Doctor Who: 6 Aspects Of Malcolm Tucker The Peter Capaldi Doctor Needs

4. Making The Best Of A Bad Situation

The Doctor seems to almost have a habit of finding himself in situations that seem as if there is no right choice, victory obscured by circumstances beyond his control. Sometimes the choice that leads to survival isn't in plain sight and sometimes the solution has to come from thin air. These sort scenarios have become sort of a hallmark of the revived series with the Doctor revealing his terrible choices that he made during the Time War, most notably his choice to use the Moment to destroy the entirety of his race in order to secure the safety of the rest of the Universe. Malcolm Tucker's entire character is built around handling situations and turning hopeless situations into even the smallest of victories. As the spin doctor to the shows party in power he is peerless in the execution of his job, be it to the press to even the various Ministers that he presides over. One notable example is presented in the movie In the Loop where Tucker has to constantly cover for the awkward way in which Minister Simon Foster handles pretty much all of his press encounters and public appearances. He fumbles through the interviews as if English was his third language which as can be expected creates problems throughout the movie. When faced with the problem of what to do with this potential liability Tucker comes up with a seemingly random solution using a minor event involving a crumbling wall in a citizens back yard falling on the man's mother. When he found out that his neglect caused an injury Tucker jumped at the opportunity to twist the situation to force him into a resignation. While being nowhere near as vindictive, the ability to pull a solution from seemingly nowhere and save the day is a characteristic that Moffat could definitely run with.