My Favorite “Doctor” Moments from Doctor Who Part IV

The character of the Doctor at some point has that moment where he springs into action and saves the day! There are tons of these moments in Doctor Who, but I’ve decided to compile a list of My Favorite “Doctor” Moments from Doctor Who! I’ve already done Parts I, II and III which can be found under Doctor Who on my home page. So here it is folks, Part IV of My Favorite “Doctor” Moments from Doctor Who!

*WARNING MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD*

“The Snowmen” (Series 7 Christmas Special, 2012)

This episode saw The Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) in mourning after the heartbreaking departure of his companions Amy Pond and Rory Williams. The Doctor has gone into seclusion in Victorian London, hiding on top of an artificial cloud in his TARDIS and he refuses to help people anymore. When some snowmen start cropping up and they threaten all of London, bar maid and Governess, Clara Oswin Oswald seeks help from the Doctor. The Doctor reluctantly decides to investigate and help Clara. When Clara follows the Doctor back to his cloud in the sky, she is shocked to discover his blue box is a time machine and is “smaller on the outside.” The Doctor tells Clara

“It’s called the TARDIS. It can travel anywhere in time and space, and it’s all mine.”

This is a great introduction to the Doctor from the perspective of the companion. The Doctor enjoys seeing Clara’s surprised expression and utter shock when she sees the TARDIS. It’s a really great moment showing the wonder and magnificence of the Doctor.

 “The Bells of Saint John” (Series 7, Episode 6, 2013)

This episode saw The Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) trying to find another version of Clara Oswald, having met two other versions of her only for them to die on two separate occasions. Clara Oswald calls the Doctor’s TARDIS when she is given his phone number by a mysterious woman in a shop. The Doctor discovers there is something strange in the Wifi and ends up saving Clara’s mind from being uploaded to a database where minds are being harvested. The woman in charge of the group of people harvesting minds, Miss Kizlet tries to crash a plane to kill the Doctor and Clara, but the Doctor takes Clara into the TARDIS saying:

“Yes! It’s a spaceship! Yes! It’s bigger on the inside. No! I don’t have time to talk about it.”

The Doctor takes his TARDIS to the plane and notices everyone is asleep, including the pilot! The Doctor being nervous trying to pilot the plane says:

“I’m The Doctor. I’m an alien from outer space. I’m one thousand years old, I’ve got two hearts and I can’t fly a plane! Can you?”

The Doctor saves everyone on the plane and the pilot wakes up in time to land the plane.

The next day the Doctor is with Clara at a cafe when her mind is uploaded by a machine disguised as the Doctor! The Doctor angry at what has happened to Clara takes his anti-gravity motorcycle and drives it up the building known as The Shard, where Miss Kizlet and her minions have been uploading minds. The Doctor forces Miss Kizlet to release Clara’s mind, and then finds out she has to release all of the minds in order to do this. The Doctor motivates Miss Kizlet, revealing he has been at the cafe the whole time and hacked and re-programmed the machine disguised as him!

The Doctor uploads Miss Kizlet’s mind to the database forcing her cronies to release all of the minds to free her and in doing so free Clara as well!

These are great moments showing the ingenuity, bravery and determination of the Doctor. I also think that in this particular case, because he has seen two versions of Clara die, The Doctor will do everything in his power to make sure this Clara does not die.

“The Rings of Akhaten” (Series 7, Episode 7, 2013)

This episode saw The Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) taking Clara Oswald to the planet Akhaten, where the Doctor discovers that the planet is a parasite feeding off the memories of the people living there. In an effort to try and satisfy the parasite’s hunger, the Doctor offers his memories to the parasite in one of the best scenes in all of Doctor Who. The Doctor has a very emotional speech where he tells the parasitic planet:

“…You feed on them, on the memory of love and loss and birth and death and joy and sorrow! So… So… Come on, then. Take mine. Take my memories. But I hope you’ve got a big appetite because I’ve lived a long life and I’ve seen a few things. I walked away from the Last Great Time War. I marked the passing of the Time Lords. I saw the birth of the universe and I watched as time ran out, moment by moment, until nothing remained. No time. No space. Just me. I walked in universes where the laws of physics were devised by the mind of a madman. I’ve watched universes freeze and creations burn. I have seen things you wouldn’t believe. I have lost things you will never understand. And I know things, secrets that must never be told and knowledge that must never be spoken. Knowledge that will make parasite gods blaze. So come on then! Take it! Take it all, baby! Have it! You have it all!”

This moment is great because we get to see how much of a burden it is to be a Time Lord, through the Doctor’s experiences, whether it was losing friends, or witnessing and living through terrible events. You can feel the pain, suffering and anguish the Doctor has gone through during his 1,000 plus years of time travelling and saving the universe from this speech. This is one of Matt Smith’s best scenes, and he shows how talented he is as an actor in this beautiful scene.

“The Day of The Doctor” (Series 7, Fiftieth Anniversary Special, 2013)

This episode which celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of Doctor Who saw The Eleventh Doctor and his companion Clara, meeting two past versions of the Doctor, The Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) and The War Doctor (John Hurt, who is revealed to be the Doctor who fought in The Time War) and working together to foil a Zygon invasion and help the War Doctor destroy Gallifrey. This episode had a great plot twist where The Eleventh Doctor decides to change his mind and save Gallifrey!

When The Eleventh Doctor, The Tenth Doctor and The War Doctor are trying to stop Kate Stewart from detonating nuclear warheads to prevent the Zygons from invading London, they realize they can travel through a painting which depicts the last day of The Time War. The three Doctors are shown battling their way through Gallifrey and the camera pans in to show their backs turned as they slowly turn around and use their Sonic Screwdrivers on a Dalek approaching them! The power of their combined Sonics sends the Dalek crashing through the painting and into the real world, giving them a way into The Black Archive where they can stop Kate from detonating the nuclear warheads! The Doctors show up and it leads to this great exchange!

The War Doctor: Hello.

The Tenth Doctor: I’m the Doctor.

The Eleventh Doctor: Sorry about the Dalek.

After the Doctors prevent all out nuclear war, The War Doctor is ready to destroy Gallifrey, when The Eleventh Doctor and The Tenth Doctor show up! After a talk with Clara The Eleventh Doctor decides he is going to change his mind and save Gallifrey, because the Daleks won’t be prepared for Three Doctors going to save Gallifrey! The three Doctors contact the War Council and tell them their plan, which is to use their three TARDISes to freeze Gallifrey in a single moment in time! The General says the calculations would take hundreds of years, to which The Eleventh and Tenth Doctors respond:

“Oh hundreds and hundreds!”

“But don’t worry. I started a very long time ago.”

All of a sudden every incarnation of the Doctor appears to save Gallifrey! After a few moments the General makes a comment about how all 12 Doctors are there then another soldier says “No sir. All thirteen! Then we see Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor show up and we get a view of his eyebrows and they look intense!

These are both great moments because they show how much of a hero the Doctor is, even if he doesn’t want to admit it. He saved his planet, prevented the death of billions and did it in the most awesome and bad-ass way.

“The Time of The Doctor” (Series 7, Second Christmas Special, 2013)

This episode saw The Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) and his companion Clara investigating a message that was being broadcast throughout all of time and space. The message was “Doctor Who?” which ties into the prophecy foretold by The Doctor’s friend Dorium, which states:

“On the fields of Trenzalore, at the fall of the Eleventh, when no creature can speak falsely or fail to answer, a question will be asked, a question that must never ever be answered. Doctor Who?”

The Eleventh Doctor discovers that this message is originating from Gallifrey and The General of the War Council is sending a message through the crack in the universe. The General of the War Council (seen in “The Day of The Doctor”) is trying to see if it’s safe for Gallifrey to enter through the crack by asking The Doctor to reveal his real name to them. A series of events happen and to make sure no enemies will destroy the planet of Trenzalore, preventing the Time Lords from returning, The Doctor stays on Trenzalore for 900 years protecting it from various enemies. When the Doctor is on the verge of dying, Clara pleads with the Time Lords through the crack to help him and as The Doctor faces a Dalek fleet on a rooftop, prepared to die, he is shocked to receive a whole new regeneration cycle from the Time Lords! The Doctor angrily regenerates destroying the whole Dalek fleet and wiping out most of the the town of Christmas.

This is a great moment showing the Doctor so angry at his enemies trying to destroy Trenzalore to prevent the return of The Time Lords, that he destroys the Dalek fleet of ships without a second thought. It’s yet another bad-ass moment from the Doctor and shows how he is able to cheat death time and time again, when he comes so close to being killed by his enemies.

“Deep Breath” (Series 8, Episode 1, 2014)

This episode saw the newly regenerated Twelfth Doctor having to stop Clockwork Droids from killing people and harvesting their organs and body parts in Victorian London. All while this is happening Clara is trying to adjust to this new, older, and grumpier Doctor. When The Doctor realizes what’s going on he ends up being separated from Clara, seemingly abandoning her, but reveals that he was disguised as one of the Clockwork Droids! The Twelfth Doctor has one of the best moments I’ve seen from a new Doctor, he reveals himself to the Half-Face Man, who is in control of the other Clockwork Droids and says:

“Hello, hello. Rubbish robots from the dawn of time. Thank you for all the gratuitous information. Five-foot-one and crying, you never stood a chance.” 

After the Doctor defeats The Half-Face Man, and stops the other clockwork droids from killing anymore people, he leaves in his TARDIS, while Clara is stuck in Victorian London waiting for him. An unknown amount of time goes by and the Doctor returns in his TARDIS. Clara sees that he has redecorated the interior making a joke to break the ice with The Twelfth Doctor. The Doctor then makes his way towards Clara while saying:

“I’m the Doctor. I’ve lived for over two thousand years. And not all of them were good. I’ve made many mistakes, and it’s about time that I did something about that.” 

This is the moment where the Doctor is trying to prove to Clara that he is still the same man, and has to sort of re-introduce himself.

These moments are really great at establishing Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor, and what viewers can expect from him. He is a more pragmatic Doctor, who isn’t as cuddly as his two previous incarnations. but still very much cares about his companion Clara.

“Listen” (Series 8, Episode 4, 2014)

This episode saw The Twelfth Doctor becoming obsessed with a creature that was adept at hiding and could avoid detection. His obsession leads him to a children’s home in the late 90’s with Clara and they meet a boy Rupert (who is revealed to be a young Danny Pink) and when Rupert is scared of this unknown creature covered in a blanket sitting on his bed, the Doctor does what he does best and helps Rupert deal with his fear. The Doctor tells Rupert:

“Let me tell you about scared. Your heart is beating so hard I can feel it through your hands. There’s so much blood and oxygen pumping through your brain it’s like rocket fuel. Right now you could run faster and you could fight harder, you could jump higher than ever in your life. And you are so alert it’s like you can slow down time. What’s wrong with scared? Scared is a superpower. It’s your superpower. There is danger in this room and guess what? It’s you. Do you feel it? {he indicates the lump on the bed} Do you think he feels it? Do you think he’s scared? Nah. Loser! Turn your back on him.”

This was a great moment and was the moment where Peter Capaldi became the Doctor in my eyes. This whole speech was incredible, and very Doctorish. This moment establishes that even though The Twelfth Doctor isn’t as approachable and cuddly as his previous two incarnations, he still has a softer side that he will use to comfort children, especially if they are frightened or scared.

“Mummy on The Orient Express (Series 8, Episode 8, 2014)

This episode saw The Twelfth Doctor travelling along with Clara on The Orient Express, which is a train that travels through space! The Doctor soon discovers that a mummy is loose on board and is only seen by those who are about to die. To make matters worse once you see the mummy, you only have 66 seconds to live! Once the Doctor discovers that the train is filled with passengers who are experts in some scientific field, it is revealed that the whole train was a trick and that they are all there as part of an experiment and to try and find out the true nature of the mummy known as The Foretold. When the mummy is about to kill a woman and the Doctor doesn’t seem too fazed about it, Clara makes the Doctor realize that he should do something. The Doctor uses a scanner on the woman’s eyes and is able to transfer her guilt and pain and make it his own, making the mummy believe he is the woman! The Doctor is able to figure out the mummy’s true nature and save everyone left on the train before it explodes!

This is a great moment because it shows how this new incarnation of the Doctor is so concerned with solving the mystery and saving everyone, that he realizes some people might die along the way and that’s just something he cannot stop.The Twelfth Doctor is more alien than he has been in long while, so it takes his companion Clara to make him see that he should be doing everything to try and save this woman. This moment is a great insight into the character of The Twelfth Doctor.

“Flatline” (Series 8, Episode 9, 2014)

This episode saw The Twelfth Doctor and his companion Clara fighting against a new enemy! The Doctor and Clara discover that people all over Bristol are disappearing and soon find out that two-dimensional creatures who are trying to learn how to become three-dimensional have killed tons of people and are using their bodies as camouflage! The Doctor after having his TARDIS brought back by Clara (after it lost it’s energy being sucked away by the two-dimensional creatures) has his “Doctor” moment akin to The Eleventh Doctor’s near the end of “The Eleventh Hour.” The Doctor’s TARDIS appears near the two-dimensional creatures and he steps out and says:

“I tried to talk. I want you to remember that. I tried to reach out, I tried to understand you, but I think that you understand us perfectly.  And I think that you just don’t care.  And I don’t know whether you are here to invade, infiltrate or just replace us. I don’t suppose it really matters now. You are monsters! That is the role you seem determined to play, so it seems that I must play mine – The man that stops the monsters. I’m sending you back to your own dimension. Who knows? Some of you may even survive the trip, and if you do, remember this – you are not welcome here. This plane is protected. I am the Doctor and I name you The Boneless!”

This was a great moment showing The Twelfth Doctor can be just as heroic and bad-ass as his predecessors and is willing to do whatever he can to ensure Earth’s safety. This is very reminiscent of The Tenth Doctor’s speech to the Sycorax in “The Christmas Invasion.” Also The Boneless is a really cool name for a villain.

“Death in Heaven” (Series 8, Episode 12, 2014)

The Series 8 finale saw The Doctor, Clara and UNIT taking on Missy (a female regeneration of The Master) and an army of the dead converted into Cybermen. The Doctor is on a plane with Missy and Kate Stewart (the head of UNIT and the daughter of Brigadier Lethbrige Stewart) and Missy blows open a door pulling Kate and The Doctor out of the plane and it appears as if they will fall to their deaths. The Doctor in a very James Bond-esque way glides towards his TARDIS after calling the TARDIS to him with his TARDIS key! The Doctor survives and manages to fly away in the TARDIS!

This is a great moment showing how the Doctor always has a plan and is virtually impossible to kill because of how intelligent and ingenious he is.

Well that concludes my list of My Favorite “Doctor” Moments from Doctor Who! I hope you enjoyed it!

What say you? Do you agree with my list? Was there a moment I missed? What’s your favorite Doctor moment? Whatever your thoughts let me know!