madam, what year is this?

This didn’t have to hit me so hard

The hand touch???? He loves Sarah so much?????? Literally his best friend?????????? He looks so sad and conflicted. 

I think this is also one of the few moments we see the 4th doctor vulnerable. He’s usually much larger than life and hides whatever he is feeling behind jokes or sarcasm or moving onward. 

In Revenge of the Cyberman, when Sarah is bit by the Cybermat, the doctor is fairly calm and immediately gets to work on getting her down to Voga. When the transmat doesn’t work he gets amped up. He clearly stresses as he talks faster and rambles. When Harry says “she wont last longer” 4 shouts back that he knows and hurries. When it does work he visibly relaxes, even smiling to himself.

In The Sontaran Experiment, he keeps calm to get the hallucination device off of Sarah. Very gently checking her over once she passes out. This is tucked away as soon as the Sontaran shows up. He immediately rounds on them, distraught.

When he knew there would be danger in Mask of Mandragora and Sarah confronts him on it, he puts on the lion mask and fools around. Quote “you know the worst the situation, the worst your jokes get.”

And 4 immediately sobers up, going quiet and when Sarah says “things are bad, arent they?” He doesnt hide, but tells her the truth.

We see him vulnerable again in Genesis of the Daleks when he thinks Sarah and Harry have been killed. The explosive upset (to stop the button from being pressed) fizzes immediately. When talking to the girl in the green overalls, he stares directly at the screen where the rocket was shown. No covering up. Until he has to focus on stopping the Daleks or talk to someone.

That disappears once he reunites with Sarah and Harry. Note he shakes Harry’s hand but pulls Sarah in for a hug.

In Pyramids of Mars when Sutekh says that Sarah can be gotten rid of, 4 breaks his composure (against the mind control) to shout at him not to. He looks distressed. And once again when in the pyramid, when Sarah is trapped, he plays the fool. He tells her to relax and as soon as he looks away we can see he is a) thinking and b) distressed.

We see him reveal his hand again in Brain of Morbius. When Sarah is blinded he reassures her and guides her to Solomon. He stays cool and composed, but doesnt hesitate to take her hand when she holds it out. 4 doesnt hesitate either to to back to get the elixir of life to help get her sight back despite being almost sacrified a scene prior.

Seeds of Doom, 4 tells Scorby where the other pod is when a gun is raised at Sarah. He says nothing when its at him nor the other man. He doesnt look at her though and stares at the floor until he quips with a grin at the other gunman. 4 also jumps through a window, fights 3 guys and pulls a gun to keep Sarah from being infected by the Krynoid. Even after being tossed into a compactor, he quips once he is saved by Sarah.

And in Hand of Fear he practically mountain-goats over rocks to pull Sarah from the rubble and lets his scarf (comfort item tbh) fall off on the way over. His response to the worker was short and tempered. In the next scene we see 4 gripping his scarf (which we’ve seen him play/stim with it other times). Come to the end of the episode (the unforgettable goodbye scene), when Sarah comes in with a huff. We get a perfect shot of the Doctor looking surprised (and rather hurt). He talks very straightly, never breaking eye-contact or joking or moving to hide like he normally would. He tells Sarah the truth. When the TARDIS lands, we get a shot of him with his back to Sarah. Once again attempting to hide, distracting with piloting the TARDIS. 4 only turns to her when he says they’ve landed at “Hillview road, to be exact”. 4 is also known for blowing out a sigh when stressed (which he does here before smiling at her after they said not to forget each other). With that, 4 also pulls his coat on rather harshly and flips up the collars. He never does this before now. The entire scene has him shrouded in shadow and then with a light on him, then it goes back to an obscured view and back to a full view. We never get this with Sarah, who’s face stays in the “spotlight”, as she’s very open with her feelings. The Doctor, meanwhile, is ping-ponging back and forth between what is and isn’t expressed. The smile (not a manic grin, but probably the saddest warmest smile 4 has ever smiled) he gives her is the nail in the coffin for me. Probably the scene where he shows his hand the most. 

Now with Leela, we don’t get much of this. The 4th Doctor remains pretty on top of things and always prances around and talks and smiles his way out of things. He doesn’t get as open as he did with Sarah. Don’t get me wrong– he is concerned for Leela a few times and even went as far as banishing her to the Outlands to keep her safe during the Invasion of Time. He cared for her but not as intensely as he did Sarah. 

He was also very open to K-9. Despite telling him to shut up and stuff, he genuinely cares for that robotic dog. Quite a lot. Enough to repair him and worry over him. 

NOW ROMANA. Romanadvoratrelundar. The first regeneration (Romana I) was cared for, but more similarly to Leela. The Doctor knew that she could hold her own and was stronger than past human companions. The same is so for Romana II. Although in certain situations it was usually because Tom and Lalla were dating so that became evident through the characters. The Doctor kept most of his feelings about things held tight to his chest. 

The 4th Doctor has me really messed up whenever he lets his guard down. Coming from a character that seemed to never run out of steam or broke (like some of the later incarnations), makes it all the more sad. So while he may be the “most alien” regeneration, he still shows a wopping amount of under-the-surface emotions. I think he’s up there with the 11th Doctor in terms of burying emotions until they get too heavy to handle. 

My point is that the Doctor (at least in this regeneration) doesn’t open up to people that he doesn’t entirely trust. People who are his best friends are the ones who really get to see what’s going on underneath all of his banter and wacky fashion choices. The 4th Doctor is a really messed up regeneration and I don’t think it’s mentioned enough. 

requested by @heroofthreefaces

doctor who is good actually 

“Not a very pleasant time.”

The Masque of Mandragora - season 14 - 1976

fourth doctor talking to people as if they are 5 y.o. children when in fact he looks like the most irresponsible kid around always getting in trouble is just so fun to watch