5. "Yes You Are. You're Brilliant"
This is not an obvious choice for the list, but it really gets me every time. Tellingly, this is probably the only item on the list which I need to explain what story it's even from. It's from Turn Left, if you were wondering. I should acknowledge, I have an enormous soft spot for the character of Donna Noble. Forceful, Bossy, and so damaged inside, she genuinely does not believe that she is even capable of mattering to anyone. Hence the obsessive need to get married, btw. Once we meet her mother it's perfectly obvious why she thinks so little of herself, regardless of how she tries to appear. And none of this is ever more obvious than in the final moments of Turn Left, after what we like to think of as the actual 'plot' was all wrapped up The scene in question, for the benefit of all of you who aren't me and thus have never thought much about it, is in the fortune tellers tent, after the whole alternate reality business has been resolved and the doctor is happily examining the remains of a dead time-beetle (NOT a sentence you get to type every day...) The Doctor comments on the level of coincidence around the things that happen to Donna and Donna responds 'Don't be daft. I'm nothing special.' And she means it. As jokingly as she says it, she means it in the worst possible way. And without even a second's hesitation The Doctor responds 'Yes you are. You're brilliant.' What makes the moment so wonderful is that there is absolutely nothing special about the way he says it. He obviously isn't even thinking about it, it's so self evident to him that it's nothing more than a throwaway line. Just two best friends hanging out on an average day. Nothing to see here, keep moving along. But go back and watch that scene again and see what it means to her.