Why is it the Doctor’s destiny to always be at the scene of invasions/ disasters/ evil plots? This guy can’t even go on vacation without finding (yet another) hidden menace threatening the peaceful people of <insert name here>. Someone or something has got to be behind it.
He did mention the Tartus is Sentient and has a soul and is the best ship in the Universe. Perhaps this explains it.
I like the allusion to Gandalf. I always thought the Tom Baker Doctor (#4) was patterned a little after Gandalf. Baker has said he was a fan of Middle-Earth.
So all I can offer is WAGs and nothing concrete until a die-hard Dr Who fan shows up as opposed to a casual fan like myself.
Jim
It’s a non-question. This is a show about adventures. Of course, the Doctor is going to have adventures wherever he goes, much like the Enterprise ran into an alient menace every week.
In continuity, he not always at the scene of a disaster. He has had plenty visits to worlds where nothing particularly dangerous happens; they are often referred to (for example, Rose talking about the frozen sea). But those aren’t the ones that get televised.
In addition, the Fourth Doctor once said he hadn’t visited Traken because evil could not exist there (little did he know . . . ), implying he prefers to go into danger spots.
Tardis. Or TARDIS, depending on the source. An acronym for Time And Relative Dimension (or Dimensions, again varies by source) In Space.
A lot of the time, he’s sent on missions by various people, UNIT, the Timelord, The White Guardian, etc. Or else he picks up a distress broadcast. Other times he gets caught in an adventure because an old enemy comes seeking revenge.
The rest of the time, he gets caught in an adventure because he’s nosy. Even on Earth, anyone can find villainy and injustice if they go looking. The Doctor is simply in the habit of sticking his nose into whatever trouble is around. And there is trouble everywhere, just open any newspaper and see.
The Doctor has gone to a whole bunch of peaceful places; Florana, the Eye of Orion, Metebelis III (the first time he visited) - these are only some of the ones mentioned in the series.
We don’t see any of this stuff, of course, because (funnily enough) the scriptwriters don’t think a storyline consisting of “the Doctor has a lie in, goes for a walk, has lunch at a local restaurant, writes a couple of postcards to his mates and then goes paddling” would pull in the viewers.
It’s the same reason someone gets murdered everywhere Angela Lansberry goes. He, like she, actually secretly causes the problem, as job security.
And yes, I meant Angela Lansberry, the actress. Not any character she plays. Murdering bitch.
I like the idea that the Tardis, as a sentient being, takes him wherever he is most needed at any one time (ie. where the trouble is). Of course, sometimes the Doctor (inadvertantly or otherwise) causes the crazy stuff to happen- see Dalek, Father’s Day, New Earth (there were no problems until Rose gave Cassandra a body to possess), plus some older episodes.
Episodes where nothing happens wouldn’t sell in this market. I have to imagine that many of his trips are rather routine, or just annoying.
Romana: Doctor, perhaps we shouldn’t meddle.
Doctor Four: Meddle? Of course we should meddle! Always do what you’re best at!
Doctor Who, The Nightmare of Eden
I know what you mean, but if you put in some relaxing background music, threw in the Doctor giving Rose a neck + foot massage and added a couple of jokes, I think we just might have something…
One Pertwee story — I can’t remember which at the moment, though I think it was the first Peladon story — specifically addressed this. The Doctor asked Jo if she didn’t think it was awfully coincidental they should happen to arrive exactly where and when they were needed; his conclusion was that the Time Lords had diverted the Tardis to that spot because they knew the Doctor would intervene. There was also a suggestion (though this is not canonical) that the Doctor’s Tardis was being guided by the Celestial Intervention Agency, who used the Doctor as a tool for intervening in time without violating Gallifrey’s non-interference policy.
Except of course the most recently-aired ep in the US featured long sequences of the Doctor and a “guest” dining at a local restaurant, Mickey and Rose going for a walk. etc. and it was quite interesting.
It also featured an extra-dimensional rift opening up in the middle of Cardiff. Which is almost a disaster. Sort of. (I can’t knock Cardiff, I was born only twenty miles from Cardiff, I’ve even been there. Once.)
True, but that didn’t threaten until, what, 2/3 of the way into the episode?
No, up till then it was just the Slitheen. (“She’s climbing out of the window, isn’t she?”)
Well, there you are, then. When the Slitheen start climbing out of windows, you know there’ll be no time to write a postcard.
What’s with that? Is that something new? Seemed like a real dumb idea to me. I never heard anything before about it myself but I haven’t seen every episode.
Can’t say. I am not expert. I only remeber the Tom Baker Doctor from childhood and this new Doctor. I never enjoyed any of the other incarnations. We’ll both have to wait for a Dr. Who expert.
Jim
It was implied a long way back: in “The Edge of Destruction,” the Doctor’s fourth adventure, the TARDIS attempts to warn them telepathically that something was wrong, causing paranoia. It was also established at one point that the TARDIS could only be operated by the Doctor due to some sort of identifying link, but that was often ignored.