Doctor Who: 10 Times The Doctor Shouldn't Have Bothered With Mercy

6. New Year, New Doctor, New Mercy

A big leap forward in time for the next entry. Paul McGann's only on screen appearance as The Doctor showed him to be quite a loving and romantic incarnation - certainly sweeping Grace Holloway off of her feet. It's no surprise with this benevolent character that a show of mercy would certainly come from him when the big fight happens. In the battle of wits, and lives, with The Master, The Doctor is finding himself having to convince Chang Lee that the renegade Time Lord is evil, and in the nick of time, Grace is able to help stop The Master from destroying Earth and taking The Doctor's lives. She frees The Doctor and a fight ensues between the two foes. The hero, inevitably, defeats the villain by blinding his nemesis with a mirror situated by the Eye of Harmony. The Master ends up in the eye. The Doctor holds out a hand in an attempt to save him. His intended recipient shouts "NEVER!" and allows himself to be swallowed up by the eye. A very strange act of mercy considering The Doctor was attempting to save a man who had spent the entire time trying to steal his lifespan. It might be right, in terms of character for the Eighth Doctor, but the question is there: Why would you save someone who did not want you alive?