If you know me at all, you know that I’m a Doctor Who fan. I am quite sure it is impossible for me to talk for 5 minutes without making at least one reference to Doctor Who. I want to eventually write about the 50th Anniversary Special and the Christmas Special, but I thought it would make sense to first try to share with you what it is that I find so compelling about Doctor Who. I’m not obsessed with many TV shows or movies (currently it is just Doctor Who and Sherlock), so why Doctor Who?
Just to give a little background, the Doctor says he is the last of the Timelords, from the planet of Gallifrey. He says he was forced to destroy Gallifrey during the Time War (wiping out his entire race) before the Timelords and their arch enemies, the Daleks, destroyed the universe. Now, in recent episodes this story has been questioned, with the emergence of the Master (another Timelord) and the apparent saving of Gallifrey in the 50th Anniversary Special. But that’s been the general story of the Doctor until recently. Timelords have the ability to regenerate into a new body after death, hence the plot has continued for 50 years, through many deaths and regenerations. The 11th Doctor, played by Matt Smith, regenerated into the 12th Doctor, Peter Capaldi, during the 2013 Christmas Special. The Doctor travels in his blue police box, the TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimensions in Space), through space and time, from ages past to millions of years into the future, from planet Earth to parallel worlds. The Doctor typically travels with a companion or two, usually humans, although he’s had some alien companions too. So enough with the background on the Doctor. I thought the best way to explain what I love about Doctor Who is to share some of my favorite quotes and scenes with you. Here goes…
Yes, the Doctor is this fantastic hero who saves the world, but he carries a heavy burden. As you watch the show you get a glimpse into what it is like to be a Timelord. The Doctor carries the weight of the past, and the future.
This is a quote from Van Gogh in the episode “Vincent and the Doctor.” The Doctor and Vincent struggled with so much sadness and darkness, but yet they did not give in to it. This quote sums up everything I love about Doctor Who…no matter what we maybe feeling, it is still incredibly amazing to be alive.
This is why the 11th Doctor is my favorite. He has experienced so much suffering and carries such a heavy burden, yet he can smile, laugh, hope, dream, and be absolutely ridiculous.
It is beautiful how much the Doctor values ordinary people and ordinary people. As a sidenote, the 9th and 10th Doctors make this very obvious, they stand up for the people society ignores, they empower those who have never been respected, they protect the normal and ordinary ways of life here on earth. I think the 11th Doctor feels this even more, but in his typical way, he hides it. He pretends ordinary life is all dull and boring, in a desperate attempt to make his own fate more bearable.
Knowledge of our future suffering has no place to steal our present happiness.
This perfectly illustrates the 9th, 10th, and 11th Doctors, as they grapple with the beauty and suffering of their existence.
The Doctor must live knowing he will eventually regenerate into someone else. There’s a painful irony in this, for he dies but yet doesn’t. Who he is in that particular regeneration dies, but his essential existence goes on. And on. Time after time. And in each regeneration he must bear the burden of his entire past. But yet he knows that it won’t end, he can’t just die like humans, he will keep living.
The Doctor’s identity as a Timelord also defines how he interacts with others. He knows that he’ll always lose everyone he loves.
I’ll close with this quote, from the 11th Doctor’s regeneration during the Christmas special. It is one of my favorites. As humans we don’t actually regenerate, but we do change and develop as people. This is okay. We should value everything that we’ve been, but not try to hold onto the past so tightly that we can’t become who we need to be.
