10 Most Depressingly Realistic Lessons From Doctor Who

5. Deserving A Happy Ending Is Not The Same Thing As Getting A Happy Ending

It's not going out on a limb to say that when the character of Danny Pink was first announced most of us assumed that he was going to be a new companion, either joining or replacing Clara (or that he was going to be the Master.) As Series 8 continued it became clear that he was instead a counterpoint to the Doctor, giving both aspects of Clara's life a physical representation for her to bounce off of - which if nothing else is just good drama. For most of the series Danny was the stalwart, almost too good to be true man waiting for Clara at home. To be honest, he was so reasonable, considerate and altogether 'good guy' that it genuinely did feel for a while there like he was seconds away from tearing off a face mask and revealing Roger Delgado. But no, Danny ultimately turned out to be exactly what he seemed to be; a really good guy. True, he was haunted by what he had done during the war (and we never did actually get to see the entire story of what happened, so it's difficult to really say how culpable he was), but he clearly was the sort of character that the audience expects to receive a well deserved happy ending eventually. Then, in a twist that Joss Whedon would have given a respectful nod to, he was instead randomly run down in the street, turned into a Cyberman and blown into a million pieces.