Doctor Who: Neil Gaiman story The Doctor’s Wife named best ever Matt Smith episode
Richard Curtis-penned tearjerker Vincent and the Doctor is pipped to the post in a poll of RadioTimes.com users
The Doctor Who story in which Matt Smith comes face to face with a human incarnation of the Tardis has been named the best episode of his four-year tenure as the Time Lord.
The Doctor’s Wife, written by fantasy author Neil Gaiman, topped a poll of over 1,600 RadioTimes.com users, narrowly beating Richard Curtis-penned tearjerker Vincent and the Doctor, which sees the Doctor take Van Gogh on a trip into the future to show him how well-loved his work has become after his death.
In third place, but some way off the pace, was the recent 50th anniversary special The Day of the Doctor, written by showrunner Steven Moffat. Smith’s first outing as the Doctor, The Eleventh Hour, came in fourth – a timely reminder of the immediate impact he made in the role – while in fifth place, A Good Man Goes to War revealed that River Song was the daughter of companions Amy Pond and Rory Williams.
The Doctor’s Wife aired in May 2011 as part of the second of Smith’s three series in the role, and with his original companions still in tow. The episode saw the trio lured to a remote asteroid by the promise of surviving Time Lords and featured some characteristically Gothic touches from Gaiman, including the patchwork characters Uncle and Aunite, revealed to be made from the sewn together body parts of unfortunate former visitors.
The adventure found Matt Smith in energetic form as, for the first time, the Doctor was able to interact with his oldest travelling companion, The Tardis, as played to critical acclaim by Suranne Jones.
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A highly popular Doctor, Matt Smith bids farewell to the series with one final episode on Christmas Day, which will see him regenerate into Peter Capaldi’s new incarnation after four years and 44 episodes in the role.
The 20 best Matt Smith Doctor Who episodes
1. The Doctor's Wife (16.7%)
2. Vincent and the Doctor (16.5%)
3. The Day of the Doctor (10.9%)
4. The Eleventh Hour (7.7%)
5. A Good Man Goes to War (5.6%)
6. The Pandorica Opens (4.2%)
7. The Angels Take Manhattan (3.0%)
8. The Big Bang (3.0%)
9. The Girl Who Waited (2.6%)
10. A Christmas Carol (2.4%)
11. The Name of the Doctor (2.3%)
12. The Lodger (2.2%)
13. Asylum of the Daleks (2.0%)
14. The Impossible Astronaut (1.9%)
15. The Rings of Akhaten (1.9%)
16. Nightmare in Silver (1.8%)
17. The Wedding of River Song (1.5%)
18. The Snowmen (1.5%)
19. The God Complex (1.4%)
20. Let's Kill Hitler (1.4%)
