David Tennant's Time Lord Ruined This Doctor Who Character With Just 6 Words
That time Tennant's Doctor really did someone dirty.
To this day, many people in the Doctor Who fandom cannot get over Penelope Wilton's character Harriet Jones, the British Prime Minister, and the way David Tennant's Tenth Doctor treated her.
To be fair, this is probably one of the most complicated storylines in the entire series. As Jones watches the Sycorax ship fly away, the Doctor explicitly tells her that Earth is being noticed, basically planting the idea of an alien threat in her head. Eventually, Jones orders the ship to be fired upon, a decision that was clearly not easy for her to make, but one that she definitely felt was right.
The Doctor is immediately furious, calling her decision "murder" and threatening to overthrow her government. Which he essentially does in six words, as he whispers a fateful "Don't you think she looks tired?" to her aide.
The scene has divided the fandom. While some side with the Doctor, others argue that Jones was done dirty by him: after all, she did what she thought was right for the safety of those she represented.
"The fact that in the Stolen Earth, Harriet is proven right AND that the Doctor's actions here are what facilitates the Master taking over as PM is an incredible bit of storytelling [in my opinion]," said one fan in the YouTube comments.
Basically, the Doctor's desire to take down Jones led to the Master becoming Prime Minister. However, in this particular scene, it's not so easy to immediately determine who was right and who was wrong, other fans argue.
"Harriet Jones position isn't inherently bad, she is absolutely correct that Earth needs to be able to defend [itself]. Now it gets a bit tricky. Are we considering the Sycorax as surrendering when they leave? If they were surrendering and disengaging then, by our own earth merits, Harriet Jones just committed a war crime. That's pretty indefensible," Redditor Grafikpapst argued.
However, the fan goes on to say that it was wrong of Ten to dispose of Jones in the way he did, especially considering that his angry revenge led to even worse consequences.
The debate does not change the fact that Harriet Jones is one of the most compelling characters in the series, and Penelope Wilton's performance has a lot to do with that.
In 2023, Doctor Who will return to the screens with several special episodes to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the series. The premiere date has not yet been set by the BBC.