Jackson Lake

He strides through Victorian London calling himself the Doctor — hat, coat, sonic screwdriver of his own devising, a devoted companion named Rosita at his side, and Cybermen to outwit. He is brave, brilliant, endlessly certain of who he is, and utterly convinced his memories are real.

David Morrissey plays the part with total sincerity, giving a man's whole idea of heroism a body and a voice, so the performance works as pure adventure before it works as anything else. The joy is watching him inhabit the role so completely that you almost forget to ask why.