Vote for the best Doctor Who series of the modern era – Group One

From Christopher Eccleston’s smash-hit first series all the way through to Jodie Whittaker’s current era (via Mr Tennant, Mr Smith and Mr Capaldi), we’ll be asking you to back your absolute favourite run of episodes – beginning with weekly series v series play-offs every Monday, before heading into more match-ups down the line.

And this week we’ll be putting the now 15-year-old series one (aka Christopher Eccleston’s first series) against another Time Lord introduction, specifically Peter Capaldi’s debut series eight.

You can vote for whichever series you prefer above, or check out a brief reminder of both below.

Series one

Hard as it is to believe now, bringing back Doctor Who in 2005 was a risky prospect – but thanks to brilliant scripts from Russell T Davies and many other writers and key central performances by Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper, series one was an absolute smash-hit.

From the confident opening 45 minutes of Rose, via Dalek reboots, aliens in London and gas mask zombies series one introduced Doctor Who to a whole new audience. But does it get your vote all these years later?

Series eight

"Am I a good man?"

Following Matt Smith’s upbeat Eleventh Doctor with a more complex, cutting Time Lord was a big risk, but Peter Capaldi’s Doctor ended up becoming one of the most beloved incarnations in recent years and it all started here.

In series eight we met the new Doctor, went on wild adventures in episodes like Listen, Flatline and Mummy on the Orient Express and were introduced to a dastardly new version of the Master in Michelle Gomez’ Missy. Not bad for a series that had to follow the 50th anniversary year!

But which series is your favourite? Vote now, or forever hold your peace.

Doctor Who returns to BBC One in late 2020/early 2021. Want something to watch now? Check out our TV guide for what’s on this week…