Doctor Who: 10 Things Everyone Always Gets Wrong About The Doctor
6. "Never Cruel Or Cowardly" Originated In NuWho
Nowadays, the line "Never be cruel, never be cowardly" is inextricably linked with Peter Capaldi's pre-regeneration speech in Twice Upon A Time. However, this is merely a reference to a description of the Doctor's character that has existed for decades.
Although never properly stated onscreen until The Day of the Doctor, it first featured in a '70s book by Doctor Who legends Terrance Dicks and Malcolm Hulke called The Making Of Doctor Who.
The book features this description of the Doctor, one that would define the character for decades to come:
"The Doctor believes in good and fights evil. Though often caught up in violent situations, he is a man of peace. He is never cruel or cowardly."
It would take another 40 years for this description to be mentioned onscreen, but it comes at exactly the right moment, when the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors join forces to avert the War Doctor's Gallifreyan genocide.