Before River Song, Amy Pond or even Clara Oswald, and the timey-wimey relationships they all enjoy with the Doctor, Ten visited young Reinette Poisson, scaring a clockwork droid out from under her bed and conquering the monsters who wanted her head. She was a fiercely exciting and wonderfully intelligent character; it seemed like the Doctor had met his match, and when he told her, "Pick a star, any star", it felt like he'd found a new companion. Upon returning to France though, he found that wasn't the case. Madame de Pompadour had died whilst waiting for her lonely angel; David Tennant plays the reveal moments with a quiet stoicism, not even shedding a tear. The letter that Reinette writes is what's so heartbreaking though. The Doctor reads it when he's alone, and finds out that as Reinette grows iller, she still longs for the TARDIS to take her away. It's a sorry scene, and one that foreshadows the Doctor losing Rose later on that series.
