The Cutprice Guignol

Just because there is only a season of Christopher Eccleston’s Doctor Who to choose from doesn’t mean I’m not excited about this article.

If you’ve been hanging around the Guignol for more than twenty minutes or so, you’ll know that this era of the show was just seminal to me as a person who loves pop culture. I was nine when it first came out, and it’s what made me truly fall in love with Doctor Who and end up the lifelong fan (/hater) I currently am. As far as I’m concerned, it’s the best season of the modern show, and Eccleston is still and will always be my Doctor, deep within my soul. And also the reason that I like to wear battered leather jackets as much as I do, but that’s neither here nor there. Let me get in to some rhapsodic praise before I explode with excitement!

The Empty Child/Doctor Dances

Coming in at number one, as no surprise to anyone in the world. This isn’t just my favourite episode of Doctor Who, it’s one of my favourite pieces of television of all time (and, no, I can’t believe I’m saying that about something Steven Moffat wrote either). Heartfelt, warm, witty, scary, inventive, and, most important, bisexual, it’s exactly what Doctor Who should be: fearful teatime television with a memorable monster and a brilliant period setting that wraps it all up in a couple of episodes with a happy ending to boot. I love you, The Empty Child/Doctor Dances, and I hope you never forget that.

Father’s Day

I remember my best friend Ellie (hi Ellie!) watching the show for the first time and texting me in tears after this episode, and my immediate response being “ha! Told you so!” because I am both a horrible, smug cow, and also, completely confident in this episode’s ability to emotionally decimate anyone who watches it.

It’s a surprisingly mature approach to a lost loved one, one that doesn’t scrub off the hard edges of her father’s very human faults, and allows for Camille Coduri (my wife, my love, my queen) to show off some serious chops. I love how grounded the show was at this early stage of the reboot, and it’s that groundedness and humanity that makes Pete’s eventual sacrifice all the more shattering – and how it underlines the central importance to the show of people who are, on a cosmic scale, unimportant.A show about time travel is practically required to delve into what that means for grief and loss, and this story – about Rose navigating the death of her father and accidentally summoning some of the most imposing single-episode villains of the whole show, the Reapers – is probably the best example of New Who’s take on those themes.

Dalek

Here’s a hot take: this should have been the only Dalek episode of the show’s reboot. There, I said it. I still think this was such a bold episode for the show, even now – the way it subverts expectations about the Daleks and how they function as the ultimate boogeymen of the Whoniverse by turning the Doctor into the villain by the episode’s end really relies on excellent writing, and, beyond that, incredible performances from both Billie Piper and Christopher Eccleston to pull if off. And it does, to amazing effect. I love the tense, claustrophobic underground setting, the intensity and downright unsettling anger of the Doctor’s reaction to the return of the Daleks, but, more than anything, I love how challenging this episode is in terms of morality and moral decency. If they had just left it here with the Daleks, I wouldn’t have been disappointed – for my money, New Who still hasn’t topped the extraordinary high of this episode.

Well, that’s this little blogging adventure all wrapped up! I’d love to hear about your favourite episodes of this era in the comments below (and if you think any of my picks should have been booted from this top three spot).

If you’d like to read my other Doctor Who articles, you can check them out here (and take a look at my books if you’re feeling curious!).

(header image via Screen Rant)