"Better a fallen rocket than never a burst of light."
~ Tom Stoppard, The Invention of Love

Sunday, October 3, 2021

Top (Two) Big Damn Hero Moments: Doctor Ten point Five (Doctor Who)

 Here’s my completist nature coming through. Ten point Five is just an offshoot of Ten, and he has the shortest onscreen tenure of any Doctor out there – showing up partway through a single season finale, which he shares with Ten and a smorgasbord of companions. Still, he’s a Doctor and he counts (for some reason, I feel like channeling Classic Loki’s “he’s green, isn’t he?”), so he should get recognition for his Big Damn Hero moments, even if he only has a chance to squeeze in a couple (spoilers.)

 

Returning the Stolen Planets (Series 4, Episode 13 – “Journey’s End”)

This is a tag-team with Ten and the DoctorDonna (and really, Donna is the lynchpin of this operation,) but I’m still counting it. After temporarily disabling the Daleks, the Doctors commandeer a control console on their space station to send 26 of the 27 planets stolen by the Daleks back to their rightful homes in time and space. Doctors working together with one another is always a good time, and I especially like Ten point Five and Donna’s metacrisis-induced synchronicity – their teamwork is delightful to watch. Not to mention, Ten point Five came into being, like, an hour ago, tops. Stopping a plot to destroy all of reality and saving a bunch of pilfered planets right out of the gate? No regeneration crisis for this guy!

 

Destroying the Daleks (Series 4, Episode 13 – “Journey’s End”)

Yes, I get that Ten is horrified when this happens and goes all righteous anger on Ten point Five, but honestly, what else were they gonna do? Stop the Reality Bomb, sure, and Donna’s little bit of technical trickery messes up the Daleks’ functioning enough that they’re able to get away. But then what? Go on their merry way and leave an entire Dalek fleet to run rampant across the universe? Ten point Five does what needs to be done, and virtually any incarnation of the Doctor, Ten included, has killed far too many Daleks to get all holier-than-thou about it.

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