20 Years Ago, Doctor Who Rewrote The Doctor With A Single Line

Despite being a franchise of constant evolution, Doctor Who is undeniably a creature of habit. From the TARDIS’ apparent predilection for London circa 1963-2025 to the abundance of running, there are some ingredients Doctor Who just can’t drop from its delicious sci-fi recipe.

Russell T Davies’ 2005 reboot led to the show’s biggest shakeup, increasing production values considerably and dropping the old format of serialized stories spread over too many episodes, but the new millennium’s Doctor Who was still unmistakably the Doctor Who viewers over 30 had grown up with, and that close continuity played a big part in the reboot’s critical and commercial success. Under the hood, however, change was afoot, and not a moment too soon (for some, at least).

Across Doctor Who‘s classic era, The Doctor had never been a romantic soul. Oddly, William Hartnell’s First Doctor ranks as the most sexual regeneration by default, firstly due to Susan’s presence tacitly confirming The Doctor had reproduced at some point, and secondly because he accidentally got engaged to a stranger who found the snowy hair and brash attitude charming. The Doctor would become even less of a lover as Doctor Who developed its leading man through the years, leading to an iron-clad rule against relationships inside the TARDIS.

It was left to the Hollywoodization of 1996’s Doctor Who movie to bend that rule, as Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor shared a kiss with new assistant Grace Holloway, but even that was depicted as a spur of the moment quirk rather than anything truly passionate. And when The Doctor finally returned, this time sporting the face of Christopher Eccleston, normal service looked to be resumed, even if there were hints of Rose Tyler having an unrequited crush. Then everything changed.

In 2006, Doctor Who’s “Doomsday” Rewrote The Character’s DNA

It should have been a sign of things to come when Russell T Davies cast his former Casanova actor, David Tennant, as Eccleston’s replacement in the TARDIS. Ten, maybe alongside Eight, was the first Doctor openly positioned as something of an outer space heartthrob. Like the Doctor Who movie, however, Tennant’s debut season refused to rip up the classic rulebook completely, and even when Doctor Who leaned more into the idea that Rose had feelings for her Time Lord pal, the man himself seemed blissfully unaware, just as his predecessors would have been.

Aired on July 8, 2006, it was “Doomsday” that finally changed the game for Doctor Who, and all it took was a single line. No, not “doesn’t she look tired?” but, “And I suppose, if it’s one last chance to say it, Rose Tyler…“

Doctor Who was savvy enough to leave itself some wiggle room. Tennant never actually uttered the words “I love you,” and Rose being locked in an alternate universe halted any potential story ramifications dead in their tracks. Still, the line’s meaning was clear: The Doctor was seconds away from declaring his love to Rose Tyler, the tears on his cheeks removing any suggestion that those words might have been meant in a non-romantic way.

The Doctor Has Been A Love Interest Ever Since “Doomsday” (For Better & For Worse)

The fact that Doctor Who didn’t disappear down a black hole of backlash immediately after “Doomsday” gave writers permission to explore The Doctor’s romantic side in greater detail. Ten had some follow-up with Rose Tyler when the companion received her own life-size, fully-functional clone, then Steven Moffat’s era introduced River Song as The Doctor’s wife. After Jodie Whittaker came aboard, Thirteen and Yaz almost took their Time Lord/companion dynamic to the next level, then Ncuti Gatwa had his one-off, tension-filled fling with Jonathan Groff’s Rogue.

The Doctor has never been violent, but ever since “Doomsday,” the character has officially been able to call themselves “a lover, not a fighter.”

This groundbreaking change to Doctor Who‘s DNA has yielded some of the modern era’s greatest stories. Ten’s near-confession meant Rose would eventually return with higher stakes and oodles of anticipation that wouldn’t have existed otherwise, and no one could argue with a straight face that River Song wasn’t an inspired addition to Doctor Who‘s tapestry. The Yaz and Rogue romances, meanwhile, became notable highlights during two of Doctor Who‘s most divisive eras, with Yaz in particular struggling to stand out beforehand.

Having said that, Doctor Who is guilty of overdoing the trope. Martha’s tiresome infatuation with The Doctor did a disservice to Rose’s successor, then Steven Moffat began making the same mistake with Amy Pond before quickly correcting course. Matt Smith’s Eleven had far better chemistry with Amy and Clara when all parties were sitting firmly in the friendzone.

Overall, bringing romance into the TARDIS has been a net-positive for Doctor Who, but that temptation to make it an ever-present feature has caused more than one narrative stumble.

How The “Doomsday” Change Fits With Doctor Who Canon

Credit: BBC via MovieStillsDB

Here in real life, we know Doctor Who started embracing love in an attempt to modernize the show and open up new opportunities for storytelling after decades of existence. In canon terms, it’s a little harder to explain why The Doctor’s libido suddenly kicked into gear after ten regenerations.

There are two possible in-universe reasons, both of which are suggested onscreen at various times. One way to bridge the gap between Classic Doctor and Love Doctor is that, over thousands of years and too many regenerations, the character slowly rediscovered their emotions. Russell T Davies’ second era examined that very progression, with Fourteen allowing himself to join the Noble family, and Gatwa sharing a tender moment with Whittaker as his younger self. As The Doctor continues to become more emotionally available with each metamorphosis, it makes perfect sense why the romance took so long to manifest.

The problem with this perspective is that, as a consequence, every future Doctor is destined to have an amorous side, which can get a little tiresome.

That leads to the second explanation: some of The Doctor’s regenerations are more open to experiencing non-platonic love than others, and it just so happened that the first seven weren’t. This is evident in how, somewhere between Eleven playfully flirting with River and Thirteen making eyes at Yaz, Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor would sooner be locked in a room with a Sontaran poet than go on a date. The notion of specific regenerations having a greater capacity for love also addresses the First Doctor fathering a child on Gallifrey.

It’s that balance between personalities that will keep Doctor Who‘s love stories fresh for years to come, and means that when the more asexual Doctors do begin having proper feelings (as Twelve did in the excellent “The Husbands of River Song”), the weight of their emotion is so much stronger.

Release Date

2005 – 2022-00-00

Directors

Graeme Harper, Euros Lyn, Douglas Mackinnon, Jamie Magnus Stone, Charles Palmer, Rachel Talalay, Joe Ahearne, James Strong, Jamie Childs, Saul Metzstein, Toby Haynes, Wayne Che Yip, Nick Hurran, Richard Clark, James Hawes, Daniel Nettheim, Colin Teague, Keith Boak, Azhur Saleem, Adam Smith, Andrew Gunn, Nida Manzoor, Lawrence Gough, Paul Murphy

Writers

Steven Moffat, Russell T. Davies

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  Jodie Whittaker

  The Doctor

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