Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic Doctor Who--crash course SPOILERS IN THREAD

There is also a hint about something to do with the Doctor's family - can someone clear that up for me - I think it came about in one of the episodes that Tennant was in.

Did not realise that the Doctor was supposed to be asexual at the start. The first Doctor took on the form of an old man. He actually shares a link with the TARDIS which is his timetravelspacetravel machine thingy which is bigger on the outside than the inside. Basically if the TARDIS is destroyed the Doctor will die and vice versa. It's like a part of him. The TARDIS used to have the ability to make itself appaear like part of the background of wherever it happened to land or turn up - ie: it could look like a tree or the landscape but something got broken early on and it got stuck as an old blue telephone booth.

The Doctor has always had companions since the beginning of the series. The thing is that while he is bitter about the human race's prediliction for striking out to defend themselves against the first different thing or being they see, he absolutely loves the way humans are constantly curious, constantly adapting, constantly believing in ideals. The Doctor could travel alone and usually he is very cautious about taking on companions, but he craves the company and it was suggested at the end of the episode where Tennant's Doctor is seperated from Rose for good, that it was actually the TARDIS who "accidentally" places them aboard, as the next companion just materialised as the cliffhanger for the end of the season. The TARDIS seems to react to his emotions and does seem to act to protect him. I got the impression it beamed the next person aboard to prevent him moping over Rose.

Over the regenerations, The Doctor has seemed to open himself up more i.e. the relationships between him and the companions hinting at more than just friendship. It is possible that due to huge number of female companions he has had, it seems to have enabled him to react in a very male way towards them in terms of relationships even though he is technically supposed to be asexual. When he does meet up with old companions there is often a hint of them treating him as an former ex.

He used to have a mechanical robot dog called K9 who was left with a former companion - it is all she has to remember him by. He also has something that looks like something halfway between an oversized pen and a very very shiny vibrator that somebody once called an "universal screwdriver". It locks the TARDIS, unlocks other locks and does all sorts of nifty things.

He can choose to look like anything when he regenerates. I am a fan of David Tennant because he is very hot and when Eccleston regenerated into Tennant, I hyperventilated because I didn't know he was going to be the next Doctor. This is his tenth regeneration and it was hinted that he only has ten so this might be his last? Basically his body clock starts up again and he usually regenerates when someone kills him - ie. shoot him and he will react as if he is dying but then he doesn't, the whole body shimmers and he comes back to life looking completely different. When he regenerates, he generally very weak for a few days afterwards and usually he alters his wardrobe. Each Doctor usually wears something very much out there and has something on him that alludes to the definitive wardrobe of each of the other regenerations of him. Tom Baker had a multicolored scarf but the guy after him dressed in cricket whites. Tennant has snazzy looking PJs, an overcoat and a pair of converse sneakers.

The Doctor looks human but he can be differentiated from other humans by the fact that he has two hearts.

As for the Superman/Clark Kent and The Doctor similarities:

They are both intelligent - the speed at which he draws conclusions is amazing (but often beatable by those watching ;-))
He is always bound to turn up to save humans from something - as mentioned before he has to help
He can't stand everything bad about humans but he can't help loving them either - positively waxes lyrical about them.
He is absolutely head over heels in love with his companions but he guards himself and cannot bring himself to admit it to them because he doesn't want to doom them to a relationship with someone who has to travel to different dimensions or who might conceivably outlive them or who might put them in danger. He tries to tell Rose he loves her but doesn't get the chance to as the link between the TARDIS and her world fades before he can.
He seems to attract blondes and redheads. David Tennant - I will never forgive you for dating a blonde woman in real life. Never - when we are so perfectly suited to each other - how could you????
He is in effect an orphan. His home planet and all known members of his race are destroyed and he has chosen to hang around humans as a result.

The enemies consist of:
- The Master - he and another woman turned up in some of the earlier series as surviving TIMELORDS. They seek to enslave humanity and/or grab hold of the TARDIS and/or kill The Doctor. Given the way that they are named - it's possible The Doctor has no name save The Doctor. The title of the series is a reference to humans asking for the rest of the moniker. The Master did build his own TARDIS but the last anyone saw of him was when he and the other woman (whatever her name was) were trapped and about to be destroyed in that machine. Did they survive? We don't know.

- The Daleks. Known to be little shuttlecock shaped robotic looking aliens that run around with a huge thin cylindrical arm projecting straight ahed of them. Their favourite phrase is "Exterminate! Exterminate!". They hate everything that isn't like them as mentioned before and they hate the Doctor however The Doctor if in the right situation is able to threaten them by reminding them of something that happened to them in the past that nearly wiped them out. What he refers to no one really seems to know though it could have to do with the destruction of Gallifray. It could be a bluff to remind them that he did kill those he loved once before in order to defeat The Daleks and that they can safely assume that he might do it again no matter how much he has protected Earth and humans before.

- The Cybermen. Favourite phrase "You will surrender/ You will obey." They seek to conquer everything they come across rather than destroy it. They are cyborgs and the only reason they do not actively destroy anyone is because they grab every alien being they can and turn them into more Cybermen thereby building their race. They seem to hate everything that isn't mechanical and they aren't exactly happy with the Daleks but as the Daleks are usually more powerful they have often attempted to team up with them against the Doctor.

- Other random aliens:
There have been ones that absorb other beings to survive. Others that seek slave labour. A set of robots that programmed to allow their ship to function in all eventualities target a human in order to use her brain for the motherboard, years after the ship is deserted and rendered inactive by the death of its crew etc.

That's about as much as I know - I haven't had the chance to watch the entire show from the start. It never aired in SL and I only get to watch the occasional reruns from mid Tom Baker onwards that aired on ABC in Australia prior to the unveiling of the Christopher Eccleston series (whom I didn't like at all).

The Little Tornado.