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Saturday, October 1, 2011

Trust Me, I'm the Doctor

"Hello Stonehenge!"

"People assume that time is a straight progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly, timey wimey, stuff."

"I'm the Doctor and you're in the biggest library in the universe... look me up."

No seriously, look it up. If you're not one of the lucky few whose hearts I just warmed thinking about these great moments in cult television history, you should start watching Doctor Who. To those of you who rode that wave of feel-goodness right along with me, we need to be friends.

Doctor Who is a British sci fi show about a quirky alien who travels through all of time and space in a blue police box that's bigger on the inside. As he traverses the universe fighting monsters and saving civilizations he brings along a human companion that he can show off to. Companions come and go, as people do, but every once in a while, even the Doctor finds himself in an adventure too big even for his two hearts, and he gets himself killed. When that happens, he regenerates, fully healing himself and taking on a completely new body and personality in the process. The show is a cult hit that first came on the air in 1963 and went off again in 1989. A television movie was made in 1996, bringing the Doctor back to television for all of 89 minutes before going off the air again for almost another decade. In 2005, Doctor Who was revived, and brought back to the BBC. Since the revival, there have been three Doctors and four primary Companions. I think that's all the background you need, but if you don't watch the show, the entire revival is available on Netflix Instant, and I recommend checking the show out yourself, it's worth it, I promise.

On Companions
Several weeks ago, just before Doctor Who season 6.5 premiered on BBC America, I remember thinking to myself, 'You know self? Since the revival, no Doctor and Companion have ever shared more than a single season of television together.' It seemed odd to me that Matt Smith and Karen Gillan had spent so much time together travelling the Tardis, and I was starting to find too many things to complain about with Amy Pond. Now it seems that Amy and Rory's time with the Doctor is at an end, despite their underwhelmingly emotionless departure (which makes me believe she's not really done just yet), and while I'm sad to see the feisty red-head settle down to a quiet life at home, I'm pretty sure that I'm ready to move on. Maybe her departure seemed so emotionless because I know she'll be back for the Doctor's final moments.

I absolutely have loved Amy, as I love all the long term companions, but personally, I love the idea of the throwback Companion. Donna Noble was one, making her first appearance in an earlier David Tennant era Christmas special, as was her Grandfather, Wilfred Mott. Now we got to see Craig, the chubby footballer with the alien upstairs neighbor, get a chance to play with his good buddy the Doctor again. I'd much rather spend a full season getting to know a character, rather than trying to cram all of their development into a few short episodes, but I'm content to wait for companion number five if they keep giving me little throwback teasers like Craig. Also on my list for possible throwback companions would be the "beautiful girl" Sally Sparrow, or the bus flying Lady Christina, or the Doctor's own Daughter, Jenny.

On Matt Smith
With the Doctor's "final" death imminent in the Season 6 finale tonight, I find myself wondering if they're building towards a Doctor regeneration as well. After all, River Song, half time lord, was shot during HER regeneration, and it only made her stronger. Why couldn't the same theory be applied to a full time lord? I'm not the only person thinking this, of course, and the internet is alive with rumors and predictions on when and who the 12th Doctor will be when he steps into the game. (If you look beyond the story though, it seems Matt Smith has been signed on for another 14 episodes, so he's not officially going anywhere anytime soon. Karen and Arthur are both signed on for guest appearances also, so their time with the Doctor is not completely at an end either.)

Like I am content to wait for the story to naturally bring me a new companion, though, I'm also content to wait for a new Doctor. I've loved Matt Smith, every bit as much as I loved David Tennant, and I will be so sad to see him go. That said, the Doctor regenerates, it's a part of the story, and it's silly to get so attached to a particular Doctor that you get angry when his time playing with the humans comes to an end.

On Running
If I had one complaint about this season of Doctor Who it would be the conspicuous lack of running. Almost every episode in season one, Christopher Eccleston would take Billie Piper by the hand and they would go running down some street or corridor. Since 'The Impossible Astronaut,' it just seems like the Doctor doesn't run as much as he used to. His companions are still running like crazy though. Lately the Doctor and his companions have felt separate, like two different sub plots in each episode. Amy and Rory do one thing, the Doctor does another. For a perfect example, look to the season 6 episode 'Night Terrors.' Get the Doctor to run again, and I'll have very little to complain about.

"I'm the Doctor. Basically, run."

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