6. Joan Redfern
From one story of unrequited love to another. Joan Redfern (who was technically in two episodes, but it was one story, so it still counts!) fell in love with John Smith in Series 3's Human Nature/The Family of Blood and they would've lived happily ever after if he hadn't actually been a Time Lord masquerading as a human to escape the threat of an ensuing alien adversary. Only in Doctor Who, eh? Still, as Doctor Who couples go, these two really are the ones to beat. Jessica Hynes' poignant portrayal of this hapless nurse is enough to break your Whovian heart(s) into pieces as she realises that the love of her life isn't actually the man she thought he was after all. He's a completely different species, in fact, and the star crossed lovers are given a gut wrenching insight into 'what could've been' - which basically involves them getting married, having kids and spending the rest of their ordinary and boring and beautiful lives together - before our hero returns to his former glory and flitters off in the TARDIS leaving the foundations of Joan's life in tatters. It was a guilt the Tenth Doctor carried with him throughout the course of his subsequent travels, though, and he took time out of his impending regeneration to visit Joan's great-granddaughter, Verity Newman, who was finally able to lift his burden by revealing that Joan had been happy in the end. It was the closure he - and Joan - needed to the greatest love story that never was. Amen to that.
Dan Butler
Doctor Who Editor
Dan Butler is the Doctor Who Editor at WhatCulture.com. When he isn't writing his own articles or editing other people's, he can be found trawling the internet for gifs of Steven Moffat laughing. Contact him via dan.butler@whatculture.co.uk.
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