Doctor Who Top 10 - The Eighties

While undoubtedly Doctor Who's weakest decade on the television, there are still gems to be found out there. The top three would certainly be able to walk into any of the other decade lists compiled for this blog. Unfortunately the strength in depth simply isn't there - this period was Doctor Who at its most inconsistent, and like many people, I place the blame for this firmly at the door of the producer and his choice of script editors. Nevertheless, below is a selection of stories which frequently showcase Doctor Who at its most (successfully) experimental, and in the case of the McCoy stories, provide pointers for where the franchise would ultimately head post-cancellation.

1. The Curse of Fenric
Year: 1989
Episodes: 4
Regulars: Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred
Notable Guest Stars: Dinsdale Landen, Alfred Lynch
Writer: Ian Briggs
Director: Nicholas Mallett
Producer: John Nathan-Turner

Unusually for original-series Doctor Who, a real emotional rollercoaster of a tale, with a relentless pace and plenty of memorable characters and scenes. Like all good Doctor Who serials should have, it has a couple of cracking cliffhangers, a strong central villain, and some stirring incidental music, all things it has in common with my number 2 choice...

2. The Caves of Androzani
Year: 1984
Episodes: 4
Regulars: Peter Davison, Nicola Bryant
Notable Guest Stars: Christopher Gable, John Normington
Writer: Robert Holmes
Director: Graeme Harper
Producer: John Nathan-Turner

Peter Davison's swansong contains by far the best writing, acting and directing seen in the show for many years, and unfortunately it would be several more before anything else would come close to touching it again. A dark and gritty story in which the Doctor is little more than a doomed and helpless bystander to the events taking place around him, it bequeathed us several less impressive Colin Baker era rip-offs, but still stands as a mightily impressive production, and possibly the best final story any Doctor has ever had.

3. Ghost Light

Year: 1989
Episodes: 3
Regulars: Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred
Notable Guest Stars: Ian Hogg, Michael Cochrane
Writer: Marc Platt
Director: Alan Wareing
Producer: John Nathan-Turner

The story which, along with its two immediate successors, made a fan of me when it was first broadcast. Despite being fairly impenetrable to the unattentive viewer, the ambition, classiness and evocative atmosphere of this story make it one to cherish.

4. Survival

Year: 1989
Episodes: 3
Regulars: Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, Anthony Ainley
Notable Guest Stars: Lisa Bowerman, Julian Holloway
Writer: Rona Munro
Director: Alan Wareing
Producer: John Nathan-Turner

The final story of the original run, Survival can't quite match the heights of the previous two stories (see nos 1 & 3), but it shouldn't be put down for that. A lot of the roots of the 21st century revival can be seen here, from the suburban, modern day setting, the exploration of the companion's links to her home, and, um, the use of actors in cat costumes.

5. Remembrance of the Daleks

Year: 1988
Episodes: 4
Regulars: Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, Terry Molloy
Notable Guest Stars: Simon Williams, Pamela Salem
Writer: Ben Aaronovitch
Director: Andrew Morgan
Producer: John Nathan-Turner

Widely credited with saving the show from a complete creative fizzle out, this serial and its novelisation provided a strong template for the new direction that fan writers would take the franchise in through the nineties. Personally though, I find it hard to get as enthusiastic about it as the other McCoy stories higher up this list, but it is undoubtedly one of the decade's highlights.

6. Enlightenment

Year: 1983
Episodes: 4
Regulars: Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Mark Strickson
Notable Guest Stars: Keith Baron, Lynda Barron
Writer: Barbara Clegg
Director: Fiona Cumming
Producer: John Nathan-Turner

One of the good things to come out of 80s Who is that it occasionally attempted rather more sedate and cerebral stories like this, which unusually was both written and directed by women - and it shows. Visually lush, and gently inventive.

7. Warriors' Gate

Year: 1981
Episodes: 4
Regulars: Tom Baker, Lalla Ward, John Lesson, Matthew Waterhouse
Notable Guest Stars: Clifford Rose, Kenneth Cope
Writer: Stephen Gallagher
Director: Paul Joyce
Producer: John Nathan-Turner

Again, an experimental story, and not particularly easy to follow compared to most Whos, but contains a host of memorable sequences and images, as well as the departure of both Romana and K9 - the Tom Baker era was finally drawing to a conclusion.

8. State of Decay

Year: 1980
Episodes: 4
Regulars: Tom Baker, Lalla Ward, John Leeson, Matthew Waterhouse
Notable Guest Stars: Emrys James, William Lindsay
Writer: Terrance Dicks
Director: Peter Moffatt
Producer: John Nathan-Turner

A revived script originally due to be submitted back in the mid-late 70s gothic heyday, this is inevitably a (welcome) throwback to a more successful era, and by far the most conventional Who story of the period - in a good way.

9. The Trial of a Time-Lord

Year: 1986
Episodes: 14
Regulars: Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, Bonnie Langford, Anthony Ainley
Notable Guest Stars: Lynda Bellingham, Michael Jayston
Writer: Robert Holmes, Pip and Jane Baker, Phillip Martin
Director: Chris Clough, Nicholas Mallett, Ron Jones
Producer: John Nathan-Turner

An absolute disaster on so many levels, with a poorly through out structure, plot holes you could drive a train through, and some diabolical writing and acting at some points - but still the most watchable Colin Baker story, and it does have its moments. Just don't think too much about it, and don't set your expectations too high.

10. Kinda

Year: 1982
Episodes: 4
Regulars: Peter Davison, Janet Fielding, Sarah Sutton, Matthew Waterhouse
Notable Guest Stars: Richard Todd, Nerys Hughes
Writer: Christopher Bailey
Director: Peter Grimwade
Producer: John Nathan-Turner

Ok, the rubber snake is rubbish. But even the best Whos have poorly realised monsters. The latest in a long line of Buddhist influenced Who stories is thoughtful and dares to try something a little more imaginative than the norm.

Doctor Who Top 10 - The Sixties

The early years of Doctor Who are understandably the least familiar to the modern fan. Significant proportions of episodes are gone, lost forever in all likelihood, and what remains can often seem slow and creaky in comparison to what came afterwards. But this was in many ways the time when the show was at its most imaginative. Nothing was yet set in stone, and consequently the variety of ideas tried by the various production teams was incredibly eclectic for a while. That said, the most popular stories from this period are usually the more formulaic ones that conform to the standard default setting the series would later assume with some regularity, and this is because firstly they were damn good stories, and secondly a lot of those experiments I mentioned didn't actually work very well. This selection of stories most definitely do work however - I would strongly recommend each and every one of these stories. Even if you can't experience the TV episodes anymore, the soundtracks and novelisations remain, and give us enough of an impression of their quality to make a judgement call.

1. The Invasion

Year: 1968
Episodes: 8 (1 & 4 missing)
Regulars: Patrick Troughton, Fraser Hines, Wendy Padbury, Nicholas Courtney
Notable Guest Stars: Kevin Stoney
Writer: Derrick Sherwin, Kit Pedler
Director: David Maloney
Producer: Peter Bryant

With the help of the newly-formed United Nations Intelligence Taskforce (UNIT), led by their old friend Lethbridge-Stewart -- newly promoted to Brigadier -- the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe discover that businessman Tobias Vaughn has been conspiring with the Cybermen. Partially cybernised himself, Vaughn plans to give the Earth over to the Cybermen unless the Doctor can stop him... but the Cybermen have already arrived.

2. The War Games

Year: 1969
Episodes: 10
Regulars: Patrick Troughton, Fraser Hines, Wendy Padbury
Notable Guest Stars: Edward Brayshaw, Philip Madoc
Writer: Malcolm Hulke, Terrance Dicks
Director: David Maloney
Producer: Derrick Sherwin

The Doctor, Jamie and Zoe believe the TARDIS has brought them back to Earth, in the midst of World War One. But it soon becomes apparent that they are nowhere of the sort. In fact, a race of aliens has been kidnapping soldiers from various points in the Earth's history and transporting them to another planet, with the intention of using them to form the greatest army the universe has ever seen. At the helm of this plot is the War Chief, a renegade Time Lord like the Doctor. To stop him, the Doctor may be forced to call upon his own people and give up his wandering in time and space forever.

3. The Evil of the Daleks

Year: 1967
Episodes: 7 (1,3-7 missing)
Regulars: Patrick Troughton, Fraser Hines, Deborah Watling
Notable Guest Stars: John Bailey, Marius Goring
Writer: David Whitaker
Director: Derek Martinus
Producer: Innes Lloyd

The TARDIS is stolen from Gatwick Airport, and the Doctor and Jamie pursue it through a time corridor back to 1866. There, they are captured by the Daleks, who are ostensibly trying to isolate the Human Factor, that which makes mankind truly human. But with the help of scientist Edward Waterfield, whose daughter Victoria is held hostage by the Daleks, the Doctor discovers his old enemies are actually searching for the Dalek Factor... which they intend to imprint upon every human in history.

4. The Tomb of the Cybermen

Year: 1967
Episodes: 4
Regulars: Patrick Troughton, Fraser Hines, Deborah Watling
Notable Guest Stars: George Pastell
Writer: Kit Pedler, Gerry Davis
Director: Morris Barry
Producer: Peter Bryant

The Doctor, Jamie and Victoria land on the desert planet Telos, where an archaeological expedition from Earth has also arrived. The scientists are searching for the fabled tombs to which the dying Cybermen removed themselves many years earlier. The Doctor is adamant that his old enemies be left in hibernation, but two members of the research team, the Logicians Klieg and Kaftan, have plans to use the Cybermen to help them dominate the galaxy.

5. The Daleks' Master Plan

Year: 1965-66
Episodes: 12
Regulars: William Hartnell, Peter Purves
Notable Guest Stars: Jean Marsh, Kevin Stoney, Nicholas Courtney, Adrienne Hill
Writer: Terry Nation, Dennis Spooner
Director: Douglas Camfield
Producer: John Wiles

On Kembel, the Doctor finds a message left by Marc Cory, detailing the Daleks' plan to use a time destructor to take over the universe. The Doctor steals the taranium core needed to fuel the destructor, and is then pursued across time and space by the Daleks. The Doctor's ally, Space Security Service agent Bret Vyon, is killed by his own sister, Sara Kingdom, at the orders of Mavic Chen, the traitorous Guardian of the Solar System. It is up to the Doctor to convince Sara of the truth of her misguided allegiance, and avoid an apocalyptic triple threat in the form of Chen, the Daleks, and the time destructor.

6. Marco Polo

Year: 1964
Episodes: 7 (all missing)
Regulars: William Hartnell, William Russell, Jacqueline Hill, Carole Ann Ford
Notable Guest Stars: Mark Eden
Writer: John Lucarotti
Director: Waris Hussein
Producer: Verity Lambert

The TARDIS lands in 1289 China. There it is seized by famed explorer Marco Polo, who intends to present it as a gift to Kublai Khan, in the hope that it will win him his freedom. The Doctor, Susan, Ian and Barbara must accompany Polo as he travels across the desert to the court in Peking, and at the same time unearth the malevolent plotting of Tegana, an agent of a rival warlord whose mission is to assassinate the Khan.

7. The Power of the Daleks

Year: 1966
Episodes: 6 (all missing)
Regulars: Patrick Troughton, Anneke Wills, Michael Craze
Notable Guest Stars: Bernard Archard
Writer: David Whitaker
Director: Christopher Barry
Producer: Innes Lloyd

Still suspicious of the younger man claiming to be the Doctor, Ben and Polly discover that the TARDIS has landed on the Earth colony Vulcan. There, a scientist named Lesterson has unearthed a crashed capsule containing the inert forms of three Daleks. The Doctor is horrified to learn that Lesterson has reactivated them, intending for them to serve the colony's populace. But the time travellers soon discover that the Daleks have a far more malevolent agenda.

8. The Abominable Snowmen
Year: 1967
Episodes: 6 (1, 3-6 missing)
Regulars: Patrick Troughton, Fraser Hines, Deborah Watling
Notable Guest Stars: Jack Watling

Writer: Mervyn Haisman, Henry Lincoln
Director: Gerald Blake
Producer: Innes Lloyd

The Doctor is delighted when the TARDIS lands near a monastery in Tibet because it means he can return the monks' sacred ghanta which he took with him for safekeeping centuries earlier. But all is not well at the monastery: there is disharmony amongst the monks, and the countryside is overrun by robotic Yeti. Soon, the Doctor finds himself accused of murder, whilst an extradimensional force called the Great Intelligence prepares to return to Earth... using one of the Doctor's friends as a vessel.

9. Fury from the Deep

Year: 1968
Episodes: 6 (all missing)
Regulars: Patrick Troughton, Fraser Hines, Deborah Watling
Notable Guest Stars: Victor Maddern
Writer: Victor Pemberton
Director: Hugh David
Producer: Peter Bryant

On the North Sea coast in the modern day, the Doctor, Jamie and Victoria learn of a series of mishaps and strange occurrences which has been plaguing the oil refineries. They soon find that a form of intelligent seaweed is rising up from the seabed, attempting to take over humanity -- and the invasion has already begun.

10. The Mind Robber

Year: 1968
Episodes: 5
Regulars: Patrick Troughton, Fraser Hines, Wendy Padbury
Notable Guest Stars: Emyrs Jones
Writer: Peter Ling
Director: David Maloney
Producer: Peter Bryant

After an emergency dematerialisation, the TARDIS lands in a weird white void. Drawn out of the time machine, the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe find themselves in a surreal world where imagination has become reality, populated with characters out of folklore and literature. And the mysterious overlord of this Land of Fiction desires the Doctor's company... forever.

Doctor Who Top 10 - The Seventies

For many, including me, these were the golden days of Doctor Who. It would've been perfectly easy to make this a Top 20, and I am horrified that I was not able to include some personal favourites inside this list of 10 - no Malcolm Hulkes, no Roger Delgados, and five whole seasons ignored completely. But you can't go wrong with any of these classics - the show at its wittiest, most adult, and most entertaining.

1. The Talons of Weng-Chiang
Year: 1977
Episodes: 6
Regulars: Tom Baker, Louise Jameson
Notable Guest Stars:
Writer: Robert Holmes
Director: David Maloney
Producer: Philip Hinchcliffe

The Doctor and Leela find themselves in Victorian London. Girls are being kidnapped off the street, ghosts have been sighted in the opera house run by Henry Jago, and giant rats haunt the London sewers. At the centre of the chaos is a mysterious Oriental magician named Li H'sen Chang. Chang serves a man he believes is the god Weng-Chiang, and is searching for a cabinet lost by his master. The Doctor uncovers the truth, however -- Weng-Chiang is actually Magnus Greel, a tyrant from the 60th century whose escape back through time has transformed him into a disfigured monster.

2. The Robots of Death

Year: 1977
Episodes: 4
Regulars: Tom Baker, Louise Jameson
Notable Guest Stars:
Writer: Chris Boucher
Director: Michael Briant
Producer: Philip Hinchcliffe

The TARDIS brings the Doctor and Leela to a Sandminer, a giant mining ship. The crew of the Sandminer is slowly being killed off one by one, and the time travellers are the obvious suspects. But the Doctor discovers that the impossible is coming true: the Sandminer's robot workers and manservants are responsible for the deaths, having fallen under the influence of the crazed scientist Taren Capel, who wishes to supplant the human race with his robotic creations.

3. The Genesis of the Daleks

Year: 1975
Episodes: 6
Regulars: Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen, Ian Marter
Notable Guest Stars:
Writer: Terry Nation
Director: David Maloney
Producer: Phillip Hinchcliffe

The Time Lords intercept the Doctor, Sarah and Harry as they transmat back to Nerva, and send them to Skaro in the distant past in order to prevent the creation of the Daleks. There they discover the planet's two native races, the Kaleds and the Thals, are nearing the climax of the Thousand Year War. As the conflict reaches its terrible conclusion, Sarah discovers that a disfigured Kaled scientist named Davros has already accomplished what the time travellers were sent to stop: the genesis of the Daleks.

4. City of Death

Year: 1979
Episodes: 4
Regulars: Tom Baker, Lalla Ward
Notable Guest Stars: Julian Glover, Tom Chadbon
Writer: Douglas Adams, Graham Williams, David Fisher
Director: Michael Hayes
Producer: Graham Williams

In modern-day Paris, the Doctor and Romana realise that someone is playing with time. They trace the disturbances to Count Scarlioni, who is actually one of several fragments of an alien Jagaroth named Scaroth. Scaroth's ship exploded on primordial Earth, scattering shards of his being throughout history. Now Scaroth has accumulated the funds and technology to send himself back in time to avert the accident. But the Doctor realises that this would prevent the evolution of life on Earth, which was instigated by the explosion.

5. Inferno

Year: 1970
Episodes: 7
Regulars: Jon Pertwee, Nicholas Courtney, Caroline John
Notable Guest Stars:
Writer: Don Houghton
Director: Douglas Camfield, Barry Letts
Producer: Barry Letts

Project Inferno is designed to drill down through the Earth's core, where it will release a powerful new energy source called Stahlman's Gas, named after the project's director. But the Doctor realises that unleashing Stahlman's Gas will have horrible consequences for the planet, and indeed his fears are confirmed when a substance oozing up from the drill shaft begins mutating men into bestial Primords. Before the Doctor can do anything to stop Stahlman, however, a power surge in the TARDIS console sends him to a hostile parallel universe where Project Inferno is nearing completion.

6. The Seeds of Doom

Year:
Episodes: 6
Regulars: Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen
Notable Guest Stars: Tony Beckley
Writer: Robert Banks Stewart
Director: Douglas Camfield
Producer: Philip Hinchcliffe

An Antarctic expedition unearths two pods which the Doctor recognises as Krynoids. Once germinated, the pods will infect humans, turning them into giant carnivorous plants which will quickly overrun the world. The Doctor and Sarah Jane manage to destroy one Krynoid, but the other is stolen by an insane botanist named Harrison Chase, who intends to use the alien entity to help plants take over the world.

7. Spearhead from Space

Year: 1970
Episodes: 4
Regulars: Jon Pertwee, Nicholas Courtney, Caroline John
Notable Guest Stars:
Writer: Robert Holmes
Director: Derek Martinus
Producer: Derrick Sherwin

The newly-regenerated Doctor is exiled to modern-day Earth by the Time Lords, where he becomes attached to the British branch of UNIT as their scientific adviser, ostensibly taking orders from Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. Aided by Liz Shaw, the Doctor's first task is to investigate a shower of mysterious meteorites which landed in the countryside. The Time Lord discovers that these are no ordinary meteorites: in fact, the plastic-controlling Nestenes have landed, intending to use their automated servants, the Autons, to take over the Earth.

8. The Brain of Morbius

Year: 1976
Episodes: 4
Regulars: Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen
Notable Guest Stars: Philip Madoc
Writer: Terrance Dicks, Robert Holmes
Director: Christopher Barry
Producer: Philip Hinchcliffe

The Time Lords divert the Doctor and Sarah to Karn. The planet is home to the Sisterhood of the Flame, whose sacred fire -- which provides an elixir granting them eternal life and is used by the Time Lords to aid in regenerative crises -- is slowly dying. The Sisterhood believes the Doctor has come to steal the vestiges of the elixir and has him captured. Also on Karn, meanwhile, is the mad Doctor Solon, who has covertly taken possession of the brain of Morbius, an evil Time Lord thought to have been executed. Solon is trying to build a new body for Morbius, and is lacking only a suitable head: the head of a Time Lord.

9. Terror of the Zygons

Year: 1975
Episodes: 4
Regulars: Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen, Ian Marter, Nicholas Courtney, John Levene
Notable Guest Stars:
Writer: Robert Banks Stewart
Director: Douglas Camfield
Producer: Philip Hinchcliffe

The Brigadier summons the Doctor back to Earth to investigate mysterious goings-on around Loch Ness in Scotland. The Doctor, Sarah Jane and Harry discover that the Loch Ness Monster is no myth -- in fact, it is really the Skarasen, a cybernetic reptile used as a servant by shape-shifting aliens known as the Zygons. The Zygons are paving the way for an invasion of Earth, and have already used their powers to infiltrate the local authorities.

10. The Ark in Space

Year: 1975
Episodes: 4
Regulars: Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen, Ian Marter
Notable Guest Stars:
Writer: Robert Holmes, John Lucarotti
Director: Rodney Bennett
Producer: Phillip Hinchcliffe

The TARDIS brings the Doctor, Sarah and Harry to the Nerva Beacon in the far future, where the remnants of humanity have been placed in suspended animation because of the risk of deadly solar flares on Earth. The humans have overslept by millennia, however, due to the incursion of the insect-like Wirrn. More Wirrn are gestating within Noah, the Beacon's leader, and as Noah starts to succumb to the alien influence, the human race faces imminent extinction.

Doctor Who Top 10 - the Noughties

The decade when Who returned to TV, and somehow against all odds conspired to become not only more popular than ever before, but at times more popular than anything else on UK television, full stop. How did it manage this? Well, it was more carefully honed than ever before for starters - no longer would storylines stumble along without any sign of prior fore-thought. Important audiences were also expertly targeted. The climate was also right - in the aftermath of massive franchises like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and an endless slew of superhero films, the general public was more attuned to the ways of the geek than ever before, more easily accepting of outlandish concepts and more prepared to indulge the inner nerd. Thankfully, while it had been off air, Who had been in hands of a large number of fan writers, who had painstakingly analysed over many years what did and didn't work about the show. The very best of those writers were now experienced enough in the media to take advantage of having the show back, and came up with some of the very best Who created to date. These are my picks of the Russell T Davies/David Tennant/Christopher Eccleston era.

1. Silence in the Library
Year: 2008
Episodes: 2
Regulars: David Tennant, Catherine Tate
Notable Guest Stars: Alex Kingston
Writer: Steven Moffatt
Director: Euros Lynn

It strikes me as odd that this appears to be Steven Moffatt's least well regarded Tennant script. I think it's magnificent - it adds layers of intrigue and character development to the Doctor, has an evocative setting, a brilliant guest star, high production values and a superb new species of villain. To my mind it is also the story which demonstrates all the best aspects of Tennant's version of the Doctor, and is quite possibly his best acting performance in the role. Not to be outdone, Catherine Tate is absolutely brilliant as Donna, veering from sarcastic to empathetic to lovelorn to distraught, in a way which again makes a complete mockery of the fears that many people, myself included, had when she was cast in the role.

2. Human NatureYear: 2007
Episodes: 2
Regulars: David Tennant, Freema Agyeman
Notable Guest Stars: Jessica Hynes
Writer: Paul Cornell
Director: Charles Palmer

Adapted from one of the very best 90s Doctor Who novels, it's a shame in a way that this dramatisation puts a nail through the concept of the tie-in novels being a part of the canon, and that this story is no longer associated so much with the Seventh Doctor for whom it was devised. However, it is such a brilliantly realised adapatation that we would really be the poorer for it not having been made. Along with Blink and Turn Left, it has the odd distinction of being one of the most well-regarded Tennant stories, without really featuring much of the 10th Doctor at all. Tennant is superb as John Smith though, and it is almost disappointing when he reverts to his normal self at the end. Possibly the most moving Who story ever made.

3. Blink

Year: 2007
Episodes: 1
Regulars: David Tenant, Freema Agyeman
Notable Guest Stars: Carey Mulligan
Writer: Steven Moffatt
Director: Hettie MacDonald

The most highly regarded New Who of all, Blink is well on its way to becoming a cult television classic. The star of the show is definitely the then unknown Carey Mulligan, now, sadly for us, unlikely to ever reprise her role as her career heads for the stratosphere. If you ever wanted to show a non-fan why Who at its best is such great television, show them this - if this can't convert them, nothing will.

4. The Waters of Mars

Year: 2009
Episodes: 1
Regulars: David Tennant
Notable Guest Stars: Lindsay Duncan
Writers: Russell T Davies, Phil Ford
Director: Graeme Harper

AKA the one where the Doctor goes mad, and bad, and the point where in narrative terms the writing is on the wall for the Tenth Doctor. A very dark and affecting episode, with a marvellous cast and set, and no happy ending in sight.

5. The Parting of the Ways

Year: 2005
Episodes: 2
Regulars: Christopher Eccleston, Billie Piper, John Barrowman, Noel Clarke, Camille Coduri
Notable Guest Stars: Jo Joyner
Writer: Russell T Davies
Director: Joe Aherne

The end of the road for Christopher Eccleston's Doctor, in the story where Rose becomes Jean Grey and wipes out the Daleks (or does she?) Quite odd when you analyse it to think that Eccleston is barely in it at all, but that was the story of his Doctor really - perpetually overshadowed by his co-star in acting and script terms. The story itself is a real cracker, tense, dark and satisfying, and for once I am willing to forgive RTD's penchant for deus ex machina endings. Emotionally, this one works, and all his other series finales are a long way behind this story. Tennant makes a quirky debut at the end.

6. Utopia

Year: 2007
Episodes: 1 (or 3, depending on your preference)
Regulars: David Tennant, Freema Agyeman, John Barrowman, John Simm
Notable Guest Stars: Derek Jacobi
Writer: Russell T Davies
Director: Graeme Harper

We knew the Master was coming back in the form of John Simm, it was hard to avoid that knowledge. What we didn't expect was that he was coming back initially as Derek Jacobi in the guise of kindly old Professor Yana. The realisation that the plot threads from Human Nature have a greater significance to the ongoing storyline than previously realised, and the 10 minutes which follow, are Doctor Who at its most thrilling, and it has a really fantastic cliffhanger into the next story, which is tragically completely wasted in the opening seconds of the next episode.

7. The End of the World

Year: 2005
Episodes: 1
Regulars: Christopher Eccleston, Billie Piper
Notable Guest Stars: Zoe Wannamaker, Yasmin Bannerman
Writer: Russell T Davies
Director: Euros Lynn

Only the second episode of the revival after the decent but not spectacularly great "Rose" - this for me was the first sure footed episode of the new production. It ticked a number of boxes I was quietly delighted about - it introduced the idea that Gallifrey had been destroyed and that the Doctor was suffering survivor guilt (concepts which appeared to tie in with the previous few years of tie-in novels, rather than simply cherry picking the bits they wanted and ignoring the rest); it demonstrated that the characterisation of the Doctor and Rose was going to have an unusual level of depth compared with earlier series; it demonstrated that the series was willing to come up with some decent new alien designs; the show looked gorgeous, and the whole production had a pleasant McCoy style feel to it somehow in places. It might be nobody's favourite episode, but it'll always be close to my heart.

8. The Girl in the Fireplace

Year: 2006
Episodes: 1
Regulars: David Tennant, Billie Piper, Noel Clarke
Notable Guest Stars: Sophia Myles
Writer: Steven Moffatt
Director: Euros Lynn

Tennant's first year in the role was decidedly patchy, but it still contained this little gem, another example of Steven Moffatt's range and extraordinarily high strike rate. The Doctor falls in love in this graceful, funny and lyrical episode, featuring another great guest star performance, and a memorable new monster.

9. DalekYear: 2005
Episodes: 1
Regulars: Christopher Eccleston, Billie Piper
Notable Guest Stars: Corey Johnson
Writer: Robert Shearman
Director: Joe Aherne

Bizarrely, fan favourite writer Robert Shearman's only televised Doctor Who story, a loose adaptation of elements of his own "Jubilee" CD story. The first TV Dalek story in nearly 20 years had a lot riding on it, trying to keep the revived show's momentum going and to re-establish an enemy which had, like the show itself, slipped from respectability into the realms of comedy stand up routines. To say that this is the most effective portrayal of Daleks as a dangerous enemy would be an understatement. The lone Dalek here is devastating and terrifyingly relentless and unstoppable, and the light the show casts the Doctor in is unexpected and impressive.

10. The Shakespeare Code

Year: 2007
Episodes: 1
Regulars: David Tennant, Freema Agyeman
Notable Guest Stars: Dean Lennox Kelly
Writer: Gareth Roberts
Director: Charles Palmer

To finish, not a "Turn Left" or an "Empty Child", but a much lighter and fluffier, and more personal choice. "The Shakespeare Code" is pure Doctor Who-as-entertainment, lively and fun, and easy to dip into for a casual viewer. Like David Tennant, I have a great fondness for the Bard, and this romp on the set of the Globe is packed with not particularly subtle Shakespearian in jokes, and is a simple delight from start to finish.

Top 10 Action Adventure Games

1. Grand Theft Auto III (2001, DMA Design)
A real eye-opener in terms of scale, execution and ambition back in 2001, the first 3D GTA is also by far the most enjoyable as far as I'm concerned, feeling more focused, less bloated, and more joyous than it's successors, who gradually deviated and diluted the formula. Combining the driving stunts of late 90s minor classic Driver with on foot elements, cutting satire, a wide array of missions, and most importantly, the freedom to wander the city doing whatever you wanted until the law intervened, GTA3 was a truly immense video game.

2. Tomb Raider Anniversary (2007, Crystal Dynamics)

Expanded remake of the now clunky original Tomb Raider, Anniversary felt like a bit of an oddity in the gaming world by 2007, with a more cerebral style and sedate pace compared to most modern action games. This, to me, is to its benefit rather than its detriment, although thanks to some nightmarishly hard bosses, I never managed to finish it off, making it amongst the more frustrating games on this list.

3. Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne (2003, Remedy Entertainment)

The less popular sequel to bullet-time gamings most influential game, Max Payne 2 still holds a lot of appeal to me - quite aside from being a very atmospheric noir thriller, to this day it is nigh on impossible to kill game characters in a cooler looking way, more satisfying fashion.

4. Beyond Good and Evil (2003, Ubisoft)

One of the jewels in the crown of the under-rated field of French gaming, Beyond Good and Evil features one of the most sympathetic, engaging, and downright stylish lead characters in a video game, and the gaming world she explores is full of plenty of Gallic invention and charm too. Be warned though, for her pig-shaped occasional sidekick is gaming's equivalent of Chris Tucker in the Fifth Element - he will annoy you enormously when on screen.

5. Resident Evil: Code: Veronica (2000, Nexteth) One of the more minor entries in the Resident Evil series for most people, but by far my favourite - it has the slower, more tense ambience of the earlier, more innovative games in the series, but it has looks and technical finesse more in keeping with the later, more action oriented entries. Like Tomb Raider, it is beset with what, for a gaming weakling like me, is an absolutely unbeatable boss quite some distance from the end, so even after 10 years I still haven't seen the end. Curses!

6. Psychonauts (2005, Double Fine Productions)

Created by Tim Schaffer of LucasArts fame, Psychonauts may not be a latter day graphic adventure like you might expect, but it does feature plenty of the same anarchic humour and invention, trapped inside the body of an above average 3D platform game.

7. The Prince of Persia (1989, Broderbund)

Featuring astonishing graphics and fluidity of movement for its time, the original Prince of Persia has since been eclipsed by an endless stream of sequels (and a film), one of which Sands of Time, would be worthy of a place on this list were it not for the superior impact made on me by the first game. Nightmarishly hard, once again, but so innovative and atmospheric is this game that it still captivates to this day.

8. Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy (2005, Quantic Dream)

Although my beloved graphic adventure genre effectively died out as the 90s came to a close, elements of those games still found ways to endure, usually by taking the fundamentals of plot, character and puzzle solving, and adding 3D action sequences. The imaginative if slightly flawed Fahrenheit is a prime example of this, with its adult if a tad pretentious storytelling and rather fiddly action sequences. It's a very memorable game nonetheless, but a fair way from perfect. See also the mostly marvellous third Broken Sword game, which is undermined somewhat by a constant stream of half baked Tomb Raider style block puzzles.

9. Flashback (1992, Delphine Software)

Another French game, and also one which took the Prince of Persia template and moved it forward, adding a luscious sci-fi setting, and guns.

10. Ico (2001, Team Ico)

One of the key Art House games of the 21st century so far, Ico boasts a beautiful setting, an understated and unusual (for a game) way of tugging at emotional heartstrings, and yet more infuriatingly hard gameplay for useless gamers like me. Sigh...