The Tenth Doctor is hugely popular in the fandom, but he sometimes steps out of line...
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00 David Tennant debuted as the Tenth Doctor at the end of New Who's first series, taking
00:04 the reins for three series and a bunch of specials.
00:07 The incarnation is loved by a huge majority of the fandom, often topping popularity polls.
00:13 However, he has been to darker territory than any Doctor before.
00:17 On screen, at least.
00:18 So with that in mind, I'm Ellie with Who Culture, and here are the 10 worst things
00:22 the Tenth Doctor has ever done.
00:25 10.
00:26 Riddling in Elton's life in Lover Monsters Lover Monsters isn't many people's favourite
00:32 Who episode, but it introduces us to Elton Pope.
00:35 As a child, Elton met the Tenth Doctor, who he found downstairs in his house, next to
00:39 the body of his mother.
00:41 However, the time traveller does not stick around to help the boy, whose life had just
00:44 been turned upside down.
00:46 After the years of goings on on Earth, including the Orton and Sycorax invasion, Elton decides
00:51 to find out more about the mysterious man he met as a child.
00:55 Long story short, this brings him into contact with the Linda Gang, and they meet the Absorbaloff.
00:59 But then the Doctor and Rose finally turn up, as she isn't happy with how Elton treated
01:03 her mum, Jackie.
01:04 Eventually, the Tenth Doctor finally sits down and explains what happened, saying there
01:09 was an elemental shade in Elton's home.
01:12 Fair enough, he meets plenty of people, but wouldn't you give the poor boy some kind
01:15 of comforting when he's just lost his mother, rather than just saying she's dead and leaving?
01:20 How heartless are you, Ten?
01:22 9.
01:23 The Doctor and Jack run away from Jack in Utopia
01:26 Thinking back to the Series 1 finale, the Ninth Doctor leaves with Rose after she has
01:30 used the TARDIS energy to wipe out all the Daleks, whilst also bringing Captain Jack
01:34 back to life, giving him immortality.
01:37 Switch to the first story in the Series 3 three-part finale, and the Tenth Doctor and
01:41 Jack are about to be reunited.
01:43 Ever since, Jack has been leading Torchwood in Cardiff, waiting for him to return to the
01:47 Rift to recharge.
01:48 Hearing the TARDIS land, Jack charges for the time machine, but is clocked by Ten, who
01:53 isn't hanging around.
01:55 Quickly Ten dematerialises, taking the TARDIS into the time vortex.
01:58 However, at the last second, Jack jumps and clings to the exterior of the time machine,
02:04 as it tumbles through time to the end of the universe.
02:07 Upon its arrival, and once the Doctor and Martha step outside, they find Jack unconscious
02:11 on the ground.
02:12 Thankfully, as established, Jack is now immortal, so after a time, he reawakens after his ordeal
02:18 and is greeted slightly hostily by the Doctor.
02:21 Some friend dragging your new immortal buddy through the time vortex.
02:25 8.
02:26 Turning People into Weapons
02:32 Davros once said, "You take ordinary people, and you fashion them into weapons."
02:37 And when you think about it, that's so true.
02:40 Travelling through time and space, you are going to come across plenty of people, but
02:43 to leave such impressions that they lay down their lives is significant.
02:47 It often comes as a result of the Doctor not willing to go all the way to stop someone.
02:52 For example, take Luke Rattigan.
02:54 He wiped out the Son'taran invasion fleet.
02:56 He did this because he felt he had to make things right for being used by them.
03:00 But it's also arguable he knew that it wasn't in the Doctor's nature, thus not getting
03:05 blood on his hands.
03:06 The most notable example of this in the Tenant era is Davros' Children of Time.
03:11 But also, we have seen the loss of Astrid, Luke Rattigan, and Harriet Jones all dying
03:16 basically trying to do what the Doctor does.
03:19 Whilst directly not his fault, that's quite a dark legacy.
03:22 7.
03:24 Killing the Sycorax Leader in the Christmas Invasion
03:27 The Tenth Doctor was making questionable decisions from the moment he properly reawakens after
03:32 his regeneration in the Christmas Invasion.
03:35 This incarnation's first action comes in the form of taking on the leader of the Sycorax
03:39 in a sword fight for the planet.
03:41 The duel seems to come to an end when the Sycorax removes one of Ten's hands.
03:45 However, due to some residual regeneration energy, it grows back, giving the Doctor a
03:50 fighting hand.
03:53 In the end, he wins the duel and makes the Sycorax yield, swearing on the blood of his
03:57 species not to return.
03:58 But not all goes to plan as the leader jumps up, charges for the Doctor, before he throws
04:02 a satsuma at a button, dropping the Sycorax off the ship down to the planet's surface
04:07 below.
04:08 No second chances, I'm that sort of a man.
04:11 That's what the Tenth Doctor declares as he allows the Sycorax leader to plummet to
04:15 his death.
04:16 Debuting a Doctor that kills, it's an interesting start to say the least.
04:20 6.
04:21 Racknoss Massacre in The Runaway Bride
04:24 From one Christmas special to another, once again the Tenth Doctor goes too far.
04:29 The Runaway Bride sees the Tenth Doctor first united with Donna Noble in order to halt the
04:33 plot of spider-like beings, the Racknoss.
04:36 Throughout the episode, we learn there is a huge ship filled with the Queen of the Racknoss'
04:40 children, trapped at the centre of the Earth when it was first formed.
04:44 When he returns to stop her, the Doctor informs the Queen he is a Time Lord, a once sworn
04:49 enemy of the Racknoss.
04:50 He tells her that he warned her, and as if he had no choice, releases explosive baubles
04:55 which blows a hole in a tunnel, flooding the base beneath the Thames.
04:58 The water pours in and floods the base, wiping out the children, whilst the Queen escapes
05:02 to then be blown up in her spaceship by a tank.
05:05 Casually the Tenth Doctor just stands there and watches, only leaving by the prompt of
05:09 Donna, were it not for her, he would have stayed and died.
05:13 Once snapped out of it, Ten does seem shocked at what he has just done, but no amends are
05:17 made for this and the moment is never addressed again.
05:20 Just casual massacring of Racknoss' children.
05:24 5.
05:25 Punishing the Family in The Family of Blood
05:28 The Family of Blood two-parter sees the Tenth Doctor hide away in human form from the titular
05:32 family, who we see in the first part of the story are hunting him and Martha.
05:37 After restoring himself, the Doctor defeats the Family of Blood and decides how to make
05:41 them pay for what they've done.
05:42 The punishments the Tenth Doctor hands out are wrapping the father in unbreakable chains,
05:47 mother is thrown into a black hole, sister is placed within mirror reflections, and son
05:51 is suspended in time as a scarecrow.
05:54 Son of Mine says the reason the Doctor ran from them after facing such bigger foes was
05:58 that he was being kind.
06:00 He was going to allow them to die peacefully, but after they sought immortality and the
06:04 death they caused, he gave them these ultimate punishments, truly unleashing the wrath of
06:09 the Tenth Doctor.
06:10 4.
06:12 The Martha Situation in Series 3
06:15 Let's keep up the discussion of Series 3, The Tenth Doctor and Martha.
06:19 We've already discussed the Family of Blood, where Ten abandons his new companion and expects
06:23 her to look out for him.
06:24 But that's not the only thing that happens between the two over the course of the series.
06:29 Their relationship starts when the hospital Martha works in is taken to the moon by the
06:33 Jadoon.
06:34 Within a short time of meeting her, Ten has already kissed Martha in order to buy himself
06:38 time, already starting the mixed messages.
06:41 As time goes on, the Doctor keeps himself closed off from Martha, and her travels even
06:45 begin with having a set time limit, the best way to make someone feel welcome.
06:50 As the season closes, after the rollercoaster she has been on, Martha decides it's best
06:54 to stay home with her family, who need her more.
06:57 However, she also tells the Doctor that basically it was unhealthy for her to remain aboard,
07:01 just hoping he would notice her, maybe in the same way he noticed Rose.
07:06 Travelling with Martha after Rose really made the Tenth Doctor's second companion feel
07:09 like a rebound.
07:10 In the end, their friendship was a bit of a mess, and we can't blame you for leaving
07:14 the TARDIS, Martha.
07:16 3.
07:17 Dalek Genocide in Journey's End
07:20 Whilst this is technically the Metacrisis Doctor, he still wears Tenant's face, so
07:24 it's making the list.
07:25 Journey's End is the big epic finale of Tenant's final series, before only a few
07:30 specials bring in his regeneration, and we see the return of Davros, creator of the Daleks.
07:36 Having been shot by a Dalek earlier in the story, the Tenth Doctor undergoes a partial
07:40 regeneration, planting the remaining energy into the earlier mentioned hand he lost on
07:45 his debut.
07:46 This results in the creation of the Metacrisis Doctor, who, due to the intervention of Donna,
07:51 is part human, part Time Lord.
07:54 After the two of them enact a rescue plan for the Tenth Doctor and all his friends,
07:57 they manage to halt Davros' plans, but not before the Metacrisis Doctor makes one more
08:02 final move.
08:03 Dalek Genocide.
08:05 Considering the Dalek fleet, even without their superweapon, could slaughter the cosmos,
08:09 the Metacrisis realises he is just as much the Doctor as the original, and decides he
08:13 has to stop them.
08:14 The result, as mentioned, is the wiping out of every single Dalek present.
08:18 Whilst the Daleks are undoubtedly the baddies, this is a big step for the Doctor, and the
08:23 actual Doctor is clearly infuriated.
08:26 But that's not it from Journey's End.
08:28 2.
08:29 Wiped Donna's Mind in Journey's End
08:32 After escaping from the Daleks and returning everyone else home, the Tenth Doctor is left
08:37 with Donna.
08:38 But during the aforementioned creation of the Metacrisis Doctor with Donna, she has
08:42 gained the partial mind of a Time Lord, something her body cannot take.
08:46 As a result, the Doctor is forced to wipe her mind, a painful experience, removing all
08:50 the time she spent in the TARDIS.
08:52 However, that's not all.
08:54 If Donna was to remember the events, Tenet warns that Donna's mind would burn up.
08:58 But in the end, it turns out Donna's remembering saves her when the Master grafts himself in
09:02 to the mind of everyone else on Earth.
09:05 Ten and Donna are one of the strongest TARDIS pairs we have ever had, and to see it end
09:09 like this really hurt.
09:11 As her grandfather Wilf says, Donna had a better life with the Doctor, and in the end
09:14 forgets all the wonderful things she did.
09:17 But as the Doctor tells Wilf and Sylvia, either way, there are still countless worlds saved
09:21 because of Donna's time in the TARDIS.
09:23 We can't fully blame Ten for this, it was necessary to save Donna, but nevertheless,
09:28 still a horrific experience.
09:30 This moment will never not be an emotional gut punch.
09:34 1.
09:35 The Time Lord Victorious in The Waters of Mars
09:38 The Waters of Mars is a very highly regarded instalment in the show's history, and it
09:43 draws to a conclusion with one of the Doctor's most powerful moments yet.
09:47 The laws of time are mine and they will obey me!
09:50 Which is rather dark for our hero.
09:52 Deciding he can change time to save the damned residents of Bowie Bay's One, the Tenth
09:56 Doctor takes matters into his own hands.
09:58 The Doctor manages to save the remaining survivors, including the base's captain Adelaide Brooke,
10:03 a moment which alters a fixed point in time.
10:06 This decision comes to a head when Adelaide decides to retake her life back into her own
10:10 hands and shoots herself upon returning home.
10:13 The Doctor literally led someone to kill themselves!
10:17 Last year, this moment was fleshed out further, with the Tenth Doctor going on from here to
10:20 take on a species known as the Katora, beings who set the limits species had to live.
10:26 As taking time into his own hands again, the series saw the Doctor commanding an army into
10:31 war whilst battling two of his predecessors.
10:34 This is arguably the worst thing the Doctor has ever done, and this is an incarnation
10:38 still bearing regret from the Time War.
10:41 Granted, this incarnation had lost so much, but to develop such a God complex is never
10:46 going to end well.
10:49 And that concludes our list.
10:50 If you can think of any other awful things the Tenth Doctor did, then do let us know
10:54 in the comments below, and while you're there, don't forget to like and subscribe, and tap
10:57 that notification bell.
10:59 I've been Ellie with Who Culture, and in the words of River Song herself, goodbye,
11:03 sweeties.
11:04 [BLANK_AUDIO]