Doctor Who: 30 Years of Seven: Top 5 Seventh Doctor quotes

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If there’s one thing I love about the Seventh Doctor, it’s his dialogue. Over the years, his Doctor has been given many great quotes and speeches.

There are a couple of reasons why quotes from the Seventh Doctor are so memorable. At some point, he goes from being a character that the writers seem to be unsure about, before turning into his own distinctive Doctor. (In fact, I know exactly when it happens, and I’ve included it in this article.) Over time, McCoy’s Doctor eventually became more alien and more mysterious than many previous incarnations.

There was also a bit of a dark side to him. Not in terms of emotion, such as open rage, as demonstrated by McGann’s and Tennant’s Doctors’ darkest moments. But he was the man with the masterplan. Someone willing to use his companions as pawns and believed he knew what was best for the universe. He wasn’t quite the “Time Lord Victorious”, to quote Ten. But there were moments when he walked a very thin line.

All of these different sides to him – the mysterious, the darkness and the alien – have been best demonstrated by his excellent quotes and monologues.  In this article, we take a look at some of my personal favourites.

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5: “You’re going! You’ve been gone for ages…” (‘Dragonfire’)

The Context

At the end of Dragonfire, the final story of McCoy’s first season as the Doctor, his companion Mel announces that it’s time she left. It’s an exit that, to be honest, comes out of the blue. (There are actually multiple explanations for why she wanted to leave so suddenly in expanded media.)

The reasons why Mel leave aren’t important, however. What’s so great about this moment is the Doctor’s reaction. At first, he doesn’t want any real goodbyes. But then – and admittedly, it’s also out of the blue, too – he goes into a big speech about the nature of time.

"Yes, you’re going. You’ve been gone for ages. You’re not really gone; you’re still here; just arrived; haven’t even met you yet. It all depends on where you are and how you look at it. Strange business, time."

Why it’s so great

I love this quote for two key reasons. First, it gives us a clear way into the Seventh Doctor’s head. It’s one of those very rare times where we’re allowed to see how an alien like the Doctor sees everything. Not just the universe, but time itself. What being a time traveler really means to him. It’s a wonderfully melancholy moment.

The second reason I love this quote is that this is when the Seventh Doctor really begins. Up until this point, the writing had been, overall, rather inconsistent when it came to his character. Time and the Rani, his initial story, had him failing to see through a clear disguise. He also constantly enjoyed mixing his metaphors, as well as playing the spoons just a little too much.

His portrayal in subsequent stories were OK, but the only flashes of brilliance we’d see would be all too brief. (While I’m not at all keen on Delta and the Bannermen, I love the little line, “Love has never been known for its rationality”.)

But with his speech at the end of Dragonfire, we get a really great glimpse of how alien the Doctor’s Seventh incarnation truly is. We also get an idea of how introspective he is. Both are important traits to this incarnation, and both only really start to emerge here. It’s not too much of a surprise that, straight after this excellent speech, he invites Ace to join him. And in the closing moments of his first season, the Seventh Doctor’s era truly begins…

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4: “Pull the trigger. End my life…” (‘The Happiness Patrol’)

The context

In The Happiness Patrol, the Doctor finds himself at the wrong end of a gun. At first, he’s almost in danger of being shot from a distance. Fortunately, he manages to sneak out of the gunman’s sight…before walking right up to him.

So how does he get out of this situation? Put his hands up in the air? Try and knock the gun out of his opponent’s hand?

No. He literally talks the gun holder into giving him his gun.

There’s a lot of back and forth between the gunman and the Doctor in this scene, but the real highlight comes when the Doctor basically threatens him into being a murderer:

"Why don’t you do it then? Look me in the eye. Pull the trigger. End my life."

When the shooter finds he can’t bring himself to do it, the Doctor just casually takes it.

Why it’s so great

There’s an interesting contrast that’s presented by Seven here. On the one hand, he’s talking someone into simply dropping their weapon. On the surface, this could be seen as your standard pacifist gesture from the Doctor.

But there’s more to it than that. When Seven gives his speech, there’s a certain darkness to it. When he looks his opponent in the eye, he has nothing but utter contempt. He doesn’t just despise him for carrying a gun. He despises him for being someone who’d be ready to murder someone from a distance, but not have the guts to do it up close and face to face. It’s a brilliant moment that gives you some hints of the darkness the Doctor has in this incarnation.

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3: “Kill her…” (‘The Curse of Fenric’)

The context

In The Curse of Fenric, the Seventh Doctor and Ace face many things, including Viking curses, vampires, and Fenric, who is essentially an evil god. Over the course of the story, the Doctor teaches Ace how to defend herself using the power of faith. (Rather literally in this case, as faith itself presents a great psychic barrier against the vampires.)

(Since this moment comes towards the very end of the story, we’re heading into major spoiler territory with this one.)

At the very end, Fenric has both Ace and the Doctor cornered. Worse, Fenric reveals that Ace had been a part of his plans from the start, and another pawn in his long game against the Doctor. Even before she and the Doctor met, Fenric had been using Ace.

Fenric threatens to have Ace killed by his chief servant, the “Ancient One”. Fortunately, Ace is able to hold him off using her faith. Specifically, her faith in the Doctor. Which would be great, except of course, what neither Ace nor Fenric realize is that the Doctor has already convinced the Ancient One to join him against Fenric instead. And with Ace and her faith in his way, the Ancient One is unable to get to Fenric and stop him from killing Ace.

So the Doctor knows he needs to save Ace. He also knows he needs the Ancient One’s help to stop Fenric. So what does he do? He utters two words:

"Kill her."

He then begins destroying Ace’s faith in him entirely. More than that: he destroys her.

"Do you think I didn’t know?…Do you think I’d have chosen a social misfit if I hadn’t known? She couldn’t even pass her chemistry exams at school, and yet she manages to create a time storm in her bedroom. I saw your hand in it from the very beginning…"

And just when you think it couldn’t get any worse, when Ace is broken down already:

"You’re an emotional cripple. I wouldn’t waste my time on her, unless I had to use her somehow."

Why it’s so great

I don’t think any single moment established just how much further Seven was ready to go compared to previous – and subsequent – incarnations than this scene. How utterly he breaks Ace’s faith in him is heartbreaking to watch. Worse still, there’s a good chance that there’s a small element of truth to his words. Seven knowing about Fenric from the start means that his choice to ask Ace to join him in Dragonfire makes a lot more sense.

However, it also shows a crucial flaw with Seven in terms of his character. There’s a good chance that he wouldn’t have needed to destroy Ace’s faith in him if he had been more honest with her from the start. He’s a Doctor who enjoys keeping his secrets too much. As a result, it tends to put his companions in greater danger.

And that’s what I love about the Seventh Doctor. He’s not just someone who’s willing to go further than other incarnations, but he also makes plenty of mistakes, too. He’s a dark manipulator as well as a flawed Time Lord, and I love that.

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2: “Every great decision creates ripples” (‘Remembrance of the Daleks’)

The context

In Remembrance of the Daleks, in a small diner in 1960s London, the Doctor is alone with a waiter and his thoughts, having a cup of tea. When the waiter asks if he wants any sugar, the Doctor wanders if it will make any difference. As the conversation goes on with his pondering over how even people liking sugar has made a difference, he realizes that every decision has consequences.

"Every great decision creates ripples, like a huge boulder dropped in a lake. The ripples merge and rebound off the banks in unforeseeable ways. The heavier the decision, the larger the waves, the more uncertain the consequences."

Why it’s so great

I love how the Seventh Doctor has this great speech over something as small (and British!) as a cup of tea. With later Doctors, we’d usually get lines or speeches of how actions or people are important in an optimistic sense. With Seven, he’s a Doctor who’s more worried about the importance of his actions.

What’s also great about the quote is how it foreshadows what the Doctor’s planning. In Remembrance of the Daleks, it looks like he’s trying to stop the Daleks from stealing a deadly Time Lord weapon. However, at the end, (and forgive me for going into spoiler territory, once more), it’s actually far from the case. He allows the Daleks to take it and even use it. The Daleks believe it will give them mastery of time.

What happens instead? Skaro, their home world, is completely destroyed. Now of course, this is directly because of the Daleks’ trying to use the weapon and instead having it backfire on them. But it’s also a result of the Doctor’s actions, too. He could have sent the weapon back to Gallifrey instead of allowing the Daleks to take it. He even knows that allowing them to steal it is a major decision with unforeseen consequences as he drinks his tea.

But he decides to make that decision, anyway. As a result, not only do the Daleks lose their own planet, but it’s not hard to see why, one incarnation later, there’s a full blown war between the Daleks and the Time Lords.

When you watch that brilliant quote in that context, it’s a wonderful piece of foreshadowing. It’s also just a great, quiet character moment for the Doctor, too.

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1: “A universe of terrors…” (‘Ghost Light’)

The context

In Ghost Light, the Seventh Doctor takes Ace on a surprise visit to a Victorian mansion. At first, despite how spooky the place is, it almost seems like a nice gesture…until Ace finds out exactly where it is. Because it isn’t just any old mansion. It’s one that Ace had specifically told the Doctor about. More than that, it was a place she said she never wanted to visit ever again.

When she asks the Doctor if there’s anything he hates, we get this rather brilliant monologue from him.

"I can’t stand burnt toast. I loathe bus stations, terrible places. Full of lost luggage and lost souls…And then, there’s unrequited love, and tyranny and cruelty.We all have a universe of our own terrors to face."

Why it’s so great

Again, it’s another perfect example of how both dark and alien the Seventh Doctor truly is. He wants to make his companion stronger by having her face her fears. From his point of view, bringing her back to somewhere she had almost been traumatised by seems like the best way to do that. But of course, it just serves to highlight how terrible he can be with humans.

However, the speech also highlights how he personally sees the universe. There’s almost a poetry to it all. I love how he describes bus stations as being full of “lost luggage and lost souls”. But I think what’s interesting is that he describes unrequited love as terrible as tyranny and cruelty. It shows that he still has some degree of empathy, and can understand the pain and suffering that humans go through.

The final line is just perfect at summing all of it up. “We all have a universe of our own terrors to face.” No matter how big or how tiny things are, everyone has something that they’re afraid of. And the Doctor understands that better than anyone. It’s this very alien understanding of humans that make this my favourite Seventh Doctor quote.

Next: 30 Years of Seven – Top 5 Seventh Doctor audio stories

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