Doctor Who: 9 Things You Never Knew The Ninth Doctor Did
4. He Drove Himself And Rose Crazy
WHAT: Over the course of his life, the Doctor and his companions have faced many psychic attacks and bested and been bested by them. Seriously. The Doctor has been mind-controlled countless times. The Seventh Doctor audio 'Red' is a great example, if only to hear Sylvester McCoy growl "Red" in his Scottish brogue. His companions, on the other hand, more often than not fall under mind control, psychic control, magic spells and whatever you can imagine. Take the Fifth Doctor, for example. All his companions were susceptible and were taken over by every monster under the sun - the Mara, the Master, and so on - and they all subsequently tried to kill the Doctor, too. Leela, Adric, Tegan, Ace, Charley... These are just a few of the companions who were beaten by psychic attacks. Therefore, in continuing the proud tradition, it only seems fair that the Ninth Doctor and Rose also take on an alien entity in a battle of the mind. And lose. HOW: The Doctor and Rose arrive on a cruise ship belonging to a 145 year old billionaire, which also happens to be on Mars, in the future, and also in an air bubble. Something seems to be killing those on board, including all the billionaire's ex-wives, and Team TARDIS discovers that there is an entity below the waves, something of the planet itself who seeks revenge for the billionaire terraforming the entire planet and modifying the elements for his own wealth. It takes over the Doctor and uses his body to kill the other passengers. It then absorbs the survivors' minds in reflective surfaces to therefore 'live'. Rose gets to experience the horrifying possibility of an alternate future where the Doctor returns to her much later. Mickey has left her and her baby and when the Doctor comes back, he is a much colder Doctor, so afraid of being alone that he steals her baby and raises her as his new companion. She rejects that future, breaks through to the Doctor trapped in his own mind and together, with his help and the TARDIS, exorcises the entity. SO: This comic strip, The Cruel Sea, provides a fantastic insight into the life of Rose and tells of her impact upon the Doctor - mellowing him, helping him care about the human race again, caring for him - as well as the repercussions of her life and his own if she did not. It also shows that while the Doctor may not be so psychically powerful as his earlier incarnations. He is a schemer like his seventh, able to lure the entity into the TARDIS while still giving him the usual warning. The story speaks about one's identity and how easily it might be subsumed by someone or something else. Just like the Doctor, though, it can also be saved by someone who cares for you.
