Doctor Who: The Show that Keeps Regenerating

My first experience with Doctor Who was my first semester of college, when my roommate came home sobbing over Rose’s fate in the season 2 finale. I gave her a hug and promptly forgot about the show. Shortly after that lovely memory, I met my future sister-in-law who assured me I needed some weeping angels in my life. We watched all the angel episodes (on a projector in her driveway) and then started with David Tennant’s first episode (because why settle for anything less than his Scottish perfection?). It was a bit out of order and it wasn’t until a couple years later than I watched the entire show from the pilot. Now I’m watching the entire series again because I am completely behind and haven’t even finished Bill’s episodes.

But let’s start with the pilot, which introduces Rose Tyler, the Doctor no one ever remembers, and some seriously creepy mannequins.

Rose is the first companion (that we meet) and she gets to be the one who is entranced and amazed by this new world of sonic screwdrivers, spaceships that are bigger on the inside, and Time Lords. She starts with a Doctor who dresses somewhat punkish and has a renegade vibe, but then she upgrades to David Tennant and his proffesor wardrobe and quirky charm.

Rose quickly becomes caught up in the Doctor and his lifestyle, and she gets quite good at keeping him out of trouble. She’s pretty young, and obsessed with the Doctor, and her heartfelt sincerety in everything she experiences is endearing, if not a bit annoying. She sets the precedent for what it means to be a companion, dragged all over space and time on adventures that may or may not be too dangerous for humans. She gets to meet Queen Victoria and Charles Dickens, and tangle with some werewolves, the last human on Earth, and of course Daleks.

I think my favorite Rose episode is the one where they end up wandering into the bedroom of Madame de Pompadour and facing the evil clock creatures that hide under Reinnette’s bed, waiting for her brain to develop. Reneitte is one of the few characters we see actually connect with the Doctor and understand him.

Rose hates her, of course.

But Rose is completely dedicated to the Doctor, and is devasted when they are separated. She probably would have stayed with him forever, just as she promised, but the world had other plans.

We get to meet Donna briefly, who is a stark contrast from Rose, before moving on to Martha Jones.

Martha is an intelligent, practical medical student who gets trapped on the moon. She’s pretty much the only one in the hospital who doesn’t lose her head over the turn of events, and helps the Doctor track down an alien fugitive. As a thank you, he introduces her to Shakespeare. Naturally. They discover the unfortunate fate of Love’s Labour Lost, as well as stumble into a drug situation in the new version of New York.

Martha gets to see the Doctor briefly become human and forget who he is, and she is the first one to experience the weeping angels.

I love all the Weeping Angel episodes, but the first one is definitely the best. It’s a pure work of genius, the Angels are amazing villains. The Doctor refers to them as “Lonely Assassins” which suites them beautifully. The Doctor and Martha don’t show up much in this episode, other than a recorded video from the 60s, but Sally Sparrow is a fun character to watch as she faces the Angels and helps reunite the Tardis with the Doctor.

Martha has a pretty crazy season finale, taking on an evil Time Lord and saving the world.

She is a woman of science who becomes fascinated by all the secrets of the universe and how it changes her perception of the world. I wish we could see her exploring everything more, rather than obsessing over her crush on the Doctor. Martha got gipped. I’m sure she had plenty of moments when she was studying the science of time travel, we just didn’t get to see it.

The Doctor feels pretty guilty over everything he put Martha through, but Donna Noble is not the kind of person to wallow and tip toe around feelings. She bosses him around and pushes him and pesters him for information about time travel, which is great because then the audience gets to learn some new details as well.

She utterly confounds the Doctor, right from the moment she appears in the Tardis (when she was in the middle of walking down the aisle).

She bullies the Doctor into answering many burning questions. She rages over the tragedy of historical events and how the Doctor has the power to change them, which makes him rage about the responsibility of a Time Lord. They’re very outspoken with each other right from the get go.

Donna hunts down adorable little fat creatures, and gets to meddle with Pompei, and see the biggest library in the universe… She also gets sucked into two different parallel universes.

She’s a woman of endless possibilities.

I really appreciate how Donna doesn’t get possessive and jealous of the Doctor. She gets along well with any previous companions that she meets, she helps the Doctor and pushes him when he needs to be pushed and silently hugs him when he needs a friend.

They are mates, just like he wanted.

I love the library episodes, written by Steven Moffat of course. He creates the best villains, and these episodes introduce River Song. The Doctor meets Professor River Song for the first time in a library full of carnivorous shadows… the ideal romantic setting. She’s all science and smirks and sassy one liners that stay with you because of their sheer brilliance.

Of all the confounding things the Doctor stumbles upon in the library, his future wife is the last person he expected. She’s just my favorite and everything she says is delightful and perfect.

I like to think that after Donna left, the Doctor tracked down River and they went on a couple adventures together. We don’t really see them dating, just running into each other randomly.

The show runners apparently wanted them to have a little privacy, but still…

And here we get a new Doctor, Matt Smith (my favorite), as well as a new companion. The Doctor crashes the Tardis while he’s regenerating and meets Amelia Pond, a fearless Scottish girl who feeds him fish sticks and custard in return for his help. There are voices coming from a crack in her bedroom wall, a problem perfect for the Doctor. One thing leads to another, a recovering time machine mostly, and the Doctor ends up whisking Amy away 14 years after meeting her.

The girl who waited is more than ready for amazing adventures, which is great because she definitely has them.

Amy’s Scottish heritage shows in her stubborn insistence to do things her own way. She’s more headstrong than any other companion, that combined with her fearlessness helps her keep up with the Doctor more than anyone has in a long time. Not including River, of course.

Amy gets to meet River, after the Doctor finds a love note she left for him in a museum, and together they battle the Weeping Angels while also running from a crack in the universe. Amy is beyond thrilled once she figures out who River is, which makes it even funnier when she truly figures out who River is. Amy throws herself at the Doctor, I think more in an attempt to dominate him than seduce him, so their next stop is to pick up Rory and add him to the adventures.

Amy and Rory get married, have a baby, and continue running all over time and space with the Doctor. The three of them grow closer, developing a solid dynamic as they deal with one crisis after another (one involving Rory guarding Amy inside a magical box for 2,000 years).

Neil Gaiman writes one of these episodes, bringing the Tardis to life in the form of a madwoman who appreciates biting. This episode is one of my favorites, delightfully twisted and unflinchingly dark.

Poor Amy and Rory face many nightmares during their time with the Doctor, including losing their baby. They get to meet her later but no one enjoys discovering they have secretly been pregnant, are actually locked up and about to go into labor, and then have their baby taken away so she can be trained to kill their best friend.

The Doctor’s friends have the chance to go anywhere and see anything, traveling through space and time to experience amazing things. But they always end up in danger, one brush with death after another, and they always leave the Doctor a bit broken.

Amy and Rory manage to create a normal life with the home the Doctor bought for them, which they enjoy in between his spontaneous interruptions. They travel with the Doctor on and off for over a decade, and have to decide when it’s time to grow up.

But the Angels get to make that decision for them, in a properly devastating ending for the Ponds.

And then we get Clara, the fast talking and extremely clever nanny who manages the Doctor just as well as she manages her children. Apparently Jenna Coleman’s ability to talk faster than Matt Smith deeply impressed the show runners.

I love Clara’s Christmas special, she’s basically a Victorian Mary Poppins. She’s immediately fascinating, with her claims to her creation of fish and her snappy little comebacks.

So proper, so perfect.

She’s the Impossible Girl, popping up in the Doctor’s life as different people all over his timeline. We see her as a Daleck, Victorian governess/barmaid, and a modern day nanny.

She gets to work more closely with Madam Vastra, Jenny, and Strax as they deal with the Doctor recovering from losing Amy, then regenerating into the twelfth Doctor. Peter Capaldi picks up where Matt Smith left off, accidentally dragging a dinosaur into the Thames and running around London in his pajamas.

It’s a lot. Clara almost gives up on him, despite her ability to manage (or control, as the Doctor puts it). But she adjusts as the Doctor goes from a goofy young Brit who flirts too much (despite being MARRIED to the most wonderful woman in the galaxy) to a grouchy old Scott with mad scientist eyebrows. I like the twelfth doctor, he’s cranky and Scottish and needs cue cards to appear empathetic.

Clara gets a very brief encounter with the Weeping Angels (Weeping Angels go on a Christmas Holiday and get buried in snow). I really like the glimpses we get of Clara’s parents and her backstory, as well as her school teaching career.

She bounces back and forth between caring for her students and caring for the Doctor. Possibly Peter Capaldi’s best line is “She cares so I don’t have to.” My husband and I relate to that relationship on a deep level.

As is the theme with all the companions, Clara does not leave the Doctor unscathed. Not only is she splintered into pieces and scattered throughout the Doctor’s life, she loses the love of her life, and is nearly trapped inside a Dalek.

I thought Clara’s ending was fitting, especially with Me/Ashildr involved. Maisie Williams has a similar opportunity as Jenna Coleman, both get to play different versions of the same person. Their fates are intertwined, to the end of the universe. Me sums up Clara and the Doctor very well, calling them too similar to the point of catastrophic.

They push each other and challenge each other in a way that tears time apart. So they have to let go.

Meanwhile, the Doctor is left with less memories than he expected and Clara runs away with Me. I think Me has always had a soft spot for Clara, and I love how they end up going on adventures together. Me has been alone too long, and Clara is a truly spectacular companion.

And then the Doctor meets Bill Pots.

Bill has her own inquisitive charm. She’s more cautious but still possesses that bone deep curiosity necessary for the Doctor’s lifestyle. I like how the Doctor is drawn towards her because she smiles when she tries to understand something new. She approaches the discovery of time travel with a bit more philosophy as she attempts to decipher the puzzle before her.

The beginning of a season is always my favorite, especially the beginning of a new companion. I’m a fan of backstory and exposition, I love knowing all the details of a character’s life and experience before the craziness and adventures take over. I’ve just started on Bill’s adventures, and will hopefully catch up by October 7th.

This is a show of endless possibilities, likely why the Doctor continues to regenerate despite all odds. As the new season starts up, we’ll get to see the Doctor regenerate as Jodi Whittaker. She is the first female doctor, a possibility we saw when the twelfth doctor and Clara tore through Gallifrey and wreaked havoc on the Time Lords.

Hopefully the thirteenth doctor will wreak her own kind of havoc as well. After all, she is lucky number 13.