5 Doctor Who Moments That Made Me Squee!
Guest contributor Michael Conway celebrates the moments of sheer delight.
Doctor Who, since its revival 10 years ago, has been an emotional rollercoaster for its characters as well as the audience. Rarely have things gone entirely smoothly, good people die in victory, and wins are at a price, whether physical or mental, leaving the characters and audience with battle scars.
A number of times we’ve been teased with happy moments that go horribly wrong. For example at the end of The Stolen Earth, Ten and Rose are reunited and run together for their romantic coming together…then zap! Or at the end of The Angels Take Manhattan, Rory’s plan to reset time by jumping off Winter Quay works, Eleven is reunited with the Ponds… then zap! Paul McGann’s return in the brilliant The Night of the Doctor nearly made the list, but even that was tempered by the fact that it was his regeneration episode.
So, in this article I celebrate a few fleeting happy moments. They may be bits of fan service (and we all deserve a bit of that from time to time) or genuinely happy endings. Either way, these are 5 moments that made me Squee!
1. Everybody lives, Rose. Just this once, everybody lives!
Chris Eccleston’s Doctor had his happy moments, but he was a tortured soul as the first Doctor after the Time War. Thus for him (and us) this was a massively uplifting moment, a genuinely happy ending, everyone brought back to life, no lasting damage. That this happens so rarely makes this ending all the sweeter. Nine dancing with Rose wasn’t a bad moment for him either!
2. I’m the Impossible Girl. I was born to save the Doctor
I tuned into The Name of the Doctor expecting a resolution to the Impossible Girl mystery that was Series 7’s Arc, and this it did (to me) very well. But it was the pre-credit sequence that blew me away, Murray’s brilliant music accompanying a dizzying selection of Claras in appropriate dress saving all the Doctors from the start of the show. Relevant to the plot, and a brilliant way of honouring the 50 years of the show, topped by Clara actually talking to Hartnell’s Doctor later in the episode. Fan service at its best!
3. It’s all one title. Gallifrey Falls No More
At the end of The Day of the Doctor, after the War Doctor and Ten departed, Clara left Eleven alone to contemplate his painting. They’d done the right thing, but had no idea if it had worked. Then a familiar voice boomed out in the background… it’s Tom Baker!
Not only was this moment wonderful (squeeful?) for the return of the iconic Classic Doctor actor, but also for the news he brought: that Gallifrey was safe. And hence the episode finished with that lovely shot of the 12 Doctors gazing out at Gallifrey, home the long way round, and Matt pulling that rather weird face!
4. We’re going to fly Planet Earth back home
The scene in Journey’s End where Ten and all his friends tow Earth back to its correct place is one over which I which I’ve done a complete 360 degree turn over the years.
When I first watched it in 2009, I enjoyed it, and the TARDIS full of more or less everyone associated with Ten was a fun idea. Then, over a period of time I changed my mind, and considered the idea ridiculous and the concept of bringing everyone together in the TARDIS self-indulgent fan service of the sort best left to fan fiction.
Watching it again recently though, I did another u-turn! Yes, the plot still has massive holes in it, and bringing everyone back is self-indulgent fan service, but hey what’s the problem with that! It’s not something I’d want to see very often, but after the last of the 4 series that RTD and his team would produce before the specials completed his era, he and we probably earned the right for a celebration of that era, and not only Doctor Who, but also its spin off shows and their characters. Of course the episode ended sadly, but that doesn’t take away the celebratory nature of everyone coming together for one last time.
As ever, Murray’s music adds to the celebratory feel as the Earth is towed back into place. Thankfully Jackie wasn’t allowed to touch anything or else it could have gone horribly wrong!
5. Merry Christmas, Doctor. Merry Christmas, Clara Oswald
The last two episodes (Death in Heaven and Last Christmas) have been a stressful time for us Clara lovers, as the show and Jenna had cleverly not revealed whether she was staying on or not, which really heightened the tension. Thus when Twelve finally escaped the Dream Crabs to rescue Clara, and found her 62 years older, it did seem that this was the sad end of their adventures together. Through the dreams they’d finally told the truth to each other, and as elderly Clara revealed the life she’d had without him, a life in which no other man would match him, in his own unemotional way, he was clearly devastated.
I’m sorry. I was stupid. I should have come back earlier. I wish that I had.
But what’s this?
Do you, Doctor? How much do you wish that?
The music soars (yes the famous deleted vocals) as Twelve and Clara (and us) realise they are still dreaming, once again we see Twelve escaping the Dream Crab, but this time when he says “Clara” it’s with a smile. It’s the second chance he thought he’d never get.
We see’s Twelve’s desperation to get Clara back in those final moments, and the elation shown by him and Clara as they are properly reunited. What makes this the ultimate Squee moment for me, is that apart from my jubilation (and by god I was ecstatic after the episode!), it’s the sheer joy shown by the two characters on screen as Murray glorious music soars, and they elope together to the TARDIS. Rarely do episodes finish on such a positive and happy note. Merry Christmas, Santa!
These are my choices, which I’ve restricted to the revived series, but what moments have given you the most joy?
