Doctor Who/Heartwarming

Classic series

First Doctor Era

• The Doctor and Barbara's reconciliation in "The Edge of Destruction."
• The Doctor's inability to leave Cameca's seal behind at the end of "The Aztecs".
• The ending from The Dalek Invasion of Earth. The Doctor decides to leave his granddaughter Susan behind so she can marry a nice young resistance fighter and have some stability in her life.

The Doctor: One day I shall come back. Yes, I shall come back. Until then, there must be no regrets, no tears, no anxieties. Just go forward in all your beliefs, and prove to me that I am not mistaken in mine. Goodbye, Susan.

• The end of The Web Planet from the classic series. After five episodes of torment and tension from the threat of the psychic superpower Animus, the Zarbi, who had been mind controlled, are at peace with the heroes (Barbara even pets a Zarbi larva) and the Optera, who had been living in constant pain underground, playfully prance around in the daylight. When they leave, the Menoptra deliver a "they shall be remembered" speech on par with the Ood examples of the new series.

"Their deeds shall be sung in the temples of light. Viktos shall remind us of the time as it circles Vortis. Every time it points to the needle of the kings, as it does now, we shall weep songs to praise the Gods of light, and thank them that they sent the Earth people to save us from the Animus."

• • Eat your heart out, Ood Sigma.
• The last episode of "The Chase": Ian and Barbara use a Barbara use a Dalek time machine to return home, followed by a picture montage of them lollygagging around London, complete with Ian freaking out upon seeing a police box then finding out it's a real one. Of course, we then see the Doctor quite sullen at having his first voluntarily leaving companions, so it moves over into Tear Jerker territory.

Second Doctor Era

• The humanised Daleks in "The Evil of the Daleks". Thought the salt shaker monstrosities could never, ever be cute? Think again.

The Doctor: Jamie! They're taking me for a ride! They're playing a game!

• • In the same serial, Jamie calls out the Doctor for manipulating him to use in his plan against the Daleks. It's the first real argument the pair have. Their reconciliation, as well as the Doctor's explanation of his actions, definitely deserves a place here.

Jamie: You don't give that much for a living soul except yourself!
The Doctor: I care about life. I care about human beings. Do you think I let you go through that Dalek test lightly?
Jamie: I don't know....(softens) Did you?

• And of course the Doctor's speech to Victoria in Tomb of the Cybermen, comforting her over her recently deceased father.

Victoria: You probably can't remember your family.
The Doctor: Oh yes, I can when I want to. And that's the point, really. I have to really want to, to bring them back in front of my eyes. The rest of the time they... they sleep in my mind and I forget. And so will you. Oh yes, you will. You'll find there's so much else to think about. To remember. Our lives are different to anybody else's. That's the exciting thing, that nobody in the universe can do what we're doing.

Third Doctor Era

• "Hello. Are you a Silurian?"
• In The Time Monster, the Doctor opens up to Jo about a dark day in his childhood and how a wise hermit helped him to see the beauty in life again.

The Doctor: It was the daisiest daisy I'd ever seen.

• The Third Doctor's regeneration, a major shift from the Tear Jerker Two got, but especially his final line:

A tear, Sarah Jane? No, don't cry. While there's life, there's...hope.

Fourth Doctor Era

• Sarah's acceptance of the jelly baby at the end of "Robot". Heck, the final scene of "Robot" altogether!
• "Genesis of the Daleks" manages a few - Harry's absolute refusal to leave the Doctor after he's stood on a landmine, the Doctor hugging Sarah and Harry when they are reunited, and even the final shot of the three friends drifting off together at last. Not to mention the "big one", of course, which serves as the ultimate proof of the Doctor's nigh limitless compassion.

The Doctor: Could you then kill that child?

• In "The Hand of Fear", when Sarah Jane refuses to be left behind when the Doctor goes to confront Eldrad, first saying that she worries about him, and then listing all the reasons why she deserves to be involved.

The Doctor: Yes, but...
Sarah Jane: Oh, but what?
The Doctor: I worry about you.

• Leela, after having continually given bad suggestions and proven her technological ineptitude over the course of "Horror of Fang Rock", gives the Doctor the idea to take out the Rutan mothership by turning the lighthouse light into a laser beam. The way her face lights up when the Doctor tells her it's a good idea is wonderful.
• The beginning of "The Ribos Operation", as the Doctor tells K9 they're going on vacation. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?" "Affirmative! Affirmative! Affirmative!" Pretty much the only time we see K9 get excited about anything; the Doctor even has to calm him down!
  • That same serial contains one of the most quietly powerful scenes in Doctor Who history:

Unstoffe: One day, even here, in the future, men will turn to each other and say "Binro was right."

• The end of "The Armageddon Factor":

Romana: Doctor, no. Don't give into him; it doesn't matter what happens to me.
Doctor: Well, of course it matters!!

• The E-Space Trilogy and season 18 in general has a much more subdued Tom Baker, resulting in many beautiful moments—especially with Romana.
  • "State of Decay"

The Doctor: What time vehicles?
Romana: Oh, I don't know, I forget. Type 40. I think.
The Doctor: Psst! The TARDIS is a Type 40.
Romana: Is it? Oh.
The Doctor: Yes. (Pause) Psst! You are wonderful.
Romana: Me? Wonderful? (The Doctor nods.) I suppose I am. I never really thought about it.

• • "Warriors' Gate" (after Romana's departure)

Adric: Will Romana be all right?
The Doctor: All right? She'll be superb.

• Early on in "The Keeper of Traken," Adric and Nyssa meet for the first time, and smile at each other.
  • Likewise in "Logopolis," when Adric hears Nyssa calling his name off in the distance and runs to her. Her reappearance in this scene is completely unexpected and, even though Adric isn't always the most upbeat of companions, he just looks so damn happy...
  • During the Fourth Doctor's death, he first has visions of his enemies... then all of his companions and friends who've helped him.

Fifth Doctor Era

• The seminal Doctor Who special "The Five Doctors", wherein the first Doctor sees his following selves and remarks "It's reassuring to know my future is in safe hands." This troper didn't know whether to cry or cheer.
• Turlough's leaving comment to Peri is a CMOH in itself - "Look after him. He gets into terrible trouble." (This from Turlough, who only joined the TARDIS to kill the Doctor.)
• At the end of "The King's Demons" the Doctor, observing Tegan's misery, sets the coordinates for Earth. "You don't have to pretend. It's a shame, of course..." and he talks on through Tegan's protests. The many wonders he'd wanted to show her. ("You still can!") The Eye of Orion... but she wants to return home. ("No I don't!" "You don't?") They sort it out and he agrees to show her the Eye of Orion. As he turns away, Tegan asks if he's not going to reset the coordinates.

The Doctor: No -- that's where we're going.

And he gives a rare, genuine, gaps-between-the-teeth smile and walks off.

Sixth Doctor Era

• There's a little bit in "The Mark of the Rani" that makes this troper want to see it all over again. The Doctor has just disappeared in the Rani's TARDIS and Peri is sulking outside by a coal mine shaft. He rattles a chain and grins at her, and this follows:

Peri: I could have been stuck in the 1800s forever!
The Doctor: Did you really believe I'd abandon you?

• There's this moment in the same serial (paraphrased):

The Rani: [Peri] isn't important.
The Doctor: She is to me!

• • Made all the better when you've seen the New Series and a similar exchange happens between the Doctor and Rory.
• A particularly bittersweet example occurs between the Sixth Doctor and Peri in the story "The Mysterious Planet" when the Doctor tries to console Peri upon their learning that the ruined planet Ravalox is actually a far-future Earth:

"Planets come and go. Stars perish. Matter disperses, coalesces, forms into other patterns, other worlds. Nothing can be eternal."

• • Heartwarming because the Doctor's attempt to comfort her shows how the relationship between the two has warmed since the sniping and bickering of the previous season; bittersweet because although he can see she's upset and genuinely wants to make her feel better, he's still too alien to fully understand how.

Seventh Doctor Era

• When the Kangs, Rezzies, and Caretakers all band together in "Paradise Towers". Also, Pex's funeral, which all survivors attend.
• In "Battlefield," the Seventh Doctor finds Ace after Morgaine and her Destroyer threaten her for Excalibur.

The Doctor: Where's Excalibur?
Shou Yuing: There was this woman with a pet demon. She seemed to want it very badly...so we gave it to her.
The Doctor: Good.
Ace: But it wasn't her fault, it--What do you mean "good"?
The Doctor: Exotic alien swords are easy to come by. Aces are rare.

• The Doctor repeating the names of his companions to create a barrier of faith against the Haemovores in "The Curse of Fenric", even though it's so inaudible that most fans have to have it explained to them.
  • This scene is especially powerful when you realize exactly what that entails. Other characters in this serial use their faith in things like goodness or justice to hold off the Haemovores, and it just barely stops them advancing. The Doctor thinks about his companions, and the Haemovores actually become frightened and back off. Think about that for a minute. This is the guy who travels all across time and space fighting for truth and justice and the greater good, and yet when he's faced with a situation where having absolute faith in something is the only way to survive, instead of choosing to think of any of those things mentioned, he thinks of his companions. He has more faith in them than in any other thing in the universe.
• The final scene of "Survival", the last broadcast story of the classic series:

"There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, and the sea's asleep, and the rivers dream; people made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, somewhere else the tea's getting cold. Come on, Ace. We've got work to do!"

• • But what really gets this troper is the scene just before, when Ace - believing that the Doctor is dead - is slumped sadly on the ground, wearing his hat and holding his beloved umbrella. The Doctor merely walks up behind her, gently plucks the hat from her head and murmurs "Mine, I believe." The sheer look of relief and joy on Ace's face hits right in the heart.
  • What really gets this troper is Ace standing up directly after that and saying "Let's go home". By which she means the TARDIS, even though the pair arrived back at her home at the start of the serial. After her wretched childhood and after getting lost half-way across the universe, Ace finally feels at home.

Eighth Doctor Era

• From the 1996 film:

The Doctor: Grace, don't you see? I have thirteen lives.
Grace: Please! Okay, you're trying to tell me you've come back from the dead.
The Doctor: Yes.
Grace: No, sorry. The dead stay dead. You can't turn back time.
The Doctor: Yes, you can.
Grace: I'm not a child; don't talk to me like I'm a child. Only children believe that crap. I am a doctor!
The Doctor: But it was a childish dream that made you a doctor. You dreamed you could hold back death. Isn't that true?
[Grace looks back at the Doctor for a moment, astonished and then begins to walk away]
The Doctor: Don't be sad, Grace. You'll do great things.

New series

Ninth Doctor Era

• Something of a meta-example in "The End of the World." After Rose sees Lady Cassandra, a woman who has had so much vanity-induced plastic surgery she's literally just a piece of skin stretched over a frame (Rose calls her a "bitchy trampoline.") Cassandra recommends a few procedures for Rose. Rose understandably says she'd rather die, and begins to tear into Cassandra, saying she's never want to become something like her. The Heartwarming comes into play when you realize that Billie Piper suffered from low body image and horrible eating disorders in her teenage years. Knowing that, the scene turns into Piper, as Rose, defiantly putting that awful part of her life behind her.
• The end of "The Unquiet Dead", when Charles Dickens, in a moment of self-doubting vulnerability, asks the Doctor whether his books will still be read in the future:

The Doctor: Oh, yes!
Charles Dickens: For how long?
The Doctor: Forever!

• There's also the moment in "World War Three" when the Ninth Doctor is beginning to relate his plan to Jackie and Mickey over the phone, and then he stops and looks up at Rose and says, "I could save the world, but lose you." That moment makes this troper want to give a great big bear hug to the closest person in the room.
  • "Stop worrying. I'll see you in ten seconds' time."
• Everything in Dalek, when it's not being a Tear Jerker or Nightmare Fuel.

"What use are emotions if you will not save the woman you love?"

• Father's Day is just full of these things. Tear Jerker of an episode, really. But Rose telling Pete he was a wonderful father, and then Pete's decision at the end are right up there.
• The ending of The Doctor Dances: "Just this once, Rose. Everybody Lives!" This is the first time in the series since the Fifth Doctor that there hasn't been a single fatality, death being a constant element of Doctor Who. Seeing the Doctor's ecstatic reaction brings home how painful all those deaths have been for him. This also manages to be a Moment Of Awesome.
  • Particularly effective since the episode is set during WWII, a period not traditionally associated with happy endings.
    • Also particularly effective since that episode (and the first half of the two-parter, "The Empty Child") contained a fairly good amount of High Octane Nightmare Fuel in the form of just how the gas masks end up on those peoples' faces.
  • "Yes. I am your mummy."
  • Another good one in The Doctor Dances; Rose bends the rules a bit and assures Nancy that, even as bad as things are right now, the good guys will win in the end.
    • Also at the very very end, when the normally dour Nine is dancing up a storm and grinning like a total goofball.
      • "Close the door!"

"What?" "Well, your ship's about to blow up, there's bound to be a draft!"

• "Have a good life. Do that for me, Rose. Have a fantastic life." "I'm burning up a sun just to say goodbye." "I'm not having you disappear. If that rings - when that rings you better come running, got it?" "Did I ever tell you that I stole it? Well, I borrowed it; I was always gonna take it back. Oh, that box. Amy, you'll dream about that box." Every Doctor Who season finale since the revival has both warmed and broken many hearts.
  • "Rose, before I go, I just want to say... you were fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. And d'you know what? So was I!" Oh, Doctor Nine, we hardly knew ye...
    • Don't forget the bit where Jack kisses Rose and the Doctor goodbye. Oh, Jack...
    • Watching that scene in retrospect knowing everything that happens from then on, makes it both more heartwarming and even more of a Tear Jerker.

"Wish I'd never met you, Doctor. I was much better off as a coward."

AND

"Rose? You are worth fighting for."

Tenth Doctor Era

• Everytime the Tenth Doctor sweet talks somebody (for example, the crazy architect in The Shakespeare Code, the kittens in Gridlock, and just about anybody vulnerable, cute, or freaked out) it gives me major warm fuzzies.
• The Christmas Invasion. What was earlier portrayed as a Crowning Moment Of Funny turns into one of these when they're about half an hour away from all out invasion, the Doctor is unconscious and completely out of it, and Jackie is just sitting with him, in a stark contrast to their usual relationship, trying to get him to tell them what's wrong with him and how they can help. She calls him sweetheart. And falls asleep besides him.
• In New Earth: the healing of the masses ran on total nonsenselium, but when one of the recently cured, (and to be honest, not "all there") new humans -part of a subspecies which has spent their entire lives being used as lab rats for every disease known to mankind, fed through tubes, and have never even been touched- reaches out to the Doctor for a hug, and he obliges immediately... Cue the awws.
• The ending to "School Reunion":

Sarah Jane Smith: Say it, just this once.
The Doctor: Goodbye...my Sarah Jane! [big hug]

• • For this troper, this moment is also a Tear Jerker.
  • The ending is even more so, now with the real-life death of Lis Sladen.
    • From the same episode with a different old companion:

The Doctor: [sadly] Goodbye, old friend..
K-9: Goodbye Master.
The Doctor: [affectionately stroking K-9's "snout"] You're a good dog.
K-9: [wagging his "tail"] Affirmative!

• • Ten's face when he meets Sarah Jane. Just... his face. His unqualified, undisguised joy at seeing his beloved Sarah again is simply heart-melting.
• The Tenth Doctor's "I believe in her" speech said straight to the Devil himself as he knocks the Impossible Planet from orbit.
• Earlier in "The Impossible Planet", the Doctor has an adorable Humans Are Special moment with the acting Captain who is deeply in need of some reassurance.
  • And right at the end, possibly overlapping with Tear Jerker for some, the captain starts listing the dead. And we hear as he begins 'Also, Ood 1 Alpha 1'. After all the stuff about slave races and everything the series ever said about the badness of humans, the captain takes the time to list every Ood, saying they died with honours.
• Rose kissing the Doctor through his helmet visor before he goes into the Impossible Planet's core. Heck, pretty much every Doctor/Rose scene in that episode.
• The scene in "Doomsday" where Jackie and Alternate Pete run into each other. First there's an awkward moment where they contemplate that the other is not 'their' Pete or Jackie; then they decide they just don't care and hug each other. Awwwww...
• The "Daily Contemplation" scene in "Gridlock" always gets this troper.
  • For this troper, it's the bit at the end, where the Doctor is describing Gallifrey to Martha. Same effect in "The Sound of Drums", when we get to actually see it.
    • Not hurt at all by the absolutely gorgeous music that plays in both scenes (titled "This Is Gallifrey: Our Childhood, Our Home", for the curious).
• The ending of Evolution of the Daleks, when Laszlo's dying:

Tallulah: Doctor, can't you do somethin'?
The Doctor: Oh, Tallulah with three Ls and an H... just you watch me. What do I need? Oh, I don't know, how about a great big genetic laboratory? Oh look, I've got one. Laszlo, just you hold on. There've been too many deaths today. Way too many people have died. Brand new creatures and wise old men and age-old enemies. And I'm telling you. I'm telling you right now, I am not having one more death! Got that? Not one! Tallulah? Out of the way. The Doctor is in.

• • Tallulah's reaction to Laszlo after he's been deformed, she just looks at him so tenderly as she strokes his face.
• The Tenth Doctor thanking Martha at the end of "The Family of Blood" for looking after him.
• For all its supposed Narm, few things warm this troper's heart more than the beginning of the Master's defeat in "Last of the Time Lords": the Doctor, having absorbed the power of the Master's psychic field via Clap Your Hands If You Believe, is advancing on the Master, who is screaming, crying, and clawing at the walls in fear of the epic wrath of God that is about to descend on him in retribution for all the horrible things he's done, and the Doctor proceeds to give him a hug.
  • Oh, yeah. That was one of the first scenes I ever saw when first seriously getting into Doctor Who, and even out of context...
  • Of course, shortly thereafter it turns into a first-rate Alas, Poor Villain.
• Martha leaving her phone with the Doctor as she leaves the TARDIS, telling him that the very minute it rings, he'd better answer.
• Call this troper crazy, but for him it was the 10th Doctor's speech to the 5th Doctor, in which he says that he loved being him as he felt young and exciting, and how in his current regeneration he is trying to live up to him and has copied some of his traits.
  • Especially when you know that it was David Tennant himself talking there: he was finally getting to work with the man he idolized as a child, the man who made him realize that not only did he want to be an actor himself—he wanted to be the actor who played The Doctor.
    • Part of what makes the final scene so absolutely adorable is you're not sure where the line is drawn. After a while, you're not sure if the Tenth Doctor is fanboying to the Fifth Doctor, if David Tennant is fanboying to the Fifth Doctor, or if David Tennant is fanboying to Peter Davison, but that just makes it all the more endearing.
    • This troper cried like a damned baby watching this, because like David Tennant, Peter Davison will always be my Doctor... the Doctor I first became aware of, and became a fan of, and grew to love. No matter how much I liked Eccleston's Doctor, or how much I love Tennant's, Davison will always be my favorite.
    • Damn right! I've always loved Peter Davison and "Time Crash", for me, is the best of the new series episodes. I wish Davison would come back and do a full episode or special.
    • Seeing Tennant fanboy over his Doctor is heartwarming to me because I understand his emotions completely. While I first saw Eccleston and while Smith is doing a great job, Tennant will always be My Doctor. So I can understand what he's going through here.
• How is Voyage of the Damned not here yet? So many moments of heartwarming awesome, oh my goodness...

The Doctor: Astrid Peth, citizen of Sto, the woman who looked at the stars and dreamt of travelling... there is an old tradition. Now you can travel forever. You're not falling, Astrid. You're flying.

• • And Bannakaffalata. Poor Bannakaffalata...
    • "NO! Bannakaffalata STOP! Bannakaffalata PROUD! Bannakaffalata... CYBORG!" also qualifies as a Crowning Moment of Awesome.
  • And Mister Copper: who can have a house, with a garden! And a kitchen! With plates! Never before in fiction have I seen a man so happy about being able to buy plates!
  • Morvin when Foon confesses how she won the tickets.

Morvin: You drive me barmy. I don't half love you, Mrs Van Hoff.

• Wilf's cheering and little happy dance when Donna flies off with the Doctor in Partners in Crime. Really, any of Donna and Wilf's interactions.
• The ending to "The Fires of Pompeii", where the Doctor goes back to save Caecilius and his family, admits to Donna that she was right -- sometimes he needs someone to stop him -- and seeing the family six months later, happy and successful, giving thanks to the Doctor and Donna. Not to mention the virtual fourth-wall breaking moment from the Doctor:

The Doctor: Come with me.

• The end of Planet of the Ood. "You will never be forgotten. Our children will sing of the Doctor Donna. And our children's children. And the wind and the snow and the ice will carry your names forever."
• In "The Doctor's Daughter," when Jenny "gets better" in the epilogue, despite the fact that the cheap (and expected) emotional shot would have been to let it end just as it originally did.
  • And that's after we've watched the Doctor go from refusing to acknowledge Jenny's existence to accepting her as his daughter and inviting her to travel with him.
    "You're going to be great. You're going to be more than great, you're going to be amazing!"
    • Also: "Careful! There might be traps!"
    • Not to mention when Jenny has the opportunity to shoot Cobb but finds herself unable to do it. When she gets back to the Doctor, she excitedly tells him that she couldn't kill him and the Doctor hugs her, every bit the proud papa.
• The end to "Forest of the Dead" when the Doctor literally "saves" River Song:

"When you run with the Doctor, it feels like it'll never end. But however hard you try you can't run forever. Everybody knows that everybody dies and nobody knows it like the Doctor. But I do think that all the skies of all the worlds might just turn dark if he ever for one moment, accepts it. Everybody knows that everybody dies. But not every day. Not today. Some days are special. Some days are so, so blessed. Some days, nobody dies at all. Now and then, every once in a very long while, every day in a million days, when the wind stands fair and the Doctor comes to call, Everybody Lives.

• River and the Doctor. Just... River and the Doctor. From "I trust that man to the end of the universe - and actually, we've been" to "Sweetie, I need you" to "Well. You always dance at weddings, don't you?". But the very, very sweetiest?

The Doctor: Trust me?
River: Always.

• The singalong scene in Turn Left. That is, until it gets cut short by gunfire.
• This Troper would like to submit a ten minute section of "The Stolen Earth" as doing it again and again. First the hug between Martha and her mum (and the latter's response, "You came home. At the end of the world, you came back to me.") Then Harriet Jones's return - especially her admitting she'll die trying to save the Earth. Then the whole "Calling the Doctor" scene. Then Harriet's theme coming in full blast when she says her last words. Then the Doctor's conversation with his companions.
  • Then again about five minutes later when they made a Meadow Run that wasn't full of Narm.
    • Until twenty seconds later when the Dalek shows up and the scene turns into the ending of West Side Story.
  • The Subwave system was developed by whom? Mr. Copper! One assumes that after he had sufficiently loaded up on plates the nice fake historian dedicated his winnings to protecting the plaent whose history he so enjoyed and developed the one thing that helped bring the man who saved his life back to Earth one more time.
• From "Journey's End", the Children of Time flying the TARDIS the way it's meant to be flown, towing Earth home, and then everybody hugs. The music playing over it just makes it feel perfect.
• Wilfred Mott's "I'll look up at the stars, and think of you" at the end of "Journey's End" is a CMOH, CMOA, and Tear Jerker all in one. The brilliant character portrayal by Bernard Cribbins (genuine voice-faltering and tears) made the scene extraordinary.
  • Let's face it, Wilfred Mott causes Crowning Moments of Funny/Awesome/Heartwarming whenever he shows up. There's a reason he's my favorite companion in the New Series.
• From "The Next Doctor":

Jackson Lake: "I know that man, that Doctor on high. And I know that he has done this deed a thousand times, but not once, no sir, not once has he ever been thanked. But no more, for I say to you that on this Christmas morn: Bravo, sir! BRAVO!!!"

• • Earlier on, even AFTER Jackson Lake had it proven to him he wasn't The Doctor, but merely a man who had been convinced he was, the real deal tells the despondent Lake that his memories might have been altered, but the courage and determination he showed in the role was above and beyond what he would have expected from anyone, more or less implying he would have considered Lake a worthy successor in any regard.
    • Implying? He outright said! "Jackson, if anyone had to be the Doctor... I'm glad it was you."
• For some reason, this troper always feels a little sorry for the Tritovore in "Planet of the Dead." Perhaps as it shows the aliens can have feelings after all. Well, there's them and the Ood.
• The Doctor's interactions with UNIT personnel in "Planet of the Dead". It's humanizing for all parties involved.
  • Especially with Malcolm. To put it in context, Malcolm is a Fan Boy for the Doctor, and talking to him on the phone is obviously a massive dream come true. However, the really heartwarming moment happens during their first talk:

The Doctor: "And Malcolm?"
Malcolm: "Yes Doctor?"
The Doctor: "...You're my new best friend."

• The End of Time Part 2, Tennant's last hurrah as the Doctor, Ten spends his last few hours going back and revisiting all previous companions. Each with a kind of sad good-bye. And Ten calls that his reward, seeing them happy and safe. Aww... Also a tear jerker though so have tissues ready.
  • Worth particular mention is the Doctor's visit to Rose before she meets the Doctor. Aww...

The Doctor: I think you're going to have a really great year.

• • Just that? How about the completely non-verbal scene between Ten and Jack in the alien bar? Seriously, just look at Jack's state when the Doctor finds him...he's not Narmy about it, but you just know this is hot on the heels of the utter horror that was Children of Earth, and he's completely broken...until he gets that note from the Doctor. Seeing his dialogue with Midshipman Alonso, and watching the old Jack everyone knew and loved start to come back, made this Last Minute Hookup a mix of this and Fridge Brilliance.
  • Apply some Fridge Logic to his last meeting with Donna (Well, Donna's parents.) He went back in time to borrow a quid from Geoffrey Noble (Donna's late father) and bought Donna a lottery ticket so Donna could live Wealthy Ever After. He was able to let Donna's father buy her a wedding present even after he passed away.
  • How about his farewell to Sarah Jane? The last heroic act the Tenth Doctor ever performed was to save her son from being hit by a car. That's a really big deal. And no words are exchanged between the Doctor and Sarah. No words are needed. The way he smiles at her and waves and the knowing look on her face....it just speaks volumes about the chemistry those two have. Even more so when you consider that, among all the people he visited (at least the ones shown on screen), she was probably one of the only ones who actually realized what was about to happen.
  • The episode of The Sarah Jane Adventures "Death of the Doctor" turned that whole sequence into an even bigger moment of heartwarming. The Doctor tells Jo Grant that he didn't just revisit all the companions from his tenth incarnation. He revisited all of them, every single one, from his first life to his tenth. And given that he visited the descendant of someone who wasn't even a companion, who knows how many people important to him he may have appeared to...
  • "We will sing to you, Doctor. The universe will sing you to your sleep."
  • Every single one of the Tenth Doctor and Wilfred Mott's scenes together. Each scene reminded viewers why they loved Tennant's Doctor so much and showed what an awesome character Wilf is, and it gave them a great, sweet relationship.

Wilf: Nine hundred years? We must look like ants to you.
The Doctor: I think you look like giants.

• • • One that truly stood out from Part 1:

The Doctor: I'm going to die.
Wilf: So am I, one of these days.
The Doctor: Don't you dare!
Wilf: Alright, I'll try not to.

• • • And from Part 2:

Wilf: You let him go, you swine!
The Master: (to the Doctor) Oh, your dad's still kicking up a fuss.
Wilf: No, but I'd be proud if I was!

• • • And:

The Doctor: I'd be proud.
Wilf: Of what?
The Doctor: If you were my dad.

• • • The whole scene, really. Damn you, Wilf!

"Wilfred. It's my honour."

• • • The Doctor sacrificing himself to save Wilf is made even more heartwarming by the fact that he doesn't act like the sacrifice is nothing to him, like he sometimes does. When he realizes that it's his only option, he starts ranting about how it's not fair, how his life should be worth more, and seems to be getting dangerously close to another "Time Lord Victorious" moment, which the last episode showed us can happen all too easily... and then he pulls himself together, goes ahead, and makes the sacrifice anyway. That says something about the Doctor that this troper finds more heartwarming than almost any other scene in the show.
    • Also when they first arrive on the Vinvocci ship. Wilf has spent his entire life staring at the stars and hoping to see them (an impossible dream for all but a select few.) Now he is, and he's staring out the window at planet Earth, completely overwhelmed. Bonus points to the Doctor, who, despite the seriousness of the situation, takes the time to gently lead Wilf away from the window. Those two have the amazing ability to do some seriously gut-wrenching scenes.
• Also in The End of Time Part 2:

The Master: "Get out of the way."

• • And earlier in the episode, when Rassilon is about to destroy the Master.

Click.

• How could we omit the wonderful moment between the Doctor and the Master in Part 1?:

The Doctor: You're a genius. You're stone cold brilliant, you are, I swear, you really are. But you could be so much more. You could be beautiful. With a mind like that, we could travel the stars. It would be my honour. 'Cause you don't need to own the universe, just see it. Have the privilege of seeing the whole of time and space. That's ownership enough.
The Master: Would it stop then? The noise in my head?
The Doctor: I can help.
The Master: I don't know what I'd be without that noise.
The Doctor: I wonder what I'd be without you.

• The Doctor pointing the gun at the Master and saying, "Get out of the way." This troper burst into tears because of the Master's shocked, hurt face...then his smile. It says more than words ever could.
• And that moment when Donna is being menaced by the copies of the Master in the streets behind her house. She collapses, releasing a blast of energy that knocks the Masters out. The Doctor assures Wilf that she's fine, just sleeping.

The Doctor: Did you really think I'd leave my best friend without a defense?

The characterisation of Donna as his best friend almost had me in tears.

• • God damn you, Russell T Davies.
• Outside the show: The "Fear Forecasters" (children who, with their parents, were shown advance screenings of episodes by the BBC so they can warn other children of how scary they are) watched "School Reunion". These comments occurred when Sarah Jane appeared on-screen:

One of the kids: She looks a bit old.
His father: She looks fantastic.

• A slightly meta-example when the Doctor goes to visit Joan Redfern's grandaughter in 'The End of Time', her name is given as 'Verity Newman'. This is a nod to the creators of the original Dr Who series: (the late) Verity Lambert and Sydney Newman. Awww! Very sweet on Russell T Davies' part to acknowledge them.
  • Also, it's a bit of Fridge Logic. When Joan was asking the Doctor about his past, the Doctor gave his mother's name as Verity.
• I don't know where to put this so it might as well go here. Right back in the Christmas Invasion, just as he's promising that the journey for him and Rose is going to be great, he doesn't say Brilliant or fun or anything else. He says it's going to be fantastic. The ninth Doctor, showing up one last time to let us know it's all going to be alright.

Eleventh Doctor Era

• The part in "The Eleventh Hour" where the aliens scan Earth and confirm that it's not a threat — almost the counterpoint to the Tenth Doctor's Humans Are Bastards spiel to Harriet Jones.
  • Fridge Heartwarming: Look at the images in the scan. They start with marching Nazis and nuclear weapons—and end with Gandhi.
  • Add this to the episode's run through of all ten previous Doctors leading up to the present day. The part where Eleven appears, walking right through the face of Ten, made me blub.
  • Earlier in the episode when the Doctor is handcuffed to the radiator and asking older-Amy what happened to Amelia and if she's okay. The look on his face sold this troper on Matt Smith because it showed the sheer depth of concern he had for this little girl he'd only just met and barely knew.
    • Also, the Doctor's "just trust me for twenty minutes" speech, and giving Amy back the apple.
    • And when you think about it, that scene was virtually shot in real time. So it wasn't just Amy who had to believe in this Doctor for twenty minutes, it was the audience, some of whom had yet to be won over by Tennant's replacement. We were asked to believe for just that short time, that this guy was up to the task. He was.
    • Near the ending of that episode, after the Atraxi have fled and the Doctor gives his "sexy" new TARDIS a spin. Cut to seven-year-old Amelia still waiting in the garden as the sun rises. She looks up and smiles as she hears the TARDIS materializing. And it is once again proven that this Troper cannot make it through a single episode of Doctor Who without being reduced to tears at some point.
    • The scene where Amy finally sees the inside of the TARDIS is full of beautiful, childlike wonderment.
      • Eleven's line is what seals the deal:

Eleven: Goodbye Leadworth, Hello... everything!

• • • • And he pulls the lever, that Most Wonderful Sound starts up, really awesome music plays, and the two of the grinning and laughing as another adventure begins...
    • The "Oh, you sexy thing!" was a Heartwarmer all on its own, along with the whisper of "thanks, dear," when the TARDIS presents the Doctor with his new sonic screwdriver. Companions come and go, but the TARDIS will always be the girl who stole the Doctor's hearts.
• "The Beast Below": Hundreds of years previous, when a dying UK was approached by a Star-Whale, a Queen authorized its capture and torture, to coerce it to carry the country, now a space colony, on its back. Most of the population chose to be mind-wiped of the info, for the sake of the colony, and legends instead arose of the Star-Whale's being dangerous, including a rhyme used to scare children. Later, though, after seeing parallels between its initial arrival and the Doctor's behavior throughout the episode, Amy releases the Star-Whale, having realized it was "very old, and very kind," had actually approached so that it could help, and need never have been forced. Just before the closing credits, over footage of the now-loved-and-revered Star Whale still carrying the colony, Amy recites the new legend:

In bed above, we're deep asleep
while greater love lies further deep
this dream must end, this world must know
we all depend on the Beast Below.

• • The Doctor's conclusion that something is very, very wrong because no-one is comforting a single crying little girl. Also his immediate flouting of his "rules" to comfort her. Which just goes to show how very little (or how very much) it takes to make him break the rules of time travel.

Amy Pond: You never interfere in the affairs of other peoples or planets . . . . unless there's children crying?
Doctor: Yes.

• • • At this point, it's probably just easier to say that the whole frickin' episode is Crowning Moment of Heartwarming.
  • This troper's first episode was The Eleventh Hour, and while it got me interested enough to make me want to keep watching, it was The Beast Below that made me fall irrevocably in love with Doctor Who. While it's not my all-time favorite episode, it will always have a very special place in my heart.
• In "Victory of the Daleks" Winston Churchill to the android Bracewell, "Now, I don't give a damn if you're a machine, Bracewell... Are you a man?" The question is asked more or less the whole way through, and the fate of earth depended on the answer. By the end of the episode the answer is yes enough and the Doctor is able to leave Bracewell behind to enjoy his thoroughly human life. Such a shockingly happy ending for an AI that it brought tears to this troper's eyes.
  • The way the Doctor and Amy leave him at the end, telling him that while he must be deactivated since he is Dalek technology, he still has half an hour to get his affairs in order. Remember how long five minutes are by the Doctor's standpoint...
• The Time of Angels:
  • Amy begs the Doctor to leave her and go save the others when she thinks her hand has turned to stone and the Angels are rapidly approaching. The Doctor refuses to leave her, leading to this exchange:

Amy: You've got to go. Those people up there will die without you. If you stay here with me you've as good as killed them.
The Doctor: Amy Pond, you are magnificent, and I'm sorry.
Amy Pond: [Steeling herself for death] It's okay. I understand. You've got to leave me.
The Doctor: Oh, no, I'm not leaving you. Never. I'm sorry for this. [Bites her hand; she yelps in pain and jerks it away] Ha! See? Not stone. Now run.

• • • Becomes a Crowning Moment of Funny when Amy starts whining about her hand and his 'space teeth'.
  • Also, when Amy is attacked by (and defeats) an Angel, and is understandably a little freaked out:

The Doctor: River, hug Amy.
Amy: Why?
The Doctor: Because I'm busy.

• Amy and the Doctor have been doing a fair bit of forehead pressing and forehead kissing and it's just too cute for words. Especially in Flesh and Stone where Amy is stuck sat in the middle of a dangerous forest, and can't open her eyes without dying on the spot, and they have to just leave her with the soldiers otherwise she'd be more at risk on the move. The Doctor vanishes for a moment, then comes back and takes her hands and asks her, once again, to trust him. Not even the ending of the episode could possibly ruin that scene.
  • Becomes something of a tearjerker in The Big Bang, when it's revealed that it's the future Doctor desperately trying to get her to remember him before he's essentially erased from existence.
• The end of "Amy's Choice" where it is made clear to Rory that he is the one she chooses.
  • Additionally, when they ask why the psychic spores made a dark side of the Doctor but not them. "Well, if they tried to feed off of you two, they'd starve. I choose my companions with great care."
• Even though it clearly signed his death warrant over and over again, Rory telling Alaya that he trusts the Doctor with his life.
• The ending of Vincent and the Doctor: after Vincent Van Gogh spends the entire episode casually talking about how terrible his paintings are and how no-one will ever want them, the Doctor bends the rules and takes him forward in time to see his work displayed in an art gallery and hear an expert call him 'the greatest artist of all time'. Vincent cries tears of joy. So did this troper. Shortly thereafter, it's revealed that he dedicated one of his paintings to Amy.
  • Seconded, this was such a CMOH even thinking about while typing this is getting me tearing up.
  • He dedicates The Sunflowers to Amy. The. Sunflowers.
    • This becomes quite the Tearjerker in The Pandorica Opens, first half of the finale, where we realise that Vincent's visions have shown him not only the potential end of all things (which nobody is ever going to believe since it's coming from him), but also the TARDIS exploding and, he likely believes, killing the only two friends who ever accepted him. It doesn't take much to realise that this may well have been the catastrophe which caused his relapse after the encouragement the Doctor offered him in Vincent. And one of his last acts of conscious sanity? He paints the TARDIS, exploding, in his characteristically beautiful, but haunting way.
    • Oh my goodness. I never thought of it that way. He committed suicide because he thought his friends had died. In showing up, and helping him overcome at least a part of his depression by being his friends, the Doctor and Amy caused his death.
  • The death of the Krafayis. I mean, think about it. The Doctor is comforting an accidentally-child-killing creature that was just blind, scared, and alone and he can't even SEE it. Because it's invisible.
  • The stargazing scene gets me every time.

The Doctor: I've seen many things, my friend, but you're right- nothing quite as wonderful as the things you see.

• • Also Visual Effects Of Awesome, as the three of them hold hands and look up... and the night sky transforms into The Starry Night.
• This tropette's favorite scene from "Vincent and the Doctor" doubles as both a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming and a Tear Jerker is when Amy and the Doctor stop in front of Van Gogh's "The Sunflowers";

Amy: If we had gotten married, our children would have had very red hair. The ultimate ginger.
The Doctor: The ultimate ginge!
Amy (quietly): Brighter than sunflowers.

• "For God's sake, kiss the girl!"
• When Eleven gives Rory back the ring in The Pandorica Opens. The fact that Rory is back at all.
  • Which is then viciously subverted as what would be a truly CMoH when Amy finally remembers Rory is made horribly sad by the fact that he is fighting his transformation into a murderous Auton, loses control and shoots her.
• The Big Bang: In its dying moment, the TARDIS itself commits one last heroic act: it explodes across every single point in time simultaneously, keeping Earth warm for the entirety of its existence...
• Auton-Rory spends just shy of 2,000 years protecting a box. Just let me emphasize this a little bit. Cultures rise and fall around him, and he is nothing more than a historical curiosity associated with another historical curiosity. He never wavers, he never falters, he never leaves the Pandorica. He dragged the Pandorica out of a German firebombing, knowing that if he ever was damaged, he could never, ever be repaired. The Doctor warned Rory that he would probably be mad by the time the Doctor's gambit reached its end. But Rory? He was sane. He was unharmed. And he was still... right... there. Working security for the Pandorica Exhibition, keeping Amy safe. Like he did for two thousand years. If that isn't devotion worthy of a Crowning Moment Of Heartwarming, I don't know what is.
  • Even before Amy's memory of the Doctor is triggered, she's wearing a red necklace. Look closely. It's an apple.
  • "Something old...Something new...Something borrowed...Something Blue!"
  • "Raggedy Man... I remember you and YOU ARE LATE FOR MY WEDDING!!"
  • "The boy who waited - good on you mate."
  • At the wedding party, Amy half-lying in Rory's arms while they watch the Doctor dance like a monkey, and he kisses her hair, and it's just total and utter contentment.
    • Earlier on the phone, when she tells him she loves him — the first time she's said it all season — in a casual tone that makes it obvious that in the "fixed" universe she says it all the time.
  • Prior to the rewind, the Doctor never asks Amy to remember him. He wants her to concentrate the whole of her being on remembering the family she should have had instead.
    • And it's made even more heartwarming/breaking by his bedraggled state: In what he and Amy both think is the last conversation they'll ever have, he's her Raggedy Doctor again.
    • This is the first genuinely, completely Happy Ending that New Who has ever had -first series the Doctor regenerates, everyone on the station dies except Jack who now has to live forever after just being abandoned, second series he loses Rose to another dimension, third series he's the last of his kind again and Martha leaves him probably with a horrible case of Post Traumatic Stress, fourth season the fate of Donna, just... Donna. Specials? He gets told he's going to die, goes crazy, and finally regenerates. But now we have a wedding, a celebration, silly dancing, the Doctor saved via telling a story, and a death count into the minuses. Repeat, the minuses-- people survive this story who were already dead when it started. Only Steven Moffat could pull that off in a Doctor Who finale. Hats off to the man.
  • Rory punching the Doctor for telling him that Amy wasn't more important that the rest of the universe and the Doctor's reaction to getting punched really gets to this troper.
    • "Your girlfriend isn't more important than the whole universe—" *Thwack* "SHE IS TO ME!"
    • "WELCOME BACK RORY WILLIAMS!"
  • The end of The Big Bang:

Doctor: This has to be goodbye.
Amy: Definitely goodbye. (She opens the TARDIS door and waves to the world.) Goodbye!

• • Amy's face of pure joy as she finally gets her happy ending, and sets off in the TARDIS with both Rory AND The Doctor. Don't believe me? See for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A Toot 6 j Yd 74
• A Christmas Carol. All of it. All of it.
  • One in particular, though, for its universal appeal and revelation of just who the Doctor is. After being told a young woman is "nobody important," he immediately becomes more interested, because, as he says "In over nine hundred years of time and space I've never met anyone who wasn't important."
    • This represents a large amount of Character Development from Ten's comments about the significance of certain people in Waters of Mars. He seems to have learned his lesson about the "Time Lord Victorious" thing.
• "Day Of The Moon": when Amy calls Rory "Stupid face." The previous time he heard her use the phrase telling "stupid face" she loved him he didn't know who she was speaking to.
  • Rory's statement of 'She can always hear me' when Amy has been kidnapped.
    • Immediately followed by a callback to his actions in the finale of last season: 'Wherever she is, she always knows that I am coming for her—do you understand me? Always.'
  • Amy telling the Doctor that he's her best friend.
• During the finale of Curse of the Black Spot when they're left with a choice of either leaving Rory on the alien ship or risking his death by drowning since the ship is basically keeping him alive, he opts to leave telling them that all they have to do is resucitate him when they get back. He wants the person who does it to be Amy, not the Doctor, for one specific reason.

Rory: Because I know you'll never give up.

• • It's even more meaningful when you remember Rory's a nurse. Accuracy aside, we're supposed to think that he surely knows the odds but he still trusts her more than the Doctor. For everyone who has ever wondered why Rory was willing to wait 2000 years for a girl that a number of people don't think deserved him? This whole damn scene is the answer.
    • That CPR was second in inaccuracy in this show only to the time Martha (a freaking Doctor) did it when the problem was blood loss, and yet still the Doctor's terrified reaction while they're trying to resuscitate him is still an utter tearjerker - until Amy succeeds and the heartwarming kicks in.
• This exchange from "The Doctor's Wife".

Doctor: You didn’t always take me around to where I’ve wanted to go.
Idris/TARDIS: No, but I always took you where you needed to go.

• • This troper LOVED that scene, because it's exactly what I've thought several times, and I desperately wanted to hear them say it in an episode. I never actually expected them to, though. It's made even better by the fact that it was brought up in a conversation between the Doctor and his TARDIS.
  • Especially after getting his era's control room destroyed again, Russell T. Davies' "Ood created by Russell T Davies" credit is quite the touching memento of his legacy, when you realise that sort of thing's normally only seen on classic series monsters such as Sontarans or Daleks.
  • When Amy is trying to communicate the meaning of the password to the TARDIS systems to access the secondary control room, her mental imprint of the word 'delight' is her and Rory's wedding day.
  • The exchange when The TARDIS, inside the body of Idris, makes the Doctor understand just who she is.

Idris/TARDIS: I was already a museum piece when you were young. And the first time you touched my console you said--
The Doctor: I said you were the most beautiful thing I'd ever known.
Idris/TARDIS: And then you stole me. And I stole you.
The Doctor: I borrowed you.
Idris/TARDIS: "Borrowing" implies the eventual intention to return the thing that was taken. What makes you think I would ever give you back?
The Doctor: You're the TARDIS? My TARDIS?
Idris/TARDIS: My Doctor.

• • "Hello, Doctor. It's so very, very nice to meet you."
  • This exchange, where we find out that even a immortal, sentient timeship thinks that human beings are awesome:

Idris/TARDIS: Are all people like this?
The Doctor: Like what?
Idris/TARDIS: So much bigger on the inside.

• • The episode in general. Despite all the Mood Whiplash of the episode, the Doctor has something new and positive at the end: the assurance that, no matter what, the TARDIS is there and listening, and always has been. Nine was alone at the end of the Time War? Ten regenerated alone? Nope, the TARDIS was there. And she'll be there when all of his companions leave. Sure, we knew that before, but this is an entirely new perspective on their relationship.
  • The ending, where the TARDIS controls flare back to life, and the Doctor is practically dancing around the console room with the biggest grin on his face!
• In "The Rebel Flesh", Rory giving the upset and confused Ganger!Jennifer a hug.
  • At the end of The Almost People, the humans and (most of) the Gangers finally accepting that they shouldn't be fighting, and the fact that the survivors included two Gangers, who were treated no differently to the human survivor. A particularly heartwarming moment (mixed with a Tear Jerker) comes when the dying Original!Jimmy gives his Ganger permission to go home and be a father to his son.
  • This troper found it particularly heartwarming that The Doctor had unquestioning, absolute faith in his Ganger, and that likewise, his Ganger had complete faith in The Doctor.
  • "We are not talking about an experiment that needs to be mopped up. We are talking about sacred life. Everybody clear on that? Everybody? Good."
• A Good Man Goes To War contains more of these moment than other moments.
  • When River Song is revealed to be Melody Pond, the sheer joy on the Doctor's face as he realizes, among other things, that he is no longer the last Time Lord is a CMOH if anything is.
  • Rory brings Melody to his wife and starts to cry from sheer joy.

Rory: Oh God, I was gonna be cool. I wanted to be cool, look at me.

• • The Doctor letting Amy and Rory's daughter Melody use his crib is several kinds of heartwarming.
    • And for those of us who suspect he was lying about just who the crib was made for, it's ten kinds of heartbreaking as well.
      • Though, some families pass the same crib down through the generations, so it doesn't have to be a lie to be a Tear Jerker. This Troper slept in the same crib her mom, all 4 of her aunts, and most of her cousins did.
  • The Doctor comforting Lorna in the aftermath of the battle. She met him as a child, but from his perspective he hasn't met her yet. She's also dying. The Doctor lies to her and acts as though he knows who she is, only dropping the act and asking who she was when she's finally been able to pass on peacefully. Certainly a tearjerker as well.
    • And, weirdly enough, something of a CMOF - with absolutely no idea of who she was, he still knows enough about how his life tends to work out to realize that it's probably a very safe guess that he met her when they were fleeing in terror from something or other.
  • The entirety of the Colonel Runaway speech is this, while doubling as a CMOA. We all know that the Doctor loves Amy and Rory, but this is perhaps the first time that he outright says so. While, at the same time, being ABSOLUTELY TERRIFYING. Coming at the Doctor through the people he loves is not in any way a good idea!
• In Let's Kill Hitler, all of the flashbacks concerning Amy, Rory, and their best mate Mels. She grew up with them, learned all about the Doctor, was the reason Amy and Rory eventually got together after she made Amy realise Rory wasn't gay, and dreamed of marrying the Doctor when she grew up. When she does meet him, she gets shot by Hitler and starts to regenerate. Turns out, she's River Song, who went to be with her parents after regenerating into a toddler in New York. Amy even named her daughter after her, meaning Melody Pond was named after herself.
  • When Rory and Amy were facing almost certain death from the Tesselecta's antibodies, they both tell each other that "I love you" and hold each other as the antibodies get closer.
  • The ending, where River is in hospital, having just sacrificed her remaining regenerations to save the Doctor's life. The nurse says that she will be fine. The Doctor however says she won't just be fine, she'll be amazing, and then presents River with a diary, the iconic TARDIS diary River is seen with later on in her lifetime.
• Still in "Let's Kill Hitler", The TARDIS voice interface conversation when the Doctor's dying. He goes from himself to Rose, then Martha, next Donna, and refuses them all, due to guilt. Finally, he says "There must be someone left in the universe I haven't screwed up yet", and gets the 1996 Amelia Pond. He constantly refers to her as the real Amelia Pond, cueing the VI to coldly and emotionlessly say "I am not Amelia Pond. I am the TARDIS Voice Interface", and tell him how long he has left to live. Finally, as he gives up hope, the voice says clearly, with some emotion finally, "Fish Fingers and Custard". Immediately, the Doctor gets hope, and uses that same phrase to go off and be a badass.
  • As the Doctor is dying, he whispers a message for River Song in Melody Pond's ear. Her response is a small, sad smile and the words "I'm sure she knows that." Three guesses what he said.
• In "Night Terrors", Alex (George's Dad) realizes that the reason George can't face his fear is that they accidentally gave him an inferiority complex because he heard them talk about sending him away. His response? Jumping into group of Peg Dolls that were trying to hurt him and shielding George from them. Cue goosebumps.

Alex: Whatever you are, whatever you do, you are my son.

• • Followed by the little boy saying in the smallest voice ever heard, "...Dad!" D'awwhhh.
  • I can only sum it up with this: George may not be human, but his dad has proved once and for all that he is.
• In "The Girl Who Waited", Rory trying to save both his wives despite the Temporal Paradox that he knows will result.
  • And if there was any remaining doubt that Amy loved Rory more than anything, then this episode eradicated that completely.

Amys: Rory is the most beautiful man I've ever seen.

• • The Rory!Bot is Fridge Heartwarming. The AV Club review says it best:

Amy's naming of her "pet" robot after Rory, and Rory's reaction when he finds out, is kind of their relationship in microcosm—a simultaneously sweet and slightly demeaning gesture on her part that's deeper than she's willing to admit it is, accepted by him with a silent, slightly wounded stoicism that's nevertheless thrilled that she remembered him.

• • In a silly-but-still-cute example, the bot giving the original his glasses back. Either human or robot, Rory's a sweetie.
  • Both Amys have to concentrate on a powerful memory to cross into the same timestream. It starts a bit weird when they both start doing the Macarena, but then it turns out that Amy and Rory had their first kiss while doing just that.
• In The God Complex, the Doctor leaves Amy and Rory on Earth, with a brand new house and car. For the first time in ages, a companion leaves the TARDIS without undergoing some horrendous Tear Jerker.
  • The fact that the Doctor deliberately refused to allow Amy and Rory go through what his previous companions did just shows how much he loves them.
• Closing Time, when the Doctor sees Amy and Rory again in the shop. There's just so much… love on his face.
  • Doubles as a Tear Jerker when he has to tear himself away so that they won't see him.
  • On that note: Petrachor: For The Girl Who's Tired of Waiting.
  • Craig takes The Power of Love to whole new levels when the sound of Alfie crying gives him the will to resist and turn back the Cyberman-making process. Yes, he definitely proved he's a dad.
  • The Doctor giving Alfie a view of outer space on his ceiling.
  • The Doctor, knowing he has only a short time left to live, chooses to save the Earth one last time before he goes. No matter how he tries to convince himself, he just can't leave to enjoy himself, knowing that humanity is in danger. And then, he proves just how good of a friend he is to individuals by losing more time making sure Craig's house is tidied and fixed up, so he doesn't have to explain to Sophie. Just reminders of what kind of a man the Doctor really is, no matter how cruel he can sometimes seem.
  • There's a great joke early in the episode about how Alfie, named by Craig, prefers to be called Stormageddon, Dark Lord of All over Alfie. After his dad saves the world with love for his son, the kid decides he'd rather be called Alfie.
• The Doctor's reasoning for having his companions see his death.

Doctor: I had to die. I didn't have to die alone. Amy and Rory, the Last Centurion and the girl who waited. However dark it got, I'd turn around and there they'd be.

• • Rory not taking his malfunctioning eyepatch off because he's no use to Amy if he can't remember. Best husband ever, and they're not even married in that reality.
  • River and Amy sent out a message to the rest of the universe that "The Doctor is dying. Please, please help." They got more than a trillion replies saying what amounted to "Yes, of course we'll help" from every corner of the universe. The Alliance that imprisoned the Doctor in the Pandorica may have hated him and may have thought that he would cause the end of the universe, but there are just as many beings out there who would help the Doctor in any way they could.

River: You've decided that the universe is better off without you, but the universe doesn't agree!
Doctor: River, no one can help me. A fixed point has been altered. Time is disintegrating!
River: I can't let you die...!
Doctor: But I have to die!
River: Shut up! I can't let you die without knowing that you are loved by so many, and so much - and by no one more than me.
Doctor: River, you and I - we know what this means. We are Ground Zero of an explosion that will engulf all reality. Millions upon millions will suffer and die...
River: I'll suffer, if I have to kill you.
Doctor: More than every living thing in the universe?
River: Yes.
Doctor: River, River, River... Amy, uncuff me. Now.
[they proceed to get married, snog each other senseless, and save the day]

• • • River: "You've touched so many lives, saved so many people, did you think that when your time came, you'd really have to do more then ask."
  • The Tesselecta ends up saving the Doctor's life by morphing into the Doctor's form and hiding the real Doctor safely inside of it.
    • It's notable that this was almost definitely the destruction of the highly advanced robot. What's more, if the plan failed, the fire would've killed whatever was left of the crew inside after the energy blasts. The Tesselecta crew still went through with the plan, just for the chance to save the Doctor.
  • The ending scene with the Ponds. River making her mum feel better, sharing some wine, Amy wearing Rory's jacket from Let's Kill Hitler and the three's utter joy at the Doctor still being alive.
  • "You are forgiven. Always and completely forgiven." Oh, River...
  • Doctor: I could help Rose Tyler with her homework.
  • It's briefly implied that when time got all thrown together the Doctor stopped Cleopatra from committing suicide.
• The ending of The Doctor, The Widow and The Wardrobe, where The Doctor shows up on Amy and Rory's doorstep for Christmas dinner. Even though it's been two years since the Doctor supposedly "died", the fact that those two still set a place for him just... guh. And then he cries and... and... Okay, yeah, the d'awww never stops.
  • The entire story is due to the Doctor simply wanting to give a great Christmas present to two kids, because their mother helped him out.
  • Even though it was fairly obvious that Reg was going to turn out to not actually be dead, it was still a beautiful scene when it was revealed.
  • The very beginning of the episode. A ship of alien invaders orbits Earth and announces "People of Earth, you stand alone" right before the Doctor blows it up. No, mysterious alien invaders, we are not alone.
  • Let's not forget that the Ponds painted their door TARDIS blue, too.

Audio

• From the audios: "Changing history, Doctor Smythe?" Said with such great affection and after we thought he was poofed and AWWWWWWW.
  • Pretty much any time the Sixth Doctor and Evelyn are traveling together, at least one awww moment is guaranteed. It's one of the many, many reasons why Big Finish audio plays are Made Of Win.
    • Also, any scene with both Evelyn and Rossiter in "Arrangements for War". A Cool Old Guy and a Cool Old Lady falling in love, and it's just perfect.
    • Its companion/sequel, Thicker Than Water, continues the story and features Evelyn's final goodbye to Six. Doubles as a Tear Jerker.
• Edith's speech to Charley in "The Chimes of Midnight".
  • The ending, when Edith realizes she is not nobody; she is somebody, and she matters. After four solid episodes of being alternately shat on by rich assholes and being repeatedly murdered, it's incredibly good to hear.
• Eight reuniting with Susan in "An Earthly Child". You can literally hear them hug, it's beautiful.
  • Somewhat tangentially, in the one audio Fitz is in, they do that audible-hugging thing twice in a twenty-five minute radio drama, once because they're splitting up to go face danger, and another time because they haven't seen each other in about eighteen hours. Either they care about each other very, very much, or they're just trying on purpose to break Two and Jamie's record for clinginess. Maybe it's both.
  • Along the same vein, Eight's reunion with Lucie in Resurrection of Mars. Given that they last parted under very nasty circumstances, it's all the more heartwarming.

Doctor: I never thought I'd see you again.
Lucie: I never wanted to see you again.
Doctor: I know.
Lucie, rather fondly exasperated: Oh, give us a hug, you.
*Cue interruption by an Ice Warrior*
Lucie: Oi! Touching reunion going on here!

• Adric's parting words to Thomas Brewster in "The Boy That Time Forgot," not just because he's finally forgiven the Doctor for all the hell he's been put through, but because it's one of the only times (to the best of this troper's knowledge) that an old companion has gotten to give a new companion a Passing The Torch speech.

Adric: Goodbye, Thomas Brewster. Stay with the Doctor, won't you? If you don't belong anywhere, in any time, if you're an orphan, then the best thing to do is to stay with the Doctor!

• The end of The Gathering. Five reunites with Tegan, years after their TV adventures. Initially she's prickly and bitter, but by the end, she's glomping the Doctor with a huge goodbye hug and kiss.

Comics

• Not even the DW comics escape this. Once, the Eighth Doctor travelled with Kroton, a Cyberman who had somehow retained his ability to feel emotions. Kroton had a lot of damn good moments like pummeling a patrol of Sontarans into submission, but he also had a lot of potential for Tear Jerkers given that he kept having flashes of his former life before a Cyberman. In The Glorious Dead, Izzy, another of the Doctor's companions, gives him a memory crystal and forces him to use it so he can fully remember (It Makes Sense In Context). And he does, and the memories of his whole family are restored to him. His voice cracking as it all comes back, trembling through the pain and the sweetness of all he had lost, almost weeping in joy, is Kroton's true CMOH.
• And of course, there's the comic when a depressed Eight goes to a bar to drown his sorrows after a particularly nasty time, and runs into 'Bish, the bar's owner. Both have a chat together when a cheated robot barges in with an explosive threatening to blow up the bar. Eight suavely approaches her, and with genuine sorrow in his voice, reminding her of the flow of Time and how everybody longs for the past that is no longer with us, gets close enough to her and turns her and the explosive off. Everybody breaths again and the Doctor and 'Bish remain a while after closing. The Doctor thanks him for the heart-to-heart and leaves on a holiday. Due to an earlier interruption, 'Bish never learned the Doctor's name. Unfortunately, after the Doctor leaves, 'Bish drops his form as a tall bartender and reveals himself to be Frobisher, the Doctor's old companion, who complains he never got to learn the man's name...
• At the end of IDW Comics' The Forgotten miniseries. The Tenth Doctor asks the TARDIS' matrix to appear as one specific Companion — "You know who I need to see..." and it's Susan, so he can finally hug and say goodbye and apologize for leaving her so many, many years ago.
• Doctor Who Magazine's short gag comic Doctor Whoah! gets on in issue 433, the first issue released after the death of Nicholas Courtney. It shows all 11 Doctors facing the reader and saluting.

books

• The Eighth Doctor Adventures novel "Shadows of Avalon" has the Brigadier, in the aftermath of a screaming argument with the Doctor where both men virtually severed their friendship with each other over events in Avalon (basically the human dreaming). During the siege of a castle, the Brigadier, thinking the Doctor dead, realises that he was right, and tells the troops that their job is to save the day and do the right thing - just as the Doctor would have wanted. Naturally, being an attention tart, the Doctor trumps him by performing a chandelier swing into the middle of the room, but it doesn't detract from the emotion in the Brigadier's speech.
  • Also from a Brigadier-Doctor scene... in "The Dying Days", the Doctor hugs the Brigadier after surviving the exploding Martian ship, and for once the Brigadier doesn't push him away.
• The Doctor Who novel The Glamour Chase pulls one at the end, where Rory is upset about how unfair it is that one of the characters had to deal with the horrors of PTSD all alone, in a time before it was understood and before treatment was possible. The Doctor interrupts by hugging him and kissing his forehead, telling him not to lose that compassion, because sometimes, he forgets himself how important it is.

Doctor: He's a keeper, this one.
Amy: I know. That's why I'm marrying him in about seventy-five years time.

• • Of course then it immediately becomes a Tear Jerker when the Doctor makes a throwaway comment about Rio and we realise what happens to Rory next.
• The Eighth Doctor's companion Fitz has been brainwashed into believing he's in love with one of the villains-of-the-week but somehow overcomes it when the Doctor's in danger, telling the woman who's been deceiving him "You forced me to love you. With him it's the real thing."

Behind the Scenes

• Anneke Wills describes meeting David Tennant on the set of 'Daleks in Manhattan':

He’s a shining light. When he focuses on you, there’s nobody else in the room. I love that. He’s coming from his heart. He’s genuine. I stood in the Tardis after all these years and said ‘Doctor, lovely to meet you,’ and David said, ‘Aaah, Polly!’ My heart was fluttering away.