Doctor Who is steeped in death and that's one of the show's most enduring qualities. Yes, it's a show about hope and wonder but it's also one about danger, evil and risk, too. People are exterminated, atomised, shot, Cyber-converted, strangled, transformed... in fact, if you can imagine a form of death, it's likely that someone has died that way in Doctor Who. Of the many people and aliens who perish in Doctor Who, some are innocent, some deserving, yet some stay in the memory longer than others. So why is this? Sometimes it's because the death comes as a genuine shock or because the character that died was particularly likeable or important. Who can forget the death of Adric at the end of Earthshock, for example? On other occasions it's because the death is unique, gruesome or memorable such as Kane melting in Dragonfire. Maybe it's because the death was poignant or affecting - a noble sacrifice that ensures the survival of others or the Doctor himself. To clarify, this piece will not consider deaths that the character survived, such as Donna Noble after her moving sacrifice in Turn Left or River Song in Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead. This article will countdown the 10 greatest deaths in Doctor Who history, including those from the Classic show, NuWho and all the audio adventures in between, and of companions, supporting characters and of villains themselves. In the Series 8 finale Missy told us that "Death is not an end' and, seeing as these ones have stuck in our memories, she's probably right!