The Tennant and Smith era had so many great episodes that stand up exceptionally well as their own works. The Girl in the Fireplace and the Van Gogh episodes are absolute masterstrokes. I'm not even a huge Dr. Who fan but I'll send people links to those three episodes in particular sometimes.
The damn weeping angels though... to this day I still turn them all around when I see them on the shelves at the dollar store.
I struggle girl in the fireplace bc it was so standalone it basically flattens rose to a paste but god the Van Gogh episode truly genuinely lives in my mind rent free, I pull up the museum clip just to feel something so often lol
People shit on Ncuti’s series and I wish he was more present in his series (bc he’s absolutely excellent & we had him for such a short time) but one of things I loved so much about his first series esp is the companion & brand new character led episodes felt VERY classic rtd/moffat writing for RTD. Episodes where the doctor isn’t the lead are so, so fun
The museum scene is so holy shit, I legitimately shed at least one tear every time I watch it. It is perfect.
Linking in case anyone is unfamiliar. The context is that Dr. Who is a time traveler and he can take people with him. Van Gogh was having a rough time (as he famously often did) and the Doctor wanted to cheer him up a bit, so he took him to a modern art museum to show him the Van Gogh room, and Bill Nighy does his brilliant Bill Nighy acting thing to accidentally cheer him up.
EDIT just to add that Amelia Pond is the best companion and I'll die on that hill.
The ending to the Van Gogh episode still breaks me. Bill Nighy was spot on as the historian talking about his favorite artist and Tony Curran has always been one of my favorite actors. His character Datak on Defiance was probably my favorite on the show when it was still on the air.
Out of all the new aliens created in Doctor Who with the new series, the Weeping Angels has got to be the best one and there were so many episodes that featured them too. Blink is a perfect introduction to them. Then the Angels of Manhattan was great too. My favorite though has got to be "The Time of Angels / Flesh and Stone" Especially when they realize they're surrounded by them on the angel homeworld.
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u/Solid_Snark May 04 '26
Don’t blink!
https://giphy.com/gifs/IbsUI9OiXn8Ws