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Doctor Who is a series where loss is a continuing part of the story, and Russell T. Davies may have turned it into the show's deepest theme.
Posted in: BBC, Disney+, Doctor Who, TV | Tagged: doctor who
Doctor Who: Did Davies Expose The Most Tragic Part of The Doctor?
Doctor Who is a series where loss is a continuing part of the story, and Russell T. Davies may have turned it into the show's deepest theme.
The third episode of the second season of Doctor Who, "The Well," ended with The Doctor attempting a heroic sacrifice, but another character takes his place. It's a common trope in the series in its long history. Still, showrunner Russell T. Davies may have introduced the darkest and saddest underlying theme driving the series' hero – and we can't tell if Davies is conscious of it this time. What is the greatest tragedy for a hero who can never die? It's loss – the loss of literally everyone he will ever know. What if that's what drives him to seek his own death?
When the Doctor is mortally wounded, it's always through sacrificing themself, but they always regenerate. Every regeneration results from their ultimate sacrifice, only for them to get up again with a new face and a new voice. The Doctor's tragedy is that they can never die. Perhaps that's why this current Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa, tears up so much – people are dying because he fails to save them, or they sacrifice themselves to save him when he knows he can't die. Suddenly, the Doctor crying every week makes more sense. This is what makes The Doctor the most unique hero and why we keep watching – they can't ever die for long because they always come back, and the longer they live, the more people they lose. Their story is endless. James Bond can have an end. Superman can have an end. Batman can have an end. Daredevil can have an end. But the Doctor can never end. The Doctor is a lonely immortal subconsciously looking for a permanent death.
Davies has subconsciously poured a large part of himself into the Doctor he writes – this is a figure who has lost a lot of people, as Davies has since he lost friends and lovers to the AIDS crisis, and he lost his husband to cancer. He's aware of the losses everyone suffered during COVID, which is one of the reasons he was inspired to return to the series. He's writing the Doctor to affirm Life as much for himself as for kids and fans.
Doctor Who is streaming on Disney+ outside the UK.
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