Yesterday marked Doctor Who‘s 55th birthday. From its humble beginnings as a Saturday evening children’s educational series, the show’s continually reinvented itself over the past half a century in order to keep viewers coming back for more.
Its greatest weapon is the concept of regeneration, which allows for the Doctor to be played by a fresh actor (or actress) every few years. Occasionally, though, when Doctor Who is feeling a little self-referential, the various Doctors come face to face. It makes sense, too, as all of them travel around the universe so much that the different Doctors are bound to bump into each other now and then. In real-world terms, though, a multi-Doctor story is usually employed to give the fans a treat on special anniversaries, though it can also happen whenever the show feels like it.
As this week was Doctor Who‘s birthday – and we’re not getting a multi-Doctor story in season 11 – now seems like a good time to rank all the previous episodes of that type from worst to best. To clarify, we’re classifying multi-Doctor stories as any televised adventure that features more than one Doctor, except regeneration stories (otherwise we’d be here all day).
So, let’s dive right in, shall we?