Doctor Who Series 10: 7 Big Questions After 'Knock Knock'
4. When Was The Last Time Doctor Who Made Us Cry?
Over the years there haven’t been all that many genuinely affective moments in Doctor Who. It’s just not that kind of show and so when they do happen they tend to hit us for six and live long in the memory. Particularly under Steven Moffat’s watch, where death is almost never final we’ve rarely needed to watch with a hanky by our side.
Forget students being turned
into walls, David Suchet performed the biggest transformation of all in his
emotional journey from the controlling landlord to the boy who just couldn’t
let go of his Mother. His performance was deeply moving and turned an otherwise
routine episode into something truly magical.
Most would agree that Russell T Davies was the true expert when it came to tugging at the viewers’ heartstrings, with Rose and Donna’s departures reducing many of us to tears. The wall scene in Doomsday is often voted as one of the most heartbreaking, and the Doctor not quite being able to say ‘I love you’ before leaving Rose’s parallel universe isn’t far behind. But is it really fair to say that Moffat has presided over a less character driven approach?
Few would not have been moved when Vincent Van Gogh saw his paintings on display at the Musée d'Orsay, or when the show went all Railway Children on us with Reg Arwell coming home to Cyril, Lily and Madge. More recently River Song’s final scene with the Twelfth Doctor, looking across at The Singing Towers and knowing that this would be their last night together, brought a fittingly emotional conclusion to their story.