20 Doctor Who Moments We'll Never Forget

Doctor Who is 60 years old, many happy returns, and since 1963, the show has been providing us with unforgettable moments

So, we wanted to celebrate that history and showcase some of the scenes that stand out to us

Quick note before we start, regenerations, companion departures, and speeches are lists unto themselves, so none of those will feature here, which should keep things more interesting

I'm Ellie for Who Culture, here with 20 Doctor Who moments we'll never forget

Number 20. Ra Ra Rasputin. The power of the Doctor. I never know how to say that word

Rasputin? Rasputin? Rasputin. You know who I mean. Sure, John Simms' master wheeling an elderly David Tennant around to the Scissor Sisters is iconic

but nothing beats Sasha Dewan's gloriously deranged disco dancing in The Power of the Doctor

The story goes that Dewan misread the script and effectively improvised the moment

Improvisation is key to Doctor Who's success, given its persistent lack of time and money

and nowhere is this better realised than the Master busting some sick moves to Boney M while taunting the Doctor

Possibly another perfect bit of improv was the Dalek and Cyberman actors looking quizzically at each other

when presented with the Master's dance routine. It's one of Doctor Who's most chaotic and hilarious sequences from the past 60 years

Number 19. You can't mend people? Kinder. It might have an unconvincing pink snake, half the cast of The Bill, and a very fake-looking forest

but Kinder is genuinely terrifying. Not in a jump scare sort of way

but in a psychological way that can really get under your skin and freak you out

The fifth Doctor regularly seems out of his depth here, not knowing how to deal with the increasingly unpredictable Hindle

and disarm the explosive devices set around the dome. In this memorable scene

the Doctor returns to the dome to find Hindle and Sanders building a model village

And when the Doctor accidentally breaks the head off of one of the model villagers, Hindle memorably screams

You can't mend people, can you? while waving the decapitated cardboard figure in the Doctor's face

It's one of the most genuinely spine-chilling portrayals of madness in the show's history

And you're welcome for that wonderful performance, by the way. Number 18. Because I'm clever

Midnight. There's always a danger that Doctor Who can become too safe

because the audience knows the Doctor will save the day. Midnight brilliantly turned all of that on its head

by putting the Doctor in a situation he could neither control nor understand

It's extraordinary to see David Tennant's tenth Doctor, arguably the most confident of them all

growing increasingly exasperated with his paranoid and frightened travelling companions, all of which builds to the unforgettable moment

where the Doctor frustratedly tells them that they should listen to him because he's clever, before they all threaten to throw him off the shuttle

It's one of the most frightening moments in Doctor Who because it further chips away his authority

making him powerless to stop the situation from spiralling wildly out of control

Number 17. I'd rather have a pint. The Demons. Doctor Who may be about to embark on an exciting new era as a multinational sci-fi franchise

but it's a fundamental part of British culture. There's no escaping that The Beatles, James Bond and Doctor Who all came to prominence around the same time

And there's no finer example of Doctor Who's uniquely British attitude than the closing scene of the classic 1970s serial The Demons

A literal apocalypse has been averted by blowing up a church, a cloven-hoofed demon has been banished

and the master is in cuffs. And how does everyone celebrate this monumental victory

With Morris dancing. Or if you're the Brigadier and Mike Yates, a pint in a local pub

Although Mike definitely would have preferred a dance. Number 16, Daleks vs Cybermen, Doomsday

The fight between the Daleks and the Cybermen in Doomsday was something that old-school fans have been dreaming about

since they were nine years old. It was also really cool to watch if you were nine years old

in 2006 It was this perfect moment that brought Doctor Who fandom young and old together in collective joy And it was only modern Doctor Who second year on telly The actual battle scenes aren as good as you remember but will we ever forget the hilarious smack

between the Daleks and the Cybermen? What RTD remembered was that both villains

had a lot more personality back in the 60s, and he brings that in spades

with one of the greatest mic drops in the show. This is not war

This is pest control. Again, you're welcome for that wonderful performance. Number 15

The final scene, survival. Okay, so it technically is a speech, but we'd be remiss to not include the very last scene of classic Doctor Who

And look, rules are made to be broken. Written by Andrew Carp-Mell when he was informed that there would be no season 27

Sylvester McCoy's poetic speech about cities made of song and people made of smoke

ensured Doctor Who's future. Leaving it so open-ended allowed the adventures to continue in novels

in comics, in audio dramas, a one-off TV movie, and finally a brand new TV incarnation in 2005

It's such a beautifully evocative speech about the wonder and possibilities that Doctor Who creates

So beautiful that it got a stirring remix in Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred's recent Tales of the TARDIS episode

Number 14. Flying Earth Home. Journey's End. The original console room designer reflected that the TARDIS was a machine designed for one person

Russell T. Davis gleefully stomped all over that assertion in Journey's End

when he confirmed that it's actually designed for six pilots. The scene where everyone bands together to fly Earth home is utterly corny

but RTD's Doctor Who had more than earned the right by this point

It's a joyous culmination to four series of Doctor Who and the prototype Who-niverse created by Torchwood and the Sarah Jane Adventures

And who can forget Martha Jones' fourth wall break as she winks to the camera as she operates her section of the console

Number 13. These shoes. They fit perfectly. The TV movie. In 2023, it's hilarious to look back at the gnashing of teeth that greeted the Doctor and Grace's kiss in the 1996 TV movie

After all, there will be a lot more of that when Doctor Who returned in 2005

However, the outrage over the kiss obscures what is the best scene of the TV movie

and the defining moment for Paul McGann's Doctor, as he passionately rattles off an incredible story about his childhood on Gallifrey

with meteor storms and fantastic colours, he pauses to appreciate how comfy his new shoes are

That's the Doctor, the alien time traveller who has seen so much

but still takes comfort in small everyday things like a well-prepared meal or a banging pair of shoes

Number 12. Sarah Jane's face falls off, the android invasion. During Doctor Who's most horror-tinged era

the fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith were there to reassure the viewer, to hold their hand and guide them through the fear and the danger

However, when Sarah was replaced by a murderous android, all bets were off and it was hard to know who to trust

Tom Baker and Liz Sladen played the moment brilliantly, with the Doctor becoming rougher and more aggressive

and android Sarah becoming colder and more stilted. And then the reveal. Her face falls off to reveal robot circuitry and creepy glass eyes

It was a cliffhanger that lived long in the memory of fans like Stephen Moffat

and likely influenced the moment in The Almost People, where the 11th Doctor reduces ganger Amy to a puddle of porridge

Number 11. Space Pig. Aliens of London. Christopher Eccleston's first day on Doctor Who involved him chasing down a man dressed as a pig

There's literally nothing more Doctor Who than a serious actor chasing a ridiculous creature around some corridors

But while this is initially bonkers and hilarious, it's also gut-wrenchingly sad

You have to have a heart of stone not to feel something when a unit soldier pumps the pig full of lead

and Eccleston sells the moment in a raw and powerful way that's quite unlike any of his predecessors

If there a moment that sums up how Russell T Davis revitalized Doctor Who while also staying true to its undeniable weirdness then it the ninth Doctor mourning the tragic death of a pig in a spacesuit Number 10 The Autons Attack Spearhead from Space

Doctor Who is rarely as unflinchingly brutal toward innocent bystanders as it is in this shocking sequence from Spearhead from Space

As the morning commuters shake themselves awake waiting for the first bus, shop dummies come to life and begin making their way up the high street

It's the most cinematic sequence in Doctor Who up to that point, as the Autons massacre innocent everyday people

while the Doctor's trying to bring the crisis to an end elsewhere. The shots of horrified extras were traumatising for kids at the time

and it's still terrifying to this day. It certainly left its mark on multiple generations of Doctor Who fans

who'll never feel 100% safe in Primark ever again. Number 9, Four Knocks, The End of Time Part 2

The End of Time brought David Tennant's era to a barnstormer of a climax

The confrontation between the Doctor, the Master and Rassilon, and the sucker punch ending was an emotional rollercoaster

Tennant plays a blinder here, from his disbelief at surviving the encounter

to his gut-wrenching realisation that he's still got one last person to save

Bernard Cribbins is also brilliant, bringing on the tears with the slightest of expressions

and Murray Gold is rarely better. You were always this. That being said, did Wolf really need to knock on that glass four times

Way to stick the knife in, Mott? If there's a scene that best encapsulates who the Doctor is, it's this

The hero who can breezily avert the destruction of an entire planet But will give their life to save just one person

Number 8, and cut Vengeance on Varos The end of Vengeance of Varos' first episode is one of Doctor Who's greatest cliffhangers

Buckling under the intense heat of the illusory desert that the Doctor falls to the ground, about to pass out, or worse, die

But rather than cutting to the usual cliffhanger sound, the show does something completely different

It cuts back to the gallery, as the director orders the shot to be held for a little longer

before signalling for the cameras to cut there, and cue titles. It's a masterfully meta Doctor Who moment from writer Philip Martin

It's the Doctor trapped inside a TV show, and being tortured for the entertainment of a politically apathetic population

As Perry recently pointed out in Tales of the TARDIS, the story is still incredibly relevant in the 2020s

Number seven, Reunited with Sarah Jane, School Reunion. There was an odd moment when Doctor Who came back

where older fans took some convincing that it was still the same show

and not a complete reset. All of that changed when the Tenth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith

were reunited in School Reunion. It's hauntingly beautiful, from Sarah laying eyes on the TARDIS to her standing back as the 10th Doctor moves quietly into shot

It's an electric scene that not only beautifully captures the idea of picking up exactly where you left off with an old friend

but also bridges the gap between old and new Doctor Who. The decades just melt away as the Doctor and Sarah are reunited once more in a creepy school

What a triumph. Number 6, Nine meets the Dalek. Dalek. Tom Baker's contemplation of genocide in Genesis of the Daleks is terrific

but it is ultimately a speech. So instead, let's consider the Daleks' return to Doctor Who in 2005

a scene that is the meatiest bit of Doctor Dalek dialogue since the fourth Doctor contemplated touching two wires together

Christopher Eccleston proves he was absolutely the right choice to relaunch Doctor Who with prestige and gravitas in just a few minutes

He goes from utter terror at being locked inside with a Dalek

to an almost cruel mockery when he realises it's unarmed, to frothing rage and chest-puffing

pride at destroying the Daleks once and for all. An astonishingly raw performance never seen before

in Doctor Who, and one of the most unforgettable Dalek scenes of all time

Number 5 The Apple The Eleventh Hour Stephen Moffat Doctor Who is at its best when it tackling big sci ideas with the poetry and beauty of a fairy tale Case in point the scene from The Eleventh Hour

where Amy finally buys into the Doctor's crazy world. When the raggedy man crashes into her garden demanding food

little Amelia hands the Doctor an apple with a smiley face carved in

He keeps hold of the apple, then disappears for 12 years, leaving Amelia to deal with her abandonment

abandonment. So, is there a description of how time travel works as moving and memorable as the

Doctor returning to adult Amy with the same apple still fresh that she had handed him over a decade

earlier? Well, no, there isn't, quite honestly. Number four, Cybermen at St. Paul's The Invasion

If we're being honest, Doctor Who would have never taken off if it weren't for the monsters

Five weeks into its run, the Daleks breathed life into an occasionally stilted educational

show for kids, and it never looked back. One of the most iconic Doctor Who images is the Cybermen

marching down the steps of St. Paul's Cathedral in the Patrick Troughton serial The Invasion

It's more iconic than the Daleks on Westminster Bridge because the Cybermen pose a serious threat

to the safety of London, whereas the Daleks have already conquered the planet. There's a reason

that the image transcended the Doctor Who story from which it originated and adorned student

bedrooms, postcards, and greeting cards. It's the perfect example of Doctor Who's unique selling

point. The clash of the alien with recognizable reality. Number three, and the Shepherd's Boy says

Heaven Sent. Heaven Sent was voted the greatest Doctor Who story of all time in a recent Doctor

Who magazine poll, and it's easy to see why. An absolute masterclass in writing, direction

and performance by Stephen Moffat, Rachel Talalay, and Peter Capaldi that gets to the very heart of

who the Doctor is. In the final montage set to Morigold's haunting the Shepherd's Boy, the 12th

Doctor lives up to his promise to never be cruel, never be cowardly, and never give up

as he spends billions of years smashing his fist into a wall of diamond. That's who the Doctor is

the hero that will always do the hard thing and take the long way round. Not because it's easy

not because it works, because it hardly ever does, but because it's right

Number two, the curator, The Day of the Doctor. In an anniversary special full of unforgettable

moments, the surprise return of Tom Baker takes the jelly baby. What's sometimes forgotten is how brilliantly

Jenna Coleman underplays Clara's delivering of the message that the Under Gallery's curator wants to

speak to the Doctor. It would be so easy to add some portent or mystery

to those words, but she just throws them out as she heads back to the TARDIS. And then

when Tom Baker's unmistakable voice booms out from off camera, there are chills down everyone's

spines and goosebumps on their arms. It's a masterclass in setup, which is hardly surprising given Stephen Moffat's career as a sitcom writer

What's more, it's the only instance of Tom Baker sharing the screen with another Doctor in official Doctor Who

It's utterly magical. Number one, Barbara is menaced by a Dalek, the Daleks

If there's something that ties Doctor Who together across six decades, it's the skills of the actors to lend gravitas to special effects that often look a bit ropey

In that regard, Jacqueline Hill was a trailblazer that fundamentally changed the shape of the show

Due to the nature of Doctor Who filming in the 1960s, Hill wasn't acting opposite a full Dalek prop

She was acting opposite assistant floor manager Michael Ferguson brandishing a Dalek sucker arm

Regardless, Hill absolutely sells the horror of the moment, teasing the eventual Dalek reveal the next week

And thus, a legend was born. An unforgettable moment that gets a new lease of life via the 60th anniversary colourisation

and it's hard to think of something more deserving. And that concludes our list

But for more of our favourite Doctor Who moments, then check out 10 Greatest Modern Doctor Who episodes

In the meantime, I've been Ellie with Who Culture and in the words of River Song herself

goodbye, sweeties