10 Doctor Who Scenes You Didn't Know Were Unscripted
9. "Brave Heart, Tegan"
The Third Doctor had “reverse the polarity”. The Fourth Doctor had “Would you like a jelly baby?” And the Fifth Doctor had “Brave heart” – a phrase uttered to his long-serving (and long-suffering) companion Tegan throughout her time in the TARDIS.
But like many great catchphrases, it emerged by accident rather than by design.
The first instance of the Doctor offering these words of encouragement was in Earthshock part two, and it wasn’t actually scripted at all – it was improvised by Peter Davison during rehearsals.
It took a few stories but the phrase then stuck, with the Doctor using it to reassure Tegan once again in Enlightenment, Warriors of the Deep, and The Awakening, all of which we assume were scripted!
Tegan would echo the Doctor’s words back to him in Resurrection of the Daleks and The Caves of Androzani, before the Eleventh Doctor said it to Clara in The Crimson Horror. Davison was then given one final chance to say it in The Power of the Doctor, over 40 years since his initial ad-lib.
It just goes to show that iconic lines really can come from anywhere.