Ahead of the November 25th return of Doctor Who that will bring in the show’s 60th anniversary, Journo Research (courtesy of CasinoAlpha) has revealed the most popular Doctor Who episodes among fans.
Doctor Who initially ran November 1963 to December 1989, and was revived in March 2005. The episodes ranked below are from the last 18 years of the show since its revival.
The Most Popular Doctor Who Episodes
#5- Peter Capaldi Gets Announced as the Next Doctor During the 50th Anniversary
Typically, the next actor to play the eponymous Doctor would be announced via a BBC blog or news post, but for the 12th Doctor, the BBC did a live show introducing Peter Capaldi. This led to a 162% spike in “Doctor Who” searches in August 2013.
#4- Army of Ghosts / Doomsday
The season two finale Doomsday had a lot going on. It was the first time two of the show’s signature villains — the Daleks and the Cybermen — were seen on screen at the same time. It was also when Rose Tyler, a character played by Billie Piper and who had accompanied both Christopher Eccleston’s and David Tennant’s Doctors, had her emotional goodbye.
#3- Blink / Utopia
Blink is widely seen as the scariest episode of the show, and is also the first episode to focus on side characters instead of the Doctor. It came right before the reintroduction of The Master and companion Martha Jones’ goodbye.
#2- Turn Left / The Stolen Earth
The second most popular Doctor Who episode, titled Turn Left, is yet another farewell to a companion. This time Donna Noble was the one to say her goodbyes, as the episode pondered on what a world without the Doctor would look like.
#1- The Day of the Doctor (50th Anniversary)
Finally, the most popular episode, which inspired a 309% increase in searches, is the 50th anniversary episode The Day of the Doctor. It aired exactly 50 years after the first ever episode of the show, and centered around the return of the Doctor and companion duo portrayed by David Tennant and Billie Piper as they contended with a Dalek invasion of the Doctor’s native planet Gallifrey.
Journo Research gathered information from Google Trends.
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