Doctor Who: 10 Wise Things We Learnt From Tom Baker's Doctor

3. Genocide Isn't Cool

The Sixth Doctor destroyed the Vervoids and the Seventh annihilated Skaro but one of the most important things that the Fourth Doctor taught us was, even if it was easy to do, destroying a whole race is not the way to go. Though the iconic 'Do I have the right?' speech was a late addition to help lead to a cliffhanger in Genesis of the Daleks, the Doctor's refusal to destroy his greatest foe before they were even born remains one of his most defining moments. Some may look on this as a moment of cowardice or complacency; the Fourth Doctor's pang of conscience meant the Daleks went on to enslave and destroy countless systems. The Seventh Doctor certainly considered it a failure and it may have inspired his actions with the Hand of Omega and the Nemesis. However, the Fourth Doctor was right. What is heroism if you do exactly what your enemy would do? It was surely remembering this example in The Day of the Doctor that led to the War Doctor, the Tenth and the Eleventh deciding on another way to end the Time War. The appearance of the Fourth - or a future version that returned to that face - was surely no coincidence but an endorsement of that choice.