KNIGHT NUI
Celebrating 5 years!
5 Years of Us!
You'll be able to find all our 5-year celebrations up here. There's going to be some great stuff.
Five years of Games of the Year...
Five years of the forums...
Five years caught in our documentry...
Five years of KNTV...
Five years of Doctor Who...
5 years of Doctor Who
Our favourite TV show has been going through somewhat of a golden age during KN’s time in cyberspace. Not only has it seen two spin-offs (Episodes from which shall also be included on this list, for completism’s sake) but an entire five series and eight specials worth of a mad man in a blue box has been served up to us. And in those series and specials we’ve had some brilliant episodes. So we thought it best to sit down, have a proper old argument, and decide which ones were best.
This is not a list of the best episodes since 2005’s reboot, but since KN’s inception. The cut-off point is The Impossible Planet, which is included, due to part two (The Satan Pit) being aired just after the site went live. It’s a shame, as we’ve missed some really good stories in the process and the entire Christopher Eccleston era. By the title of the episode, we’ve got the year of broadcast, (Series 2 was 2006, Series 3 aired in 2007, Series 4 2008, then the specials in 2009- although we’ve included the End of Time as 2009 despite part 2 airing on New Years day 2010 and then Matt Smith’s series, series 5 in 2010 and series 6 in 2011.) then the actor playing the doctor/the companion + any notable guest acts. The likes of Arthur and Mickey are initially included as guests, because it’s not until a later date that they join the full TARDIS crew, with River Song being the same sort of situation. We’ve then rounded the information off with the writer of that particular episode. As for titles, we’ve included both parts of two-parters as one, but have simply picked whichever parts’ title we felt sounded more endearing. Unless otherwise stated, these are Doctor Who stories.
#10: Amy's Choice
2010 – Matt Smith/Karen Gillan + Arthur Darvill – Simon Nye
“A clever, well told, gripping episode. The titular choice
itself may be somewhat of an anti-climax, but the way it’s built up towards is wonderful. The world-swapping and realitiy-switching aspects of the story work surprisingly well, with professional whatshisface Toby Jones putting in quite a good performance to boot.”
#9: Turn Left
2008 – David Tennant/Catherine Tate + Billie Piper – Russell T Davies
“It’s often described as Doctor Who does
Sliding Doors. I liked Sliding Doors. It was a good film. But it wasn’t as good as Turn Left, which was a great fan service, showing exactly what the world would have been like if the Doctor hadn’t been there to save us. A very human story, yet a huge, epic sci-fi piece at the same time with an ending that left everyone in shock. For my money, it’s RTD’s best episode ever.”
#8: Last of the Time Lords
2007 – David Tennant/Freema Ageyman + John Barrowman + John Simm – Russell T Davies
“Epic is the best word to describe this one. When we first
saw the Master as Derek Jacobi in Utopia... Wow. It’s still a surprise, and I’ve watched the episode before just to see the revelation. The YANA thing is extremely clever, it’s well-directed and Tennant, Simm, and Ageyman all put in great performances while Captain Jack is Captain Jack.”
#7: The Impossible Astronaut
2011 – Matt Smith/Karen Gillan/Arthur Darvill + Alex Kingston – Steven Moffat
“Matt Smith claims that the Silence are his favourite
monster, and you can defiantly see why. The American adventure is so much more than the romp it so easily could have been thanks to an excellent villain so chilling in concept that only Steven Moffat could have dreamt it up. It’s also a key part of the wider story idea Grancko’s about to mention. Moffat’s imagination is bizarre and infinite, the whole story is so clever in that while it works very well as a stand-alone piece, it’s only when linked with the rest of the series that it truly reaches it’s peak.”
#6: A Good Man Goes To War
2011 – Matt Smith/Karen Gillan/Arthur Darvill + Alex Kingston – Steven Moffat
“Frankly, I found this episode was brilliant- even
though we haven’t seen the second part of it yet. To be honest- it admittedly wouldn’t be half as good if it wasn’t for the whole *spoilers* Melody Pond thing. Honestly, that was a pure stroke of genius from Moffat. The episode was great- the way it tied in with pretty much every episode of the series so far and has still kept us guessing for the other half of the series. Hats off to you Moff. Well done."
#5: Doomsday
#4: Human Nature
2006 – David Tennant/Billie Piper – Russell T Davies
“As well as being a historic moment for Doctor Who, as
we see the Daleks and Cybermen on screen at once together, Army of Ghosts/Doomsday was also laugh-out-loud funny and cry-you-heart-out sad. No other programme could possibly manage so many high and lows in 45 minutes. It’s a perfect showcase of what Doctor Who’s all about.”
2007 – David Tennant/Freema Ageyman + Jessica Hynes – Paul Cornell
“Human Nature & The Family of Blood are a story so
good it deserved to be told twice. Famously an adaptation of a Doctor Who book, Human Nature offered far more emotion than the book alone possibly could, with David Tennant taking on a completely different role and showing us exactly why he is the finest actor in the whole of Great Britain. The whole thing is beautifully shot, written and acted. It’s a real treat for eyes and ears alike.”
#3: Children of Earth [Torchwood]
2009 – John Barrowman/Eve Myles – Russell T Davies/John Fay
“A phenomenal bit of television. Just as action-packed as
Torchwood ever was, but this time it’s properly ‘grown up’, not just full of cringesome swearing and sex-craving monsters. Emotional throughout, there’s a real sense of the end about it and the final revelation over why the 456 want the kids... It still gives me chills just to think about something so horrific. An absolute gem, and deservedly the only non-Doctor Who story on the list.”
#2: The End of Time
2009 – David Tenant/Bernard Cribbins + John Simm - Russell T Davies
This truly was an epic. Right from the start. We saw the
return of the Master and other time lords, plus good old Wilfred Mott as the companion. As much as it was sad to see David Tennant go, it was the sort of episode you could really look back on and say “I loved that” due to the drama the episode included right up until the ending: “I don’t want to go.”
#1: Blink
2007 – David Tennant/Freema Ageyman + Carey Mulligan - Steven Moffat
“A clever story full of twists and turns, right through to
the very end. The fact that the Doctor hardly appears in it makes Steven Moffat’s script and Carey Mulligan’s’ performance all the more remarkable. Even if we did chuck the discounted episodes back in, Blink would still top the list down to its fantastically well-paced direction and funny, intelligent, moving script. It’s the Inception of television, only better, as Inception didn’t have terrifying statues.”
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