Finale Friday Special - Top Five: New Series Finales

Tomorrow is part two of the two-part series finale, so I thought that for this week's Finale Friday Special, I would count down my top five series finales of the New Series so far. But first a fun fact about series finales: based on the records, there is over a 70% chance that Daleks will appear in a series finale in the new series. Will they make an appearance tomorrow night? I guess we'll have to wait and see...

5. The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords (Series 3)

The Master and the Doctor face each other
once again

In the episode preceding this two-part series finale, the Master made a shock return, and he preceded to steal the Doctor's TARDIS and leave him stranded at the end of the Universe. This means that the previous episode's cliffhanger meant the first part of the finale had already been partly established, meaning that less time was wasted upon establishing the situation.

The return of the Master was done well by John Simm, who had a great on-screen chemistry with David Tennant. With much of this story taking place on board the SS Valiant, some parts could get a bit samey, but overall, I think the story was done well, with the effect of another Time Lord being explored greatly. However, on the emotions, this one's a bit easy-going compared to some of the finales.

4. The Name of the Doctor (Series 7)

The Doctor rescues Clara from his time stream

This episode is famous for it's cliffhanger which set up the 50th anniversary episode. The cliffhanger saw the appearance of John Hurt, with a caption introducing him as the Doctor. This led fans to create many wild theories as to how this Doctor could fit in to the Whoniverse.

However, there were other aspects to the episode. The main enemy of the episode was the Great Intelligence, who lures the Doctor to Trenzalore in order to gain access to the Doctor's tomb. There, the GI enters the Doctor's time stream and begins to destroy his past, however, plucky Clara jumps in at the last minute and stops the GI.

This episode is where we start to see more dimensions to Clara, and it has a pretty dark tone compared to some of the more recent episodes. For example, Jenny is killed while in the psychic conference, before being revived again. The Great Intelligence, appearing for the third time in 6 months, is still a good villain, with sneaky sidekicks in the shape of Whisper Men.

3. Army of Ghosts/Doomsday (Series 2)

Rose begins to fall into the Void

The ending to this action-packed finale had been foreshadowed for quite a few episodes now, but the opening scenes have you hooked from the start: Rose introduces the story as how she died. These episodes bring together and tie up the Torchwood story arc of series 2 quite nicely, leaving very few loose ends and it also paves the way for the Torchwood spin-off series.

However, these episodes are probably most notable for the epic battle between the Daleks and the Cybermen, which Torchwood have accidentally caused. This is done brilliantly, as it doesn't particularly show which race wins, as both are sucked into the Void, leaving both races as formidable as they were before. Another pretty massive moment is the departure of Rose, who makes the choice to abandon her family to continue travelling with the Doctor, before she has to be rescued moments before falling into the Void, and becoming trapped on the parallel Earth.

2. Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways (Series 1)

The Doctor, Rose and Jack find themselves
on board a Dalek ship

These episodes were fantastic.

The Daleks are back from the Time War and they've built themselves a large army from human tissue. They've been manipulating humankind for centuries and the Doctor could have stopped them, but instead, he unwittingly helped them. Plucking unlucky contestants from the Game Station, the Daleks have been transporting them to their ships where they're converted to Daleks. This give a real sense of threat as the Daleks have clearly been planning and have amassed a large army, rather than just throw together a last minute plan, as seems to be the recent trend.

Also in this finale is the Ninth Doctor's regeneration, which quite frankly, came way too soon. It would have been great for him to stay, as his dynamic with Rose was better then Ten's - judge me. On top of this, Rose uses her initiative (I know, shocking!) and clambers her way back to the Game Station, and turns the Daleks into dust. Brilliant ending to the first series of the revived series!

1. The Stolen Earth/Journey's End (Series 4)

Jack is exterminated on board the Dalek crucible

This finale brought the previous four years of Doctor Who together and it was fabulous. What I like about this is that for much of the first part of the finale, the Doctor is unable to help Earth, which has been moved across the universe, meaning that his past companions and allies have to work together to bring him to Earth's new location. This also sees the death of Harriet Jones, which was a very bold move, which I quite liked, despite being a Harriet Jones fan.

Once again, the Daleks have a plan and have amassed an army, this time built from Davros' tissue, but this time they've also built a bomb which can end the entire universe. This shows that they really are a force to be reckoned with. Also, Rose is sent back to parallel Earth and Donna needs the have her memory wiped, ramping up the emotional factor of the episode, leaving a brilliant story which offers all kinds of brilliance!

Thank you for reading! Drop a comment with your thoughts or suggestions! They will be greatly appreciated!