7. Time Travel, It's Like Visiting Paris (The Long Game)
Go and find out, stop nagging me! Thing is, Adam - time travel, it's like visitng Paris. You can't just read the guidebook, you've got to throw yourself into it, eat the food, use the wrong verbs, get charged double and end up kissing complete strangers, or is that just me? Stop asking questions, and do it!
This little monologue to the ill-fated Adam Mitchell is often cited as the Ninth Doctor's best speech and features on numerous memes. It's easy to see why. The Time Lord is showing off a bit here, and Nine is rarely funnier or more charming. A lot of the brilliance is in the delivery as it's a speech that needs to be said quickly with a lot of energy. Eccleston duly obliges, to great effect. The speech also has a strong message. One that many viewers found themselves able to get behind. It's about getting stuck into life, not just sitting back - about making the mistakes that everyone does and revelling in it. It's about not treading the beaten path but enjoying yourself whereever what you do takes you. It chimes with one of the core ideas that make Who so good, the central focus on adventuring. There may be other moments that are more poignant or that delve deeper into the character. But if it's a strong speech you're after, they don't come much better in Series 1.