10 Unluckiest Doctor Who Characters

9. Joan Redfern

Doctor Who Death In Heaven Danny Pink Cyberman
BBC

There's a lot going on in Human Nature/The Family Of Blood, from the Doctor's human life to Martha's struggles to the unusual actions of the telepathic Timothy Latimer, and as a result, the tragedy of Joan Redfern's story often goes overlooked.

Imagine you meet the man of your dreams: he's smart, caring, and you both have lots in common. Even better, he looks like David Tennant! You feel like you've found your life partner, and you're both ready to settle down, get married, and start a family.

Okay, now imagine that all of that gets snatched away in the span of a single day.

This is the exact situation that Joan finds herself in: unbeknownst to her, the man of her dreams - "John Smith" - is actually an alien called the Doctor, the last person in the universe who would settle down for a quiet country life.

Joan is left heartbroken, and in mourning - because, when the Doctor emerges, she considers John to be dead. It's always bad luck to fall in love with the wrong person, but with the added twist of John's true identity, Joan's case has an extra level of pain.

Oh, and did we mention that her village was bombarded and her friends were killed?

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.