There are several justly celebrated stories nestled in Matt Smith’s time as the Doctor.

People love ‘The Eleventh Hour’, they foam at the mouth over ‘The Day of the Doctor’, and they positively fall down and have a joy-fit when ‘The Doctor’s Wife’ is mentioned; but what about some of his other stories? The stragglers? The forgotten? Or even the downright despised?

Here are some of the Eleventh Doctor’s most underrated stories for you to give another chance on Netflix…

 

‘The Beast Below’

It came hot on the heels of ‘The Eleventh Hour’ – one of the very finest debut stories for a new Doctor and, for me, an all-time classic – but ‘The Beast Below’ is seen by many, Moffat himself included, as something of a stumble.

Now look, I’m not saying it’s perfect – I know there are several things that just don’t seem to make any sort of sense – but there’s something about this story that just ‘does it’ for me. For whatever reason I get a real Seventh Doctor era vibe off it, and that’s never a bad thing. Oh, and it’s also completely insane.

A whole city riding on the back of a giant space whale? That is proper bonkers, but, for me, it works.

 

‘Victory of the Daleks’

Hey, stop throwing that garbage at me and hear me out, damn it!

And so the stumble continued. Apparently. Episode 3 of the Moffat era, and we get to ‘Victory of the Daleks’, an episode that has had the vitriol of many a fan spewed its way. I think that’s unfair, and a great deal of it can be boiled down to ‘Don’t like new Power Ranger Daleks!’

Personally, I don’t mind the bright colours; they’re bold and visually interesting; it’s the silhouette-ruining hunchback that riles me. Anyway, this has a lot to enjoy: Daleks serving tea, the Doctor’s rage as he beats one of the Ironsides with a massive spanner thingy, the Doctor facing down his deadliest foes with a Jammy bloomin’ Dodger… Spitfires! In space! Attacking a flying saucer!

It’s not perfect, and it really feels like it should have been a two-parter, but come on, there’s plenty to love in there.

 

‘Night Terrors’

Another Gatiss episode, ‘Night Terrors’ is one of those stories that just seems to slip people’s minds completely.

I remember at the time it received flak for not addressing the whole River-is-Amy’s-daughter hub-bub that just immediately preceded it, but I think it’s unfair to judge this episode solely on that. For one thing, it wasn’t even supposed to be at this point in the season; it swapped places with ‘Curse of the Black Spot’.

I think if it had aired in its originally intended slot, it would be looked upon much more fondly. That aside, it’s a wonderfully small and atmospheric tale; pushing Smith’s way with children to the forefront not for the first ( or last) time. And those Dolls, they’re just damn freaky, okay?

 

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