My Top 11 Favorite Eleventh Doctor Episodes · 1:10am Dec 31st, 2013

With Matt Smith's tenure as the Doctor having drawn to a close, what's a better time to take a look back at his wonderful, nearly four-year era? So here are my personal top eleven favorite episodes of the era of the Eleventh Doctor!

#11: The Lodger

This episode is a lot of fun. This is mostly due to the entertaining chemistry between the Doctor and Craig as well as the enjoyment in seeing the Eleventh Doctor do something he's yet to do: attempt to fit in with contemporary society. A few previous incarnations of the Doctor would have no problem with this, such as the Tenth, Third, and Fifth Doctors, but Eleven is different due to the fact that he's...well...alien, sort of in reflection of the Fourth Doctor. The way he goes about trying to "live a normal life" makes me laugh each time I watch this episode. The episode also provides a believable love story for Craig and Sophie and a very interesting mystery in the form of the mysterious tenant upstairs.

#10: The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone

The 2-parter that saw the return of both River Song and the Weeping Angels. Despite its few goofy moments, such as Angel Bob and the moving Angels, this pair of episodes has a very suspenseful and creepy atmosphere. We get to see further abilities of the Weeping Angels explored, such as the images of Weeping Angels becoming actual Angels themselves, as well as saw the start of the River Song arc with the Eleventh Doctor beginning his long journey to finding out exactly who she was.

#9: The God Complex

This is definitely one of the most interesting episodes of Matt Smith's run. It has an extremely creepy atmosphere, some very interesting concepts, a few incredibly disturbing scenes, and a frightening, tragic "villain" in the form of the Minotaur. Speaking of the Minotaur, I really liked its design and even after seeing what it looked like it still had a threatening and intimidating presence. I liked the concept of people witnessing their worst fears in their respective rooms, which ultimately gnaws away at whatever beliefs you have. The scene where the Doctor breaks Amy's faith in him was also a very emotional scene and was very reminiscent of the Seventh Doctor temporarily destroying Ace's faith in him in The Curse of Fenric.

#8: The Angels Take Manhattan

I've said it many times that I love this episode despite the problems that come to light with further examination. The Weeping Angels are intimidating as always, the episode has a deep and strong noir theme, and aside from Rory ultimately getting the short end of the stick for his farewell this episode acts as a powerful and emotional departure for the Ponds.

#7: The Impossible Astronaut/Day of the Moon

The 2-parter that introduced us to the Silence. This pair of episodes is certainly a fun, dark, interesting ride from the Doctor's "death" at the beginning to the Doctor, Amy, Rory, and River traveling back to 1960's America, meeting President Nixon, and teaming up with the awesome Canton Delaware III. Say what you will about the divisive Series 6 story arc, which I enjoyed, this was a damn good way to start things off.

#6: The Snowmen

Despite not having one of the most intimidating threats in Doctor Who, this special is a wonderful character episode. The performances are fantastic and the chemistry between the Doctor, Clara, Vastra, Jenny, and Strax is incredibly entertaining. And, of course, this was a great start for the "Impossible Girl" arc of Series 7, Part 2.

#5: The Doctor's Wife

For the first time in the history of Doctor Who, the Doctor was finally able to meet the TARDIS. This is an incredibly dark, emotional, chilling, and heartfelt episode. It's satisfying to see the Doctor and the TARDIS finally get to have a conversation and their chemistry together was very entertaining. On the other hand, House acted as quite a dark villain for the episode and the scene where he gives Amy horrifying visions of seeing an aging Rory grow to hate her is probably one of the most disturbing scenes in "New-Who" to date. The ending is also incredibly heartbreaking and I think it was the first time we ever saw the Eleventh Doctor cry. We will certainly never forget when the Doctor and the TARDIS finally got a chance to talk.

#4: The Eleventh Hour

Matt Smith definitely had some big shoes to fill following the departure of David Tennant but he certainly started off his era with a bang. Smith quickly came into his role in this episode as did Karen Gillan. I especially loved the method the Doctor used in this episode to defeat Prisoner Zero, no sonic screwdriver and no TARDIS. Matt Smith certainly won many people over with this outstanding episode.

#3: Vincent and the Doctor

Who could forget this tear-jerker of an episode? Tony Curran gives a powerful, tragic performance as Vincent van Gogh and the scene where the Doctor and Amy take him into the future to show him that his paintings will go on to be loved and cherished for centuries to come is one of my favorite scenes of Doctor Who. I especially loved the message this episode brings forth: life is a mix of good and bad things and although the good may not be able to soften the bad, in turn, the bad doesn't make the good any less special. This remains to be one of the few episodes of Doctor Who that can still make me teary eyed.

#2: The Name of the Doctor

I've fanboyed enough about this episode in the past so I'll just given a quick rundown. This episode is PERFECT for me. Great performances, a satisfying answer to the mystery of the Impossible Girl, and a cliffhanger that left all of us guessing and speculating for half a year. I love this episode. Nuff said.

#1: The Day of the Doctor

Wonderful performances, lots of references to the show's past, intense action and drama, fantastic chemistry between the three Doctors, and a twist in the fate of Gallifrey that has directed the show in a new, exciting direction. How could this not be my favorite Eleventh Doctor episode?! This episode was a love letter to the fans and a tribute to the past 50 years of the show gracing our television screens. Heck, screw this being just my favorite Eleventh Doctor episode! This might be my favorite episode of Doctor Who period!

And those were my top eleven favorite Eleventh Doctor episodes. Now let us all look forward to the upcoming era of the Twelfth Doctor: Peter Capaldi!