10 Saddest Doctor Who Companion Departures
2. Rose Tyler
New Who had proven that it could be cruel in its first two seasons. Episodes like Father's Day and Parting of the Ways had shown fans that RTD was not playing around and was willing to rip our hearts out and stamp all over them.
Fans endured an emotional rollercoaster at the hands of the brilliantly devious showrunner, who took us down a path where Rose Tyler and the Doctor fell in love. It could have been a perfect, happy ending; but it never is with the Doctor.
In Doomsday, Rose was pulled into an alternate dimension while helping the Doctor save the world at the Battle of Canary Wharf. As good as "dead", she managed to make a life in this alternate world work but not before the Doctor burned up a sun to say goodbye. It was heart-wrenchingly romantic, but he never got to say the words "I love you." Instead, just managing "Rose Tyler."
Even when Rose returned later, it only got sadder when Ten gave her a version of himself that could age and have a life with her, knowing it's all he wanted but could never have. When Rose asked what he was going to say at the beach, that day. He confirms he simply said "Rose Tyler", but adds "Does it need saying."
It truly proved that RTD could make this second goodbye even more painful than the first.