Ten years ago, and on an earlier review blog, I celebrated the 50th anniversary of BBC science fiction series Doctor Who by counting down my 50 favourite episodes and serials from the entire history of the show. Thursday was Doctor Who‘s 60th anniversary – how time flies – and tomorrow marks the debut of the first of three celebratory special episodes starring David Tennant as the new 14th Doctor.

To mark this week’s celebrations, rather than revisit an entire extensive list of favourites, I figured it would be most appropriate to append another 10 years of Doctor Who to the original list., Here, then, are my 10 favourite episodes from the last decade. Feel free to use the comments section to tell me yours.

10. “The Time of the Doctor”
First broadcast on 25 December 2013.

I think it is wonderful that Matt Smith’s tenure as the Doctor concluded with this Christmas special: one that not only wrapped up a lot of the past three season’s plot threads, but which also returned to the fairy tale-like storytelling of his first season back in 2010. It is the episode’s conclusion that sells it. I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed a Doctor’s final moments so much. It was beautifully written by Steven Moffat and superbly performed by Smith. Plus Handles: the greatest single-episode companion of all time.

9. “The Magician’s Apprentice“/”The Witch’s Familiar”
First broadcast 19-26 September 2015.

The equivalent of a Hollywood blockbuster, with not only the Daleks returning but also their creator Davros for only the second time since 1988, and a winning showcase for Michelle Gomez’s Missy – the best iteration of the Master since Roger Delgado. While Missy was introduced a year earlier, it is here that Gomez is fully able to establish her character. The two-parter also does really worthwhile work with Davros, and engages in some superb ominous foreshadowing of the season to come.

8. “The Power of the Doctor”
First broadcast 23 October 2022.

Another final outing for a Doctor – in this case, Jodie Whittaker’s wonderful 13th incarnation – and while it must be admitted that the storyline is all over the place, it’s emotional range of guest appearances, cameos, and grace notes make it a simply wonderful experience. It is great to see Peter Davison, Colin Baker, and Sylvester McCoy make the appearances many fans missed during the 50th, and the short cameo by William Russell honestly moved me to tears. In the end, however, it’s the work put in to end the story for Whittaker’s Doctor and Yaz (Mandip Gill) that really made the episode stand out.

7. “Fugitive of the Judoon”
First broadcast 26 January 2020.

At first it seems like an ordinary episode of Doctor Who. Then there is the unexpected guest appearance by John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness, a character not seen in years. Then it doubles down with one of the most unexpected, boldest, and straight-out bonkers plot twists in Who history. A lot of fans and viewers did not like Chris Chibnall’s “Timeless Child” storyline. I thought it was one of the best ideas to reinvigorate the show ever. I really hope this isn’t the last we have seen of Jo Martin’s Fugitive Doctor.

6. “The Pilot”
First broadcast 15 April 2017.

It isn’t just the first episode of a new season, or the debut of outstanding companion Bill Potts (Pearl Mackie). It is exactly what it says on the tin: an all-new pilot for Doctor Who. It works as a wonderful episode for the regular viewers, but it is also one of the strongest entry points for anybody new to the series. The Doctor’s new set-up as a university professor is a work of genius. The dialogue shines, the humour sparkles – this is such a strong reinvigoration of the series that it’s a tragedy it only lasted one season. Plus Bill Potts: the greatest 21st century companion of Doctor Who.

5. “It Takes You Away”
First broadcast 2 December 2018.

Jodie Whittaker was a great Doctor let down by oftentimes weak scripts. My favourite of her episodes, however, I think is brilliantly written by Ed Hime. It’s wonderfully creepy, and boasts that small-scale, claustrophobic horror that marks some of the all-time best episodes. It’s also wonderfully imaginative: what other show would climax an episode with a conversation between its protagonist and a trans-dimensional frog god?

4. “The Zygon Invasion“/”The Zygon Inversion”
First broadcast 31 October – 7 November 2015.

On the sad, inevitable day when TV broadcasters and Internet news sites eulogise Peter Capaldi, it is his anti-war speech in “The Zygon Inversion” that they are going to play. The humour, the trauma, the mixture of light and dark; it all typifies his take on the Doctor in such a powerful and definitive way. It is one of the best scenes Doctor Who has ever seen. That it comes at the climax of a superb old-fashion UNIT vs aliens romp is just an added bonus.

3. “The Day of the Doctor”
First broadcast 23 November 2013.

Not only a pitch-perfect tribute to Doctor Who‘s 50th anniversary, not only an unexpected sequel to a Tom Baker classic, not only a venue for Tom Baker himself in a spectacular surprise cameo, not only a funny, imaginative, emotive climax to the first 7 seasons of the revived series, but hand-on-heart Steven Moffat’s decision to introduce an entirely new Doctor, played phenomenally by the late John Hurt, wedged in canon between McGann and Eccleston, is possibly the cleverest, most inspired idea since regeneration itself.

2. “World Enough and Time“/”The Doctor Falls”
First broadcast 24 June – 1 July 2017.

Doctor Who will clearly never have an intentional “final” episode. There will never be a conclusion, or a closing of the book. The Doctor will never die. But if they did, I’m pretty sure their final adventure will be a lot like “World Enough and Time”. It has such an extended epic scale. It is based on proper honest-to-goodness science fiction – still a comparative rarity in the series. It does actual meaningful character work with the Doctor, Bill, Missy, and the Master. It’s got some of the best dialogue the series ever had. Had it actually closed out Capaldi’s era as the Doctor, it might just have been the best episode of the last decade. Instead it’s second; no small feat. Plus that “because it’s kind” speech? It sums up the Doctor’s character more effectively than anything else.

1. “Heaven Sent”
First broadcast 28 November 2015.

The best Doctor Who script that Steven Moffat ever wrote. Possibly the actual best-directed episode too. It has Murray Gold, a composer I often don’t like, doing his best-ever score. It’s certainly Peter Capaldi’s best performance too. I’m actually going to quote from my own review at the time here, because I doubt anything I wrote now would encapsulate my feelings better: ‘It’s a remarkable expression of what grief feels like: an eternity. The episode’s climax makes an extraordinary impression. Its first half effectively emphasises the futility of the Doctor’s situation. He’s doing the same thing, Groundhog Day-style, again and again for thousands of years. Then tens of thousands. He ends every day pointlessly smashing his fist into an impregnable rock.”

“Then something in this tearful, futile montage changes. It’s not futile. The Doctor is making headway in punching through a rock, one microscopic fragment at a time. Years pass. Then centuries. Then millions of years. Then even longer. It’s not futile. It just takes a really, really long time to win. That’s what the Doctor does, after all: he wins. I found myself tearing up at the climax, not when it was hopeless but when it suddenly became full of nothing but hope.”

For the record, the only reason this isn’t my #1 Doctor Who episode of all time is because it is so at odds with what the series is normally like – but it’s a firm second, and that’s pretty impressive given how many episodes there have been. It’s not just a great episode of Doctor Who, it’s one of the best fictional depictions of grief I’ve ever seen.