History Gush / DoctorWho

* '''Jamie [=McCrimmon=]''' (Frazer Hines, 1966-1969; guest appearances in 1983 and 1985): Jamie is in many ways an exception to several of the rules listed above. He's male, originates from well before the twentieth century (being a Scottish piper at the Battle of Culloden in 1745), and yet not only did he appear in the most episodes, (117 in total), but to this day remains a popular, well-loved companion. Proof that playing with the formula can pay off.

* '''Romana''' (Mary Tamm, 1978-1979; Lalla Ward, 1979-1981): Romana is, if not the first, then at least among the first of the companions who were also arguably the Doctor's equal. A fellow Time Lord, she was demonstrated to be his rival and possibly even superior in the intelligence stakes (if still rather naive and sheltered, thus enabling her to perform a lot of the traditional roles of the companion). This enabled her to generate a chemistry with the Doctor unlike that seen with previous companions, based on a more even keel; Romana was quite capable of [[DeadpanSnarker snarking]] at the Doctor and upstaging him if necessary. With Romana, we also see the beginnings of {{UST}} between the Doctor and companion (helped by the fact that Tom Baker and Lalla Ward, the second Romana, were off-camera involved in a relationship). As she was played by two actresses, both contributed in making the character a memorable success. She even had her own sonic screwdriver (which the Doctor tried to nick)!

** No discussion of Literature/FactionParadox is complete without the CrazyAwesome [[LargeHam hammery]] of Godfather Morlock.

* ''Doctor Who'' has a multi-universe of amazing characters, not least of which is the enigmatic, often {{Adorkable}}, sometimes InsufferableGenius of a time-travelling, face-changing, universe-saving and running-a-lot [[CrazyAwesome Madman with a Box]] of a main character himself.

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E11WorldEnoughAndTime "World Enough And Time"]]/[[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E12TheDoctorFalls "The Doctor Falls"]] -- Creator/PeterCapaldi, 2017. The Twelfth Doctor's seeming swan song is without a doubt the best story Series 10 has to offer, one of the best of Capaldi's tenure, and one of the best Moffat's written. Heartbreaking in so many places and heartwarming in many others, we reach the end of an era as the Twelfth Doctor tries his hardest to bring his oldest friend, Missy, back on the side of the angels. Creator/PeterCapaldi's performance is enthralling, with his WorldOfCardboardSpeech in the second part quite possibly being his Doctor's defining moment. Missy's inner conflict is well-portrayed, with Michelle Gomez doing a superb job of portraying someone who indecisive about wanting to be noble or evil. Bill's TraumaCongaLine is heartbreaking, but she [[spoiler: eventually receives her happy ending with Heather from "The Pilot", with the kiss the two share being one of the sweetest moments in series so far]]. A montage of companions is tearjerking, three generations of Cybermen together look completely badass, and Creator/JohnSimm is as delightful as always as TheMaster. Rachel Talalay did an amazing job directing this finale, as she did with the two previous ones, and Murray Gold's score is as majestic as always. Truly a crowning achievement of the revival and of the show in general, a majestic ending to Twelve's era...'''and then the First Doctor appears''', revealing it ain't over 'til it's over.

** ^This right here.

* [[TheBrigadier Brigadier]] ''Sir'' Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart. BadassNormal extraordinaire who has traveled with more Doctors than anyone else put together. Still [[FiveRoundsRapid kicking ass]] and taking names in his [[BadassGrandpa seventies]]. Alien scum? Get the hell off his world, if you know what's good for you.

** The beautiful, spunky, irresistibly charming Sarah Jane.

* The Fourth Doctor's awesome companions:

** Brave, noble Leela, who only screamed '''ONCE''' in her entire reign.
** Icy, calm Romana I.
** Perky, bouncy Romana II, who was 'the Noblest of them all'.

* [[DoctorWhoS27E8FathersDay "Father's Day"]] -- Creator/ChristopherEccleston. The most moving episode of the entire season. It's just a wonderful story of a daughter who just wants to save his dad. Most of the story isn't the treath of alien monsters, that's just an excuse fo characters interactions. And it's full of both hearthwarming and tearjerking moments, such as seeing for the first time how Pete and Jackie actual loved each other, despite them arguing, the Doctor comforting the people and insisting on how important the life of even an ordinary man is, the Doctor sacrificing himself to save everyone else, expecially when you find out that he knew that Pete dying again would have fixed that, but kept it secret not to force Rose to lose her father again, and Pete finding it out nontheless and chosing his death to save everyone else, even taking the fault for Rose saying it's what he has to do as a father, and apologizing since he won't be able to properly be a father for her, and having to leave her and her mother alone. And then it averts being a ShaggyDogStory showing that, even if Pete still died, thanks to Rose he didn't die alone this time. Jackie's telling Rose the new version of the story is one of the sweetest and saddest moment of the series at the same time.

* Sarah Jane Smith: She was voted as best companion ever several times and still is. She wasn't a ScreamingWoman, and she managed to get her own spin-off decades after she appeared on the show.

* His awesome companions:

*** Anji Kapoor is perhaps the greatest unsung hero of ''Series/DoctorWho'' of all time. She is smart, capable, funny and complicated -- a woman who has her life together, and then, when tragedy (and insanity) strikes, she pulls herself together and rallies magnificently at every opportunity. This woman (so far the only companion of Asian decent in the entire franchise) [[Recap/EighthDoctorAdventuresFearItself sky-dived down into Jupiter's atmosphere to rescue the Doctor only days after meeting him for the first time]].

** (And he has awesome companions.)

* "Love & Monsters" and "Fear Her" are great episodes. Sylvester [=McCoy=]'s first season is better than people give it credit for and his latter two are fantastic. All complaints about "Last of the Time Lords" are InsaneTrollLogic. Oh, and "The Keys of Marinus" is a great episode.

* It's about time [[{{EeveeGirlChey}} this troper]] says a few words about the BadassAdorable Second Doctor! The cute little cosmic hobo had it's own quirks and knows how to rock a recorder. Where do you think Creator/MattSmith got the bow-tie idea from? [[Creator/PatrickTroughton}} PATRICK TROUGHTON.]] That's who!

*** There's [[EnsembleDarkhorse Fitz]]. Where to begin with Fitzgerald Michael Kreiner? The one, the only, the irreplaceable? A LoveableSexManiac, CowardlyLion and DeadpanSnarker, Fitz, like Jamie as mentioned below, is an excellent example of a non-traditional companion done absolutely right. He's arguably one of the most, if not ''the'' most realistic and fleshed-out characters in the franchise as a whole, and after seven years and fifty-five books traveling with the Doctor, the two become a magnificent dynamic duo. He's [[HoYay devoted]] to the Doctor (and vice versa) to the extent that their relationship is remarked upon as being that of an [[LikeAnOldMarriedCouple old married couple]], he's had an incredibly rich (and confusing) backstory and series of character arcs, and he embodies SexDrugsAndRockNRoll [[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets]] AscendedFanboy. Fitz Kreiner is easily a contender for best companion of all time.

** The Second Doctor's companion, Jamie McCrimmon deserves some mention on here too. He's a [[BraveScot brave Scot]] who's courageous, good-natured, and a fast learner. On top of that, he keeps wearing his kilt, despite it being out of style for many of the times and places he visited with the Doctor and co.

* '''Sarah Jane Smith''' (Creator/ElisabethSladen, 1973-1976; guest appearances in 1983, 2006 and 2008): The fact that Sarah Jane Smith has reappeared in the show more than any previous companion and has had two spin-offs built around her (''Series/K9AndCompany'' in 1981, which failed to make it past the pilot stage, and ''Series/TheSarahJaneAdventures'' in 2007, which was a bit more successful) should suggest something. She's usually considered the archetypal companion; a human journalist from twentieth and twenty-first century London, she embodies a lot of the traits listed above. Katy Manning, who played companion Jo Grant, called her "the quintessential ''Doctor Who'' girl," which is about as accurate a summation as you're gonna get. You could do worse for role models. (Lis Sladen sadly passed away from cancer in April 2011. The entire fandom, old and new, grieved her ''hard'' - but as Creator/RussellTDavies said, "Sarah Jane will go on forever." She is, as she will always be, ''our'' Sarah Jane.)
* '''Romana''' (Mary Tamm, 1978-1979; Lalla Ward, 1979-1981): Romana is, if not the first, then at least among the first of the companions who was also arguably the Doctor's equal. A fellow Time Lord, she was demonstrated to be his rival and possibly even superior in the intelligence stakes (if still rather naive and sheltered, thus enabling her to perform a lot of the traditional roles of the companion). This enabled her to generate a chemistry with the Doctor unlike that seen with previous companions, based on a more even keel; Romana was quite capable of [[DeadpanSnarker snarking]] at the Doctor and upstaging him if necessary. With Romana, we also see the beginnings of {{UST}} between the Doctor and companion (helped by the fact that Tom Baker and Lalla Ward, the second Romana, were off-camera involved in a relationship). As she was played by two actresses, both contributed in making the character a memorable success. And she even had her own sonic screwdriver (which the Doctor tried to nick!)
* '''Ace''' (Creator/SophieAldred, 1987-1989): As mentioned above, Ace single-handedly inspired the entire SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome list; not bad.[[labelnote:summary]]She once went to town on a Dalek with a superpowered-baseball bat.[[/labelnote]] She's a key influence for the modern-style companion, precisely because she's a complete break from the 'screamer' cliché; she's a tough, savvy, snarky kid. However, she's also one of the few companions in the classic series who was given any real sort of character depth and CharacterDevelopment beyond a fairly shallow backstory; the 1989 series is essentially all about the Doctor helping Ace resolve her childhood issues as much as it is about fighting monsters, which was quite novel for the series at the time. She still has some of the best character in the whole series.
* '''Charley Pollard''': The Eighth Doctor's first audio companion, an Edwardian adventuress with a lot of character -- so much so that the Doctor risks the web of time for her (her death is part of a fixed point in time, but he saves her from it anyway...). Smart, adventurous, and brave. Although their relationship ends with [[spoiler: an emotional fallout and a tragic misunderstanding]], she also gets to travel with the Doctor before she first meets him!

* '''Romana''' (Mary Tamm, 1978-1979; Lalla Ward, 1979-1981): Romana is, if not the first, then at least among the first of the companions who was also arguably the Doctor's equal. A fellow Time Lord, she was demonstrated to be his rival and possibly even superior in the intelligence stakes (if still rather naive and sheltered, thus enabling her to perform a lot of the traditional roles of the companion). This enabled her to generate a chemistry with the Doctor unlike that seen with previous companions, based on a more even keel; Romana was quite capable of [[DeadpanSnarker snarking]] at the Doctor and upstaging him if necessary. With Romana, we also see the beginnings of {{UST}} between the Doctor and companion (helped by the fact that Tom Baker and Lalla Ward, the second Romana, were off-camera involved in a relationship). As she was played by two actresses, both contributed in making the character a memorable success.

* You do not mention ''Doctor Who'' without mentioning the Eighth Doctor's adventures in the audios and books. "Zagreus", especially. And you do not mention Doctor Who without grinning at the Tenth Doctor's [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome CMoA]] in his first episode: Driving away the Sycorax after shortly recovering from regeneration trauma! Lordy, you also do not mention Doctor Who without thinking of Human Nature/Family of Blood. The show is jam-packed with SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome.
** Have to add to this. The ''Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures'' got me into Doctor Who after months of skirting the edges of the fandom, put off by ArchivePanic. Novels!Eight is funny, adoreable, immeasurably compassionate and above all, a certified badass.

* [[Recap/DoctorWhoS25E1RemembranceOfTheDaleks "Remembrance of the Daleks"]] -- Creator/SylvesterMcCoy, 1988. The opener to the show's 25th season sees the Doctor and Ace travel back to 1963 and land in the middle of a Dalek civil war. Features the ORIGINAL SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome (Ace smashing up a Dalek with a technologically enhanced baseball bat), and is also remembered for introducing the Seventh Doctor's penchant for ThePlan and being one of the first hints at the [[StoryArc Cartmel Masterplan]].

* [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E10Blink "Blink"]] -- Creator/DavidTennant, 2007. What a coincidence, another episode by Creator/StevenMoffat. This uses a different narrative technique as it is told from the point of view of a civilian who receives a message from a mysterious stranger called the Doctor, and must work with him from decades apart to create a StableTimeLoop. It also introduced what are commonly considered the most terrifying ''Who'' monsters yet -- the Weeping Angels. The best episode of the best of the revived series.
* [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E11Utopia "Utopia"]]/[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E12TheSoundOfDrums "The Sound of Drums"]]/[[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E13LastOfTheTimeLords "Last of the Time Lords"]]. A satisfying finale to the best of the revived series. There may be quite a DeusExMachina but it is still one of Ten's better finales; for the most part the plot is well written, Captain Jack returns, and the return of the Master is just so incredibly awesome in every way. One of the best season finales in the series.
* [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E10Midnight "Midnight"]] -- Creator/DavidTennant, 2008. A BottleEpisode where the Doctor is [[LockedInAFreezer trapped in a bus]] with a group of tourists and an invisible, [[NoNameGiven unnamed]] monster who turns all of the passengers against each other and utterly psychologically breaks the Doctor. Considered to be [[NothingIsScarier as scary]] as "Blink" at the very least, and Creator/RussellTDavies' best script that series.
* [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E12TheStolenEarth "The Stolen Earth"]]/[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E13JourneysEnd "Journey's End"]] -- Creator/DavidTennant, 2008. The epic two-part finale to arguably the best of the rebooted seasons managed to bring together ''every single companion'' in the new series, show how all these wonderful, damaged, brilliant people had become a genuine family, include references to all the love stories (even the one on the spinoff), and give some of the most emotionally stunning moments ever.
* [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E4TheTimeOfAngels "The Time of Angels"]]/[[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E5FleshAndStone "Flesh and Stone"]] -- Creator/MattSmith, 2010. The action-packed ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' to "Blink"'s ''Film/{{Alien}}'', this episode takes the already-creepy Weeping Angels and makes them ''just'' that much scarier by getting a whole cavern full of them and explaining that not only can't you blink, you can't open your eyes either. Reintroduces River Song, and implies a much longer game for Creator/StevenMoffat's tenure as showrunner.
* [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E10VincentAndTheDoctor "Vincent and the Doctor"]] -- Creator/MattSmith, 2010. This episode is lovable for three reasons. First off, [[spoiler:Rory has just been erased from time]] so the Doctor takes Amy to an art museum to cheer her (or maybe himself) up. Just seeing that each FreudianSlip (including a subconscious one by Amy) shows they still remember Rory [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments warms my heart]]. Seeing something strange tips them off to go talk to Vincent van Gogh, which leads to point number two. The way it appeals to an art buff. Spotting all of Vincent's best work in his house is fun. The sky morphing into Starry Night is an impressive effect. Hearing Vincent talking about color and art might have caused a lot of artists to jump up and say "I get that! I totally see where he's coming from!" Last but not least, seeing the Doctor and Amy give new meaning in Vincent's life by showing him the exhibit and hearing the museum tour guide gush about him. [[spoiler:It doesn't change much, he still commits suicide, but]] Had they seen this episode, a lot of people who felt depressed or maybe even suicidal may have found inspiration in this episode.\\\

* [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E11TheLodger "The Lodger"]] -- Creator/MattSmith, 2010. A LighterAndSofter PerspectiveFlip that centers around [[spoiler:future companion]] Craig as he [[CannotSpitItOut navigates his friendship]] with a woman he fancies, while the Doctor investigates a mysterious anomaly in the flat above, that may or may not be related to [[spoiler:[[InnocuouslyImportantEpisode River Song and the following series']] BigBad]].
* [[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWhoNEDAS4E9LucieMiller "Lucie Miller"]]/[[Recap/BigFinishDoctorWhoNEDAS4E10ToTheDeath "To the Death"]] -- Creator/PaulMcGann, 2011. A GrandFinale to the ''New Eighth Doctor Adventures'', with a great plot, great acting, and a dramatic ending. One of the greatest ''Doctor Who' stories ever made.
* [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E4TheDoctorsWife "The Doctor's Wife"]] -- Creator/MattSmith, 2011. A fan favorite for two reasons: being written by Creator/NeilGaiman, and giving ADayInTheLimelight to [[spoiler:the TARDIS herself, getting a human form and working with the Doctor to defeat an alien that's possessed the regular TARDIS and escape an AlternateUniverse.]] She proves herself to be a ManicPixieDreamGirl and even bigger {{Cloudcuckoolander}} than the Doctor himself and finally gets the opportunity to voice her love and loyalty for him, which she does in [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments the sweetest of ways.]] 2012 Hugo Award winner for Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form).

* '''Ace''' (Creator/SophieAldred, 1987-1989): As mentioned above, Ace single-handedly inspired the entire SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome list; not bad.[[labelnote:summary]]She once went to town on a Dalek with a superpowered-baseball bat.[[/labelnote]] She's a key influence for the modern-style companion, precisely because she's a complete break from the 'screamer' cliché; she's a tough, savvy, snarky kid. However, she's also one of the few companions in the classic series who was given any real sort of character depth and CharacterDevelopment beyond a fairly shallow backstory; the 1989 series is essentially all about the Doctor helping Ace resolve her childhood issues as much as it is about fighting monsters, which was quite novel for the series at the time. She still has some of the best character in the Whole Series.

* You do not mention ''Doctor Who'' without mentioning the Eighth Doctor's adventures in the audios and books. "Zagreus", especially. And you do not mention Doctor Who without grinning at the Tenth Doctor's [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome CMoA]] in his first episode: Driving away the Sycorax after shortly recovering from regeneration trauma! Lordy, you also do not mention Doctor Who without thinking of Human Nature/Family of Blood. The show is jam-packed with CrowningMomentOfAwesome.
** Have to add to this. ''[[Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures The Eighth Doctor Adventures]]'' got me into Doctor Who after months of skirting the edges of the fandom, put off by ArchivePanic. Novels!Eight is funny, adoreable, immeasurably compassionate and above all, a certified badass.

* [[Recap/DoctorWhoS25E1RemembranceOfTheDaleks "Remembrance of the Daleks"]] -- Creator/SylvesterMcCoy, 1988. The opener to the show's 25th season sees the Doctor and Ace travel back to 1963 and land in the middle of a Dalek civil war. Features the ORIGINAL CrowningMomentOfAwesome (Ace smashing up a Dalek with a technologically enhanced baseball bat), and is also remembered for introducing the Seventh Doctor's penchant for ThePlan and being one of the first hints at the [[StoryArc Cartmel Masterplan]].

* [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E10VincentAndTheDoctor "Vincent and the Doctor"]] -- Creator/MattSmith, 2010. This episode is lovable for three reasons. First off, [[spoiler:Rory has just been erased from time]] so the Doctor takes Amy to an art museum to cheer her (or maybe himself) up. Just seeing that each FreudianSlip (including a subconscious one by Amy) shows they still remember Rory [[HeartwarmingMoments warms my heart]]. Seeing something strange tips them off to go talk to Vincent van Gogh, which leads to point number two. The way it appeals to an art buff. Spotting all of Vincent's best work in his house is fun. The sky morphing into Starry Night is an impressive effect. Hearing Vincent talking about color and art might have caused a lot of artists to jump up and say "I get that! I totally see where he's coming from!" Last but not least, seeing the Doctor and Amy give new meaning in Vincent's life by showing him the exhibit and hearing the museum tour guide gush about him. [[spoiler:It doesn't change much, he still commits suicide, but]] Had they seen this episode, a lot of people who felt depressed or maybe even suicidal may have found inspiration in this episode.\\\

* [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E4TheDoctorsWife "The Doctor's Wife"]] -- Creator/MattSmith, 2011. A fan favorite for two reasons: being written by Creator/NeilGaiman, and giving ADayInTheLimelight to [[spoiler:the TARDIS herself, getting a human form and working with the Doctor to defeat an alien that's possessed the regular TARDIS and escape an AlternateUniverse.]] She proves herself to be a ManicPixieDreamGirl and even bigger {{Cloudcuckoolander}} than the Doctor himself and finally gets the opportunity to voice her love and loyalty for him, which she does in [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming the sweetest of ways.]] 2012 Hugo Award winner for Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form).

* '''Ace''' (Creator/SophieAldred, 1987-1989): As mentioned above, Ace single-handedly inspired the entire CrowningMomentOfAwesome list; not bad.[[labelnote:summary]]She once went to town on a Dalek with a superpowered-baseball bat.[[/labelnote]] She's a key influence for the modern-style companion, precisely because she's a complete break from the 'screamer' cliché; she's a tough, savvy, snarky kid. However, she's also one of the few companions in the classic series who was given any real sort of character depth and CharacterDevelopment beyond a fairly shallow backstory; the 1989 series is essentially all about the Doctor helping Ace resolve her childhood issues as much as it is about fighting monsters, which was quite novel for the series at the time. She still has some of the best character in the Whole Series.

* Creator/StevenMoffat is one of the best things to ever happen to it. His plots may be confusing and unnecessarily complicated, but he broke from the New Who companion formula of "insecure everygirl finds her inner strength" (which is an awesome story in its own right) and added a whole new "fairy tale" sort of vibe to the series that made people who didn't care for the RTD era fall in love with the show again.

** [[Recap/DoctorWho2017CSTwiceUponATime "Twice Upon a Time"]], 2017. So how do Moffat, Capaldi, Talalay and company top Twelve's epic FinalBattle? '''They don't.''' Instead they go in a different direction with a multi-Doctor adventure, ChristmasEpisode, ''and'' regeneration story that breaks several of the "rules" for such episodes: No universe-changing revelations, no ContinuityCavalcade, ''no [[spoiler: antagonist]]''. It's a story with only five major speaking roles, about how ''each'' Doctor comes to make the last important decision of their life -- to live, change, and grow despite all the heartache ahead -- and how that affects the life of a WWI captain whose own life hangs in the balance. It's about the Doctor's evolution over 50+ years, it's about the importance of memories, it's about how BeingGoodSucks and how HopeIsScary, it's about the power of a single person to be a HopeBringer and the moments of grace humans can create in even the darkest times. It's laugh-out-loud funny, it's tearjerking, it's got wonderful (and meta!) guest work from David Bradley (as the First Doctor) and Mark Gatiss (as the Captain), it's got lots of thoughtful {{Call Back}}s and {{Continuity Nod}}s and more than a few {{Bookends}} for Capaldi ''and'' Moffat's tenures, stretching all the way back to "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances" in the latter's case. And it concludes with the best regeneration scene since Nine's, featuring one last should-have-been-patented Twelfth Doctor monologue and doozies of a first line and {{Cliffhanger}} for Jodie Whittaker as Thirteen. A 2018 Hugo Award nominee.

** [[Recap/DoctorWho2017CSTwiceUponATime "Twice Upon a Time"]], 2017. So how do Moffat, Capaldi, Talalay and company top Twelve's epic FinalBattle? '''They don't.''' Instead they go in a different direction with a multi-Doctor adventure, ChristmasEpisode, ''and'' regeneration story that breaks several of the "rules" for such episodes: No universe-changing revelations, no ContinuityCavalcade, ''no [[spoiler: antagonist]]''. It's a story with only five major speaking roles, about how ''each'' Doctor comes to make the last important decision of their life -- to live, change, and grow despite all the heartache ahead -- and how that affects the life of a WWI captain whose own life hangs in the balance. It's about the Doctor's evolution over 50+ years, it's about the importance of memories, it's about how BeingGoodSucks and how HopeIsScary, it's about the power of a single person to be a HopeBringer and the moments of grace humans can create in even the darkest times. It's laugh-out-loud funny, it's tearjerking, it's got wonderful (and meta!) guest work from David Bradley (as the First Doctor) and Mark Gatiss (as the Captain), it's got lots of thoughtful {{Call Back}}s and {{Continuity Nod}}s and more than a few {{Bookends}} for Capaldi ''and'' Moffat's tenures, stretching all the way back to "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances" in the latter's case. And it concludes with the best regeneration scene since Nine's, featuring one last should-have-been-patented Twelfth Doctor monologue and doozies of a first line and {{Cliffhanger}} for Jodie Whittaker as Thirteen.

** [[Recap/DoctorWho2017CSTwiceUponATime "Twice Upon a Time"]], 2017. So how do Moffat, Capaldi, Talalay and company top Twelve's epic FinalBattle? '''They don't.''' Instead they go in a different direction with a multi-Doctor adventure, ChristmasEpisode, ''and'' regeneration story that breaks several of the "rules" for such episodes: No universe-changing revelations, no ContinuityCavalcade, ''no [[spoiler: antagonist]]''. It's a story with only five major speaking roles, about how ''each'' Doctor comes to make the last important decision of their life -- to live, change, and grow despite all the heartache ahead -- and how that affects the life of a WWI captain whose own life hangs in the balance. It's about the Doctor's evolution over 50+ years, it's about the importance of memories, it's about how BeingGoodSucks and how HopeIsScary, it's about the power of a single person to be a HopeBringer and the moments of grace humans can create in even the darkest times. It's laugh-out-loud funny, it's tearjerking, it's got wonderful (and meta!) guest work from David Bradley (as the First Doctor) and Mark Gatiss (as the Captain), it's got lots of thoughtful {{Call Back}}s and {{Continuity Nod}}s and more than a few {{Bookends}} for Capaldi ''and'' Moffat's tenures, stretching all the way back to "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances" in the latter's case.
And it concludes with the best regeneration scene since Nine's, featuring one last should-have-been-patented Twelfth Doctor monologue and doozies of a first line and {{Cliffhanger}} for Jodie Whittaker as Thirteen.

** [[Recap/DoctorWho2017CSTwiceUponATime "Twice Upon a Time"]], 2017. So how do Moffat, Capaldi, and company top all that epic-ness? '''They don't.''' This is a multi-Doctor adventure, ChristmasEpisode, ''and'' regeneration story -- twice over -- that breaks several of the "rules" for such episodes: No FinalBattle, no ContinuityCavalcade, no [[spoiler: antagonist]]. Instead it's a story with only five major speaking roles, about how ''each'' Doctor comes to make the last important decisions of their life -- to live, change, and grow despite all the heartache ahead -- and how that affects the life of a WWI captain whose own life hangs in the balance. It's about the Doctor's evolution over 50+ years, it's about the importance of memories, it's about how BeingGoodSucks and how HopeIsScary, it's about the power of a single person to be a HopeBringer and the moments of grace humans can create in even the darkest times. It's laugh-out-loud funny, it's heart-tugging and tearjerking, it's got wonderful (and meta!) guest work from David Bradley (as the First Doctor) and Mark Gatiss (as the Captain), and it concludes with the best regeneration scene in years featuring one last last should-have-been-patented Twelfth Doctor speech and doozies of a first line and {{Cliffhanger}} for Jodie Whittaker as Thirteen.

* [[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E11WorldEnoughAndTime "World Enough And Time"]]/[[Recap/DoctorWhoS36E12TheDoctorFalls "The Doctor Falls"]] -- Creator/PeterCapaldi, 2017. The Twelfth Doctor's swan song is without a doubt the best story Series 10 has to offer, one of the best of Capaldi's tenure, and one of the best Moffat's written. Heartbreaking in so many places and heartwarming in many others, we reach the end of an era as the Twelfth Doctor tries his hardest to bring his oldest friend, Missy, back on the side of the angels. Creator/PeterCapaldi's performance is enthralling, with his WorldOfCardboardSpeech in the second part quite possibly being his Doctor's defining moment. Missy's inner conflict is well-portrayed, with Michelle Gomez doing a superb job of portraying someone who indecisive about wanting to be noble or evil. Bill's TraumaCongaLine is heartbreaking, but she [[spoiler: eventually receives her happy ending with Heather from "The Pilot", with the kiss the two share being one of the sweetest moments in series so far]]. A montage of companions is tearjerking, three generations of Cybermen together look completely badass, and Creator/JohnSimm is as delightful as always as TheMaster. Rachel Talalay did an amazing job directing this finale, as she did with the two previous ones, and Murray Gold's score is as majestic as always. Truly a crowning achievement of the revival and of the show in general, a majestic ending to Twelve's era...'''and then [[spoiler: the First Doctor appears]]''', [[ChristmasEpisode revealing it ain't over 'til it's over!]]

* It's about time [[{{EeveeGirlChey}} this troper]] says a few words about the {{Badass Adorable}} Second Doctor! The cute little cosmic hobo had it's own quirks and knows how to rock a recorder. Where do you think {{Matt Smith}} got the bow-tie idea from? [[Creator/PatrickTroughton}} PATRICK TROUGHTON.]] That's who!

** The previous three main New Series companions are MadeOfWin in their own rights, but Amy isn't just a companion. She's as much a part of Eleven as the TARDIS, the sonic, and the angry horde of Daleks. Amy Pond is why Eleven is who he is, and vice versa.

* IronWoobie Rory Williams! This guy is the best companion so far. Rory is basically MadeOfWin. This is one PapaWolf you do NOT mess with.

* [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E8HumanNature "Human Nature"]] / [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E9TheFamilyOfBlood "The Family of Blood"]] -- Creator/DavidTennant, 2007. The Doctor literally becomes human and loses his memories to throw off pursuit. Very good on several levels, but most remembered for two scenes: The moment "John Smith" realizes that for the Doctor to return, he must "die", and the Doctor's vicious (but chillingly still in-character) [[LaserGuidedKarma Karmic Revenge]] on the beings that put him in that situation. (See also its source material, the popular ''Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures'' novel ''Human Nature'', which was about the Seventh Doctor -- its author, Paul Cornell, adapted it for TV. That is also one of the best DW stories.)