Years ago, there was a dark time when Doctor Who was nowhere to be seen on the small screen. After an unsuccessful attempt to reboot the series in 1996 with the Eric Roberts co-starring Doctor Who TV movie on FOX, Russell T. Davies revived the series in 2005 as its showrunner with Christopher Eccleston coming aboard to play the 9th Doctor. Eccleston brought a perfect blend of sarcasm and humanity to the role, but he only hung around for a season and he isn’t likely to make a guest appearance anytime in the near future. While that sucks, at least we have these great 9th Doctor moments to re-live whenever we want to feel…
“Fantastic!”
Before “Allonsy!”, before “Geronimo!”, The Doctor took a liking to this particular catchphrase, which is probably the Ninth Doctor’s most iconic catchphrase.
“Nice to meet you, Rose. Now run for you life!”
The 2005 series begins on a wonderful, exciting new start with Rose Tyler and The Doctor running away from mannequins who have come to life in a very non-Kim Cattrall kind of way.
“Lots of planets have a north!”
In a brilliant moment, Rose Tyler questions why The Doctor would have a British accent if he’s really an alien and his answer can make you feel, at once, like you are a part of something bigger than your species and thoroughly unspecial.
“I give you air from my lungs.”
When The Doctor and Rose Tyler travel through billions of years to watch the end of the Earth, they embarrassingly show up empty-handed. Leave it to The Doctor to be incredibly resourceful in an effort to prevent committing a social faux pas.
“900 years of time and space, and I’ve never been slapped by someone’s mother.”
It was obvious to the audience, but now the Doctor knows too — there’s no one quite like Rose Tyler’s mother, Jackie.
“I know what you deserve… exterminate!”
With the Doctor’s greatest rival bound and helpless to stop him, he does not turn the other cheek. Not with the memories from the Time War still present.
“Have a fantastic life.”
Underneath all that sarcasm, The Doctor truly did care about his companions and that’s pretty evident in this emotional scene.
“Rose… before I go, I just wanna tell you, you were fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. And do you know what? So was I!”
The Tenth Doctor’s “I don’t want to go” cry before regeneration is more well known, but watching The Ninth Doctor say goodbye to Rose Tyler is equally affecting. Honest and sad with a little dash of humor — the perfect 9th Doctor send-off.
