10 Doctor Who Controversies Fans Can't Agree On

Series 8 has a mixed reputation, which partly stems from the original knee-jerk reaction to an older Doctor than we were used to for the revival. It’s a series that has aged very well though, with some terrific stories like Listen and Mummy on the Orient Express.

One thing fans still can’t seem to agree on though, is Danny Pink.

Introduced as a love interest for Clara and a foil for the Doctor, Danny wasn’t nearly as well received as Rory, or even Mickey, despite filling the same role. This may be because he doesn’t fully reconcile his differences with the Doctor and join the TARDIS crew like his predecessors. His relationship with the Doctor is more openly hostile too, though, to give credit to the man, his first impression of the Doctor isn’t Nine with his goofiness or Eleven with his manic pixie energy – it’s Series 8 Twelve, who's a bit of a tough cookie. Without the context of prior incarnations, you might not get on with him either.

Danny provides Clara with a much-needed anchor to reality, helping to develop her as an actual character – a marked improvement on the blank mystery box she is in Series 7B. Many argue that Danny is boring, while others argue he’s just a normal, straightforward bloke, and that makes him likeable and relatable.

His backstory – accidentally shooting a child dead in the middle of a warzone – treads surprisingly mature ground for the show too. It's later tackled in a very nuanced way in Death In Heaven, but for many, that wasn't enough to rescue the character.

OUR VERDICT: Series 8 wouldn't have worked nearly as well if not for Danny. It’s right that he was killed off when he was (and refreshingly, he actually stayed dead), and his whole plot, when watched back with the context of the following series, is a very effective precursor that warns us just how toxic Twelve and Clara’s bond is. An underrated character!