# General Doctor Who questions **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 16, 2011, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-doctor-who-questions/603081 "2011-11-16T01:19:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2011, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-doctor-who-questions/603081/41 "2011-11-16T22:31:10Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > They’re not. For one thing, they present the Doctor as half-human. They present the Doctor as wholly human, actually. Half-human didn’t come up until the TV movie with McGann. Also, both Barbara and Susan are his granddaughters. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2011, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-doctor-who-questions/603081/42 "2011-11-16T22:31:51Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > The first Doctor was portrayed as somewhat elderly (the actor was in his mid-50s but looked much older), then there was a series of middle aged actors and then Tennant and now Smith, who’s the youngest one yet. Is it part of Who canon that whenever he regenerates he becomes younger than he was before? One of the NuWhos - Smith, I think - had a throwaway line about the fashion for looking elderly that was popular when he was young. A clever bit of retconning, I thought. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > My theory is a little more sinister. > > Vampirism. > > Not the blood sucking kind. Psychic vampirism. The Doctor feeds off the emotions of people. So he finds somebody who’s looking for adventure, takes them to exciting places, and stands next to them as they experience it all. Well, there _is_ a simpler explanation: loneliness. Renette, in “The Girl In The Fireplace” says “such a lonely, lonely childhood” when she reads his memories. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’ve been watching the newer episodes starting with the 2005 return. I’ll admit I had one problem with Christopher Eccleston - I kept wondering why Al Bundy was talking with an English accent. Holy crap, you’re right! How did I never notice that before? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2011, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-doctor-who-questions/603081/43 "2011-11-16T22:39:14Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > At about the one minute mark, is he saying what I think he’s saying? If so: holy crow! Which bit? The bit about 16 mariners tossing in his purse? Or something else? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-doctor-who-questions/603081/44 "2011-11-17T02:17:19Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > They also often say that he needs humans to limit and humanize him, so he doesn’t become all “Time Lord Victorious”. I think they also hint at his need for companions in [“Midnight”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midnight_(Doctor_Who)) … without his companion witnessing him (both complementing and complimenting) he ends up more impotent, than “victorious”. Also, in this year’s “God Complex” they demonstrated how he really can’t help himself. Even as he was bemoaning how he could no longer travel with Amy and Rory, putting them in danger, how it was unfair of him to basically offer such candy to humans, he was making the offer to Rita … who called him out on it. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-doctor-who-questions/603081/45 "2011-11-17T03:23:36Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > The Doctor doesn’t have sex with humans (at least on stage - it’s been hinted that he had a serious relationship with Queen Elizabeth the First). \*\* “No hanky-panky on the Tardis” is the basic rule. \*\* Sarah Jane (and others) obviously adore the Doctor, but there are indications that he doesn’t really understand human sexuality very well. The one instance of “hanky-panky” in the TARDIS that is know to have occurred Amy and Rory’s wedding night was spent on the TARDIS in transit through the time vortex resulted in Melody Pond/River Song, and human woman with some oddly Time Lordish traits and a backwards-in-time relationship with the Doctor had enough significant consequences that the “no hanky-panky in the TARDIS” rule starts to look really, really sensible whether it involves Time Lords or not. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-doctor-who-questions/603081/46 "2011-11-17T14:12:35Z")
> [@Lord\_Mondegreen](#): > > Which bit? The bit about 16 mariners tossing in his purse? Or something else? Um…yes, that one. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-doctor-who-questions/603081/47 "2011-11-17T16:14:19Z")
Antecedent added my me > [@Tengu](#): > > [The movies] present the Doctor as wholly human, actually. Half-human didn’t come up until the TV movie with McGann. Also, both Barbara and Susan are his granddaughters. Clarification: In the Peter Cushing movies, His name is Doctor Who, and he is a human inventor. His Granddaughters are Susan (age 7) and Barbara (young adult - possibly late teens). Ian is Barbara’s boyfriend. In the original Series, He is called The Doctor, and belongs to a mysterious race (later to be called Time Lords). His Granddaughter is Susan, a highschooler (or the English equivalent), who is very knowledgeable about science and history, but incredibly ignorant about every day life. (She doesn’t even know how many shillings are in a pound!) Her history and science teachers, Barbara and Ian, follow her home one day to meet her mysterious Grandfather. They watch her enter a blue police box in a junkyard, and they sneak in behind her. The adventure begins… ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-doctor-who-questions/603081/48 "2011-11-17T17:03:28Z")
Nnn, yes, my post was not as clear as it ought have been.:smack: Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-doctor-who-questions/603081/49 "2011-11-17T17:18:30Z")
I’m pretty sure the Doctor and at least one companion has explicitly said he thought out companions because he is incredibly lonely. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-doctor-who-questions/603081/50 "2011-11-17T17:42:25Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > Antecedent added my me > > Clarification: > > In the Peter Cushing movies, His name is Doctor Who, and he is a human inventor. His Granddaughters are Susan (age 7) and Barbara (young adult - possibly late teens). Ian is Barbara’s boyfriend. Further clarification: In the second movie, Barbara is replaced by Louise, who is Doctor Who’s niece, and Ian is replaced by constable Tom, a policeman who tried to use the Police Box to report a robbery. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-doctor-who-questions/603081/51 "2011-11-17T17:49:16Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > I’m pretty sure the Doctor and at least one companion has explicitly said he thought out companions because he is incredibly lonely. He had essentially this conversation when he asked Donna to come with. ‘I just want a mate…’ (ie, a friend, not…you know…made clear when Donna misinterpreted it.) ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-doctor-who-questions/603081/52 "2011-11-17T18:28:32Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > Nnn, yes, my post was not as clear as it ought have been.:smack: Sorry. No worries. I figured it out. > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Further clarification: > > In the second movie, Barbara is replaced by Louise, who is Doctor Who’s niece, and Ian is replaced by constable Tom, a policeman who tried to use the Police Box to report a robbery. \I did not know that.\ ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-doctor-who-questions/603081/53 "2011-11-17T21:31:44Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I thought it was obvious. > > [Christopher](http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a133/indulgemrnorton/ChristopherEccleston.jpg) [Eccleston](http://www.denofgeek.com/siteimage/scale/500/800/285371.jpg) - [Ed](http://membres.multimania.fr/remileglaude/AL_BUNDY.jpg) [O’Neill](http://images.wikia.com/miamivice/images/6/69/Edoneill.jpg) WOW… okay, point taken. But **Sampiro’s** quite right. Based on hotness alone, Eccleston can eat crackers in my bed \*\*any \*\*tme he wants to… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2011, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-doctor-who-questions/603081/54 "2011-11-17T23:13:28Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > In the second movie, Barbara is replaced by Louise, who is Doctor Who’s niece, and Ian is replaced by constable Tom, a policeman who tried to use the Police Box to report a robbery. And Tom was played by Bernard Cribbins, who later played Donna’s grandfather, Wilfred Mott. You see how it all ties together? ---
**Author:** ![Cinnamon\_Imp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58956e/32.png) [@Cinnamon\_Imp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cinnamon_Imp)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-doctor-who-questions/603081/55 "2011-11-18T19:56:47Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I know that David Tennant has many fans, and Tom Baker was super popular, but > Is there a generally acknowledged to be **Most** popular and the **Least** popular" Doctor ? I generally acknowledge Sylvester McCoy to be the least popular, don’t know if fandom agrees with me though 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-doctor-who-questions/603081/56 "2011-11-18T20:09:08Z")
> [@hermette](#): > > I generally acknowledge Sylvester McCoy to be the least popular, don’t know if fandom agrees with me though 🙂 McCoy or McGann, I’d say. Both were fairly short-term (McGann especially), and didn’t get much play in the US, at least. I’ve heard that the 6th Doctor (Colin Baker) is also not terribly popular. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-doctor-who-questions/603081/57 "2011-11-18T20:42:30Z")
I think Colin Baker is the least popular. I know he is with me. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-doctor-who-questions/603081/58 "2011-11-18T20:59:17Z")
I wasn’t a big fan of Colin Baker’s Doctor, but I faithfully watched his entire run. I gave up fairly early on Sylvester McCoy, and never checked in again before Eccleston. ---
**Author:** ![Monkey\_Chews](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@Monkey\_Chews](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monkey_Chews)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-doctor-who-questions/603081/59 "2011-11-19T00:49:19Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > I gave up fairly early on Sylvester McCoy You missed some great Doctor Who! His first season was fairly atrocious, but they really got their act together for his second and third seasons and pulled out some great stories. _Remembrance Of The Daleks_, _The Curse Of Fenric_, and _Ghost Light_ rank up there with with the best of Who, and there were quite a few other good stories too. They added a few layers of mystery and depth - and even a manipulative streak - to the character after his initial debut as a spoon-playing buffoon. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2011, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-doctor-who-questions/603081/60 "2011-11-19T01:23:56Z")
> [@Monkey\_Chews](#): > > You missed some great Doctor Who! His first season was fairly atrocious, but… Now look what you’ve done! (My wife thinks my current binge is almost over.) Hey, here’s a silly question for folks whose memories of classic Who are fresher than mine: When did the Doctor first become unambiguously gay-positive? I mean, it’s very up-front post-2005, but it seems so natural and in keeping with the spirit if the Doctor that you don’t really blink. Obviously wouldn’t expect the same level of frankness but is there any precedent apart from the fourth Doctor lifting a few pages from Oscar Wilde? 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-doctor-who-questions/603081.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/general-doctor-who-questions/603081.md?page=4)