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Doctor Who: Are Companions' First-Time TARDIS Reactions Too Chill?

In Doctor Who, a new companion entering the TARDIS for the first time is their "rite of passage" - so why do they always seem chill about it?

Doctor Who has a ritual for every companion joining them on their adventures for the first time, which is the first time a new companion enters the TARDIS and discovers the Police Box is bigger on the inside than outside. It's become the Doctor's gentle hazing ritual for each new companion. Their reactions vary between shock, awe, confusion, appreciation, and sometimes even blasé or jaded. A companion's first time in the TARDIS has become a running joke, the best being the Doctor's (Peter Capaldi) own pretend reaction as someone stepping inside for the first time because he felt someone should finally "get it right. But would people really be so chill about this?

Doctor Who is a part of Science Fiction pulp fiction, after all, so we tend to take it for granted that the characters in a genre story would just take anything in stride and then get on with it. This brings us to a recent interview Alan Moore did about his upcoming fantasy novel The Great When, which featured a young man discovering another London existing alongside the London he knew, a dark, magical version of the city. In Doctor Who, the TARDIS is the companions' and the viewers' portal into the world of the Fantastic. In The Great When, hapless protagonist Dennis immediately bursts into tears, and later expeditions into the undercity are marked with varying bodily functions. To say it's not easy for him is an understatement.

In Doctor Who, It's Not As Traumatic as Real Life

"I thought if we were to enter Narnia or any of these other places, it would surely be a much bigger deal. It would be so jarring. It would probably undo us mentally and traumatise us for the rest of our lives," said Alan Moore. "This is something that would jar with every idea of reality that you've ever formulated. Your entire sense of what is real and what isn't would have been shattered."

The TARDIS is like the wardrobe in C.S. Lewis's The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, a portal to other worlds. To step into it would completely overthrow anyone's sense of reality and the world. To then be taken across Space and Time would likely be incredibly traumatic, and be landed in situations where aliens are threatening to destroy entire worlds even more so. It's a wonder none of the Doctor's companions seem to suffer from severe PTSD. Apparently, Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) will display signs of that in the upcoming new season, so baby steps. Still, the TARDIS is awesome, isn't it?

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