Doctor Who, created by Sydney Newman and Verity Lambert

Hello!

This week, I will be reviewing a very famous TV show -- Doctor Who! It's one of the most well-known sci-fi shows in history, as well as one of the longest running.

The Doctors -- left to right, top row is Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton), Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee), Tenth Doctor (David Tennant), Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston), Twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi). Middle row is the War Doctor (John Hurt), Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy), Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker), Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker), Eighth Doctor (Paul McGann). Bottom row is Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith), the TARDIS (the Doctors' home, vehicle and wife. It's complicated.), the Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker), First Doctor (William Hartnell), Fifth Doctor (Peter Davison)

In essence, the show is about a time-travelling alien, hailing from a ridiculously advanced civlisation, who got bored of the decadence of their society, stole a time machine and ran away to see the universe. Also worth noting, he (First Doctor) takes his granddaughter Susan with him. Her Gallifreyan name is Arkytior, which apparently means Rose; same name as the Doctor's first revival era companion! The time machine (Time And Relative Dimension in Space) later gets stuck in the form of a 1960s police box. And she's sentient and female, hence how she's the Doctor's wife. Also, the Doctor can regenerate; upon sustaining mortal damage, they will assume a new shape, generally humanoid, and a new personality. Sort of like phoenixes. Which has made me wonder what would happen if you killed Fawkes, from Harry Potter; would he be reborn, or die?

Back to the review -- the Doctor also has an arch-enemy/best friend, known as The Master; they've repeatedly tried to kill each other, but also care about each other, in a twisted sort of way. At the end of the Fourth Doctor's time, the Master is responsible for his death, then tries to kill him all over again once he's regenerated, then helps nurse the next incarnation back to health. It's weird.

The Master, in all their (sometimes yucky) glory. To limit spoilers, I won't say which is which.

Other key characters -- Companions: the audience analogue. They ask all the questions, so the Doctor can show off how clever they are; some are also comic relief. The Master, at one point, addresses two companions (one male, one female) as "Exposition and comic relief" -- those being genders.

Companions, arranged by which Doctor they travelled with. The companions for the latest two Doctors (Clara Oswald, Bill Potts and Nardole for Twelve and Graham O'Brien, Ryan Sinclair and Yasmin Khan for Thirteen) aren't in the picture, as it's outdated.

The Doctor's Relatives: I won't include pictures, otherwise this blog will be nothing but pictures! There's Susan, his granddaughter (and her son, but that's not on-screen), the first companion, and the first companion departure. The TARDIS, as I've mentioned before, is one of the Doctor's wives. They also end up marrying Elizabeth the First, Marilyn Monroe and Cleopatra. Donna (the red-head under the Tenth Doctor) counts as family, as due to an ultra-rare biological phenomenom, she gains his knowledge, and a duplicate of him is formed, identical to him but possessing some of Donna's behavioural characteristics. This clone marries Rose Tyler, another companion, making her family as well. Two of the Eleventh Doctor's companions get married and have a daughter, who later marries the Doctor, due to very confusing time-travel shenanigans. The daughter in question is the woman under Ten and Eleven with massive, curly brown hair. There's also a woman who appears in Tennant's regeneration episode, implied to be his mother, and a foster parent revealed in Series 12, who I cannot discuss, for fear of revealing spoilers. And, before I forget, the Doctor's daughter, who is essentially a clone, sort of. She's only in one episode, and dies at the end, before coming back. She's played by the real-life daughter of Peter Davison, the man who played the Fifth Doctor, and married David Tennant, having multiple daughters with him, so in essence is literally the Doctor's daughter! As are her daughters. Some more family members are every companion the Doctor's ever had; they are described in one episode as "the Children of Time", and one companion notes later in the episode that the Doctor effectively has the largest family on Earth as a result.

The Doctor's Enemies: The various monsters and aliens they face off against; some, such as the Daleks and the Cybermen, are well-known. Others, such as the Meddling Monk (First Doctor villain) have faded from recollection. Which is sad.

"Delete!" (Or alternatively, "You will be made like us!"

"Exterminate!"

The Doctors: The Doctors themselves; pictures of the incarnation, with main personality attributes, numbering and cause of death.

First Doctor -- William Hartnell, Richard Humdall, David Bradley

First Doctor, 1963-66

Stern, collected and gentlemanly, with a hidden cheekier and more mischevious side. (Eleven described him as "grumpy, like how you behave when you're young and pretending you're old", which makes sense as he's the youngest!) Died of old age, exacerbated by having his life-force drained from him. Humdall took over from Hartnell for the multi-Doctor special The Five Doctors, as Hartnell had died by then; Bradley took over from Humdall for Christmas special Twice Upon a Time, as Humdall had also died by then.

Second Doctor -- Patrick Troughton

Second Doctor, 1966-69

More laid-back than before, fun-loving and chaotic. Fond of pretending to be rather dim in order to trick enemies. His portrayal laid the template for all future Doctor characterisations, though particularly the Eleventh Doctor. Executed by his people for interfering in history, through unknown methods.

Third Doctor -- Jon Pertwee

Third Doctor, 1970-74

Gentlemanly, austere and arrogant, with a caring side deep down. Extremely tech-savvy, martial arts expert. Died from radiation poisoning, though as it took him ten years to die, I personally think he died of cancer from exposure to said radiation.

Fourth Doctor -- Tom Baker

Fourth Doctor, 1974-81

Aloof, alien and charming, with a dislike for authority. Occasionally cold, occasionally passionate. Longest running Doctor. Died by falling from a great height -- the regeneration was so traumatic, the next incarnation had severe issues initially.

Fifth Doctor -- Peter Davison

Fifth Doctor, 1982-84

Human and likable, noble, but occasionally ruthless. Lots of people died during his tenure, despite his best efforts. Died of poisoning, giving his companion the only antidote so she would survive.

Sixth Doctor -- Colin Baker

Sixth Doctor, 1984-6

Arrogant and difficult to like, but possessing of powerful love of justice. Baker is the only actor playing the Doctor to be fired; plummeting ratings and tensions with the writers meant he was selected as a scapegoat. Six died from a fatal concussion after hitting his head on the TARDIS console.

Seventh Doctor --  Sylvester McCoy

Seventh Doctor, 1987-9

Dark and mysterious. Manipulative and clownish at the same time. In the role for the show's cancellation. Died when caught in the crossfire of a gunfight; the operation to save his life went wrong.

Eighth Doctor -- Paul McGann

Eighth Doctor, 1996

Gothic, romantic. Light-hearted and optimistic. Only appeared in the TV movie and a minisode. Died during a spaceship crash.

War Doctor (technically ninth incarnation) -- John Hurt

War Doctor, 2013

War-weary and burdened. Still witty and cheerful, underneath it all. Only appeared in two episodes. Died due to old age.

Ninth Doctor (technically tenth incarnation) -- Christopher Eccleston

Ninth Doctor, 2005

Dark, brooding and traumatised. Prone to fits of anger. In the role for the revival in 2005, only around for one series. Eccleston left after one series due to tensions with the writers. Nine died due to absorbing the Time Vortex and being incapable of holding all that knowledge, as "Nobody's meant to do that!"

Tenth Doctor (technically eleventh and twelfth incarnation) -- David Tennant

Tenth Doctor, 2005-2010

Cheerful. light-hearted and playful, masking a ruthless, angry side prone to despondence. Regenerated and kept the same face when shot by a Dalek (that's where the cloned Doctor comes from!) Eventually died due to radiation poisoning.

Eleventh Doctor (technically thirteenth incarnation) -- Matt Smith

Eleventh Doctor, 2010-13

Fun and charismatic, goofy at times. Very similar to Second Doctor in terms of a goofy exterior masking something darker. Died due to extreme old age -- was the final incarnation of the Doctor's first cycle, but received a new cycle on the edge of death.

Twelfth Doctor (technically fourteenth incarnation) -- Peter Capaldi

Twelfth Doctor, 2014-17

Dark and emotionally distanced, though mellows to become humorous and witty. First regeneration of a new cycle. Dies when electrocuted by Cybermen; nearly dies for good, before being brought back.

Thirteenth Doctor (technically fifteenth incarnation) -- Jodie Whittaker

Thirteenth Doctor, 2018-present

Cheerful, optimistic and carefree. More ruthless than most revival era Doctors. First female incarnation of the Doctor. There are other on-screen incarnations, but it would take too long to list them all (and several are spoilers!)

Ratings -- this will probably be short this time, as the blog's already very long!

Would you survive if you travelled to this world?: Short answer: no. Alien invasions, left right and centre! And some planets aren't exactly habitable anyway.

Sci-finess: Very very high, naturally; the show is one of the archetypes of sci-fi. 

Magic versus science: Mostly science. Sometimes something blatantly magical comes along, such as actual witches, which the Doctor tries to explain away, by their own admission because they don't want to acknowledge that it's magic.

Sarcasm levels: Varies, but the Doctor mostly deals with enemies by snarking and using their intelligence. Companions tend to be quite snarky; one thing the Doctor seems to like about prospective companions is their ability to banter with the Doctor. The Doctors also enjoy bickering amongst themselves whenever multiple incarnations meet.

Resurrection levels: This rating refers to the frequency with which characters return from the dead. Why didn't I apply it to Harry Potter, with the Noseless Wonder and the Boy who Lived? I hadn't thought of it at the time. For Doctor Who, fairly high, as the Doctors can regenerate, as can other Time Lords. Other characters also resurrect; one companion of the Eleventh Doctor does it with some regularity. There's also Captain Jack Harkness, who becomes unable to die, and a couple of other characters are rendered immortal in similar fashion.

Overall rating; 7.5/10, It's a good show, though it can be confusing at times. Avoid the Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors' eras if you like simple plots that aren't constantly interconnected to an occasionally annoying degree. There are dips in quality in places throughout the show's history, as is normal for TV shows. 

Also, sorry for the long blog -- I felt like it would be difficult to summarise a particular era or episode, so characters it was. I promise I won't be summarising characters as extensively in other blogs (not even for The Shapeshifter...)