After three long years occupying the TARDIS, Matt Smith hangs up his fez and bow tie for the last time in this week’s Doctor Who Christmas Special, handing the sonic screwdriver over to Peter Capaldi. In fictional terms, Steven Moffat has seen to it that Smith’s Doctor has aged approximately 200 years during his run, which is kind of a shrewd move considering The Doctor can’t keep dying in realtime or that would be kind of silly.

So, to bid Matt Smith a fond adieu (at least until the 60th anniversary, right?), we decided to pick our favourite episodes of his era. Now, admittedly we have been vocal critics of Doctor Who since Smith and Moffat took over the series, but don’t worry, there were plenty of good bids to look back on. Here’s our Top 10:

10. The Impossible Astronaut

Technically, there’s a hell of a lot wrong with this episode, but we won’t get bogged down in all that. The Impossible Astronaut was a groundbreaking episode because it took the nu-Who team to film in America for the first time, a reflection of the growing popularity of the show in the States.

There was also plenty of fun to have – including landing the TARDIS inside the Oval Office, the introduction of the Silence, and the shooting of The Doctor on the shores of Lake Silencio. We still haven’t got to the bottom of the mysteries that arose during that episode, but word has it the Christmas special will finally bring some closure to the Silence storyline.

9. Asylum Of The Daleks

One phrase keeps coming up in Whovian circles: Moffat always lies. While Asylum Of The Daleks should have been an epic Dalek-focused episode of the show, Moffat couldn’t resist throwing the fans into frenzy by introducing The Doctor’s new companion several episodes early. Jenna Louise Coleman had already been announced as the new companion for the series, but fans expected her to arrive after Amy and Rory Pond departed. But Moffat pulled off a masterstroke by bringing this ‘impossible’ character into play early and creating mountains of wild speculation across the interwebs. Well played, Moffat. Well played.

8. Let’s Kill Hitler

So you’ve got a time machine. Ever considered going back in time and bumping off one of the most genocidal maniacs in human history? That’s what this episode was about, right?

Wrong. This episode twisted all expectations. It started off by establishing a childhood friend of Amy and Rory’s, Mel, a tearaway character who hijacks the TARDIS and The Doctor. Then, later on, we discover that Mel is River Song and that she is part-Time Lord. Which opens up a whole other can of wormholes. Regenerations, assassinations, and Rory punching Hitler out. What more could you ask for?

7. The Eleventh Hour

The episode which rebooted Doctor Who, The Eleventh Hour gave us a new Doctor, a new companion, and a brand new TARDIS. Fish fingers and custard. And a new theme tune. This new Doctor literally crash-landed into Amelia Pond’s life and left an indelible mark on the young girl’s life. As a reboot, the tone and feel of the show were light years away from the overwrought ending to the David Tennant years. It also introduced a brand new style of cinematography that made the show look even better than it had in the past.

6. The Lodger

The TARDIS goes AWOL with Amy inside, stranding The Doctor in Colchester. When he discovers that something in a nearby house spooked his time machine, he decides to go undercover to investigate. And what results is pure comedy gold as the Time Lord with notoriously itchy feet has to live in a flatshare and pretend to be normal for an extended period of time. James Corden was perfect casting in the role, and if that wasn’t enough, there’s the still-unexplained mystery of the other TARDIS that was in the upstairs of the house. Does anybody know what all that was about?

5. Amy’s Choice

This one wasn’t universally admired when it first aired, but we adored it. Rory, Amy and The Doctor trapped in the TARDIS by a menacing villain that was alternating them between two realities – if they chose the wrong one, they’d die. The episode plumbs the tension between Amy’s charismatic, time-traveling friend and her rather boring, ordinary boyfriend. The Dream Lord was a fantastic manifestation of The Doctor’s own dark side, and we finally saw some depth to the Rory/Amy dynamic that made their relationship feel special.

4. Vincent And The Doctor

Historical dramas are part of the bread and butter of Doctor Who, but none were handled so beautifully as this one, where Amy and The Doctor meet the tortured artist Vincent Van Gogh. Amy finds a connection with Vincent, and she and The Doctor end the episode by taking the artist into the present-day and showing him the impact that he had on the world. It’s perhaps one of the most touching episodes of the show, imagining the artist – who died before his works were truly appreciated – seeing how much value his work had.

3. The Girl Who Waited

For a time travel series, Doctor Who doesn’t spend much time delving into the philosophical concerns of how timelines might diverge and alternate realities spring up. In The Girl Who Waited, Amy becomes separated from The Doctor and Rory and ends up in an accelerated timeline, one in which she’s been abandoned by The Doctor who’s unable to help her. Karen Gillan shines as an embittered, hardened older version of Amy.

2. The Day Of The Doctor

Easily the most ambitious episode of the revived series, this marked the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who and united Smith’s Doctor with his immediate predecessor and introduced John Hurt’s War Doctor, finally completing the chain of regenerations between the classic and revamped series. Viewers finally got to witness the Time War and a ton of Easter Eggs including an appearance from Tom Baker as an odd curator who may well have been a future incarnation of The Doctor himself. Stunning cinematography and a complex plot that satisfied on almost every level, this episode had to be seen in a cinema to be fully appreciated.

1. The Doctor’s Wife

Another brilliant ‘concept’ episode, The Doctor’s Wife imagined what would happen if The Doctor could meet his most constant companion – his TARDIS. Suranne Jones got to play the personification of the TARDIS, tackling the role with appropriate scattiness of a sentient time machine brought to life. She trades in-jokes and historical references with The Doctor exactly like the pair were old friends, and the scene where the two cobbles together a makeshift TARDIS and go on a joyride is one we could watch again and again.

What have been your favorite Doctor Who episodes from Matt Smith’s time as The Doctor? Let us know in the comments.