Doctor Who: 10 Times The Doctor Lost
9. When Grace Died (And The TARDIS Was Lost)
The Thirteenth Doctor has only had a single season of adventures so far, but with another batch of episodes on the way, it's safe to assume she'll suffer plenty more defeats by the time she regenerates. For now though, the biggest loss she's felt came in her first full outing, 2018's The Woman Who Fell To Earth.
In quite a bold move for the show - the majority of post-regeneration episodes end on a more positive, happy-go-lucky note - Grace, one of the Doctor's friends, is killed off while trying to stop the monster of the week, and to add insult to injury, the Time Lady manages to misplace her TARDIS shortly after. Talk about a rough debut episode.
Grace wasn't a full-fledged companion, but her raw likability, her importance to Graham and Ryan, and her determination to lend a helping hand made her a fantastic character to watch, despite her limited screen time. As a result, her death made a big impact, and that impact reverberated throughout the season in the form of Graham and Ryan's mourning, and their struggle to connect without Grace to bring them together.
Like with Bill, some of the blame for Grace's death can be levelled at the Doctor, who, once again, brought easily-perishable humans into a dangerous battle. By the end of the episode, the Doctor is at a disadvantage in every sense of the word - emotionally battered, and lacking transport - a tough situation for even her to wriggle out of.