From the explosive opening two-parter to the River reveal, which of this year's Doctor Who episodes gets your vote?

Doctor Who: which is the best episode of this series?

We reach the finale of Doctor Who on Saturday – the 13th episode in a series that has twisted and turned since late April. But which episodes have stood apart this series? Here, we run down our favourites – from the best episode to the most disappointing. Let us know how you'd rank them in the comments below.

1. The Girl Who Waited – episode 10

A big idea with a small-scale delivery. An explosive emotional core and the hardest science-fiction territory the new show has ever dared to tread, proving the two should not be mutually exclusive. A damn near perfect episode.

2. The Impossible Astronaut – episode one

Up there for its sheer audacity alone, not to mention the return of River, The Silence, those sweeping Utah location shots, Canton Everett Delaware III and the killing of the hero in the opening minutes. The best season opener we've ever had.

3. The Doctor's Wife – episode four

Neil Gaiman sent fans into paroxysms of glee when it was announced that he was writing an episode. He didn't disappoint. People not steeped in the history of Who might have been perplexed, but selling an idea so outlandish as the Tardis as a woman with such emotion elevates it to proper classic status.

4. Day Of The Moon – episode two

It grabbed the set-up of the opener and took it into even further places of impossible darkness. The Utah two-parter worked up to a blockbusting climax, the Doctor and River shared their first, actual proper kiss, and the decision to open with the finale paid off in style.

5. The God Complex – episode 11

Can Toby Whithouse do any wrong at the moment? His show Being Human goes from strength to strength, and here was his best-ever Doctor Who episode – a (quite literally) nightmare horror story, some fantastic supporting characters and a heartstring-tugging send-off for the Ponds.

6. Let's Kill Hitler – episode eight

This must surely count as one of Doctor Who's most divisive episodes. As Melody ran riot around the Third Reich, the anti-Moff brigade had a field day with an episode that made no sense whatsoever to people who dip in and out of the programme. I loved it.

7. The Rebel Flesh – episode five

The urban grimy one started out being great fun. Chris Chibnall created likeable characters, a genuine horror scenario and an ethical quandary that, despite hammering you over the head from time to time, kept the standard up with aplomb.

8. Closing Time – episode 12

Some magnificent knockabout odd-couple stuff from Matt and James Corden – who it seems, people would surprisingly like to see again. But the Cybermen seemed to pose no threat whatsoever. In fact, you ended up feeling sorry for them.

9. The Almost People – episode six

A common complaint this year was that the big story-arc cliffhangers started to overshadow the actual stories. Never more so than in the second half of the Ganger two-parter, where not even the mother of all cliffhangers could save a story that had lost momentum.

10. Night Terrors – episode nine

Some commenters were harsh about Mark Gatiss' modern-day love letter to childhood frights. And while the evil dollies were particularly lovely, in the end it limped over the finish line with a climax that just didn't make any sense.

11. A Good Man Goes To War – episode seven

The mid-season finale promised so much. In fact, it teased and promised it over and over again. But not even a lesbian Victorian Silurian subplot and the River reveal could prevent this being a bit of an overblown mess.

12. The Curse Of The Black Spot – episode three

Whichever way you looked at it (and we have done, many times), this really didn't amount to much at all than running around on a cheaply-rendered pirate ship.