doctor Who appearance (number who knows how many) as the curator is played by Bill Nye. Finally, huge credit goes to Tony Curran for a phenomenal performance as Van Gogh. Overall, a worthy episode to top our best episodes of Doctor Who Series 5.
So those are our picks for the best episodes of Doctor Who Series 5 but what are yours? Let us know in the comments below!
