Doctor Who: 10 Reasons Why An Adventure In Space And Time Was The Best Drama Of 2013

7. Your Friends Will Let You Down

Joss Whedon once observed that, to him, the essence of drama could be summed up as 'Your Friends will let you down, and your enemies will come through to help you.' And it has to be acknowledged - the most heartbreaking moments of An Adventure in Time and Space involved being let down by the ones you count on the most. The most obvious example of course is the final scene between Sydney Newman and William Hartnell. Bill had every reason to consider Sydney a friend, from all of the earlier flattery, and in the end it was Sydney that had to deliver the killing blow. He told Bill that they were kicking him off of 'his' show. He took the last thing that Bill had, at least from Bill's perspective. But if we look closer at the script as a whole, this was just the final and most painful let down that Bill experienced at the hands of his on-set 'family'. Most specifically, they all left him. One by one. First Warris. Then Carol Ann. Then Verity, and Verity must have hurt the most. She was the only one that he had really allowed himself to open up to, to tell about his fears of failure. She said to him, 'I'm here for you', and his response was, 'promise?' And then she left. In fact, Verity's complete disappearance from the story a little ove3r two thirds through its run time structurally mirrors the abruptness of her disappearance from his life in a haunting way.