February 10, 2025
This Valentine’s, love is in the air - and in the TARDIS.
We’re taking a look back at some of the most romantic moments in Doctor Who history, from heart-wrenching goodbyes to time-defying devotion...
River and the Twelfth Doctor
“Happy ever after doesn't mean forever. It just means time. A little time.”
The love story between River Song and the Doctor, almost always out of sync, produced a plethora of heart-wrenching moments: From the Eleventh Doctor marrying River (to repair a broken timeline) to the latter sacrificing herself to save the Tenth Doctor (in the Library); both showed their love for one another irrespective of where they were in their personal timelines.
However, topping them all in the romance charts was the Twelfth Doctor. Although River knew she must eventually see the Doctor for the last time on one night on Darillium, the Doctor had failed to mention that each night there lasts 24 years.
All of which he spent with River.
The Tenth Doctor and Rose Tyler
“Does it need saying?”
Bad Wolf Bay: the setting for two legendary farewells between the Tenth Doctor and Rose Tyler. When she was trapped in a parallel universe, he literally burnt up a sun to say goodbye although, tragically, the Doctor was unable to respond when Rose confessed her love for him.
A few years later, when the Doctor returned Rose to the parallel universe (following their battle against Davros), she was initially distraught to be left behind - only for the Doctor to leave her with his Meta-Crisis double. This version of the Time Lord who could share her lifespan and finally whisper the words that the Doctor had meant to say to her previously on Bad Wolf Bay. As they shared a passionate kiss, the Doctor could only look on then walk away.
Jo Grant and Cliff Jones
“In a funny way, he reminds me of a sort of…younger you.”
Whilst fighting a mass of giant mutant maggots (as you do), the Third Doctor’s assistant Jo Grant fell in love with dashing young scientist Cliff Jones.
Jo left the TARDIS to settle down with Cliff, leaving the Doctor to bid them a sad farewell as he gave her a wedding present and asked for a slice of their wedding cake.
Danny Pink and Clara Oswald
"You can miss me for five minutes a day. And you'd better do it properly. You'd better be sad. I expect my five."
Danny and Clara’s relationship had never been smooth, largely due to the interference of the Twelfth Doctor and her torn loyalties between them.
But it was undoubtedly loving: when transformed into a Cyberman after his death due to Missy’s plotting, Danny sacrificed himself to save Clara and the world; and Clara conjured up a dreamscape when possessed by the dream crabs to spend time with and say goodbye to Danny, where he told her to think of him for at least five minutes a day.
Peri Brown and King Yrcanos
The Trial of a Time Lord
“When you care for someone or something more than yourself… sometimes more than life.”
An American college student and an alien warrior king might not seem like the most natural pairing, but Peri Brown and King Yrcanos found a strange companionship whilst fighting the devious arms dealer Sil on Thoros Beta.
When the King asked what love was, Peri touchingly explained it to him and they formed a close bond. So much so that Yrcanos became distraught with grief when he thought Peri’s mind had been wiped and her body used as a vessel for Sil’s superior, Kiv.
Pete and Jackie Tyler
Pete and Jackie Tyler never had the most harmonious relationship; either in our universe or the parallel world where the Tenth Doctor and Rose encountered John Lumic’s Cybermen. However, in both universes, Pete and Jackie lost their spouses: to the Cybermen and a car accident respectively.
They were brought back together when the universes collided during the Battle of Canary Wharf. Although they were initially frosty with each other, they soon warmed to one another: Jackie asking how rich Pete was and Pete reminding her that she wasn’t his wife.
However, they then ran into one another’s arms - two people who tragically lost their loved ones, finding happiness with one another (and a son called Tony).
Grace and Graham O’Brien
“You see, Doc, the thing about grief is it needs time. I don't want to sit around my house waiting for it to go away, cos that house is full of Grace, and it makes it so much harder.”
A quieter love story than most here. Grace and Graham fell in love whilst she was a chemotherapy nurse at his hospital. She made him see that life was worth living, and, after her death, Grace remained always in his thoughts, acting as a guide for his actions. Graham was given the opportunity to kill the Stenza warrior T'zim-Sha, who had caused her death, but refrained as it was not what she would have wanted - an act of grace in memory of the woman he loved.
The Eighth Doctor and Grace Holloway
“How can you miss me? I'm easy to find. I'm the guy with two hearts, remember?”
Disoriented after his traumatic regeneration, the Eighth Doctor was aided by cardiologist Grace in his attempts to stop the Master from destroying Earth on New Year’s Eve 1999. The two quickly became close friends, developing a flirty relationship aided by the Doctor’s new romantic look.
And he didn’t even wait until midnight to kiss her!
The Ponds
“I'll be fine. I'll be with him.”
Amy Pond and Rory Williams: childhood friends, married couple, and parents of River Song. These two remained devoted to one another, despite Amy’s brief flirtation with the Eleventh Doctor.
They also had a habit of sacrificing themselves for each other, over and over again: Rory died twice to save Amy, once in our reality and once in the Dream Lord’s; an Auton Rory guarded Amy’s body, suspended within the Pandorica, for centuries (gaining him the title of the ‘Lone Centurion’); and when an older Amy gave her past self the days she lost with Rory on Apalapucia.
Ultimately, when Rory was attacked by a Weeping Angel, Amy chose to throw herself back in time to spend her life with him permanently; choosing a life with him in the past over her life in the present with the Doctor and her daughter.
The Twelfth Doctor and Clara Oswald
“Do you think I care for you so little that betraying me would make a difference?”
Although not an explicitly romantic relationship, former showrunner Steven Moffat recently described this line in the Official Doctor Who podcast as one of his most romantic.
It certainly speaks to the deep love and devotion between the Doctor and his companion: as the “Impossible Girl”, Clara split herself across his timestream to rescue him, and the Twelfth Doctor spent billions of years in a confession dial attempting to break free to revive her from death.
The Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler
“I think you need a Doctor.”
Whilst trying to stop the Dalek Emperor and his fleet, Rose looked into the heart of the TARDIS and witnessed the Time Vortex – and, as the Ninth Doctor told her, no one’s meant to see that.
The Doctor saved her life by taking the energy into himself with a kiss - sacrificing himself and causing his regeneration in the process.
The First Doctor and Cameca
“Yes, I made some cocoa and got engaged.”
Not to be outdone by his later incarnations, the First Doctor was getting engaged long before his successors as he unwittingly proposed to Aztec elder Cameca by sharing cocoa with her.
Both valued the other’s warmth and intelligence, and Cameca aided the Doctor and his companions in returning to the TARDIS after it was trapped in a tomb, even though it would take the Doctor away from her.
The Doctor looked fondly on their relationship, despite some teasing from Ian Chesterton, and took Cameca’s brooch with him as he returned to travelling in time and space.
The Thirteenth Doctor and Yaz
“I have loved being with you, Yaz.”
The relationship between the Thirteenth Doctor and her most devoted companion, Yaz, was a key element of this Doctor’s era. The two were completely devoted to one another, Yaz putting her total faith and trust in her Doctor and vice-versa; and when she was about to regenerate the Doctor took Yaz on one last date: sitting on top of the TARDIS with a view of Earth, sharing an ice cream and their goodbyes.
The Fifteenth Doctor and Rogue
“Is it you’re hot, or I’m hot?”
The Fifteenth Doctor and Rogue only knew one another for a few hours, but formed a banter-filled, flirty relationship based on mutual attraction, shared pain of losing those they’d loved, and a desire for adventure.
Although they had promised one another to “argue across the stars”, shared a kiss and tricked the Chuldurs who had taken control of the Duchess of Pemberton's ball. Rogue made the ultimate sacrifice by taking Ruby Sunday’s place as a victim of the Chuldurs’ punishment: to be sent to an unknown dimension, possibly forever.
He made the Doctor promise to find him: a promise the Doctor might yet keep...
Watch even more romantic moments in Doctor Who below...
