Now that Jodie Whitaker’s three-series (plus some specials) run as the Doctor is in the books, there’s plenty of time to look back on her time in the TARDIS as a whole. A lot of attention gets paid to the Timeless Child revelation and the Flux storyline, since those have vast implications that will impact the lore of Doctor Who for years to come. But, for my money, my favorite stretch of Thirteenth Doctor episodes is her very first series, which featured ten standalone episodes and one holiday special.

The relatively unheralded first series of the Thirteenth Doctor’s adventures with brand new companions gave us a continuity-light approach that allowed new viewers to jump into the show. It also brought back a classic series feel, bringing us some tropes that we hadn’t seen since before the Time War. I like this time in the show a lot, and here are some of my favorite things about it.

Thirteen’s Introduction

Doctor Who is a series that emphasizes rebirth and renewal. To that end, it benefits the show to have a fresh jumping on point now and then, so new fans don’t have to dig through decades of old episodes. At the same time, the first moments of a new Doctor are crucial. If they go well, they can be as iconic as Christopher Eccleston yelling “Run!” just before he blows up a building full of Autons. If they go poorly, you can wind up with a Sixth Doctor scenario where folks remember him as “that blowhard who tried to strangle Peri” rather than any highlights of his tenure.

As the first female Doctor, the Thirteenth Doctor had a bit of an extra lift: she had to emphasize a pretty big divergence from who the Doctor had previously been while also asserting that she was, in fact, still the same person deep down. In my opinion, Jodi Whitaker delivered exceptionally.

A new Doctor’s debut episode hadn’t served as a jumping on point since Matt Smith’s debut. With a whole new audience of viewers, Jodi Whitaker delivered action, humor, and authority in a matter of minutes, all while running her mouth at about 90 miles per hour.

Few Returning Creatures

Series 11 had plenty of continuity references to old adventures, as the chatterbox Doctor would rattle off places she’s been so casually that it must have been hard for her companions to tell whether she was telling the truth or just spouting off funny names. However, the season focused primarily on new aliens rather than digging up old foes like the Daleks, Cybermen, and Sontarans.

From the adorable little psycho p’ting to the reformed assassin species known as the Thijarians, the majority of creatures encountered in Series 11 had never been seen before. This put everyone on the same footing, new and old fans alike. The monster of the week was just as mysterious to those who had watched the show for decades as it was for those just joining in the Doctor’s adventures.

Not all of the monsters were hits (I doubt many were clamoring for the return of Tzim-Sha, for example), but they were new and strange. Part of the reason that the Doctor keeps traveling is because there is so much to see, and getting away from the old standards helped to emphasize the many unfolding mysteries of space. One issue that comes up with long-running shows like Doctor Who is that things get too familiar from time to time.

The lack of old enemies also helped when a baddie from the past did return in “Resolution.” Seeing the normally-chatty Doctor suddenly go silent at the realization that there was a Dalek on Earth was a nice contrast. Even in that special, though, we had something new. This Dalek was without its casing for much of the episode and displayed some horrifying new powers before it rebuilt its armor. “Resolution” provided an old foe, but also added a new twist to it.

The P’ting

Yes, it’s a simple and silly thing, but this is Doctor Who. The silly things are just as important as the big, thematic things.

A cute little nigh-invulnerable beastie that eats anything and everything, the p’ting debuted during “The Tsuranga Conundrum.” That story hearkened back to the “base under siege” style of tale that served as a mainstay for the Second Doctor, and it also showcased how hard the Doctor is willing to work to save lives. But aside from all the other beautiful elements of the story, the existence of the p’ting is its greatest addition to Doctor Who lore.

I’m not usually big on CG monsters, preferring the B-movie style of most of Doctor Who‘s baddies. But the p’ting nailed everything: cute, funny, deadly, and unstoppable were it not for the brilliance of the Doctor.

“I’m Just a Traveler”

Christopher Eccleston’s war-torn Ninth Doctor was a great new take on the character, but after a decade of “dangerous man” speeches I got sick of the schtick. Every time we got a new monologue about how the Doctor was like fire and death, it lost a little bit of effectiveness. Steven Moffat’s run as showrunner was the biggest sinner in this regard, because the Doctor would often talk about how deadly he was without actually backing it up.

Jodie Whitaker’s Doctor certainly had her moments where she leaned into that trope as well, but they were largely absent from Series 11. This Doctor had a new batch of companions and was determined to show kindness after being a grumpy old Scot in her last life. That cheeriness coupled with the newness of the locations she went to and people she met gave me a sense of joy. Doctor Who is, in my opinion, at its best when it leans into a sense of wonder and possibility.

Women of History

This is really about Thirteen’s era as a whole, but it started off in Series 11. Thanks to the Doctor being a woman for the first time (that we knew of), her trips into the past brought sharper focus to the women of history. While Doctor Who had always included some female historical figures in its adventure, the Thirteenth Doctor’s era provided more focus on the women who shaped our modern world. Since I, like most people in my generation, learned history from a predominantly white male standpoint, I appreciated the light being shed on parts of the past that I didn’t know much about before.

Three episodes in, we started off with “Rosa,” which I would put on the short list for best episodes to come out of the revival series so far. The following season took that ball and ran with it, giving us time-traveling adventures with Ada Lovelace and Noor Inayat Khan…and, of course, Mary Shelley. Series 13 had one of my favorite looks at a historical figure with Mary Seacole, a woman I had never heard of but who lived an amazing life.

Even when the show didn’t lean on a specific historical figure, I appreciate that it brought us to some eras that had largely been overlooked in Doctor Who’s European-centric history. “Demons of the Punjab,” for example, portrayed the Partition of India…once again inspiring me to look up more history on something that had never been mentioned to me in school.

Back when it started, Doctor Who was intended to make viewers want to learn more about history. While the show has strayed from that here and there in its wide and varied history, I really enjoy when a story gets me to want to learn more about a specific time period. A Doctor Who episode that inspires further learning is a gift that keeps on giving.

Overall, I think Series 11 of Doctor Who is underrated by many fans. It lacks the massive grandeur of the Timeless Child or the Flux event, but I feel that it tells more personal stories. Doctor Who will always have an element of universe-saving, big picture stuff to it, but the show’s format enables it to tell smaller, personal stories as well. By tying back to the type of storytelling that the show had in its early days, Series 11 gives a type of show that the revival had not yet seen but which very much in keeping with the feel of Doctor Who.