Full Name: unknown; goes by the title 'The Doctor'
Nationality: 'Gallifreyan'? From Gallifrey, anyway.
Age: 900 years
Height: around 6 ft
Weight: unknown
Hair: Black
Eyes: Blue
Source: Doctor Who 2005
Distinguishing Features: Northern accent, rather large ears,
cropped hair style
Creator: --
Those of you who have missed out on the new series of Doctor Who this year have really missed out! Not only was a legendary cult show reincarnated for an audience of the twenty-first century, and a whole new generation at the same time, but it was done bloody brilliantly, too! I've never been a Doctor Who fan before, though I must confess as to having only seen the Peter Cushing movies, which hardly count as canon, but this series has, regardless, made me into a true new-Who-nut. It's entertaining, inventive, witty, sometimes dramatic, and even upsetting - but, in a nutshell, it's been the best of the best on British Saturday night TV since God knows when!
Who, indeed. No one knows who the Doctor really is, hence the title of the show, but he is a man with a history, one that, if he isn't apt to sharing it, will haunt and follow him anyway. The Doctor of the new series is a complex man, who, though often seeming happy-go-lucky and full of life, buries his real traumas and troubles deep beneath his skin; he has lost everything and is all alone in the universe, so does his bit for other species since he can't do anything for his own. And things look set to continue in this grim, selfless fashion , until the Doctor bumps into a tenacious nineteen year-old shop girl from Earth called Rose Tyler. And then the adventure really begins.
Doctor Who is a programme famous for its Doctor-companion set-up; wth every Doctor there came a companion (or two... or even three), usually a female, whose job it once was to be the damsel in distress. Times have changed since the programme's 1960s days, however, and though the companion is still a figure in need of help every now and then, she is also a strong heroine in her own right who saves the Doctor as much as he saves her. In the new series, the companion is Rose Tyler, a figure around which the Doctor's world unwittingly revolves until the climax of the series.
Rose seems to be an ordinary Londoner, living on an inconspicuous council estate with an inconspicuous mother and an even more inconspicuous boyfriend, but as soon as she crosses paths with the mysterious Doctor, her life takes a sudden turn for the better. The Doctor comes across Rose by accident - or perhaps by fate - during his fight against the threat of the Nestine Consciousness (Episode 1), which threatens the human race with its living plastic creations. Without Rose's help, he might never have won that battle, and once she has saved his life and proven her ingenuity, the Doctor takes the plunge and asks her to join him. And, after a bit of hesitation (and learning that he owns a time machine), Rose does.
As it says in the Doctor Who book "Winner Takes All" (Rayner, J., 2005, BBC Books), Rose validates the Doctor's existence; she's the one who aides him on his quests throughout space and time, who sees him save worlds, who's aware of his work, and who, to put it plainly, gives him the company he so desires. She's also the girl who helps him become more 'human' - at the start, the Doctor seems a bit insensitive, sometimes even cruel, but time spent with the emotional and headstrong Rose soon puts him back on track - or takes him off it, depending on your point of view. He learns about how to cope better with the burdens of his past life and to see things from another's perspective. He even unwittingly opens his heart to an emotion he perhaps could have done without, that of love.
Some may not like the strong bond that the Doctor and Rose share, but to me it's paramount to the success of the series; there would be much less emotion and power behind the show without their feelings at its base. The Doctor is a lonely figure, a man unable to ground himself in any time and place, and who is constantly moving on, leaving his marks across history, but taking nothing but himself with him. He fills his time with tasks to prevent his mind from wandering back to that terrible memory, that knowledge that he truly is alone and that he can do nothing to rectify the effects of the Time War which devastated his home and his people. When Rose walks into his life, however, for the first in a long time he begins to enjoy himself, and to enjoy what he does; because of her, he shows off, is occasionally arrogant, but thrives off it all, appreciating her company because she is a lot like him. However, Rose also brings some rather bitter elements of the Doctor's person to the surface, some of which he would rather not confront, including the many demons of his past, but, in the end, he can only face up to the truth that these things need to be faced. "Dalek" is the particular episode where the Doctor vents his feelings and hatred, and becomes, because of Rose, and even of the Dalek, a much better person.
I really love the character of the Doctor because, despite being nine hundred years old and having saved hundreds of different worlds and peoples, he is simply so naive. Rose, as a human, sees things differently to him, and the conflict between her and the Doctor is often as compelling as their chemistry; Rose's attachments exasperate the Doctor - her love for her mother, for Mickey and for people in general - because he cannot relate; it's not something he's used to. Though the Doctor cares about people, he's also careful not to get 'domestic' and to become attached. With a past filled with loss, he avoids any further attachments because he knows it will only give him pain. The one attachment he cannot avoid, though, when he takes Rose on board is his relationship with her; he forfeits his emotional stability for her company and her friendship, and goes through more than a little angst because of it. He psychologically sacrifices a lot for her, though Rose herself can hardly see it, and thus slowly becomes that which he tried to avoid - something more 'domestic', and more human. Rose reminds him how to 'dance', she makes him jealous and she makes him angry, but, at the end of the day, she makes him love. The Doctor's journey through the series is not simply one through time and space, it's a journey of the heart, and a lesson in what really matters in life - not wars or aliens or great space adventures, but the ones you love, your family and your friends. The Doctor learns to love Rose Tyler and thus dies not for the Earth or for its people, but, ultimately, for the woman he holds dear. And it's a tear-jerking finale when he does say his last goodbye...
I know. Some of you may not be too convinced, and some of you may have your heart taken up by another Doctor altogether - we all have our favourites, apparently - but number nine has taken mine. For me, watching a man of the Doctor's age and experience learn so much from a nineteen year old girl is both refreshing and humbling, and it's a remarkable thing to see him slowly become more human as the series goes on. Rose is the Bad Wolf that haunts him, manipulating his life and drawing him in, and she, in the end, inadvertantly causes his death, just as was said in the first episode (death is his constant companion) - but Rose is also the young lady who both redeems him of some of his less than likable features and who opens his cool heart to a caring relationship. For me, the Doctor is a very powerful and intriguing character, who effortlessly carries the weight of the show on his shoulders, and who is a true unsung hero. Plus, as an added bonus, he's also incredibly attractive! All hail the Doctor.
What's to say about Christopher Eccleston? An English actor with an unfair reputation for being miserable and serious, he has Russel T. Davies, the Executive Producer and one of the Writers of the new Who, to thank for his part in the latest series. I can't tell you much about him, but he is a great actor, one who's tried his hand at theatre, film and television (I've seen him as Hamlet on stage, for one thing, at a theatre in Leeds! Wish I'd got his autograph...). Many people were upset to hear that he was leaving the new Doctor Who after just one series (particularly when he's been so well-liked in the role), me included, but his wishes have to be respected - one can understand him not wanting to be remembered soley as the first of the new Doctors, though it can't be a bad thing if he is! At least we'll always be able to look back at the first of the new-Who series and remember that handsome, Northern star who made the most fantastic of Doctors. Thank you, Christopher.