Doctor Who: 10 Defining Tenth Doctor Moments
8. The Letter (The Girl In The Fireplace)
"Are you alright?"
"I'm always alright."
A moment doesn't necessarily need a bombastic speech or a badass one-liner to be memorable, and that's certainly the case with this one. Having spent the entirety of series 2 episode The Girl in the Fireplace meering Madame du Pompadour and getting to know her better, and having just saved her from the Clockwork Droids, the Doctor returns to France to give her a trip in the TARDIS. However, he's too late and she's already passed away, leaving him a letter with the King of France.
The Doctor returns to the TARDIS to read it, and Tennant doesn't even need to speak in order to capture what the Doctor must be feeling. His body language and downcast facial expression show perfectly what the TIme Lord is experiencing in that moment - how utterly heartbreaking this lost must be for him. Then, when he does get a line, his understated response to Billie Piper's Rose asking him if he's ok emphasises the true pathos of the moment, and shows just what a good actor David Tennant is.