Top 10 Rose Tyler Outfits

Two of my favourite things to involve myself in are Doctor Who and fashion. I am obsessed and enthralled by the TV show which follows an alien hero who travels through time and space in his TARDIS, fighting monsters and rescuing civilisations, alongside his trusted companions. And I thoroughly enjoy the world of clothes, jewels and makeup too; mixing up and matching different colours, styles, trends... discovering new outfits to make the eyes light up. Because I am so invested in Doctor Who and it's characters, I enjoy delving into the little things in the franchise, including things like the music and the costumes. The latter is something I enjoy investigating when it comes to the modern day Earth companions, because as soon as I see something worn by my favourite companion, I immediately want it. Many fans of the show have taken to the Cosplay craze; dressing up as characters to celebrate their love for them and the show, and to act in the role of the character. I don't really participate in full on cosplays myself, but I do look for fashion inspiration from a couple of the companions on screen, and just generally admire their choice of clothing. I'm going to write a series of articles on a few of the new series companions, where I pick out my top outfits from their era in the show. This time, I'm going to list my top ten outfits worn by Rose Tyler. 

Rose has a more casual, sporty and comfortable style. She is probably the most practical out of all the companions when it comes to dressing for adventures, which usually involve a lot of running. In her first series, she normally opts for t-shirts, jeans, hoodies and trainers with minimal jewelry. In her second series, her style moves on slightly, as she favours proper jackets instead of hoodies, and wears more boots instead of trainers. And not forgetting to mention the shorter haircut. I think the reason behind this is that she's grown up a lot, and her travels have made her more confident in herself. Also, even though comfort priorities over style, she is no stranger to bright, bold colours which catch the eye. Here are my top ten, in order, as worn by Rose throughout her time with the Doctor:

10. The Idiot's Lantern - The pink dress

Intended for an outing to see Elvis Presley in New York, this outfit actually took a trip to London in 1953, making it a little out of place among the locals. The dress is very distinct indeed; with a lovely shade of pink and a wide, yet perfectly placed hem. There are sequins on the chest which add to the prom-like theme of the dress, but these are mostly obscured by the retro crop leather jacket. 

The outfit is a favourite among fans, with it being cosplayed more than others, probably becomes it stands out so much in the memory. 

It wouldn't be my usual choice for an outfit that I'd wear, even for going out, but Rose dons it so superbly and she looks so beautiful. 

9. The Girl in the Fireplace - T-shirt and jeans

This is possibly the most laid-back and simple of her outfits, as it only consists of a t-shirt, jeans and a pair of boots, but I admire the fact that it doesn't go over the top, and is just so wearable. Rose looks excellent in this attire, and I have serious envy of both the logo embellished t-shirt, and her natural looking crimped hair. I just love the purple colour of the top, and think it contrasts nicely with her hair. 

8. Turn Left/ The Stolen Earth/ Journey's End - The purple jacket

Another fan favourite, this is Rose's series 4 outfit, which she wears for travelling between dimensions, working with UNIT, destroying Daleks and snogging the human tenth doctor. It is a very bad ass outfit; with the black boots, black trousers and leather jacket making a big impact. I like that it still has the Rose element to it, with her top and jacket both being girly purple tones. The coat is wonderful-the lighting in the episodes can make it look blue, but actually it is purple, and what a great shade of purple it is. 

7. Father's Day - Pink hoodie and denim

Out of all the episodes Rose wears a hoodie, I think this is my favourite version of the trend. I've always been a fan of layering, so the vest top under pink hoodie under blue denim jacket look is very appealing to me. The colours go well together and it looks very cosy and comfortable. And I think the tighter darker jeans work better with Rose's figure than the lighter baggier jeans she sometimes wears. One of my favourite things about this one is her messy up-do; it's a style that I've been trying to recreate for a while now.

6. Doomsday - Black with a splash of pink

In this darkly emotional farewell scene, Rose says goodbye to the Doctor wearing mostly all black, which definitely reflects the misery of the event and the sorrow in Rose's heart. It also shows how Rose has changed as a person, opting for darker colours, although she still keeps that hint of previous Rose there by the nice shade of pink she wears underneath. In addition, the purple finger-less gloves accessorise the outfit so it isn't too plain, and they look super cute too. 

5. Fear Her - Yellow and denim

Double denim always seems to work well on Rose, especially when she opts for darker jeans with a lighter jacket. But the thing I love the most about this outfit is the pop of yellow she wears. I just adore the colour so much as it brightens up her whole style, and it contrasts perfectly with the light blue denim jacket. This outfit is simple, colourful and looks very comfortable, so it would be a definite wear for me.

4. The Day of the Doctor - Ripped ethereal clothing 

Although not technically Rose Tyler, this quirky grunge-like attire was worn by the consciousness of  The Moment, the Bad Wolf. Unlike any other 'Rose' styles, this version of her preferred an all-white look, with a ripped jumper and leggings, brown buckle boots and a khaki green waist jacket. She even wears a sarong, plenty of wooden beads and jewelry in her hair. Despite the mis-matched items of clothing, they surprisingly go very well together. And often, the quirkier the outfit, the better!

3. The Empty Child/ The Doctor Dances - Union jack

The big thing about this one is the fact that Rose bravely wears a big union jack all over her chest in the middle of the London blitz, and now, this item of clothing has been sought after by many cosplayers. The flag t-shirt is very bold and colourful, but I also love the bomber jacket too, and the boots are a nice change from the trainers. In addition, Rose's quiffed and crimped hairstyle is one that really suits her, and one that I have tried (and failed) to achieve on several occasions. 

2. Boom Town - Denim and the long scarf

Again, Rose opts for double denim, but this time keeps the lighter colour on the bottom and changes the jeans for a denim mini skirt. I personally love this idea because I think the skirt fits just to the right length, and matched with the black tights and black boots, the look really shows off Rose's figure. Also, I love the fraying fabric on the skirt; it gives the look a more messy feel. Another aspect of this outfit I adore is the layering- the vest, hoodie and denim jacket idea is used again, although slightly differently, and it works brilliantly. Plus, the layering always looks super comfortable. The long colourful scarf, slightly reminiscent of the 4th Doctor's trademark accessory, adds colour and focus, and is another item fought over by cosplayers. I don't blame them- the scarf is very epic indeed. The finger-less gloves add a touch of cuteness, and so do the two plaits in her hair. 

1. Tooth and Claw - Dungarees

This outfit was a dress-up to see Ian Dury in concert in 1979, however, the TARDIS ended up landing in Scotland 1879, therefore making Rose's choice of clothing rather odd for the time period, with many locals confused over her 'naked-ness'. I simply love the dungarees (or denim overalls)- they are a touch of quirkiness which works well on Rose's figure and contrasts nicely with the pink t-shirt. Again, the frayed denim skirt look fits with the black tights and boots. In addition, the shade of pink on the t-shirt is gorgeous, and the crown print embellishment adds focus to the outfit, but doesn't take away from the simplicity and colour-boldness of the whole costume. And finally, the crimped style really suits Rose's shorter hair. Out of all the above outfits, the dungaree number is most definitely the one I would want to steal off Rose- the choice of colours, the quirkiness of the overalls, the length of the frayed skirt, the big boots and her hairstyle are all on point, coming together to make an excellently stylish costume. 

So there you have it: my top 10 outfits worn by Rose Tyler. Thanks for reading, and feel free to leave a comment or suggestion. I look forward to writing my next list of top character outfits. 

The many stages of my painting process (painting Harvey the Westie)

In my spare time, when I have the motivation and mental ability to participate in more pro-active activities, I enjoy being creative. My main creative hobbies presently are scrap-booking (personal stuff with my own photos, tickets, souvenirs, etc.); painting, and writing (in the form of my fantasy novel i'm working on, or blogging). Yesterday, I was in the mood to do some painting so I decided to bring up a photo I've been long since waiting to get started on. This was a photograph I took of my boyfriend's parents' dog, a west highland white terrier called Harvey, whilst he was sunbathing in their back garden. It is here below:

I was skeptical about painting this because I planned to paint him onto a white canvas, and because he's kind of white already, I thought it'd be a difficult problem to get past. But I was determined to have a go at least, and see how far I could take it. Originally, I only envisioned getting the basics done yesterday afternoon, but a few hours passed and I found myself really getting stuck in, and I ended up finishing the entire painting. 

Whilst I went through the different stages of my painting, I photographed my development as means of remembering my steps and process. 

First of all, I had to get a drawing template down on the canvas, as a guide to make the painting easier, and to limit mistakes with the paint. I drew, with a pencil, the basic outline of Harvey, with a few details- his almond shaped eyes, his nose, mouth, collar, claws, and some fur. The most difficult part of this drawing was getting the shape, angle and position of his back legs right, but I seemed to have managed it eventually, with a whole lot of eraser marks on the way.

Next, I added white paint to the drawing, as a base (because most of his fur is white). My previous worry about white on white did announce itself upon me, but I discovered if I added more paint to the brush, and piled it on the canvas, the depth and texture of the thick paint distinguished it from the canvas. And, as a bonus, I used the thick textured brush marks as a technique to resemble the fur.

Harvey's fur isn't all white. There are actually fragments of it that are a pale creamy yellow. I mixed yellow and white to create a more vivid version of the actual colour, and added it to the painting in the correct places. I like thinking outside of the box when it comes to colour; I think, if you use exactly the same colour as in the photo, it instantly becomes an unimaginative copy-cat 'painting by numbers' piece. Adding more edge to the colours makes the experience more fun, and the painting more interesting, in my opinion.

My next step was to add the darker shades of his fur into the painting. There are quite a few different shades of grey in his fur, especially on the left side of his face, due to it being in shadow. I started to build these different shades up by first applying a light shade of grey in strokes on his face. As an added benefit, I used the grey on the outline of the drawing, in order to distinguish it more from the blank canvas, and build some dimension into the dog. 

On top of the light grey base, I added a darker shade of grey to more shadowy areas, and darker bits of his face (like his snout). Moreover, I delved into the finer details, using brown on his eyes and lining them with black (plus black for the pupils); black for his nose (with a dark grey to accentuate his nostrils); and brown and silver-grey on his collar and tag, respectively. At this stage, I feel like life was starting to develop in the painting. 

Further details were then put into the painting. I mixed up an even darker shade of grey, to outline even darker shadowed areas, and to add more depth and realism to the different colours in his fur. Also, the colour for his ears was compiled by mixing white and crimson. Again, I opted to have this colour more bright and vivid than in the photo, just to add a bit of contrast to the dimmer hues. His mouth was also painted on with brown, as well as the small dirt marks around his mouth. 

Not much extra was added to this painting, except from adding more white. Realising that I'd used too much grey on certain areas, I corrected my mistakes and went over the extra grey with more thick white textured strokes. This injected a bit more 'Westie' into the terrier dog. As well as this, I also mixed up a darker shade of cream yellow to add more depth, shade and shadow to his back feet and around his face. The back legs and feet were the most difficult part throughout the process, as I couldn't get the angle right, and the shading so that I could distinguish the two feet. I ended up drawing in a grey outline to the legs to make them more distinct.

And then, with the main focus of the painting, Harvey, more or less finished, I proceeded to work on the background. I kept this as simple as possible, as I didn't want to detract from the central important part. For the concrete paving he's laid on, I just used a big brush and dabbed various shades of brown and grey to create a dappled effect. Where his body was creating a shadow on the ground, I used a darker grey as the base, adding dots afterwards so that the shadows looked like they belonged to the ground still. The last bit from the background was the portion of the door and stairs leading into the kitchen. Most of his head fur was covering up were the extra stair would be, so I just kept things simple and painted in what would only fit on the canvas, which meant emitting part of the kitchen floor. The shadow on the stair was difficult to construct, as well as getting the correct angle of the door, but I think in the end they both turned out well. Finally, I touched up Harvey slightly, highlighting his outline with more white to bring even more dimension to the painting. 

Finished! Not perfect, far from it, I grant. But in my paintings I never strive for that. It was very fun, enjoyable and therapeutic to recreate the photograph, using only my imagination, and the colours and brushes that I wanted to use. Looking back at the finished result and the time I spent doing it, I am very proud and happy with myself for having the strength and capability to pull myself out of my anxious mentality for a while and put it into something I enjoy. Plus, the action of doing something pro-active and creative like this was a good stress relief, and left me feeling very accomplished. 

Personal ramblings about how crazy my life has been recently...

I haven't updated my blog in a LONG LONG TIME which is kind of really sad because it's actually something I quite enjoy doing... a creative hobby, really. But the reason behind this is a very genuine excuse... so much stuff has happened all at once in my life recently, and the aftermath has been very hectic. Being a very worry-prone person already, the sudden changes in my life took a toll on me, increasing my worry and anxiety ten-fold, and basically turning me into a nervous wreck who could barely do anything. I spent all my time worrying, becoming anxious over the several 'what-ifs?' I spun around in my head, having panic attacks when I went into overload, and as a result I've not felt capable of doing the things I want to do, and being the person I know I can be.
Okay, so I don't want to give TOO MUCH personal detail away, but I will let you know that the life-changing life events were the death of my grandma, and the separation of my parents... and they both happened in the space of ONE MONTH of each other. What happened to my grandma was very shocking and very devastating for me; she was the first person I truly loved to leave this world, and I didn't expect it so suddenly. Before that moment, I barely worried about dying; I spent so much time stressing over the little things that I never really stood back to think that one day this may all be for nothing. I mean, I knew deep down that one day there'd come a time when I would no longer be here, but I think I just sub-consciously brushed this aside, somehow believing that that time would never actually come. Back then, I thought me, and everyone I loved, were invincible. I thought we'd last forever. But then I realised we don't. No one is indestructible, and no one is eternal. The death I experienced shook me to the core; it woke me up to reality, but in doing so, it also opened the door to a virtual world of paranoia and grief. What I mean by that is, once I knew death actually could take people away that I love, I found myself worrying that it would take away someone else. If it can take away one person, why not another? Why not my mother, my sister, my boyfriend? I started to worry that they would be taken from me too. And it was like I spent more time worrying about them dying than grieving about my grandmother. 
At this point however, I was still shook up from the real grief that I couldn't really pay much attention to the niggling worries of others dying. It wasn't until my parents announced that they were going to split up that my worries expanded beyond what is normal. The shock of my dad leaving us robbed me and my family of our continued grief for my grandma, as this new development took the spotlight. And to me, it felt like everyone was leaving. In the space of one month, my grandma had gone, my dad left, and my family was falling apart. In a way, I felt that we'd had a stroke of bad luck, and it made me paranoid that this bad luck would continue. My brain going at 100 miles per hour, I constantly searched for any way that anyone else I loved would leave me. Everywhere around me, I would start to obsessively search for anything at all that could lead to some one I loved being killed. And it wasn't just big things, it was the little everyday tasks.... crossing roads, plug sockets, slipping over... anything. 
When I was a bit younger, I had OCD. All the time, I would line up items and things in the house because everything felt disgusting if they weren't perfectly aligned. And I also had to do certain activities a certain number of times, otherwise something bad would happen. Thankfully, I managed to get out of that stage by pure will and determination to pull myself away from the habits, and now i'm pretty messy. But unfortunately, the OCD progressed into a worry obsession, which means I now worry obsessively because I think that if i don't, something bad will happen. This is why I worry about bad things happening to my loved ones; because if I can think of every possible way of a death occurring, I then believe that I have the power to stop it from happening. I do think that in some twisted messed-up way, that this is logical, but it is also self-debilitating, exhausting and rather pointless.
Over the past couple of months, I've had therapists in the form of the NHS, friends and family, and I've also had to argue with myself day in and day out to get myself to see sense. It is like I have two sides to my brain- the rational positive logical side, and the irrational negative illogical side which doubts everything the rational side thinks. The two sides are in constant battle, which as you can imagine is very tiring. The main thing with my worry though is that no matter how hard I try, I CANNOT control what happens to somebody else. I do not hold that power. This thought does help me relax, knowing that I don't have to come up with solutions to every possible life-threatening problem... as it is physically impossible. It would be very upsetting indeed if the worse were to happen to someone I loved, but worrying about it beforehand wouldn't make it any less sad. There is the belief that if I prepared myself for the worst, it wouldn't hurt so much when it actually happened, but even then I would still be very sad. So now I just think, what's the point being sad forever worrying about something that is inevitable, and will inevitably make me sad whatever emotion I use now? In other terms, being sad and worrying now will never change the inevitable sadness; and neither will being happy and choosing not to worry. 
Knowing this now, I am very slowly starting to improve, and learning to worry less about something bad happening. Sometimes, I can feel myself being relatively calm for hours at a time, and I'm even starting to have periods of time when I'm not worrying at all. However, since I have both anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorders, it will take a long while before I'm free of my worry about death, and an even longer before I can start to stop worrying altogether.Therapy has helped me come up with techniques and apply them to combat my worries, but worrying is a habit I've had for a long while so time and practice is still needed to improve. 
Now, I have good days and bad days. On the bad days, I wake up so very scared that something awful will happen, I worry excessively about every little thing, I cannot control my anxiety and I have panic attacks. But on my good days, everything seems much happier and simpler. I wake up excited for the day, use my rational head to numb my mundane worries, and get through many hours feeling relaxed and free of  panic. It's an up and down roller-coaster that will eventually just keep going up. And I hope that when that time comes, I can look back at my mental health disorder in a positive way. Rather than regretting it, I hope that I will look at it and realise how much it helped me grow and develop; how going through the bad stuff was what I needed to help me eventually just see the good.
I wrote an anxiety post on my Tumblr blog a couple of months ago for anyone who suffers from extreme anxiety and worry. It is basically a bullet point list of things to help when times are tough; it includes lessons learnt both from my therapist and from my own experiences. Here is the link: http://because-its-amazing.tumblr.com/post/118795803487/for-anyone-who-suffers-from-extreme-worrying-and
I felt quite fearful of putting this stuff on here, due to it being rather personal, but sometimes I just need to get stuff off my chest and writing it all down helps a lot. Thanks for reading :) x

10 reasons why Rose Tyler is awesome!

There have been many companions of the Doctor to grace our screens in the last 51 years. Some were better than others, some became legends, and some were just very forgettable. But for me, there is one companion who stood out above the rest. This was Rose Tyler. The first companion to meet the Doctor when the show returned in 2005, she was very different from the others before her. Rather than being used in the show merely as the Doctor's assistant, screaming at everything, and just generally being a pretty face, Rose was the first proper companion to have a back story that was fully developed. The show became more about the companion than the Doctor, with Russell T Davies even stating that Doctor Who was Rose's show, and that he intended for the audience to watch it through Rose's eyes, rather than the Doctor's. Rose paved the way for many other companions, with developed back stories and personalities and lives, after her. But still, there is something about this 19- year old London girl which appeals to me more than the companions after her time. In this article, I am going to attempt to list 10 things which make Rose Tyler utterly awesome, and why she is the best Doctor Who companion ever. 

10. She had great chemistry with both Doctors she time-travelled with!

Rose's relationship with the Tenth Doctor was very strong, affectionate, and full of love and friendship. They had both grown to understand each other, and they became equals, having a whale of a time travelling all around the universe, fighting aliens, rescuing each other, and having a good few laughs. It's safe to say that they were both romantically attracted to each other, and ended up falling in love with each other. That's not to say however, that they loved each other any more than the Ninth Doctor and Rose did. Although Nine was less jokey, less human and more pained by his past, Rose was the exact person he needed to make him a better person. Through their travels, Rose lightened his heart, and in return, the Doctor took her away from her mundane life into a world of adventure. The duo clicked. Rose's and Nine's personalities differed, whilst Rose's and Ten's were very similar, but in both cases, the pair complemented each other perfectly. 

9. She had a life- a home, a job, a family!

As I've mentioned already, Rose was the first companion to have a proper background behind her. When we first meet her, she is living in a flat in London with her mum, going to work everyday in a department store, and meeting her boyfriend Mickey in her free time. And we had a back story on her too. She had lost her dad when she was a little girl, she'd had a troubled past with an ex-boyfriend, and she'd left school not achieving what she'd wanted to achieve, to name but a few. Rose was a real person. A proper relatable human being. 

8. She was kind, compassionate, caring!

 Rose showed some very desirable traits in a companion. She had a natural caring instinct, making sure the people and aliens she met on her travels were safe and protected, offering any help she could to make them feel better. For example, she chatted with serving girl Gwyneth in Cardiff 1869 and tried to keep her safe; she comforted Harriet Jones after her Slitheen encounter; and she even sympathised with a Dalek that was being tortured. Also, it was Rose's kindness and compassion that made the war-torn Doctor better. She may just be a young human girl from London, but it was because she was so human that she connected with so many people. 

7. She had her faults, as we all do!

She left her boyfriend with a simple "thanks" to go join the Doctor on his travels. She had a strong jealousy streak when it came down to the Doctor having other female companions or love interests. She often said the wrong thing to her mum and Mickey, making them feel a tad unimportant and rejected. But, these are the kind of things a lot of us will be guilty of at some point in our lives, and that's just because we're human. We make mistakes, we can't be perfect. Rose was bored of her life at home and work, and I'd even go as far as to say she was unsatisfied with Mickey. But we've all been there, surely? So Rose cannot be blamed for the selfish and jealous acts she performed, because I'm sure a lot of other people would take up the chance to go time-travelling rather than stay at home in a life you're not happy with. This is another reason why Rose is a very relatable human being. 

6. She had massive amounts of character development!

At first, Rose was unsure, wary, and rather shy to the world of the Doctor, often making mistakes and letting the Doctor take the lead. But as time progressed, and she went on more adventures, her confidence and independence grew. She was able to fight off aliens and talk down foes without the Doctor's help. I like how her development was slow and nicely paced. Rather than her going straight into the action and knowing her stuff too quickly, she goes up a more realistic learning curve. An example of her confidence is in the two-parter 'The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit', during which she instructs the team on what to do to escape the Ood, and makes executive decisions without the Doctor. Also, in 'Fear Her', she finds the missing Isolus pod and discovers what it needs for it to go home, all without the Doctor. This confidence doesn't seem out of place, and was build up to at a reasonable pace.

5. She became the Bad Wolf... twice!

Rose became all-powerful over the universe when she absorbed the power of the time vortex, in order to destroy the Dalek fleet and save the Doctor, and the world! Now, that is a pretty big thing to do, even if she wasn't entirely herself whilst doing it. But she did scatter the words 'Bad Wolf' across space and time as a message for herself to lead her there in the first place. Clever stuff. Not to mention, she also resurrected Cpt. Jack, meaning he can now never die, a plot point which has been used in the show for years after, and in a spin-off show. And, to top it all off, The Moment took the form and conciousness of Bad Wolf Rose in 'The Day of the Doctor' in order to aid the War Doctor during the time war, therefore influencing his decision not to destroy Gallifrey. Rose, therefore, has had a very big impact on the mythology and plots of the show, before, during, and after her time on Doctor Who.

4. She is clever, but not in a text book sort of way!

Rose dropped out of school early, achieved no A-Levels, and only managed to grab a job as a department store assistant. But she was still very smart. She used her gymnastics to knock the autons and the anti-plastic into the Nestene Conciousness, destroying it; she noticed that Bad Wolf was written as a message so she could get back to the Doctor on the Game Station; and she used her knowledge of her previous alien encounters to address the Sycorax. She learnt through her travels with the Doctor, and applied the knowledge she gained during many encounters with aliens. Again, she was relatable in that she didn't learn too quickly; she was a realistic representation of how normal people would act in those kind of scenarios she faced. Her eyes and her mind was widened by the impossibilities of the Doctor's world, and she became a better person because of it. 

3. She was very loyal, determined and strong-headed!

Rose was loyal to the Doctor throughout. She always tried to keep him safe from harm, and would do her best to not leave him in danger. She even decided to stay on a planet orbiting a black hole, because she didn't want to leave the Doctor alone all the way down in the pit. As well as this, she was always determined to do what was right, to be the best she could, and to not fail herself or others. In 'The Parting of the Ways' she wouldn't give up on the Doctor, trying everything she could to get back to him. Also, Rose always knew what she wanted, and she wasn't going to let anyone take it from her. She was self-assured and essentially very brave, even willing to stay with the Doctor forever and ever because she knew that it was a better life with him. In the end though, she had to part with the time lord, but managed to keep strong and build her own life, using her knowledge of aliens and the confidence she'd gained along the way. 

2. She was pretty badass!

As her confidence grew, she made more decisions without the Doctor, and was able to challenge aliens and foes, and even threaten them. In the end, she wasn't a stranger to the odd gun, and even blasted a Dalek to death in 'The Stolen Earth', not forgetting the moment when she casually walked through an exploding street surrounded by screaming people. She challenged a Dalek in 'Doomsday', by informing it that she had murdered the Emperor Dalek, and even laughed in it's face. What's more, she used a gun to send Satan into a black hole, declaring "Go to hell!" as she did it. If that isn't epic, I don't know what is. 

1. This quote!

I thought I'd end the list on a quote. Rose has had many notable quotes and dialogue in her time, but I chose this one from 'The Parting of the Ways' because it captures Rose's journey of learning, developing and growing up through her time with the Doctor. It is also very inspirational for anyone out there who wants to lead a better life, and I think Rose is a very inspirational woman to follow. 

Ranking the top 15 episodes of the truly awesome show Doctor Who

Doctor Who, a TV show about an alien who travels through time and space in a police box (called the TARDIS), first caught my eye back in 2007 when my parents allowed me and my sister to watch it for the first time. My Doctor Who journey began with the Doctor and his assistant Martha in the episode 'Smith and Jones', and from the moment that captivating theme song played out, with the vortex graphics and spiralling TARDIS, I was hooked, and have been ever since. Now, 8 years on, I have seen every episode of the rebooted series several times; and I can recall the name of every single episode in order (my little party trick to impress new people with my nerdiness). Of course, seeing every single episode a fair few times is going to stimiluate some sort of comparing-ranking scheme in my head, ie. Which episode of that series was better?; Why is that episode not as good as that one?; Which finale was the best? In the rebooted series, there are over 100 episodes, so its not surprising that there is a variety of quality within those. Some episodes are okay, some are bloody brilliant, and some are just dowright boring. So, without further ado, I am going to list my top 15 episodes of the show,  picking the best from every one starting from 'Rose' all the way through to 'Last Christmas', but leaving out the mini-specials such as Time Crash and Night and the Doctor.

15. Father's Day (Series 1, Episode 8 : Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler)

This episode sets the foundations for something that Russell T Davies wanted to put across in Doctor Who very strongly: messing with time can cause serious damage. Sadly, the rules of time have been jiggled around and manipulated to a ridiculous level in Moffat's era of the show, but for now, lets forget that. What Father's Day did so well was create an emotionally-invested storyline by raising a very relatable question for the audience: If you could go back in time and save someone, would you? Of course, the temptation to do this is incredibly high, and it wasn't really a shock when Rose decided to do that exact thing and save her dad Pete from the car that was destined to kill him. From that moment on, time is corrupt, causing the time-healing Reapers to barge into the world with the intent of consuming everything inside. When it comes down to it, this episode is in truth just a character and relationships piece- we spend the majority of the episode in the church, with the characters devising a way to escape the situation. Of course, from the start, it is ineveitable that time would have to go back the way it was. But what is so special about this story for me is the way that they introduced Pete's character, showing his shaky relationship with wife Jackie, and his heart-breaking conversations with his grown-up daughter during which he asks if he was a good dad to her. There is an underpinning sadness to Pete's character, and it is hard not to connect emotionally with him. The episode had me on tears on several occasions, but I think what it also did was invest me in the Doctor's and Rose's relationship. Within 45 minutes, any trust issues they both had of each other were rectified, and they came out stronger than ever. While the episode isn't very action-packed, it tells a simply beautiful story with all the fun complicated timey-wimey bits left in, which is what a Doctor Who episode should essentially be. 

14. The Parting of the Ways (Series 1, Episode 13 : Ninth Doctor, Rose Tyler and Jack Harkness)

The first finale of the rebooted version of the show ensured that there would be more series to follow. The stakes were incredibly high as the Dalek Emperor and his army of Daleks commissioned war on the universe, starting with Satellite Five, aboard which was the Doctor, Rose and cheeky time-agent Captain Jack. As the Daleks killed and killed, aspiring to wipe out everybody on the space platform, the Doctor put to work a clever plan. However, with it, came a devestating choice: Blow up the Dalek fleet but wipe out all life on Earth, or spare the Daleks (and Earth) but let them wage war on the entire universe? As the action picked up, The Doctor was forced to send Rose back to her own time, which lead to an important development in her character, when she realised she couldn't live without him, pushing to do anything she could to be by his side again. Her quote about wanting to be more than just normal; to push above and beyond; to never give up; and to make a stand, was truly inspiring, and that is one of the reasons why I can connect with Rose above most other companions. The finale also reveals the meaning behind the phrase 'Bad Wolf' which has followed the TARDIS duo throughout the series, and it is used effectively as a satisfying conclusion to the two-parter. Rose, having absorbed the time vortex, became the Bad Wolf, used the energy to bring death to the Daleks (and ever-lasting life to Jack!), and scattered the bad wolf message across time and space to lead herself to do that in the first place. It is brilliantly confusing, but not in an overbearing way. With the story tucked to bed nicely, all that is left to do is for the Doctor to do the gentleman thing and give the girl a kiss, therefore absorbing the deadly time vortex power from her. This moment is so beautiful. The Doctor, an unearthly emotionally-guarded stranger, more or less shows his love for his human companion, sacrificing himself for her. I love how the relationship developed so fluently and delicately up to this emotionally-charged scene. Even though there is no sexual element to their relationship, the pair love each other with all their hearts, and it is incredibly poetic. Following the Doctor's sacrifice, we have another emotional scene- the regeneration scene. Every cell in his body is dying, but this ancient sad old man can still crack a joke about dogs with no noses, and isn't afraid to give himself recognition for being absolutely fantastic. It is a sad-happy regeneration, which is kind of why it is my favourite of all the three regenerations in New Who. Lastly, the Tenth Doctor's entrance to the show, while outshined by his predecessor's goodbye, was witty and full of intrigue, making it nigh-on impossible to stop at just one series. 

13. Deep Breath (Series 8, Episode 1 : Twelfth Doctor and Clara Oswald)

I had grown very attached to the Eleventh doctor, so it was always going to be difficult for anyone else to top his performance in the series. However, I remained confident that the new Twelfth doctor would do the show a justice, and thankfully, I was not proved wrong. From the minute he popped up on screen, he captured my attention with his mad Scottish ramblings and name-forgetting. However, it was a little difficult to get used to this new man, so it was down to Clara to provide the familiar face in this episode. Speaking of Clara, after a shaky first series, she really came into her own this time. Her flaws were beginning to show, brought on by the shock of her young friend suddenly being not so young any more, and it was wonderful to finally see some roundedness to her character. And it was also a treat to watch her using her wits and intelligence to get herself out of an impossible situation with the clockwork droids. The robots were using parts of humans (and a t-rex!) to rebuild themselves and their ship so that they could get to the 'Promised land', so the threat of the story was pretty high since all the characters were basically at risk of being cannibalised, unless they could hold their breath. The scene where Clara has to hold her breath for as long as she can is very realistic and as a result we feel real sorrow and fear for her safety; but the scene when the Doctor supposedly leaves her for dead is more astonishing, as the audience really starts to worry just how much the man we thought we knew has changed. Luckily though, in pure Doctor style, he grabs his companion's hand just in time. It is revealed that he was using Clara as bait to retrieve information from the droids, and even though he always intended on saving her, it is interesting that he doesn't actually take into consideration her feelings of being left behind. This Doctor really is rather dark, and it is a theme that runs right through the episode (and following series). For example, the half-face man fell to his death, but did he commit suicide? Or was he pushed by our time-travelling 'hero'? The answer was never revealed, but I think that is for the best so we can leave it up to our imagination. Also, it is worth mentioning the cameo of Eleven from back on Trenzalore via a phone call. The scene is heart-wrenching, but it also helps us to understand that the two doctors really are the same man, and as Clara realises so do we. It is an effective message that allows me to accept the new Doctor with open arms, even if he doesn't like hugging thing.

12. The Doctor's Wife (Series 6, Episode 4 : Eleventh Doctor, Amy Pond and Rory Williams)

I have to admit, when I first watched this one, I was overwhelmed by the strangeness of it. Now though, I admire it for being slightly quirky, as it makes itself stand out above most other episodes. The only episode in which the TARDIS can communicate with the Doctor, its premise is very exciting. Getting a call from a mysterious box with the mark of the Corsair on it (a fellow timelord), the Doctor, Amy and Rory travel to an asteroid called House inside a bubble universe, where they meet a pair of crazy patch-work people (Auntie and Uncle), a green-eyed ood called Nephew and a bonkers woman who likes biting. As it turns out, House makes a habit of luring time lords into his den, stripping their TARDIS' of their matrixes, and rebuilding Auntie and Uncle out of the remains of time lords he kills. The Doctor's dark side is explored as this discovery makes him very angry, and it is always a pleasure to watch the Doctor's character get explored in depth. Of course, the main concept of the episode is the fact that the TARDIS matrix has been implanted into the body of Idris, so that the Doctor's ship is able to interact with him, albeit not in the right order. Their relationship, although never before seen on screen, has so much depth to it, and the writer makes it clear that even though they have never spoken directly before, they have loved each other for thousands of years. Gaiman combines touching moments, secrets (eg. the fact that the TARDIS in fact stole the Doctor, not the other way round), and humour to create a flowing relationship which climaxes in heart-breaking fashion at the end of the episode. The side-plot is also very exciting and intriguing to watch. House has Amy and Rory trapped in the TARDIS, messing with their heads to create illusions as they run around anti-grav corridors and old console rooms. Talking of old console rooms, it is a great pleasure to see the old Tenth doctor console room back, even if it does get obliterated in order to defeat House. Maybe the best moment in the entire episode is the Doctor and Idris' goodbye speech, as it is truly poignant and full of emotion, and it brings a fair few tears to my eyes. And I don't think a Doctor Who episode is every truly a Doctor Who episode unless it has the ability to make you cry. 

11. School Reunion (Series 2, Episode 3 : Tenth Doctor, Rose Tyler and Sarah Jane Smith)

This has always been a favourite of mine since the first time I watched it as a kid. Everything is wonderful: The introduction of old favourite Sarah Jane (even though she was unknown to me at the time, she fitted into the TARDIS team perfectly); the creative invention of the shape-stealing Krillitanes; the inclusion of the epic robot dog K-9; and the whole storyline just blew me away. The Krillitanes basically want to crack the Skasis Paradigm in order to gain control over the building blocks of the universe, and they can only do this by using the imaginations of the children at a high school. After strange sightings at the school, The Doctor, Rose, Mickey and Sarah Jane investigate, and work together to defeat the aliens and foil their plan. Alongside this storyline, we get some long-awaited interaction between the Doctor and his ex-companion over his reasonings behind why he left her behind; which leads to some shocking home truths for Rose, who realises that she may just be one in a long line. However, in a beautifully heart-breaking scene, the Doctor reveals that it is him who bares the sadness, for he will always outlive the people he loves. In addition, we get plenty of jokes, from the 'tin dog' references and Mickey's girly scream, to the "we are in a car" and "you bad dog" lines. The episode has the right balance of threat, characters and relationships, dialogues and morals, humour, and plot. It is, in itself, a one of a kind stand-alone story that will forever remain in the hearts of whovians everywhere. 

10. Turn Left (Series 4, Episode 11 : Tenth Doctor, Donna Noble and Rose Tyler)

 





I am naturally a 'what if?' kind of person, so it is very intriguing to me to think of possible consequences to something that might have happened but didn't, or something that did happen but shouldn't have, for example. In this case, what we have is 'What if Donna never met the Doctor?' Of course, going back to 'The Runaway Bride', Donna stops the Doctor from continuing to flood the Racnoss, thus rescuing him from drowning in the process. Turn Left addresses this, and many more things that occur as a result of Donna not being there to save our heroic time lord. We get to see the alternate timeline play out as a result of Donna becoming victim to a fortune teller and her time-manipulating beetle, causing her to turn right in her car rather than left, which would have got her to her job in HC Clements which ultimately led to her meeting with the Doctor. So, with the Doctor dead, things take a sinister turn as we see events from episodes following the incident unfold in a more deadly way. It's very interesting to watch how each familiar event happens differently because the Doctor wasn't there to save us, and it's very clever how RTD managed to link it all together accurately. What's more, we get an extra guest star in this episode... yes, Rose Tyler is back from the parallel universe. She manages to get through into our universe as the walls of reality are breaking down, and her universe is slightly ahead of Donna's, so she comes to warn her of the oncoming darkness, whilst trying to save her life and reignite memories of the Doctor. It is safe to say the pair don't get along, but still, the characters work wonderfully together and its a pleasure to watch two of the most loved companions have some centre-stage screen time together. In the end, Rose introduces an oblivious Donna to the TARDIS, with the ultimate intention of using it to send Donna back in time to the moment when time was altered. It is heartbreaking when Donna realises that she is bound to die, even in the real universe, but it makes us love her all the more as she bravely sacrifices her life to correct the mistake and turn left instead. The episode is dark and bleak with some war-time poverty themes, which really get the emotions stirring, and it is also smart, epic and shocking, especially during that pulse-racing bad wolf cliffhanger scene! 

9. The Impossible Astronaut (Series 6, Episode 1 : Eleventh Doctor, Amy Pond, Rory Williams and River Song)

With the show becoming more appreciated world-wide, this premier for the new series had high expectations, especially with media taglines suggesting that one of our four main heroes was going to peg it in the first episode. I was undeniably excited, I recall, for the start of series 6, and this episode really satisfied that thirst to a tee. Just to note, I haven't included the whole story including 'Day of the Moon' because I am counting single episodes in this list rather than stories which are two-parters, and I found 'The Impossible Astronaut' to be a lot more entertaining, mysterious and action-packed than it's follow up. This episode keeps me gripped from the start... The Ponds receive mysterious TARDIS-blue envelopes with directions that lead them to Utah, USA, where they rejoin with the Doctor and their daughter (although not known to them at the time) River Song. The reunion is full of happiness and epicness, with River shooting off the Doctor's stetson with a gun and the four having a lovely picnic by the beautiful Lake Silencio. However, things start to heat up pretty soon when an Apollo astronaut emerges from the lake and kills the Doctor before he is able to regenerate. The 'who is going to die?' tease is tied up pretty sharpish, and its really not what most of us were expecting. Even though we know its unlikely the Doctor is really dead, it is still very shocking and emotional, as the boat with his body slowly drifts off into the lake, immersed in flames. And then, things get complicated (in a good way!) when a younger Doctor turns up, with a blue invite of his own, and no idea of his fatal future. A few more scenes into the episode, and back in time to 1969, the Silence pop up- they are basically aliens that you forget when you look away, and they can control whole races using post-hypnotic suggestion. Pretty creepy. Amy has an epic stand-off with one of them in the WhiteHouse bathroom, in which the evil menace kills a confused lady with electricity. Badass. Meanwhile, after a funny sequence in which the Doctor tries to enter the Oval Office undetected and ends up bumping into his camouflaged time machine, he teams up with President Nixon and Canton Delaware III to identify the whereabouts of a creepy kid caller who is afraid of a spaceman that wants to eat her. So many things happen in the episode that raise so many exciting questions, thus keeping me stuck to the screen throughout, never bored, always wanting to know what happens next. And things get even more tense when the four time travellers, plus Canton, locate the caller and travel there, where they find that the little girl is already in the spaceman suit. Amy announces to the Doctor that she might be pregnant, exploding fan theories everywhere, and knowing that this astronaut is the one to kill the Doctor in the future, Amy grabs a gun and shoots, leaving the episode on a painfully unfair cliffhanger. 

8. The Waters of Mars (Series 4 Specials : Tenth Doctor and Adelaide Brooke)

In this hour-long episode which was part of the David Tennant's last run of 2009 specials, we got to the see the Doctor pushed to the very limit to the point when he completely ditched any rule the Time Lords set in place and became the 'Time Lord Victorious'. It may have been a moment of epicness and explosive cinematography to witness the damaged time lord re-enter the Mars base surrounded by flames, with the intention of re-writing history, but it was also a huge turning point for the character, making him realise that maybe a time lord lives too long. This of course links in with the 'he will knock four times' foreshadowing, which will come back to bite him in his emotional goodbye episode. The Doctor, throughout the episode, knows he is going to die soon, but we still get to see every side of the Tenth Doctor that makes him so loveable: his light-hearted humour ("The Doctor. Doctor. Fun."), his sense of curiosity over the mysterious water-producing Martians and the group of investigative humans, and his caring nature (towards Adelaide Brooke in particular), etc. Speaking of Adelaide, she is one feisty not-to-be-messed-with woman, who has a history of aliens and a future of star-crossed ancestry. But the Doctor knows that something happens to start this future off, and that is that for some reason, Adelaide activates the bomb to destroy the Martian base, killing everyone on board. The fact that we know that history says she dies on this day adds a whole lot of intrigue and fear... what could possibly happen in this next hour that's so bad? And then we know... The Flood arrives. Basically, deep in the Martian ice glaciers, there is a waterborne virus of some sort, that when touched or drunk, passes to the victim, infecting them so that they become beastly versions of themselves who extrude water. Touch the water, and you become like them. Since the creatures are rather horrifying to look at, and since the water is everywhere and just one drop can cause transformation, the suspense and fear is incredibly high throughout the episode. The crew try to evacuate, but of course, if they bring one drop of the infected water back to Earth, a whole new pandemic could begin, and that is when the heartbreaking truth for the characters (and us) is realised. As the group of people are subjected to the Flood one by one, all seems lost when Adelaide does the brave thing activating the bomb, knowing full well she is going to die. Of course, this is when the Time Lord Victorious comes in and saves the remainder of the people (including trusty robot Gadget) and transports them back to Earth. But his act of defiance is not enough to prevent Adelaide from taking her own life in the end, in order to put history back on track in a powerfully dark scene. The Doctor knows he's gone to far... that he's not himself anymore... but he still refuses to die just yet...

7. The Snowmen (Series 7, Xmas Special #1 : Eleventh Doctor and Clara Oswald)

 











 
It was always going to be hard to live up to the role of the Eleventh Doctor's companion after fan favourites Amy and Rory left us (and the Doctor) broken hearted, but somehow, this sassy, bubbly, give-the-Doctor-a-run-for-his-money girl Clara did just that. And maybe even more. In this episode, it is her Victorian London barmaid splinter that helps the Doctor out, aiding him in defeating the powerful Great Intelligence (disguised as lonely old Dr Simeon) and his army of vicious snowmen. After the loss of the Ponds, the Doctor has resigned himself to a state of depression on the top of a cloud. The Paternoster gang (Vastra, Jenny and Strax) have looked after him in this time, and are back to their usual crime-solving tricks in this special episode. Vastra is the highlight of the three, as she is keen to bring a human companion back into the time lord's life, digging deeper into Clara's intentions by using the rather effective one-word test (which is quite a clever, tense scene). Strax is rather funny in the mermory worm arriage scene, and his constant gender confusion. What I love about this christmas story is that it manages to stay christmassy as well as keeping the scares high by bringing back one of the Doctor's classic old foes, who is re-animating snowmen and ice sculptures to wreak terror on London. This brings us to the back story of the ice governess (the previous governess of the children Clara now nannys for in addition to her bar work), who comes to attack the children in the Latimer's house after Clara gives them reassurance that the Doctor will protect them. In the end, she is right, and the Doctor gets them out of the situation (well, actually it is also Clara who does a lot of the work). The runaway scene is quite amusing, with Clara dragging the Doctor along by the hand rather than the other way round, The Doctor making up the kissing lie (which later becomes true, much to my dismay... I'm not a whouffle fan), and Vastra's entrance speech ("Hello. I'm a lizard woman from the dawn of time. And this is my wife."). In this episode, there are two staircase scenes which are both very stand-out. The first is the beautiful dream-like sequence when Clara's curiosity leads to her following the Doctor, played out beside the enchanting notes of Murray Gold's Clara's theme. The second is the quirky intense umbrella scene between the main pair, when Clara realises that the Doctor took the umbrella so that she could reach the staircase and come with him to his TARDIS. This is followed up by an epic 'welcome to the TARDIS' moment, which is one of the best, what with the new decor, the Doctor's proud grin, and Clara's "It's smaller on the outside!" exclamation. Unfortunately though, things take a dark turn when Clara's offer of a key to the ship is cut short when the ice governess causes her to plummet to her death, which ultimately leads to the Doctor's discovery that he has seen this girl before, thus she has died twice. The mystery of the impossible girl sets itself up well here, even if it does lack substance in part 2 of the series. 'The Snowmen' resolves well, as the tears that the children cry for their dying nanny at christmas leads to the thought-controlled Great Intelligence and his snowmen melting. So, it is a bit of an emotion-saves-the-day type plot convenience, but it's christmas, so why not? And it's all worth it just to hear Clara utter her famous "Run you clever boy, and remember me," catchphrase again. 

6. The Girl in the Fireplace (Series 2, Episode 4 : Tenth Doctor, Rose Tyler and Mickey Smith)

 









When I first watched this episode as a young kid, I initially wasn't very impressed. Maybe it was because the Doctor's romance with Madame de Pompedaur took on a higher role in the episode than the alien clockwork droids did? But now as a young adult, I appreciate Doctor Who more for the way it invents real characters and relationships with proper substance and development. The smaller finer things in the stories are now more favourable to me than the aliens and monsters that we're supposed to hide behind the sofa because of. Of course I know that at it's heart, Doctor Who is about a time-travelling alien who defeats monsters and rescues planets, but it's also about a lonely angel who loses everyone he loves and cares for; a dark prince who longs for some kind of escape from his infinite solitude. And when he meets the young, pretty and wise Reinette in 18th Century France, he is taken in by her charm and just falls that little bit in love with her. The feelings are greatly reciprocated, as Reinette feels as if she's known the Doctor all of her life, since he came through her fireplace when she was 7 years old. The fireplace I'm talking about is actually a 'magic door', which leads from her bedroom to a 51st century spaceship run by repair droids. This is no coincidence though, as the droids are using the door to pop in and out of various points in Reinette's life, in order to process her brain so that eventually it will be compatible with their broken ship. The Doctor, adamant to save her from the droids, whilst becoming invested in her romantically, also pops in and out of her life. But this is no simple thing for Reinette, who understandably becomes annoyed that the Doctor, never aging, can just jump into the different 'chapters' of her life, whilst she ages slowly. She definitely does have a wise head on her shoulders, and she offers some of the episode's most truthful and touching lines. In the end, the Doctor uses Arthur the horse to make a spectacular entrance through the last time window, breaking the link between the two places, thus separating him from his companions for the story, Rose and Mickey. But, he does manage to deactivate the droids and save Reinette's brain. The last couple of scenes are highly emotional- possibly one of the most emotional scenes in the whole of Doctor Who- after originally thinking that the Doctor is stuck with Reinette, luck strikes and they discover the fireplace is still working. The Doctor uses it to go back to the spaceship, much to Reinette's dismay, but the time lord doesn't go without offering her the trip of a lifetime. Unfortunately though, the Doctor (and all of us!) are heartbroken when he goes back for her, only to find that she has passed away after waiting for her lonely hero. The episode ends with the Doctor reading out Reinette's last letter, our hearts utterly crushed as the Doctor looks close to tears.

5.  The Eleventh Hour (Series 5, Episode 1 : Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond)

David Tennant was gone, and this new younger fresher face had taken his place, dressed in his predecessor's signature clothes. It was going to be difficult for me to process the new Doctor- to let him in- but to my surprise, this Doctor did more than just keep the role of the Doctor going. He was funny and childish and silly, but he was also dark and conflicted and pained. Ultimately, although he looked the youngest out of all his incarnations, he was the Doctor who really portrayed the magnificant age he had lived and suffered to. And in one episode, his debut back in series 5, Matt Smith proved just how wonderful he really was. The opening scene as the TARDIS flies hecticly around London before crash landing in Amelia Pond's garden showcased just how mad this Doctor was: his random craving for fish fingers and custard; bumping into a tree; his suggestion that the swimming pool was in the library... this Doctor is competely bonkers, and we love him for it. But it's not all fun and games, because when he discovers the mysterious crack in Amelia's wall, through which Prisoner Zero has supposedly escaped through, he knows he's got to stop at nothing to capture the prisoner and keep Earth safe. The Doctor leaves Amelia in order to try and repair the TARDIS, but promises to return for her in five minutes. However, when he does finally return, it has been twelve years, and Amelia is now a kissogram dressed as a policeman, and hits the time lord with a cricket bat! It's not long before he comes round though and he and Amy discover that Prisoner Zero, a shape-shifting alien, is hiding out in Amy's house. Running away from the man-and-dog disguised prisoner, Amy and the Doctor start things off shakily, with Amy confessing she's had therapists in order to cure her obsession with her 'imaginary friend'. It is already clear that the Doctor has had a big impact on her; an impressionable naive girl who dreams of running away and leaving behind her commitments, notably her upcoming wedding to nurse Rory, who she doesn't even address as her boyfriend. Speaking of Rory, it is he who has been photographing patients that should be in the hospital he works at, who are actually out and about in Leadworth, which the Doctor works out is because Prisoner Zero has been using those forms to disguise itself. The scene in which the Doctor spots Rory taking a photo of the man and dog, rather than the strangely changed sun (produced due to a forcefield the Atraxi guards have put around the planet) is very quirky, original and effective. And as well as the escapee putting the planet at risk, the Atraxi have threatened to incinerate the Earth in 20 mins if they don't give up the prisoner to them. The countdown clock begins, and so does the suspense and tension, as the Doctor, Amy and Rory find a way to show off Prisoner Zero's whereabouts to the Atraxi... and it is done in an extremely clever, imaginative way. And to top it all off, the Doctor, whilst choosing out a new outfit, gives the Atraxi a telling off with the epic quote: "Hello, I'm the Doctor. Basically, run." A lot of fans see that as the moment when Matt really became the Doctor, and I can see why. He gives the line with so much heart and sorrow and darkness, and he does it whilst fixing up his silly bowtie. With the planet saved, The Doctor offers Amy a place onboard the newly decorated TARDIS (one of my favourite desktop themes), and it is a very happy, exciting moment when the closing scene commences with the duo travelling off to see the universe: "Goodbye Leadworth. Hello everything!"

4. Vincent and the Doctor (Series 5, Episode 10 : Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond)

  











The reason this episode is so highly rated for me is sheerly (for the most part) to do with the last ten minutes or so. Sure, the story itself is exciting, nicely-paced, beautifully historical, and funny at times... and the characterisation throughout is just splendid. But there is no scene just as endearing and poignant as the last few scenes. Of course, these scenes I speak of consist of the starry night sequence, in which Vincent shows The Doctor and Amy what he sees when he looks up at the stars; the scene in which the TARDIS duo bring Vincent to the Musee d'Orsay in order to let him see how much him and his paintings are now loved; and lastly, when Amy and The Doctor return to the gallery only to find that in fact Vincent finally did kill himself, which Amy was deeply saddened by. The starry night scene was very inspiring and beautifully written, with the passage by our famous painter about the blueness of the night and the bursting light of the stars creating strong imagery in our heads that enables us to connect with his perspectives. It makes his character very loveable and we can really feel pity for him. Then in the first gallery scene, tears are shed and our hearts are pounded with love and joy as Van Gogh cries tears of happiness upon the discovery of his success; and the impact of this scene is trebled by that wonderful motivating song 'Chances' by Athlete which plays throughout. It isn't until the final gallery scene though that our hearts and our eyes are really overloaded with emotion, as Amy learns that Van Gogh did commit suicide after all, causing her to think that they didn't make a difference to his life. Actually, The Doctor is quick to tell her that maybe they did make a few changes, which he delivers alongside a true quote about the good and bad things of life. And as Amy approaches the Sunflowers painting, with that tear-inducing instrumental in the background, and notices the 'For Amy' signature at the bottom, I'm sure I've never watched a more poignant and lovely Doctor Who scene than the one I've got in front of me in that moment.

3. Midnight (Series 4, Episode 10 : Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble)

I remember as clear as day the first time I finished watching Midnight. I was shaken... nearly traumatised! (But bear in mind that I was only 12 at the time). And that fear was increased even more when "The Doctor is dead" sounded from the next-time trailer. But, even though I was scared to death by the knocking on the walls, the unknown shadow creature running towards the bus, the entity inside Sky that was using her to repeat everyone, and then using her to become The Doctor, I was also extremely gripped, excited and thrilled by the whole experience. Never before (and never again!) have I been so captivated and drawn in by a Doctor Who episode. I was literally on the edge of my seat. I think what really scares us the most about Midnight is that we never find out what this entity actually is. The planet of Midnight has been mainly unexplored, and even though it has been theorised that no life could exist on it, it makes it all the more creepy that maybe some form of life can. And anything that can live on a planet orbiting an x-tonic star has got to be something a bit sinister. The tension and the mystery begins when the mechanic notices a shifting shadow running towards the vehicle, but because the audience doesn't see it, we are daunted by the imaginings of what could have caused that shadow. Then the knocking on the walls starts, which mimics the passenger's number of knocks, and after the bus goes through a bit of tossing and turning, we discover (to our horror) that the driver and mechanic have been killed by a creature that is now possessing the most scared woman of all the passengers. This is also a point to include- the creature obviously went after Sky because she was the most scared and paranoid of all, but why the creature does this is not clear. The creature's intentions throughout the whole adventure are never really understood, but the way that it goes through stages of repeating, catching up and taking over the Doctor is pretty freaky to say the least. As for the passengers, they spend most of the time shouting, panicking and threatening to throw people out, but they do provide a lot of the intenseness as the majority opt to try and throw the Doctor out onto the planet. But thankfully, as Dee Dee and the Air Hostess deduce, the creature is still in Sky's body, which leads to the climax of the episode when the hostess sacrifices herself to kill the entity and save everyone on board. The terror and suspense is finally over, but the nerves are still tingling and we are left racking our brains to find out what that thing on Midnight really was. 

2. Blink (Series 3, Episode 10: Tenth Doctor, Martha Jones and Sally Sparrow)

It's funny that this episode ranks so highly on my list, since it's one of the only stories to hardly feature the Doctor and his companion. Instead, we are introduced to the main character for this adventure, a young courageous and curious woman called Sally Sparrow. Upon investigating Wester Drumlins, an old abandoned house, she finds a note from the Doctor from way back in 1969,
warning her to 'Duck!' But it's not just flying stones she has to worry about, for the place is swarming with Weeping Angels, sinister statues which can zap you back in time with a single touch if you so much as blink. The Weeping Angels are probably the most inventive and scariest aliens in the show to date, and even though they don't literally kill you then and there, the fate of living in the past never to see your loved ones again is a terrible one. So the tension and suspense is pretty high in that end scene when Sally and Larry are trying their best not to blink while they escape the clutches of the angels. Two people who don't escape the angels are Sally's best friend (and Larry's sister) Kathy, who's grandson turns up in the present day to give Sally a letter explaining how Kathy had lived a good life in the past; and Billy Shipton (a policeman who flirts with Sally in the present day) who ends up in 1969 where he meets the Doctor. The Doctor instructs Billy to send Sally a message informing her to look at the list of 17 DVDS in which the Doctor features as an easter egg on, before, as an old man, he sadly passes away. The scene in which Sally comforts the dying Billy (during the same rain which poured when they first met) is emotionally charged, but I still manage to let out a teary laugh when Billy repeats his flirtacious line: "Life is short, and you are hot", but rather referring to life as long this time round. It is a very true and to-the-heart sort of moment- poignant and sad and happy at the same time. And that brings me to the easter egg of the Doctor- it is actually half a conversation acted out in 1969, with Sally being the other half speaking in 2007, so it's as if the Doctor can hear her. Actually, as it turns out, the transcript that Larry writes of their conversation is what the Doctor uses to converse with Sally in the first place. So it's all very timey-wimey, but it's good timey-wimey that comes across as very clever, intricate and well planned. Also to note, Sally as a character is a very well developed one. She is a strong, brave and mysterious woman with a love for dark things and a thirst for adventure, but she is also very well rounded with obvious flaws. All in all, she is a likeable person who I would have loved to see as a companion. Finally, I have to mention one of the best quotes of the entire show which comes from this episode: "People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint - it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly... time-y wimey... stuff ", and also not forgetting the gripping quote: "Don't blink. Blink and you're dead. They are fast. Faster than you can believe. Don't turn your back. Don't look away. And don't blink. Good Luck." 'Blink' really does make you alert and on edge whenever you come across a statue in real life. I guess that is because the episode and the angels made such an impact on it's audience, and it will never be forgotten. 

1. The Day of the Doctor (Series 7 Specials : Eleventh Doctor, Clara Oswald, Tenth Doctor, War Doctor and Rose Tyler/The Moment)

 









And here we have it- my number one favourite episode of my favourite TV show Doctor Who, and it just so happens that this episode was the one to celebrate 50 years of the show's running. There was a lot riding on Moffat to get this episode perfect, and fortunately, he did just that. Well, okay, there is no such thing as perfection, and this movie-length story is far from it, but I like to think that imperfection is more beautiful anyway. I watched 'The Day of the Doctor' in 3D at the cinemas all dressed up as Rose Tyler (cosplaying was a must!), and it was such a thrilling entertaining experience which left me buzzing with excitement. The atmosphere of fellow whovians all dressed up as Doctors and companions, and all reacting to the various events that occured during the episode, was just electric and contageous. But now onto the story itself. Really, we have two plots going on- the main one centres around the last day of the time war, with the War Doctor having to make the horrible decision whether to destroy Gallifrey in order to save the universe. Stemming off this, we have the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors having to face their demons in the form of their secret incarnation, and becoming haunted by what they thought this Doctor did. The second sub-plot involves the Zygons, shape-shifting aliens which have broken out of 3D paintings and into reality, where they are wreaking havoc on the members of UNIT, and Queen Elizabeth I. But the plots are nicely interlinked, with one of the paintings cryptically named 'Gallifrey Falls'/ 'No More'. In fact, the two seperate names are actually one title all together, incinuating that Gallifrey wasn't destroyed after all. This is of course due to the events that occured surrounding the Moment, a weapon using the form of Rose Tyler in order to communicate with the War Doctor, who is superbly played by the legendary John Hurt. I think it was a wise decision to not bring Billie back as the character of Rose, as I feel that this would have competely destroyed her exit. But it was a good idea to bring her back as another character, because I think Billie is such an icon for the show. Both the Moment and a teary-eyed Clara allow the Doctors to realise that there is a way out and that the time lords don't have to die- they are in control of what ultimately happens. And this is when the controversial bit comes in- the many incarnations of the Doctor and their TARDISes come together in order to freeze Gallifrey in a single segment of time, causing the Daleks to fire at each other and the time lords to survive. Gallifrey is saved- but it was never destroyed in the first place! A lot of fans are annoyed at this, because they feel it takes away from the war-torn character of the Ninth Doctor, but I don't feel that this is the case, because this Doctor won't remember the events of that day anyway. Clara was brilliant in this episode- her sparkiness and bubbliness make her a pleasure to watch, and she really does steal the show. Plus, the cameo of the Fourth Doctor/the Curator at the end was a real treat for everybody, and even though his reasonings for being there are unknown, it is still a very thought-provoking and lovely moment. So to summarise, this episode is my ultimate favourite because it celebrates 50 years of the show in epic, entertaining, thrilling, scary and whoe-y fashion; it brings in characters old and new, developing them and giving them all a chance to shine; the way the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors work with each other is thoroughly amusing and makes me incredibly happy; the Gallifrey and War Doctor plot is well thought out, intriguing and gripping throughout; Clara is a real gem; and the atmosphere of watching it in cinemas was just fantastic. I think it will be very hard for a single episode of Doctor Who to top this one, but you never know, there may come along a story which blows our minds away, and reminds us of why Doctor Who is so loved. 
  
 So there we have it- my top 15 episodes in one list and all in order. I've chosen a fair selection of all present Doctors, companions, and lead-writers, so I think i've made it clear that I don't really favour any era of the show massively over another. Doctor Who, whilst constantly changing, has and always will be my favourite show. But it's not just a favourite, it is also something that I hold very dear to me... that has a place deep in my heart. Sure, it may all be fiction, but everything about it is real to me, for the Doctor and his companions have opened my eyes up to a world of possibilities, and a better way of viewing my life. And its not just the characters and places- it is also the inspirational dialogue, the mesmorising music, the deep messages... that evoke the such strong feelings of love I have for this truly amazing show called Doctor Who.