Do you remember the day – Saturday, March 26, 2005?

That was the day when, after over 15 years of no regular series, Doctor Who returned to television. In the 13 years since, Whovians have met a few Time Lords, encountered lots of monsters, and traveled back and forth to the ends of the universe and time.

So, on the 13th anniversary of the show’s fantastic return, let’s sit back and have a look at the key moments of Doctor Who from 2005 onwards – all thirteen of them!

 

 

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1. “I’m The Last Of The Time Lords”

The End of the World (2005)

Christopher Eccleston’s Ninth Doctor dropped this bombshell just two episodes into the revived series in 2005. Up until then, we’d been introduced to many Time Lords over the years; some good, some bad, and some very bad!

It would some years before the Doctor discovered that, in fact, he wasn’t the last and another had survived… (And a few more years when it was revealed they all survived!)

2. The Parting of the Ways (2005)

We’d only just got used to loving Eccleston as the Doc from the North when he went out in a blaze of glory. For the first time, we saw the Doctor regenerate standing up.

How very modern!

3. The Christmas Invasion (2006)

And in the next episode we also get a first – everyone’s favourite Gallifreyan is able to regrow parts of the body! On Christmas Day 2005, we watched the Tenth Doctor, as played by David Tennant, fight a Sycorax and lose an appendage.

Of course, this hand was to make a memorable return. After being discovered and then moved to Torchwood Cardiff, Captain Jack reunited the Doctor with it in 2007’s Utopia where it stayed in the TARDIS until it became, erm, handy, when regenerating into himself in 2008’s epic Journey’s End.

4. Doomsday (2006)

Never before had a Doctor / Companion parting been so emotionally traumatising for all involved. The scene was voted Greatest Sci-Fi Moment EVER by SFX magazine.

Rose was stuck in a parallel Earth, never to be reunited with her friend. Until she managed to blast out during Series 4.

5. Gridlock (2007)

Just like Nine before him, Ten got all teary about being the last of his kind with this beautiful flashback to his home planet, Gallifrey.

This wonderful clip features the stirring sounds of composer Murray Gold along with Tennant’s sombre soliloquy.

 

6. Utopia (2007)

In the far, far future, on the planet Malcassario, Yana turned out to be much, much more than some doddery old professor.

The Doctor’s longtime frenemy the Master was back after an undisclosed amount of time in hiding as a human. A terrific moment that lead to a regeneration and the appearance of John Simm as the renegade Time Lord.

 

7. Vincent And The Doctor (2010)

Certainly one of Doctor Who’s most powerful and emotionally-wrenching scenes.

Artist Vincent Van Gogh, who is suffering from severe mental illness, is taken forward in time by the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond to see the legacy of his work.

A joyously sad scene, and a reminder that the Doctor can’t fix every problem in the universe.

8. The Name of the Doctor (2013)

We first met Jenna Coleman in 2012’s Asylum of the Daleks where she played a Dalek named Oswin Oswald. She was killed off only to return in the following Christmas Special, The Snowman (killed off once more), and once more in the following ep.

But here, at the denouement of Series 7, fans discovered even more Claras in the universe and just why she’d been meeting the Doctors across time.

9. The Name of the Doctor (2013)

Like, WOAH!

If Clara’s team-ups with past Doctors weren’t surprising enough in the Series 7 finale, then the appearance of John Hurt certainly did rank very high on the shock-o-meter.

And, not only that, he was the Doctor???

Former show runner Steven Moffat cleverly inserted a regeneration that nobody knew about. Known as the War Doctor, we got to see more of his persona in the 50th anniversary special, The Day of the Doctor.

10. The Day of the Doctor (2013)

Perhaps one of the most wonderfully shocking and punch-the-air moments in Doctor Who’s 54 year history.

For the first time, we jumped forward to have a look at the next incarnation of the Doctor (in this case, an eyebrow-raising Peter Capaldi).

11. Dark Water (2015)

Missy had been popping up at various points during Peter Capaldi’s first series as the Twelfth Doctor and it wasn’t until the finale when we discovered her true identity.

The Master!

Michelle Gomez had taken over from the aforementioned Simm and was loving every minute of it.

 

12. The Zygon Inversion (2015)

If ever a speech encapsulated the Time Lord’s raison d'être, then it was this gem delivered impeccably by Peter Capaldi as the Doctor talked down a war between the human race and the Zygons.

Thankfully, for all involved, the Gallifreyan’s words broke the cycle and harmony broke out between the two races.

13. Twice Upon A Time (2017)

And finally, the biggest game-changer of them all!

For the first time in the show’s history, the Doctor regenerated into a different sex. The 2017 Christmas Special, Twice Upon A Time, saw Peter Capaldi let go and let Jodie Whittaker take over the controls of the TARDIS as the Thirteenth Doctor.

A landmark moment for Doctor Who and an exciting springboard for what’s to come during Series 11 in 2018!