In less than a month, Series 6 will grace our screens, but until that magical day we all anticipate every year, let’s take a look back at some of the best moments of the new series of Doctor Who and all the reasons why we love that odd little alien from the planet Gallifrey.

WARNING: In the words of River Song in “Silence in the Library“, SPOILERS. If you’ve never seen Doctor Who, and have even the slightest inkling to watch it, stop reading, get up, and finish all five series (plus the specials) before you even think about reading this list. You’ll be robbing yourself of some of the greatest moments in televised Science Fiction history…and at the very least, The Doctor’s.

10. The Doctor and Donna Reunite

“Partners in Crime” Series 4, Ep 1

This is a small but incredibly funny sequence. Since meeting the Doctor in “The Runaway Bride”, over a year before, Donna Noble has taken to filling her once empty life with purpose, regretting not joining him on his travels when she had the chance. For most of this episode the Doctor and Donna miss each other in a comedy of errors, unaware that the other is investigating the strange goings on at Adipose Industries. That is until this funny moment where they finally cross paths in one of the more clever, comedic, and inventive ways imaginable. The scene is so funny, that this clip isn’t even in English and you still get it, because it really needs no words.

9. Words Win Wars

“The Pandorica Opens” Series 5, Ep 12

The Doctor is at his most thrilling when he’s face-to-face with his enemy and relies on his reputation as a monster slayer to dissuade them from attacking. Having discovered the Pandorica, but not quite sure just what it is, The Doctor must hold off an attack of nearly all of his greatest foes with as he says “no plan, no back-up, and no weapons worth a damn.”

He dares them to make a move and waits to see if they flinch or call him on his bluff. Except you get the sense that he’s really not bluffing at all.

8. The Fury of the Time Lord

“The Family of Blood” Series 3, Ep 9

He seems a bit goofy, and cheesy, and light-hearted, but when it comes right down to it, the Doctor can get down and dirty when he’s pushed far enough. The ending to “The Family of Blood” is a friendly reminder that the Doctor is more than capable of being judge, jury, and executioner with a slightly vindictive sinister twist. David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor has just spent time trapped as a human being, fallen in love, watched people die, and at the last moment regains his memory and his immortality. And he is PISSED. Revenge is sweet for the Doctor as he enacts a “reckoning” against the Family of Blood who has hunted him for the last two episodes.

7. The Doctor Regenerates (almost)

“The Stolen Earth” Series 4, Ep. 12

I’m a person that avoids spoilers like the plague. So much so that right now I won’t even watch the trailer to the upcoming Series 6 of Doctor Who because I want each episode to be a complete surprise. But, after the end of “The Stolen Earth” I immediately went to the Internet to look for rumors and find out what the hell was going to happen next. Was Tennant gone? Is there going to be a new Doctor next episode? Somebody tell me! The BBC played this one very close to the vest and had us all riveted to our seats for one excruciatingly long painful week. Even if he wasn’t leaving, I had no idea how he was getting out of this one. Now that’s a cliffhanger.

6. Donna’s Leap of Faith

“The Runaway Bride” Series 3 Ep. X (Christmas Special)

In their very first meeting, The Doctor (fresh from a tragic loss; see #4) comes to Donna’s rescue in a rare scene where the TARDIS plays the role of Action Hero. When Donna leaps, the children cheer, and we cheer right along with them in what is the most action-y of action sequences in the history of the new series. And while all of this is going on Catherine Tate’s “Donna Noble” keeps us laughing with her shrill yet impeccable comedic timing when she drops the deadpan observation/revelation about Santa’s current unfortunate condition.

5. The Doctor makes a Promise

“Bad Wolf” Series 1, Ep 12

I was still new to this whole Doctor Who thing when this aired, and I was enthralled the entire time. Great storytelling is full of these moments. The odds are stacked against him and yet he still, with the confidence of a 900 year old Time Lord, declares that he’s going to rescue Rose without even having a plan or the means to do so, being outmanned and outgunned. As shown before in #9, this situation has been duplicated a few more times over the course of the new series, but this is the first time it was used.

You just love the look on Billie Piper’s face when he declares he’s going to rescue her. She’s going to have her way with him the first chance she gets. Sadly some changes are in store for the both of them that will postpone their budding romance.

4. Rose Dies (sort of)

“Doomsday” Series 2, Ep. 13

The chatter leading up to “Doomsday” was that this was Billie Piper’s final episode. And to confirm our worst fears, the opening sequence of the first part of the story begins with her describing the day she “died” in a flash-forward. Say whatever you want about the sometimes faulty logic of Russell T. Davies’ storytelling, but the man knows exactly how to squeeze his viewers through the wringer of emotion. In the end, Rose Tyler’s “death” was more interesting and more heartwrenching than if she had actually died, trapped in a parallel universe from which she can never return…until she does of course.

3. The Doctor and Rose say Goodbye

“Doomsday” Series 2, Ep 13

Technically this is part of the same sequence as when Rose “dies” just a bit earlier, but it’s so important that it deserves to have its own entry. I will never confess to crying, but this moment (along with when Buffy “kills” Angel, and in choice episodes of Battlestar Galactica) always leaves me just this side of misty. The tragic end to an understated romance, Executive Producer and writer Russell T. Davies is at his peak with the conclusion to his two-part finale.

2. I Am the Doctor

“The Eleventh Hour” Series 5, Ep 1

For five long years I kept telling a friend of mine he needed to watch Doctor Who. And for five years he would mock and belittle me for it. Until one day, bored at home, he spied the premiere of Series 5, saw this little sequence, and was hooked.

I was lucky enough to watch the premiere of Series 5 last year in the presence of Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Stephen Moffat, and Russell T. Davies, in a movie theater. I was amazed at how well the new series played so effortlessly epic on the big screen and my faith in Stephen Moffat’s new tenure at the showrunner was affirmed. When Matt Smith speaks the words “I am the Doctor” the audience couldn’t help but applaud. This is the definitive moment that marks the beginning of Matt Smith’s era, acknowledging the past while literally stepping into the future, as the Doctor finally comes into his own.

“Basically…run.”

1. The Tenth Doctor Regenerates (for real this time)

“The End of Time Pt. 2″ Series 4 – The Specials

An improvement over the previous week’s episode, “The End of Time Pt. 2″ managed to pick up the pace and deliver on most, if not all, the things we’d been promised leading up to it. There are a great many moments in this episode that will leave you reaching for the tissue to dry your eyes, but this, the final words of the Tenth Doctor, is by far the saddest. This was a swashbuckling, confident, almost arrogant Doctor that mourns the fact that even though he knows he will go on, the man that he was, a man which he quite enjoyed being, is about to die. As heart-wrenching as it is, it’s interesting how immediately the heavy weight of the Tenth Doctor’s passing is lifted with the upbeat arrival of the Eleventh (as my friend says “The Real Doctor”.) A glimpse of adventures to come.

Geronimo.

Doctor Who, Series 6 premieres on the BBC, and BBC America Saturday, April 23rd 2011.

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