Sonic screwdriver to the heart: A day like this

I have genuinely thought Dr Who was the best TV show in the entire universe since I was 4-years-old, and that's unlikely to change now. Because you can do any kind of story in Dr Who, and because it values empathy and intellect over brutality and selfishness, and because the Doctor is never cruel or cowardly, and for a million other reasons.

But when it came back in 2005, I didn't expect to get so emotional about it all. But there I was, watching The Doctor Dances, and the big man finally realises what is going on in bombed-out London, and he gets his moment, and it's so well earned:



And no lie, I bawled my goddamn eyes out.

This wasn't just good TV, this was great television, and incredibly moving. Doctor Who has always been something to do with death, but every now and then, nobody has to die. In the middle of a bombed-out London, in the midst of the biggest carnage the world has ever seen, just this once, everybody lives.

Sure, there was that bit in the Ribos Operation where Binro finds out he was right about the stars after all, and I was properly traumatised by Adric blowing up at the end of Earthshock (especially the lack of music and his broken maths medal over the end credits).

But this new series was something new. This is what sold me on the new series. It wasn't the incredible production values, or the irony, or the deadset cleverness. It was this new depth of writing and feeling, and sometimes the show would have moments where it could be horribly cheesy and gut-wrenching at the same time, and it was a glorious feeling.

This is when I first felt it. It wouldn't be the last time.