Best Of Who Awards: Top 5 Greatest Alien Planets

Travel in the TARDIS to the greatest alien worlds in Doctor Who's fifty-year history...
"So, where do you wanna go- what do you want to see?" In just two months' time from now, the Eleventh Doctor will ask his new companion Clara Oswin Oswald that very same question as they reunite for more travels in the TARDIS in the show's fiftieth anniversary season. First, though, why don't we look back on the worlds that ancient time machine has visited first? Because while the TARDIS doesn't always take the Time Lord where he wants to go, in its own words, "I always took you where you needed to go". Let us open those blue police doors once again, to go through all of time and space, everywhere and anywhere...
5. ALFAVA METRAXIS (2010)- Although the name of this deadly planet may not ring a bell at first, when I tell you that the Crash Of The Byzantium and the Maze Of The Dead's treacherous realm of Weeping Angels lay here, it should prove a great refresher. Alfava Metraxis was a gripping setting for The Time Of Angels and Flesh & Stone in Season Five, an ambiguous and unpredictable locale that felt as if it was constantly conspiring against the Doctor, especially with a powerful crack in the fabric of time and space lying deep within its core...
4. THE ASTEROID OUTSIDE THE UNIVERSE (2011)- Neil Gaiman has always had a knack for creating visionary science-fiction settings, and the locale he chose for the Doctor to encounter a human form of the TARDIS in The Doctor's Wife was just as iconic. We saw ruined time machines, a living consciousness called House and met quirky alien mish-mash characters Auntie and Uncle in an intriguing yet teasing glimpse of this fascinating realm beyond the known universe.
3. THE LIBRARY (2008)- Another location creation from the mind of showrunner Steven Moffat. The Library featured in the Season Four introductory two-parter to the character of River Song, bringing with it incredible towering spires and skylines the likes of which Doctor Who had been previously incapable of thanks to CGI constraints. Once again, a stunning and iconic realm for the Time Lord and his TARDIS to visit at the click of the Doctor's fingers!

2. SKARO (1963-2012)- You may have noticed there aren't many Classic Series planets on this list- just Skaro, in fact. For the most part, that's because Doctor Who's strength lay primarily in its cast in 1963-1989 rather than the oft-lamented sets, whereas in 2005-2013 its strengths know no bounds. That said, the Dalek home planet of Skaro has always been a fascinating extraterresterial world to return to, and Asylum Of The Daleks gave us long-term fans perhaps the most beautiful rendition of this ancient and war-torn planet yet. And may the legends continue...
1. NEW EARTH (2006-2007)- Perhaps this top ranking will seem like a strange choice to some- New Earth and Gridlock were hardly revolutionary new Who stories. Nevertheless, in both, we gained intriguing insights into the new home world of humanity, and particularly in the latter, we saw the hope and love retained by our race even in the deepest recesses of the Underground with their binding rendition of Abide With Me. Truly, the depiction of New Earth on our screens marks a landmark moment in Doctor Who's interplanetary storytelling, a shining example of the show's daring exploits into the deepest depths of time and space. And what now, as we enter Doctor Who's 50th Anniversary year? Well, naturally- Onwards...
NEXT WEEK: TOP 10 GREATEST VILLAINS