Oh, Ninth Doctor, how I love thee. He was my first, and while his one season had its rocky points, I always utterly loved Nine. This is a Doctor who’s been through it and is still picking up the pieces of himself, trying to understand existing on the other side of the Time War, but that doesn’t stop him from being the hero we all know him to be. Here are five Nine moments I can’t live without (spoilers.)
Saving Platform One (Series 1, Episode 2 – “The End of the World”)
The sun’s about to go supernova, and Platform One’s shields are down. In order to get them back online, the Doctor has to get across a walkway that’s intercut with giant metal exhaust fans. Jabe is able to help him part of the way, holding down a lever to slow the fans’ rotation, but as the heat vents through the chamber, the sentient tree combusts and the last fan standing between the Doctor and the shield controls goes back up to full speed. As far as Doctors go, Nine is more imposing-looking – with his height, leather jacket, and intense look – but he looks so small standing before those swiftly-rotating blades. After a few false starts to get past the fan, with only seconds to spare, the Doctor takes a quiet moment. He closes his eyes, breathes, taps into his connection to time… and passes between the blades. He reaches the controls and raises the shields, saving everyone at the last second.
Saving Jackie and Mickey (Series 1, Episode 5 – “World War Three”)
“Aliens of London” / “World War Three” has a bad rap for a very understandable reason, but honestly, Nine is all kinds of great in it. At this point, he, Rose, and Harriet Jones are safe from the Slitheen but unable to leave the reinforced cabinet room at 10 Downing Street. When Jackie and Mickey, who are on the phone with our heroes, get attacked by a Slitheen across town, the Doctor kicks his mind into overdrive trying to determine what species they are in order to surmise their weaknesses. As Rose and Harriet list everything they know about them, the Doctor narrows it down to one planet: Raxacoricofallapatorius. Since this means they’re calcium-based life forms, he directs Jackie and Mickey to fight them using vinegar, which makes them explode. Stuck halfway across the city, armed only with a speaker phone and his knowhow, the Doctor still pulls out the save. Not too shabby!
Reassuring Stuart and Sarah (Series 1, Episode 8 – “Father’s Day”)
Sure, there are scenes I could point to that are smarter or cooler or more badass, but I love this. In the middle of a giant, world-ending crisis, the Doctor takes a moment to listen when a frightened couple asks if they’ll be able to save them. He gets Stuart and Sarah to tell him the story of how they fell in love, and when Sarah admits that she knows that they aren’t important, he protests, “Who says you’re not important?” He praises the life they’re building together, one he confesses he’s never had for himself. “So, yes,” he says, smiling that Ninth Doctor smile, “I’ll try and save you.” I love that he does this, that he listens and he tells someone they matter, that he promises to do what he can to protect them. That’s my hero right there.
“Just this once…” (Series 1, Episode 10 – “The Doctor Dances”)
Simply beautiful. The Doctor realizes that Nancy, as Jamie’s mother, is the only one who can save him from what the nanogenes turned him into. Recognizing her DNA over his, the nanogenes are able to repair Jamie’s body. As the Doctor waits for confirmation of his theory, he begs, “Give me a day like this,” and he’s thrilled when Jamie removes his gas mask, restored to humanity. Further, the Doctor realizes that the nanogenes can then spread that restoration to all the people Jamie infected. Rose can’t make sense of what she’s seeing, and the Doctor’s triumphant grin is incandescent as he shouts, “Everybody lives, Rose! Just this once, everybody lives!” It’s hard to get more quintessentially-Doctor than this moment.
Standing Up to the Daleks (Series 1, Episode 12 – “Bad Wolf”)
This is the Oncoming Storm at his best. The Daleks have captured Rose and think they can bring the Doctor to heel by threatening her. As soon as the Doctor sees their ships on the video screen, you can tell he’s shaken to his core, but when the Daleks open a comms link, the Doctor buries that fear in an instant. First, he gives them a cheery, smartass wave like they’re just calling to catch up, and when they demand that he surrenders, he straight-up refuses. He’s the Doctor and he will be setting the agenda for today, thank you very much. When the Daleks point out, “You have no weapons, no defenses, no plan!”, the Doctor replies, “Yeah. And doesn’t that scare you to death.” He then promises Rose he’s coming for her and peaces out. I’ve realized that the majority of my Big Damn Hero moments for Nine also dovetail nicely into Christopher Eccleston Acts His Face Off moments, and I’m okay with that. Scenes like this are why the early rough episodes of new Who are always worth it for me, for the brilliance and beauty of how Eccleston portrays the Doctor. Here, he’s terrified, badass, defiant, and reassuring, all in the span of about a minute. That’s my Doctor right there.
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