Top 10 Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) Moments

We’ll start near the end, as Ten realises that regeneration looms, but makes one final trip before the inevitable happens. He stops in on all of his closest friends and companions, in one way or another, but these final farewells are mostly steeped in sadness. And his last port of call is probably the most emotional of all, as he crosses paths with Rose, mere weeks before she meets the Ninth Doctor and her adventure begins. If this doesn’t break your heart, then nothing will.

Ten meets River only once during his time in the TARDIS, for a two-part st ory set in the Library. But he eventually works out how important she is. The fight against the Vashta Nerada comes at the end of River’s timeline, even though it’s the first time that the Doctor has set eyes on her. And when she seems to have sacrificed herself, the Doctor connects the dots to preserve at least part of her existence. With Tennant racing to the rescue, it’s even more intense if you watch it after River’s time with Eleven and Twelve.

The relationship between Ten and Rose was a driving force throughout series two, and by the time they reach “The Impossible Planet” their loyalty could well be turning into love. But first, Billie Piper’s character provides the inspiration for one of Tennant’s finest ever speeches, as he faces the Beast and near-certain death. Smashing the vases seems precisely the wrong thing to do, but these two are a team and even when the chances of survival seem like they couldn’t be lower, Tennant’s Doctor can muster exactly the right words.

“Journey’s End” proves another pivotal episode for Ten, and in amongst the Dalek devastation we find definite highlights for Tennant’s character – especially when all of his allies man the TARDIS together. But the most memorable moment comes at the story’s close, when the Doctor saves Donna by erasing her memories of him. A heart-breaking conclusion for a fan favourite character, it gets even worse when a rain-soaked Tennant says goodbye to Wilfred. Few “Who” scenes more effectively show the Time Lord’s loneliness.

The laws of time travel are a complicated matter, and only the Doctor seems to understand them most of the time, but even he can go wrong every now and then. In the 2009 special, “The Waters of Mars”, Ten takes matters of life and death into his own hands, knowingly rewriting history by saving some of the crew from a doomed Martian base. And while the battle against the Flood is exhilarating enough, there’s a dark twist at this story’s end, prompting the Doctor to re-evaluate his power.

With Daleks, Cybermen and an existence-destroying Void to contend with, “Doomsday” pitches the Doctor and Rose into quite a tricky situation. But just when the pair appear to have cracked it, they’re plunged into parallel universes. In a desperate scene for Ten and his companion, he watches as she slips toward a lifetime away from him, before burning up a sun to stage one last conversation. Bad Wolf Bay becomes a legendary location after this, as a site where things went painfully unsaid.

As we’ve already seen, Tennant’s Time Lord wasn’t all sunshine and roses. And his eternal punishments for the Family of Blood were especially ruthless. Having tricked his way onto the Family’s ship to destroy it from the inside, the Doctor forgoes a human life as John Smith to finally capture the enemy aliens. And he looks pretty angry about it. As the Brother narrates the Family’s fates, for one of the show’s more ominous endings, Ten suddenly seems a seriously scary chap.

We’ve already witnessed some of Ten’s run-up to regeneration, but this scene gives even greater context to David Tennant’s closing moments. Coming in the first part of his “End of Time” finale, it sees the Doctor and Wilf stage a teary heart-to-heart, trading thoughts on fear and death. The Tenth Doctor was better at baring his emotions than most incarnations, but here we see his heartbreaking struggle to keep it together. Of course, these feelings eventually fuel one of the most memorable regeneration scenes in “Who” history.

It’s arguably the most famous scene from the Tenth Doctor’s run, but it comes in an episode when the Doctor and Martha are merely supporting characters. Carey Mulligan’s Sally Sparrow takes centre stage for “Blink”, but she’s acting on the advice given to her in Ten’s message from the past. The ‘Don’t Blink’ speech is one of the most quoted moments since the series revival, with Tennant’s delivery blending timey wimey weirdness with genuine concern. And there is reason to be worried – the Angels are easily one of NuWho’s scariest monsters.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honourable mentions.

Sarah Jane Returns
“School Reunion”

The Master Dies
“The Last of the Time Lords”

The Face of Boe’s Final Secret
“Gridlock”

It’s always unnerving whenever the Doctor loses control of a situation, and this episode sees any semblance of authority stolen from him by an unseen, unknown, voice-lifting lifeform. And given that Ten’s fate is in the hands of a few feuding tourists, his prospects don’t look great and the tension’s never been higher. Acting opposite Lesley Sharp – who plays the possessed Sky Silvestry – Tennant tackles the unique concept with a frantic, desperate and unforgettable look in his eye. It’s clever, but seriously creepy.