BBC
Well, we’ve done the best moments of Missy (up to World Enough and Time and the Doctor Falls), and Bill, so I think now it’s time to do the Doctor. While Superlatives are a nice way to look at specifics of the season, there’s nothing better than a Top 5 to look at the best parts of a character, and Peter Capaldi makes it easy.
There’s no secret that this was probably Capaldi’s best season. Even though the writing was spotty at times, Capaldi made his last season memorable by bringing his all to every storyline. But even the best story lines had places that stood out. Between the story arc with Missy, the return of the Mondasian Cybermen and The Master, and even his relationship with Bill, the Doctor made this season an unforgettable one.
Could anyone have played the Doctor, a lecturer, a teacher, a friend, as well as the Peter Capaldi? I may be biased, but I don’t think so. Let’s see the five moments The Doctor, and Peter made stick out during the season.
BBC
5. Being Blind
Of course, this was going to make the list somewhere. This is the first time that we had a Doctor who had such a disability. Not only did he physically play the part well, but he also brought an emotional aspect to it as well. In case you don’t remember, he got blinded in the episode Oxygen and stayed blind until Pyramid at the End of the World. That’s about two episodes he had to be blind, including one incredibly hyped episode, Extremis.
Regarding physically ‘being blind,’ there wasn’t much that they had to do. There weren’t fight scenes or contact scenes that required him to “look” blind. Especially given that his sonic sunglasses helped guide him along. However, his ability to act as though he couldn’t see was incredible. They didn’t make it something to laugh at, even though it wasn’t represented as a disability. It was acknowledged that this was a hard time for the Doctor.
Being blind came much more in the emotional aspect. One of the most heartbreaking lines said by Peter was “Memories hurt so much more in the dark.” What we truly saw when he was blind was the fact that he didn’t have much to distract him. The Doctor lives to be distracted. To run from his problems and never face them.
Peter Capaldi, in one line, brought so much to the character. It wasn’t physically acting — it hardly was with Peter. It always was the emotion he brought to the character.
BBC
4. The Punch
Now that we’ve talked about how well Peter played the Doctor emotionally let’s talk about the famous “Punch heard round the world.” This happened early on in the season during Thin Ice, the episode where they went to the last of the great Frost Fairs. The episode fired up conspiracies about the Doctor possibly meeting a past self. The BBC even released a deleted scene where the Doctor talked about what he did with River!
However, that wasn’t the most popular part of the episode. The ever calm Doctor ended up in the house of a rich man, and when the rich man came in, he turned out to be…surprise! Racist! (You’re in the 1700s, how PC can you be before you’re wrong?) And because the Doctor is still the badass from season eight, he punched the man right in the face.
K.O.!
Beyond the fact that this was completely different than when Ten and Martha traveled and Ten told her to “just blend in” and nice to see the Doctor stand up for her. It was also fantastic because it was completely out of character for this season’s calmer Doctor. (Not to mention it was him telling her not to get upset if he was, you know, racist.)
BBC
3. “That’s the trouble with hope. It’s hard to resist.”
Okay, we’ll all take five to stop weeping, and then we’ll get back to this post. Ready?
I always talk about the Doctor’s creative jump with Missy throughout season 10. It’s faster than development; it’s, well, a jump. The Doctor wants Missy to be good again so that they can go back to being friends. And while there are enough small moments to talk about it as a whole, breaking it up gives the Doctor some amazing moments as well.
In this quote, which is from Eaters of Light, Bill and Nardole find out that the Doctor has let Missy on the TARDIS. In this episode, which is all about ‘hearing the music,’ it cuts to Missy crying when she’s listening. She and the Doctor have a small banter, but it quickly becomes serious when he mentions she might be able to be his friend.
In light of her major character development, she jumps at the possibility – almost literally – and flinches when the Doctor moves away. And then he says the quote at the top. That’s the trouble with hope; it’s hard to resist. The quote is heartbreaking on both sides of the conversation, but while many people would focus on Missy, let’s think about the Doctor. How many times has he had hope?
How many times have we seen him lose that hope because of a battle lost? That quote could have just been about the conversation at hand, but Peter made it synonymous with so many other places and times. Before he was Twelve, during his time as Twelve, his future. And also, it showed just how badly the Doctor wanted his friend back — possibly to get through it all. The layers of emotion brought to this one line is why it’s such an important line.
2. The speech in ‘The Doctor Falls’
This was a defining moment for the Doctor, in all three of his seasons. But in this season, it was absolutely unforgettable. Matched with an army of Cybermen and two Masters, in a fight, he can’t possibly win, the Master asks why. Why did you do this? Why do you continue to fight?
The answer that the Doctor gave is one that will echo through every regeneration before and after him. And it was said so brilliantly by Peter Capaldi that it had to make this list. I don’t know how I can use words to explain how well the speech was given, except that it made everyone stop (or at least, I did). We’re in the middle of the final episode, an iconic episode with two masters, and this speech could bring you back to your first Doctor.
It reminded you of why you watched the show in the first place. It reminded us why we stuck with episodes we didn’t like, or portions of the cast or writing or show running we didn’t enjoy. Why, even when the writing wasn’t great, and we were all in need of a new wave of Who, we still watched. It was because of the fact that it was the core of the show. New Who fans and Classic Who fans alike were brought together by this speech because it was the motto of the Doctor. It was why he makes a great role model. And why we take it all so seriously.
Because the Doctor is a force of good. And in the world today, yesterday, and tomorrow, we need that.
BBC/Amazon Prime
1. His “death.”
Pity. No stars.
It’s amazing that a death of the Doctor made it to number one, especially knowing that he’s going to regenerate. But the way that the Doctor collapsed during the end of the Doctor Falls was incredibly sad. Seeing how long he’d fought off the regeneration energy throughout the episode, you knew that it was going to happen, but it was still heartbreaking. He thought that Missy was gone and had abandoned him, he’d lost all hope about Bill, and had to leave Nardole behind.
He felt horrible. And then, as he “died” he said, Pity, no stars. Which is a direct link to wanting to see the stars with Missy. And even though there was a Christmas episode, Peter and the crew had me until the beautiful way he was brought back.
A reminder of all of his companions and how much they needed him. Throughout all his life, they needed him, and appreciated him, and loved him. The love throughout so many lives is what woke him up, now fighting the change. To me, it was a way of saying that love can overcome all.
But maybe I took that to be too cheesy.