Top Five Damn Hero Moments: Nardole (Doctor Who)

When I first learned that Nardole was going to be a regular on the show, I wasn’t sure what to make of it, not having been overly-impressed with his Christmas special appearances.  Certainly, there’s not a lot about his role in “The Husbands of River Song” that screams “companion material.”  But over the course of series 10, he actually contributes to team TARDIS in some surprising ways.  Heroic Nardole – who knew?  (Spoilers.)

Confronting the Vault (Series 10, Episode 3 – “Thin Ice”)

Realizing that he can’t stop the Doctor from leaving Earth with Bill, Nardole approaches the Vault and hears Missy knocking from the inside.  You can tell his knees are knocking, but he puts on a show of bluster as he tells her, “I’m still here.  And as long as I’m still here, you are going nowhere!”  I love scared-but-brave moments, and although this one is short, it’s good to see Nardole doing his best to stand up to Missy.

Helping Bill with the Suits (Series 10, Episode 5 – “Oxygen”)

This is a small thing, maybe not exactly a full-on “hero” moment, but I still like it.  Bill is confused that the smart suits measure remaining oxygen in breaths rather than a more typical unit like minutes, and Nardole explains the reasoning:  that frightened or frantic people breathe more rapidly and thus use up their air more quickly, “So relax, or die!”  It’s a fairly early demonstration of his smarts, and he also assists Bill at other points in the episode, reminding her to take deep, even breaths in tense moments.  Given that his reaction to seeing her onboard the TARDIS in “The Pilot” is, “Ugh – human!”, it’s nice to see him looking out for her here.

Discovering the Projectors (Series 10, Episode 6 – “Extremis”)

After stepping through an apparent portal with Bill into a blank room filled with portals, and after exploring a few of them and being exposed to the shadow test, Nardole starts to put the pieces together.  The tech arranged in the center of the blank room isn’t simply projecting the portals – it’s projecting the whole worlds.  He’s the first member of team TARDIS to realize that, not only is their environment a mere projection, but that they too aren’t real, a fact he confirms in a very grim way.

Reprogramming the Ship (Series 10, Episode 12 – “The Doctor Falls”)

This is clever, Nardole hacking into the ship’s inner workings to trigger explosions to fight the Cybermen.  Working in conjunction with the passengers, his tech trickery makes it look like their simple weapons are a lot more advanced than they really are.  As such, at the same time that he’s unleashing firepower on the Cybermen, Nardole is also tricking them, giving them an overinflated idea of the passengers’ real capabilities and hopefully making them a little more cautious in their attack.

Leading the Passengers Away (Series 10, Episode 12 – “The Doctor Falls”)

As the Doctor prepares to make his last stand, Nardole recognizes that the Doctor is planning to sacrifice himself and argues that he should be the one to do it instead.  But the Doctor tasks Nardole with something harder:  living on, guiding and protecting the passengers in their ongoing pilgrimage to avoid the Cybermen.  Despite initially protesting that he doesn’t have it in him, Nardole rolls up his sleeves and gets on with it, telling the children to be brave and leading them to safety, knowing that the journey will keep going.