The Joy of Doctor Who

Representation, Fan Joy and Self-Care

Anyone else a fan of Doctor Who? I’ve always been a fan from the side lines. As a kid I adored the quirkiness, the campness and intenseness. The depth of feelings between The Doctor and his assistants always left me craving to be whisked off to the stars in the Tardis.

***SPOILER ALERT IN CASE YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED IT***

AI generated version of the Tardis in Doctor Who

My hubby enjoys watching Doctor Who and the specials are usually stand alone enough to enjoy in most of their glory. So I find my self snuggling up to him on our sofa under fleeces. With little expectation of being completely blown away, what an awesome surprise I was in for.

Doctor Who has always been what I would now call woke. Standing up for what is right and good in the universe as a being that is hyper aware of the injustices in this world. The Doctor tries to do what is right. They often get it wrong and horrible things happen, but they try. The writers of the show did not disappoint. My woke heart cried buckets as representation of the underrepresented was so prominent on screen.

One of the main characters was played by a Trans person. Pronouns were asked of The Meep, gentleness shown for those who get pronouns wrong and how to deal with that whole conversation was pretty spot on. The plot line its self was designed to show how nothing in the universe is binary. A concept I deeply wish everyone could understand. The world is divided due to the reductionist portrayal of everything from the blue vs red of politics to the male vs female of anatomical sex. The universe is way more complex than that. Reductionist propaganda is designed to stop meaningful communication as it speaks to our internal egos that say ‘yes I am right’. Politics is a wide spectrum of ideas. Sex, gender and sexuality are not binary but also a wide spectrum. This has been proven by science, yet still denied by those who seek to cultivate fear and hate in this world for their own gain.

Wheelchair users now have a Tardis they can finally wheel into. The issue of being perceived as ‘not being really disabled enough’ to use mobility aids was addressed skilfully. I am left wondering how to install torpedoes in my wheelchair when I finally need one.

The cast are naturally a diverse bunch of people from many different racial and religious backgrounds. The new Doctor is black. Apparently not the first though. According to my all knowing hubby, there was character in the last series who was a previously unknown incarnation of The Doctor (pre Hartnell times) who was also black.

My hubby is indeed all knowing when it comes to TV and sci-fi fandoms. His fascination and huge capability for remembering obscure facts is a joy to watch. Get him talking on his favourite topics and he comes alive with excitement. His normally quiet demeanour becomes enthused and lively. And that is one of the things that I loved about watching David Tennent play Doctor Who. He is actually a huge fan. He loves it and the excitement shone through the screen as he joyously ran round the new look Tardis.

As for Catherine Tate, I may not get her comedy, but her acting in this was tear jerkingly good. The chemistry, the warmth, the platonic love between The Doctor and his assistant was everything to me. I love deeply and intensely regardless of relationship titles. I have had friendships that ended that have wrecked me more than my broken sex based relationships have. Yet we live in a culture that insists on monogamy and hierarchy. To see the friendship honoured and accepted by Donna’s husband and her family as The Doctor sits round the lunch table in the last scenes was as it it should be.

The theme that brought me to a total meltdown though is perfectly encapsulated by this dialogue:

Laying here writing this in my bed with fatigue and in pain I know this feeling and the result of not stopping, of not talking, of not practicing self-care. I was always busy. My diary was packed. Now the days of nothingness blur. My body has forced me to stop. To learn self-care the hard way. Through simply having no choice. On a good day I can see the positives of living a life I never thought I would willingly choose. On the bad days I miss my previous life so much, tears stream in an attempt to wash away my attachment to what cannot be. As I saw The Doctor journey through these specials, his need for self-love, self-care and self-acceptance became apparent thanks to being skilfully asked the right questions. He was literally able to hug himself thanks to the bi-generation special effects. One day, just maybe I will be able to do the same. Allowing myself to finally be truly happy with my life.

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1. All the images of the script are screenshots from https://tvshowtranscripts.ourboard.org/viewtopic.php?t=66913