Doctor Who: 10 Most Poetic Moments
4. Firing Squad On Gallifrey (Hell Bent)
After emerging from his four and a half billion year stay in the confession dial, the Doctor returns to Gallifrey, where he faces Rassilon, Gallifrey's President. Knowing that it was Rassilon that had ensured his inprisonment inside the confession dial in hopes of learning the Doctor's secrets, the two face off after the Doctor draws a literal line in the sand when soldiers are sent to capture him.
The soldiers gathered refuse to shoot the Doctor, as does the General, and the resulting stand-off is one that embodies everything that Peter Capaldi brings to the role. After a soldier explains that the Doctor being unarmed does nothing to settle their unease, as "The first thing you will notice about the Doctor of War is he's unarmed. For many, it's also the last." The firing squad then drop their rifles and move to stand beside the Doctor.
The General then stands between Rassilon and the Doctor, and tells the President "With respect, get off his planet." It's one of only a handful of glimpses into the Doctor's significance among his own people, and it paints him as the badass we've always known he is.