Editorial - The Best and Worst of Doctor Who series 10

Series 10 of Doctor Who was probably the strongest series of the show to date in my opinion and a great Swan Song for Steven Moffat's final season. Still, it's not without its flaws and I'm here to count down the top 5 best and worst moments of Doctor Who series 10. This editorial contains spoilers. You have been warned

Worst #5 - similar stories being back to back

Knock Knock and Oxygen, The Empress of Mars and The Lie of the Land, these are two pairs of eerily similar stories covering similar themes aired back to back. And the honest truth is, there's not much of a reason for it. This is stretching for a 5th worst thing but it's the one I have to go with, with a few minor changes Knock Knock and The Empress of Mars could've been switched around. I suppose I could've said how the Daleks were completely wasted this season but it was a minor element.

Best #5 - The First Doctor Crossover tease

I'll get to the rest of the ending in due time but I cannot tell you how exciting it is to see Peter Capaldi team up with the first Doctor, the original, the genuine article you may say. It may not be the same guy who played him many years ago but lord am I excited for Moffat's final story this Christmas.

Worst #4 - Nardole

I'm sorry, I still don't see the point in him. A good comic relief character has to be a character first and for everything I've seen I cannot describe his character. I get what they were going for but his lack of screen-time in the first half of the season and the lack of any meaningful character arc, combined with his mediocre ending means he deserves a spot on my list.

Best #4 - The Doctor, Blind?

This was something I didn't see coming. In Oxygen, the Doctor sacrifices his oxygen to save Bill, in the process he's left blind. It's quite a dark twist and ups the tension of the episode, especially as it seems the Doctor is going to extreme lengths to compensate. We're told for most of the episode is blindness is temporary, but in a great example of actions having lasting consequences it turns out it isn't.

Worst #3 - The quick out to the doctor being blind/The Monks

I'm cheating a little here but there's plenty to talk about. First off I hate the way they portray the sonic sunglasses as helping the Doctor see. But the Monks ultimately curing is part of what I take issue with them for. They are clearly a clever race but they're also incredibly bland. We don't know much about them, and to a point I'm sure that's intentional but they're never even given a name! Their plan is somewhat clever and unique but it doesn't have lasting consequences on the Earth and the whole 3-parter could've been binned without changing a thing, except the Doctor not being blind. How did they cure his sight? Why didn't they uncure it when they left?

Best #3 - Missy's Redemption

I'll admit the who vault bit was relatively pointless and just a means to have the Doctor able to talk to Missy without her having some scheme behind her. But what started out boring evolved as the Doctor slowly began to trust her, letting her have more and more freedom and ultimately testing how she'd react in a Doctor like situation, and his motivation for doing so makes a degree of sense. Whilst it does have some pretty major consequences down the line, in the mean time Missy is a laugh riot in a show that largely has done great things with the humour.

Worst #2 - The Twist to Extremis

Extremis is for the most part a strong episode but the twist ultimately ruins it in my opinion. The idea of a race making a simulation of Earth's history to try and simulate their actions is actually a clever one, but having it include the Doctor and all his exploits puts a strain the idea suspension of disbelief can't cope with. The Doctor doesn't live a linear life, being able to simulate his actions upon the world is impossible, and the revelation robs the episode of any tension. This episode could've largely been cut without making a difference to the rest of the story because of this twist.

Best #2 - The Master and Missy interaction

They may only share screentime during the series finale but the idea of a multi-master story is genius. It's not a flawless finale, which I'll explain about later but every time the two of them are on screen together there's a laugh to be had. They are the same person but have such contrasting personalities the laughs just write themselves

Worst #1 - The Resolution to the Doctor Falls

The Doctor Falls fails in a number of ways but does have enough character work and action to keep it strong for most of the way. Where it falls apart is resolutions to the final events of the episode. Bill manages to survive the explosion that killed off the rest of the Cybermen but is dying in Cyber form, fortunately Heather from the opening episode magically restores her to her human form, in fact she's the same water-esque species that she is, they don't heal the Doctor who they transport into the TARDIS before leaving in what feels like a rehash of Clara's ending (it's better but not by much) the Doctor in the mean time after getting up starts to regenerate but upon healing channels the rest of the regeneration energy into the ground, somehow. I don't need to explain why this is stupid, right?

Best #1 - Bill Potts

Man is it a breath of fresh air to have a companion I like. She's second only to Donna for me in terms of companion ranking. She's clever but naive at the same time, she listens to the Doctor, but questions him when she needs to. She can get emotional but be one of the strongest characters in the show. She isn't in love with the Doctor! She gets in more laughs than Nardole ever could. It's a shame her time on the show seems to have been cut short, there is plenty more to explore with her character.