![]() Davies, who first resurrected Doctor Who from the dead in 2005 and departed in 2010. The specials were highly anticipated, in part because they were all written by Russell T. The newest episode was the third and final of a mini-season’s worth of specials airing between seasons 14 and 15. For the first time, the Doctor kept his past self. We change, we grow, we lose who we used to be.Īll of which is why the Doctor’s most recent regeneration, which aired December 9, is so frustrating. Most importantly, it speaks to the truth of how identities work: Our personalities are not set they flux and change and distort themselves in bizarre ways we can never fully understand. It can withstand cast shifts and actor disputes. ![]() This paradox is the heart of the show, and it’s why Doctor Who has managed not just to last so long but to also turn out good episodes on a fairly regular basis. Yet the Doctor remains the same character with the same history. He loses old companions and gains new ones. He picks up a new signature outfit, a new signature catchphrase. The way he expresses his personality shifts: he goes from crotchety to fun-loving to aggressive to cold. And, crucially, the Doctor can be anyone.Įvery time the Doctor dies, he regenerates into a new body, played by a new actor. They can go anywhere, to any time or any place. Sometimes they go to the edge of the universe and explore a haunted spaceship. Sometimes the Doctor and his companion go back in time and meet Sir Isaac Newton. He likes to pick up a friend periodically - usually a human from the late 20th or early 21st century, frequently a young woman - and travel with them through time and space, having adventures. He has a time machine/spaceship called the Tardis. The titular Doctor is a member of an alien race known as the Time Lords. Here’s the trick that made Doctor Who run for 60 years since its first premiere in 1963 (plus or minus a decades-long hiatus and an ill-advised TV movie): The Doctor always changes.ĭoctor Who is an institution of science fiction, but it has a deceptively simple premise. I’m afraid that in Doctor Who’s case, we’re following the second scenario. On the other hand, sometimes breaking a rule is boring and self-indulgent. On the one hand, it can be exciting when a long-running pop culture property breaks a rule it has set for itself it means something interesting is about to happen. In its most recent episode, Doctor Who broke one of its oldest and most fundamental rules.
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