If it hasn’t been obvious to people reading my blog, I am a diehard Whovian for life! Tom Baker is my Doctor, that says it all! Doctor Who is the best television series in the history of television (sorry I Love Lucy fans). It teaches us history, science, life lessons, and important things like “always bring a banana to a party!”

With more than 50 years and 13 Doctors to choose from, it’s hard to pick a BEST MOMENT from the monumental TV series, but I’m going to give it my best. Apologies in advance if I don’t mention one of your favorites, but please include them in the comments below.

11th Doctor’s Introduction — Matt Smith will go down as one of the great Doctor’s in the series. His introduction after a very sad departure by David Tenant was hilarious as he kissed his legs and checked for ten fingers, eyes, and nose like a father checking over his newborn baby. He even complained he still wasn’t ginger. However, I’m referring to the end of the episode, The 11th Hour, when he walked through a projection of all 10 previous Doctors and introduced himself. From that point on, you had no doubt that he was the Doctor and the universe better pay attention. “Basically, run!” showed us he was not one to be trifled with. After all, he was wearing a bowtie.

Missy Means Mistress — Throughout the first year of Peter Capaldi’s run as the Doctor, we were I reduced to the mysterious Missy. This crazy woman seemed to be wrapped up in the Doctor’s affairs, but no o e knew who she was, until the episode Dark Water when we learned her name was Missy, short for Mistress, the female nomenclature for THE MASTER. This was a huge reveal, shocking all of us to the core. I really think that the fans reaction to Missy was one of the reasons they went with Jodie Whittaker as the 13th Doctor. In any case, Missy ranks right up there as an awesome villain and a perfect foil for the Doctor.

The Titanic in Space — It was wierd enough that they built the Titanic, in space, but then you throw in the Doctor and expect everything to come out okay. This was a fun episode, but the thing that really stands out to me is David Tenant’s speech when asked who he was. He had such a serious look on his face and it really stuck as such a big moment in the history of Doctor Who. In those few seconds, we got everything we needed to know about the Doctor. It was a masterpiece in writing that any Whovian can recite. That’s what makes it memorable.

Don’t Blink — One of the best monsters introduced since the Daleks, and I know I’m going to get some flak for saying, but it’s TRUE. The Weeping Angels are a mystery unto themselves. “The Lonely Assassin’s” have been a part of some of the best episodes in recent memory. They were the cause of Rory and Amy’s death. How do you not get chills up your spine when you hear the laughter and fluttering wings of the “babies” in The Angels Take Manhattan? Or the voice of Angel Bob talking so monotone and scary as he describes dying to the Doctor in Flesh and Stone? I wish they would have made an earlier appearance in the series. Can you imagine Tom Baker taking on the Weeping Angels? I would watch that in a heartbeat.

10’s Long Goodbye — David Tenant had a great run as the Doctor, and his ending was even better. I’m not talking about his final speech… Well, “I don’t want to go” really isn’t a speech. I’m talking about his trip to visit everyone he met in his time as the Doctor. Seeing Rose a year before he met her, Mickey and Martha as married alien bounty hunters, saving Sarah Jane’s son, getting Captain Jack a date, etc. It was a great way to end it all. They wrapped it up neat and tidy, as “his song ended” but the story continued.

The last of my favorite moments in Doctor Who is courtesy of my Doctor, the 4th Doctor, Tom Baker.

Do I Have the Right? — I don’t think there’s a person alive who hasn’t thought “would I go back in time and kill Hitler as a child?” In retrospect, it was Doctor Who that gave life to that question. In the classic Genesis of the Daleks, the Doctor had the chance to end the Daleks before their reign of terror began, but did he have the right. He debated the issue with his companions as he held two wires inches apart. It is a memorable discussion in the philosophy of life and death in a sci-fi TV series.

So, the new series starts Sunday, October 7th. Let’s see if the 13th Doctor can make the list!

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Mark Piggott is the author of the Forever Avalon book series. Forever Avalon is available for purchase as a book/ebook at Amazon. The Dark Tides is available for purchase as a book/ebook at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and iUniverse publishing. The Outlander War, Book Three of the Forever Avalon series is coming soon from Austin Macauley Publishing.