Every time a regeneration occurs, audience members are asked to absorb, accept, and move on. But Doctor Who doesn't ask their audience to love the new face of each incarnation without keeping ties to the old ones. There is familiarity in The Doctor, in the show, in the background.
What is loved about one Doctor can be found in another. There have to be reminders that this is the same Time Lord who always existed, the same Time Lord that audiences came to love.
10 Sass
Although every Doctor has a unique personality, they always maintain the identity of The Doctor. The one who jumps into action and the one people turn to for help. And they always, always have sass.
Obvious sass, the subtle sass, the serious sass of The First Doctor, the jesting sass of The Fourth, Ninth and Tenth Doctor, the sarcastic sass of The Twelfth Doctor, sassing enemies, sassing companions, The Doctor is a sass master.
9 A Notable Phrase
Despite noticeable phrases becoming more apparent in the later seasons, each Doctor has always had a saying, word, or phrase that is most commonly associated with their incarnation. It's a part of their personality, just like their physical gestures and facial expressions.
The First Doctor is often known for saying "nonsense," "what's that, my boy?" and "my dear." The Third Doctor is often associated with "reverse the polarity of the neutron flow." The Fourth Doctor and "would you like a jelly baby?" and The Tenth Doctor saying "Allons-y," with gusto.
8 Unique Fashion Sense
Whether it's clothing that gets the job done, makes a statement, or helps show the world who they are, each Doctor has their own personal taste in fashion. Some love it colorful, like The Fourth Doctor's scarf, The Third Doctor's various suit jackets, and The Sixth Doctor's coat.
Then there are the suave outfits, the grunge outfits, the playful, and the weird outfits, there are bowties, question marks, hats of all kinds, vegetables, leather, magician's clothes, and swishy coats. It can't get any more Doctor than that.
7 Hope
Every Doctor has brought hope wherever they land in their travels, even if they don't try, don't mean to, or are simply escaping their troubles. The Doctor is hope. No matter how dark a Doctor becomes, how much they've seen, and how closed off they try to be, hope finds them, and they, in return, give hope.
Sometimes they forget, and they have to be reminded again. Sometimes they lose themselves, and someone helps find them again. Doctor Who isn't Doctor Who if trying, saving, and living each day isn't creating hope.
6 Companions
Every Doctor has companions or a companion. The Doctor needs someone to tell them off, or listen, or defy them, someone who they can be friends with, who they can laugh with, someone who admires them, someone who can save them from themselves.
Very often, a companion helps reflect the audience into the very soul of the show, the person observing everything for the first time, the person asking questions, someone who can externalize the internal monologue of The Doctor.
5 A Talented Actor Taking The Role
One thing that makes each incarnation of The Doctor so unique and wonderful and memorable, is the actor. How well known they are doesn't matter, it's how they bring The Doctor to life that's important.
Every Doctor has a different personality the audience has to get used to. Every regeneration follows a cycle of questioning whether this Doctor will be good, loving them, not wanting them to leave, and wondering again about who will take over the role.
4 Memories
Although The Doctor has had over thirteen regenerations with different faces and genders, The Doctor is one Time Lord. One Time Lord with all the memories of their past regenerations. Sometimes it seems doubtful. Why isn't the past spoken about more? Why are companions never spoken of again?
But The Doctor doesn't dwell on the past. The Doctor looks to the future, always moving forward. The Doctor is like a person advancing through the different stages of their life, knowing things at one stage, and forgetting them at the next. Believing things to be of great importance, but worrying about them when time passes. The series puts just enough links to the past while keeping an open future.
3 Curiosity
Just like sass has been a common personality trait between Doctors, another is curiosity. The Doctor meddles, always looking, searching for something, and even when not searching for anything specific, finds something to be interested in anyway.
The Doctor's curiosity is never fully satiated, never satisfied. There is a wonder, a sense of adventure, an inkling something isn't right, a yearning to find out. Something amiss? Poke it with a stick, see how it ticks.
2 The TARDIS
Doctors and companions come and go, but the TARDIS is a continual comfort for Doctor Who fans and each new Doctor. In the season 6 episode "The Doctor's Wife," the TARDIS matrix is removed and placed inside a woman named Idris.
Idris opens up a whole new world of communication The Doctor never had with his beloved time machine, his home. The TARDIS has always been there for The Doctor, taking every incarnation where they need to go, not necessarily where they want to.
1 They Are Someone's First Doctor
Everyone has their Doctor. The Doctor they were introduced to Doctor Who through. The first Doctor they saw take the role, who brought to life the series.
Sometimes the first isn't the favorite, it's The Doctor who they most connect to, The Doctor who has their favorite narrative or companion chemistry. And sometimes, the first is all those things and more. The reason that audience member starting watching in the first place.
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September 08, 2020 at 05:30AM
