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Our pick of the 10th Doctor\'s best adventures as the Tennant era comes to a close.

January 1st 2010 might have rung in the New Year, but it also marked the end of Russell T. Davies\' five-year reign as show-runner for the reinvigorated Doctor Who. Back in 2005 nobody could have guessed that the BBC\'s long-running, and much-maligned, sci-fi series would evolve from vague scheduling embarrassment to cultural phenomenon. Equally unlikely too was the notion that then relatively-unknown actor David Tennant could usurp the likes of fan-favourites John Pertwee and Tom Baker to top the list of most popular Doctor Whos of all time.

Of course, January 1st also marked Tennant\'s final episode as the 10th Doctor, leaving Matt Smith to fill the shoes of TV\'s iconic time traveller. His four years as the Timelord saw plenty of highs (plus a good few lows) and, to celebrate the end of an era, we offer IGN\'s pick of the 10th Doctor\'s finest adventures.

While "Rise of the Cybermen" and "The Age of Steel" might have been a bit of a limp return for the Doctor\'s silvery foes, it did at least lay the groundwork for this grandly ambitious season two finale. With the Cybermen imprisoned in a parallel universe, along with Mickey Smith and Rose\'s alternate-world dad Pete, the Doctor returns to earth to discover Torchwood has access to technology causing one universe to filter into another. This isn\'t good.

It\'s a tightly-plotted pair of episodes which, after a brilliant first-part cliffhanger, pits the Doctor\'s greatest foes - the Cybermen and Daleks - against one another in a bombastic fan-pleasing showdown. It\'s not perfect, with the unfolding apocalypse wrapping up rather too neatly, but it\'s a superb end to the trials of the Tyler family, delivering a touching farewell to one of the Timelord\'s most popular companions. If there\'s one thing that marks Russell T. Davies\' tenure as show runner, it\'s Doctor Who\'s new-found emotional heart and, with the Doctor\'s farewell to Rose on Bad Wolf Bay, there wasn\'t a dry eye in the house.

Doctor Who has seen plenty of comedy romps during Tennant\'s time but, in our book, none are quite as rounded as Martha Jones\' inaugural historical adventure. It\'s Elizabethan London, 1599, and hag-like alien invaders the Carrionites are plotting a dastardly invasion, inextricably linked to the fortunes of the world\'s best-loved bard.

It\'s about as silly as Doctor Who gets, but there\'s real reverence for Shakespeare in Gareth Roberts\' script. It\'s packed with genuinely funny in-jokes and references to the playwright - count the number of play titles slipped into the dialogue - making it a whole lot smarter than the episode\'s otherwise slim frame might suggest. Dean Lennox Kelly revels in his role as the slightly saucy bard and even Freema Agymeman gets a chance to shine before Martha Jones\' character arc plummeted into the depths of lovelorn tedium. It\'s visually sumptuous too, with glorious effects work and footage at the Globe Theatre breathing stunning life into Elizabethan London - and it all adds up to deliver one of the 10th Doctor\'s most raucously enjoyable escapades.

In retrospect, this swansong to Russell T. Davies\' time at the helm may have been a bit premature with a year of the show still to go, but it brought closure to the 10th Doctor\'s reign far better than the recent, largely overwrought, "The End of Time". With virtually every major character - including the Tylers, Joneses and the Torchwood team - back on board for one final showdown against the Daleks, season four\'s finale virtually buckled under the weight of its own ambitions.

In the end, the Doctor\'s entourage didn\'t leave much room for an actual plot as such, but "The Stolen Earth"/"Journey\'s End" provided a satisfying conclusion to series four\'s multifaceted story arcs. Even among the chaos of the disappearing planets, missing bees and an unexpected regeneration scene, the absolute highlight of this two-parter is the resolution of Catherine Tate\'s stellar turn as companion Donna Noble. While there\'s much to love as each major character gets a fitting close to their journey, it\'s Donna\'s long-foreshadowed fate that catapults the story into our top ten. With red herrings aplenty throughout the season, Russel T. Davies surprised everyone by dealing Donna a final heart-breaking blow that ranks as one of the cruellest, most downbeat denouements we\'ve ever seen on TV, let alone in a primetime Saturday night show.

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