10. "Gentlemen, I've Got News For You" (Horror Of Fang Rock)
One of the hallmarks of Toms performance was his ability to deliver dialogue in the most unexpected of ways. A fine example of this can be found towards the end of Horror of Fang Rock part two. In dour form throughout the serial, Tom breaks the following unpleasant news to his beleaguered compatriots:
Gentlemen, Ive got news for you. This lighthouse is under attack and by morning we might all be dead.
Its a grim line which evokes the desperation anyone might feel if they were stuck in an exposed building surrounded by evil glowing alien jellyfish. Quite brilliantly, however, Tom delivers it with his toothy grin and a chuckle, all but revelling in the crisis. It stands in stark contrast to the panic felt by the humans trapped in the lighthouse and thats exactly the point. By working against the grain of the dialogue, Tom perfectly conveys the Doctors alien morality. Of course death would be a big joke for a Time Lord. He can regenerate himself out of it, after all. Grace notes like these define his take on the Doctor from all the ones before and after. He manages to enhance the dramatic tension in an already tense story but the fact that he raises a laugh, albeit a nervous one, from the viewer is also weirdly comforting. Its an interesting double game and one he played effectively throughout his seven years.