The formula of Doctor Who usually involves the Doctor and companion landing in an unknown environment and dealing with whatever alien matters that behold them. Stories where the Doctor faces their conflicts alone are a rarity and have created some of the very best Doctor Who stories. It puts the Doctor in a hostile and vulnerable position where they are alone and have nobody to impress and be a hero to. It creates distinctive stories which stretch the Doctor as a character and strip away their outward perception, to reveal the nature of the hero underneath in some of the most satisfying stories. Let's delve in.
It is worth acknowledging that there are a number of Doctor Who stories where the Doctor doesn’t have a regular incumbent companion. Across the David Tennant era especially, there are a few stories where somebody is slotted in as a single-story companion. These stories can still delve into the loneliness, solitude and darkness of the Doctor, but they don’t tackle the idea of what the Doctor is like when they are alone in quite the same way.
The Doctor is in some ways a very arrogant character. It’s a shortcoming and flaw which has defined the character across multiple incarnations. It's partly why the Doctor takes a companion with them because they like having someone they can share the universe with. The Doctor likes to have someone they can impress and be a hero to. The Doctor’s dominating authority, control and recklessness, along with their silliness and witty humour are often dependent on having a companion by their side. Their personality and actions are defined by their relationship with their companion, who they are actively impressing and saving the universe in front of, and without a companion you can reveal more about the Doctor.
The Deadly Assassin written by Robert Holmes during the early Tom Baker era is the first Doctor Who story which does not feature a companion, following Sarah Jane’s departure. It made sense not to replace Sarah Jane right away, given Elisabeth Sladen’s popularity. A story without Sarah Jane and having the Doctor on his own gave the audience the chance to mourn her and adjust to the idea of watching the show with her absence. The Deadly Assassin focuses in on a centre point of the Doctor’s life and origins with Gallifrey and the Time Lords. It's very much a return to the Doctor’s roots, which is very appropriate for a time when the Doctor is alone. Exploring the origins and motivations of the Doctor and their relationship with the Time Lords is very interesting and gives us a whole different perception of the Doctor. As time went on, this would result in lessening the Doctor’s mystery, but with the crafting and genius of Robert Holmes, things are perfectly balanced. You get an idea of the Time Lord’s elitist, patronising and uncaring manner and can understand how it conflicts with the Doctor’s values as a person. The Doctor was clearly part of a system that is morally corrupt as the Time Lords care much more about their self-image of maintaining their power than the reality of the situation. The Doctor’s rebelliousness and sense of care does not fit with who the Time Lords are. You get glimpses into the conflicting relationship between the Doctor and the Time Lords, with the past history between Borusa and the Doctor you can imagine why the Doctor chose to leave Gallifrey. It helps to view things from an alternative point of view, and without a companion you can be entirely absorbed within this perspective.
There is a brilliance to the way the Deadly Assassin is crafted as a political thriller and courtroom drama but with Gallifrian mythology and science fiction mixed in. Throughout the Deadly Assassin, the Doctor becomes a target. Lacking a companion he has no one to help or support him, leaving him more vulnerable and in greater danger. In the environment he is placed in, the Doctor is viewed as a renegade and a criminal rather than a hero and becomes a natural scapegoat for the Master for the death of the outgoing president. There is urgency and personal stakes which lie upon the Doctor which brings more vulnerability and urgency to Tom Baker’s performance in the role. The Doctor is reliant on purely his skills and intelligence as he is on the back foot with no resources at his disposal.
I really love the sequences with the Doctor inside the Matrix, as the Fourth Doctor is put against some deadly and very scary menaces and dangers and you get a sense of survival against all odds. The Doctor has nothing but his own instinct and wits when going up against Goth, and everything the Matrix throws at him. This aspect of the story surrounds Tom Baker’s raw performance and his own sense of purpose. The story strips away the main aspects of the Fourth Doctor and puts him in a place of hostility and vulnerability which lets us see how he copes in harsh circumstances, showing his heroism. There is a graveness to the Fourth Doctor in his conflict with the Master. Their rivalry has come to a head and is given a proper sense of importance. It feels isolated and driven, which defines the story. The Deadly Assassin tells us who the Fourth Doctor is by the harsh circumstances it puts them through.
The reason this experiment worked so well is that it contrasts what had previously been done with the Fourth Doctor and also builds on its successes. The Fourth Doctor had become defined by the personality Tom Baker had given him and the silliness, humour and alien nature of the character which had become iconic. The true genius of the Phillip Hinchcliffe era was the ability to give the Doctor’s alien identity a sense of layers. The Doctor is a very lonely character, and it takes stressful and dangerous situations to bring out the Doctor’s sense of care and values which are hidden beneath the alien personality and silliness. We had seen this previously in stories like Genesis of the Daleks, the Pyramids of Mars and the Seeds of Doom. Without the companion you get the rawness and truth of Tom Baker’s Doctor in the Deadly Assassin putting him at his best.
Russell T Davies revisited this kind of idea with Midnight in 2008, which similarly is one of the best Tenth Doctor stories. Catherine Tate as Donna Noble does feature within the story, but she’s removed from the main chunk of the episode as the Doctor adventures alone. Midnight is a very concept driven episode which homes in on a very disturbing idea. It takes a very familiar sort of story and manages to push the boundaries and expectations of Doctor Who in an extraordinary way. The story exposes the darker and selfish side to humanity under irrational fear. With threatening circumstances, people are willing to turn to evil resorts and do truly horrifying things for their own survival, and it can bring out people’s disturbing nature and beliefs.
The idea of a creature constantly repeating every word you say is a familiar idea but incredibly disturbing and alien. Its unknown nature creates a captivating mystery. It makes us question ourselves and how we would react in this situation and how we would be influenced. The mystery, unknown and lack of answers about the creature in question is part of what drives the fear and evil in these people and it's tackled in a very believable manner. The story also brings out some of the very best in David Tennant’s Doctor. The Tenth Doctor is my favourite out of all incarnations because of the amount of emotional range David Tennant showed and the variety of places his character was taken. Seeing the Tenth Doctor on his own without a companion presented his Doctor in a different light where he was pushed to the limit. The specific scenario challenges and subverts the natural status quo of Doctor Who. Usually, the Doctor comes in and effortlessly takes control, saves the day and is admired for it. A lot of it is by the merit of the fact that the Doctor has a companion by his side who trusts him and will back him up. Without that defence, the Doctor struggles to have a handle on the situation or to win the trust of those around him when he is vulnerable and in an unknown, highly dangerous and unpredictable scenario.
The flaws of the Tenth Doctor with his arrogance and vanity are well laid across the era, but Midnight bravely uses those flaws against his Doctor as they become his ultimate failing. The intelligence and presence of the Doctor is what usually allows the Doctor to take control and the reason everyone often listens to him and respects his authority. However, in Midnight the tables get turned and you have the very principles of Doctor Who questioned. Why should these people trust the Doctor? What has he done to earn that authority or their trust? You’ve got a very secretive lone adventurer who won’t even tell people his name and seems to delight in danger. You can understand why these people would mistrust the Doctor and why under dangerous circumstances they would turn against him. This flip creates a very interesting situation for David Tennant’s Doctor with him constantly having to justify himself and David Tennant plays it brilliantly with a lot of fear. The Tenth Doctor, haunted by the shame of the Time War, is constantly trying to be a hero, but in Midnight, his motivations are put to the test.
The Doctor, as always, is fascinated with the universe and is very intrigued about this creature that has taken over Sky. I love the acting between David Tennant and Lesley Sharpe, with the eeriness and horror of her performance and the fascination of the Doctor and his delight in trouble. The Doctor’s scientific curiosity in the end haunts him as he ends up being drained by the creature and their malevolent evil. You get true peril and pain from David Tennant’s performance in his rigid and trapped state. The Doctor feels truly alone and helpless with nobody to save him. The Doctor across the story has his strengths and weaknesses turned against him with his intelligence, curiosity, arrogance and vanity. The Doctor is also opened up to the darker and crueller sides of humanity as he is reminded of what people are capable of when their lives are under threat. It brings great emotional vulnerability to David Tennant’s Doctor and puts him through true trauma. The isolated nature of the Doctor is what puts him under threat from the people around him as he is stripped of his usual dominance and control.
It was in Series 9 where we saw the true potential of this kind of storyline with Heaven Sent, a story which solely features Peter Capaldi with the Doctor hidden inside a deadly castle. You see, the aftermath of Clara’s death and the impact on the Doctor. Similar to the Deadly Assassin, this story explores the Doctor's journey as he navigates the challenges of being alone without a companion. However, in this case, the story is much more centred around the Doctor’s loss and grief over his companion and his denial and acceptance; It's about his guilt and loss of identity without Clara. Heaven Sent is incredibly experimental and a rather exciting and special story. It’s a very personal and emotional tale, but incredibly well-crafted and neatly plotted by Steven Moffat. You have the essential mystery, adventure and spookiness of what defines a traditional Doctor Who story. The nature of the whole thing surrounding the Doctor with no companion and no guest characters is unique. It surrounds Peter Capaldi and his layered grief and exceptional performance. It took an incredibly gifted actor to be able to pull the story together and get the script to succeed, and luckily it was in the hands of a fantastic Doctor. It's bold and a very big swing, and luckily in this case the big risk paid off.
The confined setting of the story grounds the episode in something eerie and suspenseful, with well plotted mysterious storytelling. The whole story is emotionally and thematically linked and leading towards the endpoint in a very clever way, with questions which get cleverly explained in a way that makes you feel for the Doctor. The Veil is a terrifying threat which pushes the scares and horror of the story, and keeps things distinctly Doctor Who.
The idea of a veiled creature constantly lingering after the Doctor, while he tries to solve the puzzle of the fortress he is trapped in, has a defined horror and menace to it. I love the way this links back to a fear and an image in the Doctor’s childhood. It homes in on the Doctor’s roots and identity whilst still leaving the nature of their origins very ambiguous. The whole story is centred around the Doctor’s fears and secrets that he keeps under the surface. It's difficult to tell an emotionally sincere story about who someone is without detailing it. Heaven Sent manages to be both emotionally gratifying and mysterious. It feels like the story distils and gets to the essence of the roots of who the Doctor is as a character without detailing their past. The fortress is a torture chamber designed to terrify the Doctor which is very cleverly portrayed. It focuses inwardly on the Doctor’s guilt for what has happened to Clara and his shame related to his past. You don’t know the secrets, the pain and the danger he holds but you know holding onto that is important to him. The idea of putting the Doctor into a compromising situation where he is forced to share the truth is a challenging and emotionally vulnerable place for the Doctor. The idea that the Doctor can only stop the creature through confession, and can only progress by showing emotional vulnerability and truth is a distinctive and very clever idea for a character like the Doctor. It displays the Doctor’s mystery and helps question their heroics and true worth with what they are hiding whilst at the same time putting them in the middle of a painful and sympathetic position.
The story examines the truth of the Doctor’s motivations in why he always needs answers and needs to win, and where his pursuit and unwillingness to give in comes from in a believable and human way. You cleverly question why the Doctor always feels the need to overcome the obstacles in his way when giving in is a valid option. The Doctor is displayed as a man who is trying to live up to an ideal and an idea, and he feels guilt over Clara’s death who died trying to be like him. He clearly feels he is not worthy of that love, constantly trying to live up to the idea of the Doctor himself.
There is a catharsis to the way the story displays, the way the Doctor copes with grief and the stages of it. We see the Doctor’s denial in still trying to show his cleverness and show off and act like Clara is by his side whilst figuring out the mystery. There is a haunting emotion to how Clara plagues the Doctor across the story. Her image and the guilt over her surround him as he comes to terms with his actions and failure. There is something incredibly relatable about the way the Doctor always sees Clara by his side and the commentary on grief and dealing with it. It’s something that everyone can connect with and fits with so many people’s lives and experiences. The hardship, repetitive and harrowing pain of the Doctor punching through a diamond wall for thousands of years is incredibly tragic and brings out something very raw and real from Peter Capaldi.
The purpose of a companionless story is to examine who the Doctor really is. Heaven Sent understands that the Doctor defines themselves by their companion in who they strive to be. The Doctor’s denial, struggle with grief and challenges grappling with their past, tells us something important about who the Doctor is. It brings something poignant for the Doctor as a character which is unique.
Each of these three stories shows the value and the specialty that can come from focused stories which simply centre around the Doctor. They can bring a darkness and vulnerability to the character, and show a flawed and dangerous side to their personality which is interesting to uncover. They bring out the best in the Doctor as a character and push the actor playing them to new limits. It's fascinating to perceive who the Doctor becomes without a human presence by their side and what they are really motivated by. They are unique stories that challenge the status quo of Doctor Who and tell inspired stories. Heaven Sent certainly showed this distinctly by getting to the roots of the Doctor as a person.
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