10 Things That Only Doctor Who Could Get Away With

9. Death Is Not An Option

There aren't many shows on the mainstream televisual market which can kill of its central characters and have them live to tell the tale. EastEnders is an example of when it just doesn't work - who could forget the return of Dirty Den over a decade after he was quite evidently shot dead into a canal and subsequently buried? That was taking it all a bit too far, even by Albert Square's outlandish standards. In the Whoniverse, though, where quite literally anything goes, Rory Williams is probably the first person who springs to mind in this department - and rightly so. He died so many times during his TARDIS tenure that it was ultimately more surprising when he actually did make it through an entire episode unscathed. Even he started to joke about it. This is just another weird and wonderful aspect of Doctor Who's unique formula, though. It certainly adds another level of drama to the proceedings because nothing quite compares to the heartbreak of watching one of your favourite characters pop their clogs (repeatedly, as was the case of Rory the Roman) and then being resurrected before your very eyes as the result of some timey-wimey spacey-wacey means. It's an emotional rollercoaster to say the least. Captain Jack Harkness is also another example of Doctor Who's ability to cheat death, though for him the results have been somewhat long lasting. No sooner than he had been exterminated by the Daleks in The Parting of the Ways, he was brought back to life by Rose Tyler who had a new found power of the universe in her hands after staring into the heart of the TARDIS and absorbing the energies of the time vortex. How's that for a get out clause? It all makes perfect sense, too Relatively speaking, of course. Speaking of people for whom death just isn't an option...