My family is made up of late arrivals
to the Doctor Who phenomenon. We came to
it backwards. We saw the Torchwood:
Miracle Day series on STARZ last year and then watched the earlier episodes of
Torchwood through DVDs from Netflix.
That led us to try Doctor Who, the series from which Torchwood evolved. So now we are seeing some of the earlier
incarnations of Doctor Who – played by other actors from the previous ten
evolutions of the series. But we are
obviously enamored with Matt Smith’s Doctor Who, since he is the first one we
became acquainted with.
What I love about Doctor Who is the
humor, the camp, the adventures, the mythology, the companions, the history
lessons, The Doctor himself, and the Tardis.
I love that The Doctor and his companions can enter into their time travelling
machine – the Tardis – and go on amazing adventures (and I love that it is bigger
on the inside than it appears on the outside – isn’t that a great image?). The Tardis is a Time and Relative
Dimension in Space
vehicle. It is spacecraft and time
machine. It is healing station and information
portal. It is a place for reconnecting
and for flights of fancy. It is a place
of hospitality and a place of community.
It is a place of salvation and a station for regeneration for The
Doctor. And it is oh so cool!
Theology
may not be an active part of the writers’ process, but maybe they are thinking
of their own understanding of faith as they write – I don’t know. I sometimes hear it in the dialogue and sense
it in the mythology. And it makes me
happy to watch the shows.
The
Doctor is not a human but often must act humanely. He is often arrogant, cheerfully fun, and
completely goofy. He struggles with what
it actually means to “be human” and marvels at the capacity of those humans around
him both for grace and for violence (in a recent episode humans are cloned and some
of their “Gangers” are completely like the originals and others are not – so it
begs the questions “what does it mean to be human?” “And what does it mean if
the “Ganger” is more human than the original human?”). There are some both inside and outside of the
show who talk about the double meaning of the word “doctor” – one means healer
and the other means warrior. The Doctor
certainly creates this sense of dichotomy. He is an interesting character.
There
is a constant struggle between good and evil on the show. There is even an episode with angels – who are
none too nice in the show. And there is
a clear import to the companionship between The Doctor and those who travel
with him. There is a community between The
Doctor, Amy Pond, Rory Williams, and River Song – they are family and they care
for each other, are devoted to one another, and protect each other (Rory even
stands guard over Amy for 2,000 years in one episode). The Doctor – an amazingly talented and
powerful being with a fantastic “sonic screwdriver”– is constantly in need of
the assistance of Amy and others. The
communal nature of the story appeals to many people – as does its sense of the
need for others in our lives.
I am
not saying that Doctor Who has deep spiritual meaning or that The Doctor represents
any deity whatsoever – absolutely not. What I am saying is that it speaks to my faith
and my own struggles with being human, dealing with issues of good and evil,
trying to make sane decisions in difficult situations, being part of a
community/family, and remaining faithful to one’s true convictions despite the
circumstances.
So I’m
gonna stay a Whovian for a long time. I
love it. I love its seriousness and its
silliness. So I include the video below
for fun. Enjoy!
