Spotlight on the Tenth Dr Who

By Gareth Ransome

In true Timelord spirit I'm going to shine my spotlight on each of the Doctors in turn... starting with the most recent and travelling back in time to the programmes grandfather: William Hartnell, the First Doctor.

The Tenth Doctor (David Tennant)
After absorbing the time-vortex from Rose (Billie Piper) the Doctor regenerates from a brash northerner to an erratic, more energetic puckish character. Initially the regeneration doesn't hold properly and the Doctor lapses into a coma during an invasion by the Sycorax until he is finally revived by absorbing the tannin and free-radicals in a cup of tea. (this could only happen in Dr Who) He then manages to defeat the Sycorax and kill their leader -something that he'd never done before proving that this was a totally unpredictable, more alien Doctor; one who is more willing to bend the rules of time and morality if the need arose.

This Doctor is a creature of opposites; light-hearted and easy going; with a witty and often cheeky manner, however he is also prone to melancholy and fits of loneliness which he attempts to hide through his energetic manner and constant techno-babble. This is a Doctor who will only give his enemies one warning before meting out the most horrific punishments (as in the episode Family of Blood where the punishments are harsh and eternal) and is as hard on himself for his failings as he is with others.

It's through the tenth Doctor that the Cybermen are re-introduced, not as aliens from the planet Mondas but from an alternative Earth in another dimension that the Dr travels to inadvertently. Here he realises that the Cybermen are actually humans who have been transformed into cybernetic monsters by a crazed scientist. The Dr eventually defeats the Cybermen with the help of Mickey and Rose, but it's not long before they return by breaching the dimensional boundaries that separate the two realities through the Torchwood Institute.

It's through his companion, Rose, though that we see the vulnerable side of the Doctor; and there is often hints that they were more than just Timelord and companion. This relationship was begun during the 9th incarnation of the Doctor, but was solidified with the tenth regeneration. In some ways this might be seen as a reaction from the Time War when the Dr ended the cataclysmic battle and effectively destroyed both the Daleks and his own kind, or so he thought at the time... The loneliness, although he would never admit to it, is probably what encouraged him to bond so closely to Rose in the first place. In Rose Tyler was a kindred spirit, someone who wanted to see what the universe had to offer often to the exclusion of her own life.

When Rose is trapped in the alternative dimension, at the end of the episode Doomsday, the Doctor vows that he will never allow himself to become close to a companion again. After being left alone the Doctor has no one to stabilise his personality and no one to act as a "moral compass" as Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) states in "The Runaway Bride". When she meets the Doctor she is almost sacrificed to the Queen of Racnoss, but the Dr manages to save her and the Earth, yet again. However she is dissuaded from joining the Timelord at that time due to him destroying the last of the Racnoss race. She realises that it is the companion that actually "humanises" the Doctor and acts as a moral compass. This is the first time that a "companion" actually rejects the Dr's offer - although it would be a decision that Donna later regrets. It is Donna who suggests that he find himself another companion to "calm him down". This he finds in Martha Stewart (Freema Agyeman).

In some ways Martha is the "rebound" from Rose and seen as a distraction from the Doctors lonely existence. He's so unaware of her growing love for him that in the "Last Of The Timelords" Martha actually travels around the world preaching the word of the Doctor, building up the psychic force needed to break The Masters hold over the world. Martha leaves because of this unrequited love and the Dr finds himself without a companion again.

Donna soon returns with her own indomitable whiles and ways. Out of all the companions she is the perfect foil for the Doctor, someone who will not back down to his alien ways. She is able to bring a sense of morality that the Timelord lacked since Roses disappearance and anchors him to the present. It is through her that another "human Doctor" is produced, by touching the hand that was severed during the Christmas Invasion -which had been imbued with unused energies from an aborted regeneration process. This takes place during "Journeys End", and also results in her gaining the mind and perspectives of a Timelord. Realising that this will ultimately kill her, the Doctor has no choice but to wipe all her memories of him and their travels; in effect killing the Donna that he had grown to like and respect.