Saying goodbye to Twelve: Ranking the Peter Capaldi era of Doctor Who

Photo: Simon Ridgway/BBC America

Welcome to the end of an era. We say goodbye to Peter Capaldi and the Twelfth Doctor by ranking every one of his Doctor Who episodes.

It’s truly the end of an era. Peter Capaldi has officially finished his run on Doctor Who. In this year’s Christmas special, “Twice Upon a Time,” Twelve regenerated into Thirteen, and Jodie Whittaker officially became the Doctor. This is a big deal, obviously. Not just because it always is when a new Doctor arrives. But Whittaker is the first female Doctor in the show’s history, and it’s kind of hard to overstate what this moment means, both to genre fans generally and to Whovians who’ve been waiting so long for this moment.

To say this is a bittersweet time to be a Doctor Who fan is a heck of an understatement. Because as excited as we all are for the Whittaker era to begin, Capaldi was a great Doctor. And it’s sad to see him go, arguably when he was at the very peak of his performance in the part. His grumpy, rock-star Twelve didn’t always get the greatest stories, but Capaldi put his heart into all of them. He managed to elevate bad stories through his performance, and helped make good ones great. We’ll miss him, even as we look forward to what kind of stories Whittaker’s Thirteen will bring us.

But before we get to that, let’s talk about Capaldi’s legacy as the Doctor. Here’s our rundown of every episode of the Twelfth Doctor era, and how they compare to one another. Got thoughts on our top Capaldi episodes? Let us know when you get to the end.