The Doctor’s Story Arc and How the Companions Tie Into It
I understand this season so much better now. It wasn’t just gratuitous angst for the sake of angst; it was a build-up to the finale, to the Doctor leaving his friends behind.
“Voyage of the Damned” is a microcosm of the season. The Doctor watches people kill and/or die because they’re following him: Morvin, Foon, Bannakaffalatta, Astrid. He can’t stand that, so he resolves to travel alone, and leaves Mr. Copper behind.
And he would be traveling alone, but Donna shows up and won’t take no for an answer. And, well, he’s lonely and emotionally needy, so he can’t turn her away. But he warns her that it’s dangerous, that he’s bad for people; he flat out tells her that he ruined half of Martha’s life.
And that’s the Doctor’s problem. It’s this terrible mix of arrogance and guilt and the instinct to protect others. All he sees is that he destroys people, but he doesn’t see the good that he inspires in them. Yes, Martha had to walk the earth in horrible conditions for a year; yes, her family was tortured by the Master; but Martha became a hero. Martha saved the earth. Martha flat out tells him that she’s better for the experience, but he doesn’t listen. He doesn’t respect her growth, doesn’t respect that it’s good that she’s now got the ability to stand up for her own world. He just sees her becoming more like him, bearing more of the burden that he thinks should be his alone.
So Donna comes with him, and what happens? She shares his burdens. She helps push the button in Pompeii. She kills the wasp in “The Unicorn and the Wasp.” And her life is constantly at risk: kidnapped by a cult, nearly killed by the Ood, sucked into a computer, and Wilf is nearly killed by ATMOS. She’s even forced to kill herself in an alternate universe in order to get him back. The Doctor doesn’t see how much better she became in that AU after she experienced suffering and faced challenges that gave her the opportunity to be a hero; he just feels the guilt that she had to die for him.
And look at everyone else. People are always dying around the Doctor, but it was worse than ever this season. I thought they were just doing it because David Tennant is pretty when he cries, but no, it’s a set-up for the ending. Astrid, Ross, Luke, Jenny, River, the Hostess, AU!Donna, and Harriet Jones all die after following the Doctor. And he’s arrogant enough to blame himself, without recognizing that these decisions to save others are their choices to make.
All he sees is that he destroys. And Davros certainly rubs it in, by telling him that he’s a “destroyer of worlds” who turns ordinary humans into weapons. The Doctor doesn’t argue; he just stands there and absorbs it. This is a guy who hates violence. Maybe he was cooler with it in old Who, but after the Time War, after destroying his own people, believing everyone he loved is dead because of him, he’s got major issues. He does not want to accept that sometimes violence is necessary. Yeah, he does it–he kills the Racnoss and the Krillitanes and whoever else, when it’s the only choice–but it’s a struggle every single time.
And, see, it’s obvious to us that he does what he has to do. Pompeii is the perfect example. Yes, it’s horrible that he kills those thousands of people. But it’s necessary. It’s a choice between just those people, or the whole world (including those people anyway). It has to be done, but the Doctor is a guy who just can’t stand to live in a universe where something so horrible is necessary.
That’s why he bristles so much at UNIT, at Jack and Martha carrying guns, at Jenny the soldier, at anyone who salutes him. It’s hardly even about them; it’s him seeing a part of himself that he hates in them. Arrogance and guilt, that’s like the Tenth Doctor’s mantra.
So it all comes together in the finale. Because he has turned his friends into weapons. Martha’s about to destroy the earth, to replicate his own genocide of his people on hers. Sarah Jane and Jack are going to blow them all up. And he sees his own self commit genocide again.
Of course it’s justified. Of course they’re heroes, doing what’s necessary to save the universe. Of course they’re better for knowing the Doctor–”Turn Left” proves that they’d all be heroes without him, but they’d also be dead a hell of a lot faster.
But he doesn’t see it. He only sees the worst possible interpretation: he sees himself destroying them. They’re bearing burdens that he sees as his alone; they’re killing and dying for him.
Of course he sends Rose away. He loves her so much. That’s why he wants her as far from him as possible; he doesn’t want to destroy her. He doesn’t want to watch her kill or die for him. And she would, eventually. The thing is, to her, it would be worth it, but he doesn’t respect her choice. Because he loves her and wants her safe. It’s disrespectful and wrong and yet understandable, born out of love and the desire to protect.
And Donna. Here is the thing that he does to Donna: he erases every trace of himself from her. He’s such an arrogant ass. He doesn’t understand how important it is that she’s grown, that she’s changed for the better, that she’s become a hero, Donna Noble, Super!Temp, the most important woman in the universe. All he sees is that his influence has destroyed his best friend. He literally erases himself from her, the Time Lord part of him that got into her brain, as he also erases all her memories of him. He thinks she’ll be better off without his bad influence. It’s almost a redemptive act for him; he’s wrecked everyone else’s lives, but at least he can put Donna back the way she was, give her another chance to live, without bearing his burdens and dying for him.
So, you know, in trying to prevent his influence from destroying her? He destroys her.
I think it’s absolutely the right story choice. Because the audience can see what the Doctor’s missing, the positive aspect of his influence, how he inspires people to become heroes. But he can’t see it, and he’s wrong for not seeing it, and he makes horrible choices because of it.
And it doesn’t take away from Donna’s story. All that potential is still in her; “Turn Left” explicitly shows that in the right circumstances, she’d be a hero even without the Doctor. The mindwipe just emphasizes it more, because it reminds us of the difference between our Donna and early Donna, and asks us whether she’ll be able to achieve her potential again via another path.
And yes, this does tie Donna’s (and Rose’s) story into the Doctor’s. But that doesn’t take away from their arcs, doesn’t make their heroism or their tragedy any less. It’s not female characters being distorted to serve a male character’s story, because they don’t get distorted. Their arcs are brilliant. It just means, as people always used to tell me when I whined about Spike/Logan/Methos not being at the center of the story, that the show is called Doctor Who, and in the end we’re watching the story of the Doctor.
That said, it’s such a freaking depressing story arc–he learns all the wrong lessons, fucks up his own life and that of his friends–that I’m a little heartsick, and less invested in the character as a result. It’s sad and frustrating and right now I’d really prefer to think about whatever adventures Rose and human!Doctor are getting up to in the alt!verse.
Current Mood: 
thoughtful
58 Responses to “The Doctor’s Story Arc and How the Companions Tie Into It”
a_white_rain on July 9, 2008 1:19 pm | Link
I think that David cries pretty is why they went in this direction.
With the Doctor — I talked about where I think he’s going a bit. I stand by it. This Doctor is one who has no idea how to cope and unless he learns and learns fast and well, he’s probably going to die alone.
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rusty-halo on July 9, 2008 1:33 pm | Link
I think it’s because RTD has the idea that the epitome of the Doctor is a lonely man traveling by himself in a box. He started out disconnected and fucked-up, went through an arc of reconnecting, but ultimately RTD preferred to return him in the same condition as when he began. It’s like he got this character to play with for four years but had to put him back to the way he started when he was done.
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a_white_rain on July 9, 2008 1:34 pm | Link
Good point - and Moffat likes that view of the character, and since he’s taking over, that matters, to a point.
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chloris on July 9, 2008 1:25 pm | Link
When you lay it out like that it *is* depressing! I guess I don’t see the season arc like that at all though. I see something more uplifting.
I haven’t managed to put in any sort of a coherent form yet but it’s something along the lines of the Doctor realizing that he needs connections with other people. And that with those connections comes pain, but the pain is worth the relationships. I also don’t think that he sent everyone any out of self loathing either. Most of his friends had lives to return to. As for Rose, she has new!Ten (and why would he want to watch the two of them get together - which I think they would no matter what). And Donna he couldn’t keep anyway. He may have hoped that she would be able to deal with being DoctorDonna, but once he knew she couldn’t, it was either lock up her memories or watch her die.
I guess I see him as more pensive or sad then broken at the end.
I hope that made some sense, it’s 85 degrees in here and we’re trying not to use the air conditioner.
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rusty-halo on July 9, 2008 1:41 pm | Link
But he doesn’t realize that he needs connections with other people. The audience realizes it, but the Doctor learns the exact opposite. Why else would our last image be of him alone in the TARDIS after losing the two people he loves most, instead of off to see some of his many other friends for companionship and comfort? Yeah, they’ve got other people in their lives, but he’s using that as an excuse to stay away from them. There’s no reason they couldn’t take some time out to be there for him.
Why else would he stand there listening to Davros telling him he destroys people and not even argue? I think it’s very clear from the text that he believes this, feels guilty about it, and wants to protect his companions from himself.
As for Rose, she has new!Ten
Yeah, because he puts them together. Even if you think it’s inevitable they’d have ended up together (which I don’t), there’s no reason they need to be in an entirely separate universe. He doesn’t fight for her, doesn’t even try, just unilaterally pushes her away without even discussing it with her.
I guess I see him as more pensive or sad then broken at the end.
I don’t think he’s more broken than usual. He starts out thinking he’s a destroyer who is better off alone, and he ends up the same way. The tragedy is that we know he needs people and is good for them, and he doesn’t. I think he’s a pretty broken being all around, a man who desperately needs to connect with others but will never fully be able to open up to them, and who will never be comfortable with his position in the universe. And I don’t think he’ll ever change.
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Yonmei on July 9, 2008 1:52 pm | Link
Here is the thing that he does to Donna: he erases every trace of himself from her. He’s such an arrogant ass
If you’re right that was his motivation - rather than, as claimed in previous threads, his desire to save her life by destroying her memories - then the Doctor is a psychopath.
That interpretation I disagree with, by the way.
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rusty-halo on July 9, 2008 1:55 pm | Link
I think he does it because it’s the only choice other than death. But I also think he doesn’t realize how awful it is, because he sees removing all trace of himself from her mind as a good thing for her.
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rusty-halo on July 9, 2008 2:31 pm | Link
And, actually, this is the question the story is asking us: Is it better to be a burden-bearing hero or a safe-but-clueless nobody? Donna’s story epitomizes it.
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Yonmei on July 10, 2008 5:10 am | Link
Wow, well, if you can see that, why are you all for Donna being a safe-but-clueless-nobody?
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rusty-halo on July 10, 2008 9:07 am | Link
WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?
I THINK DONNA’S STORY IS A HORRIBLE TRAGEDY. I’VE SAID SO ABOUT TWENTY TIMES.
I said the guilt-ridden part of the Doctor thinks Donna would be better off having never known him. I never said he’s right or that I think she’s better off; I said he’s a “self-hating, guilt-ridden, arrogant fool.” Of course I think Donna’s better off as a hero who knows who she is and what she’s done. I’ve been talking all season about how much I love Donna and her development.
And I never said he erased her memories for this sole reason. He erased her memories because it was the only choice other than death.
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Yonmei on July 9, 2008 6:04 pm | Link
because he sees removing all trace of himself from her mind as a good thing for her.
Well, that would make the Doctor a dangerous psychopath.
Again - I disagree with that interpretation. It’s yours, not mine.
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rusty-halo on July 9, 2008 6:19 pm | Link
that would make the Doctor a dangerous psychopath
I suppose the Racnoss and the Family of Blood would agree. :P
And no, I don’t think it makes him a psychopath. That’s your interpretation. I think it makes him a self-hating, guilt-ridden, arrogant fool.
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Yonmei on July 9, 2008 6:41 pm | Link
I suppose the Racnoss and the Family of Blood would agree.
I doubt it; I think they’d see nothing wrong with destroying another person’s mind for your own personal gratification. That’s what you’re saying the Doctor did.
That I disagree with.
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rusty-halo on July 9, 2008 7:14 pm | Link
they’d see nothing wrong with destroying another person’s mind for your own personal gratification. That’s what you’re saying the Doctor did.
Uh, what?
…
Okay, you know what, never mind.
*shakes head and walks away*
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Yonmei on July 10, 2008 5:11 am | Link
You’re saying the Doctor destroyed Donna’s memories, rather than trying to save her, for his own gratification - because he wanted to destroy her memories. That’s psychopathic.
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rusty-halo on July 10, 2008 10:44 am | Link
Uh, no. As I’ve already said, he did it because it was the only choice other than death.
I’m saying there’s more psychological nuance and thematic resonance to his choice, because he believes that following him destroys his companions.
Speaking as a human being, I think it’s better to live a meaningful life and die a hero than to be a nobody with a long pointless life. That’s why I think the memory wipe is so tragic for Donna.
But the Doctor isn’t a human being. He’s a Time Lord, who sees himself as a protector of human beings. Keeping them safe is a higher priority for him, which is why he repeatedly sends Rose to safety when she’s in danger.
Donna’s story epitomizes this issue. Is it better to die a hero or to live as a nobody? Is it better to be inspired by the Doctor or to never meet him?
I think the Doctor thinks it’s better to live as a nobody and never meet him, because he doesn’t want to watch the people he loves die. He wants to take all the burden onto himself.
Which still doesn’t change that Donna was about to die. Whatever mix of reasons that were brewing in the Doctor’s head, the mindwipe was entirely about protecting Donna, keeping her safe and alive.
If you actually think that’s psychopathic, well, okay. Let’s agree to disagree, because this discussion is starting to go in circles.
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Yonmei on July 10, 2008 12:33 pm | Link
I think we’re now back to the point again where I point out that the Doctor made no attempt to save Donna, he just mindwiped her, which was a pisspoor narrative choice because the Doctor never gives up or gives in when he’s trying to save his companions, and so it goes again.
As (we both) probably should have said already: time to agree to disagree. You see the Doctor one way: I see the Doctor another way.
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versaphile on July 9, 2008 6:52 pm | Link
He would only be a psychopath if he *didn’t* care, if it didn’t hurt so much to lose her. The whole thing that makes someone a psychopath is lack of empathy, and the Doctor, if anything, has too much empathy.
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Yonmei on July 10, 2008 5:16 am | Link
Um, no. What Rusty Halo is proposing is that the Doctor’s motivation for destroying Donna’s memories wasn’t out of despair, but was for his own benefit - that he wanted to destroy Donna’s memories, that, in short, he’s a dangerous psychopath who has no concept that other people have feelings and needs.
Now I agree with you - the Doctor as I know him does have too much empathy to be a psychopath - I don’t think he’d ever destroy another person’s mind just because he wanted to. That’s what I’m saying - I disagree with Rusty Halo’s new interpretation of the-Doctor-as-psychopath.
I hate the narrative that set the Doctor up as despairing and giving up and not even trying to save Donna.
But I can’t tolerate Rusty’s interpretation that he didn’t “give up”, he actively wanted to destroy Donna’s memories. I really, really can’t: it’s horrific.
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versaphile on July 10, 2008 6:49 pm | Link
Here’s two scenarios:
1. The Doctor is a psychopath. He blithely removes chunks of people’s memories without guilt. He pushes people away because he *likes* pushing people away.
2. The Doctor is guilt-ridden and self-loathing. When his wonderful friend is *dying* because his mind is in hers, he removes his mind. He’s heartbroken and sad, but he’d rather see her alive than dead. A part of him feels he doesn’t deserve to be happy, and that he hurts his friends by making them soldiers, and that Donna is better off without him.
I do not see Rusty pushing scenario #1. She’s pushing scenario #2. There is a big difference.
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rusty-halo on July 10, 2008 9:48 pm | Link
Yes. Um. What you said. Thank you for defending my sanity (and that of the Doctor). ;)
Also, how awkward is it that I’ve picked up the same nickname as the show runner? I was rusty_halo for years before I’d ever heard of Russell T Davies. I demand that fandom choose a new nickname for him immediately. >:(
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Yonmei on July 11, 2008 4:43 am | Link
Rusty and I have agreed to disagree on this one. #2 is the same scenario as #1, just making excuses for the psychopathic Doctor Rusty presents.
I disagree. I will continue to disagree. Rusty’s idea of psycho-Doctor fills me with utter loathing. But we don’t agree on Spike either, and I don’t have to keep arguing about it.
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versaphile on July 11, 2008 8:56 am | Link
2 is the same as 1?! They’re not remotely the same thing! I think you really lack a definition of psychopath.
A person with an antisocial personality disorder, manifested in aggressive, perverted, criminal, or amoral behavior without empathy or remorse.
without empathy or remorse. WITHOUT. The Doctor *cannot* be considered a psychopath and guilt-ridden in the very same breath. It does NOT work that way. And the only one here who seems to think the Doctor isn’t feeling empathy and remorse is *you*.
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Yonmei on July 11, 2008 9:07 am | Link
I think you really lack a definition of psychopath.
No, I’m going by the psychiatric definition of psychopath (though I admit it could also work for sociopath). Rusty is arguing that the Doctor mindwiped Donna because he wanted to - because he had his own selfish motivations for the brainwipe and Donna’s feelings and needs had become irrelevant to him. Try Hare’s Checklist, etc.
By this argument, the Doctor’s emo state at the end isn’t because he’s just done something so awful to Donna, it’s because he’s completely thinking of himself, of how awful he is. Regret and remorse aren’t in it, because by Rusty’s theory, the Doctor doesn’t feel he did anything wrong to Donna, or should have tried to save her.
Which is why I don’t agree with Rusty’s theory of PsychoDoctor.
Look, sorry, I just shouldn’t argue about this. It does relate to why I shouldn’t argue with fans who like Spike, either….
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redeem147 on July 11, 2008 12:56 pm | Link
Spike, the supposedly irredeemable like Whedon’s vampire’s are Spike who went through torment to get his soul back so he could be a better person? That Spike?
Yes, you hit a nerve.
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orange_crushed on July 11, 2008 1:08 pm | Link
From the OP:
So Donna comes with him, and what happens? …he [just] feels the guilt that she had to die for him.
…They’re bearing burdens that he sees as his alone; they’re killing and dying for him.
…And Donna. Here is the thing that he does to Donna: he erases every trace of himself from her. …All he sees is that his influence has destroyed his best friend… He thinks she’ll be better off without his bad influence. It’s almost a redemptive act for him; he’s wrecked everyone else’s lives, but at least he can put Donna back the way she was, give her another chance to live, without bearing his burdens and dying for him.
Okay ? I copy-pasted huge chunks of this well-presented essay on the Doctor’s mental state at the end of Journey’s End for you. I did it because obviously you have been commenting on this essay for several days without having read it.
And if you’re going to reference Hare’s Checklist, you might take a personal note at callousness.
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txvoodoo on July 11, 2008 7:13 pm | Link
“Look, sorry, I just shouldn’t argue about this.”
Best thing you’ve said so far, especially because your argument is baseless and circular and unfounded.
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pluckyyounggirl on July 9, 2008 2:19 pm | Link
I love this post.
It all does make sense, and that’s what makes it even more depressing.
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rusty-halo on July 9, 2008 3:12 pm | Link
Thanks.
Yeah, I think that the narrative makes perfect sense. All of the foreshadowing pays off, all of the arcs are wrapped up. It’s just a tragedy.
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goldy_dollar on July 9, 2008 2:21 pm | Link
That said, it’s such a freaking depressing story arc–he learns all the wrong lessons, fucks up his own life and that of his friends–that I’m a little heartsick, and less invested in the character as a result. It’s sad and frustrating and right now I’d really prefer to think about whatever adventures Rose and human!Doctor are getting up to in the alt!verse.
YES. I agree with your interpretation and I think that’s what RTD is telling us, but I also don’t think it was the only story choice possible. There was so much in this season besides the Doctor turning people into weapons. Like Jenny going against her brainwashing and programming to realize she had a choice. Or Martha changing UNIT from the inside out. Or all of Turn Left. And I think it’s a shame that the Doctor is still static at the end of the series - that he just accepts what Davros is telling him, and doesn’t see that even though Martha was willing to destroy her planet to stop the Daleks, she tries to give the Daleks a choice. How Doctorish is that? I didn’t see the other UNIT members trying that.
When the Doctor ended up alone in Doomsday and The Last of the Time Lords - it wasn’t his choice, and I felt for him. I also thought it would eventually get better. But in Journey’s End, he systemically cuts himself off, thereby creating his own angst and loneliness. As sad as it all is, I just can’t bring myself to keep feeling for a character who isn’t trying to help himself.
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pluckyyounggirl on July 9, 2008 2:31 pm | Link
I agree with your interpretation and I think that’s what RTD is telling us, but I also don’t think it was the only story choice possible. […] And I think it’s a shame that the Doctor is still static at the end of the series […]
*NODS*
This is the biggest problem I have with the way it all ended, as well. They absolutely could have ended the story differently because of all the things you said; in fact, I really did think that ending it on a positive note was the way it would make any sense at all. And so to just see him turning in circles endlessly… it makes me less invested in him, and the story as a whole. And it makes me so sad, because if Rose and Donna (and Martha and Sarah Jane) couldn’t make him realise that all the good that comes to both sides in their relationships makes the loss and the bitterness worth it, then I don’t think anyone ever will.
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rusty-halo on July 9, 2008 3:25 pm | Link
if Rose and Donna (and Martha and Sarah Jane) couldn’t make him realise that all the good that comes to both sides in their relationships makes the loss and the bitterness worth it, then I don’t think anyone ever will.
I agree. This ending pretty much made me lose hope for the Doctor ever emotionally evolving or opening up to others in the way that he needs. He’s doomed to eternal misery, and I don’t particularly want to watch that, not when there’s no chance of improvement.
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versaphile on July 9, 2008 6:54 pm | Link
I think that the Doctor being “eternally lonely” is RTD’s big fetish, more than anything. And given that Moffet has paired the Doctor up twice already, and gave him Jack, I don’t see that trend being absolute.
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rusty-halo on July 9, 2008 8:25 pm | Link
I agree that “eternally lonely” is a big RTD kink. I don’t know if Moffat shares it. He did pair off the Doctor twice, but he also killed off the love interest in such a way as to wring out maximum angst. Of course, that could just be because he was only able to create single-story characters at that point. And he does also love those big hopeful “everybody lives” moments.
Although I’m not sure I’ll watch when Moffat takes over. I really don’t like his sexist views, and it seriously impacts my ability to enjoy his stories. Not to mention that I think he values plot over character and is generally a more shallow writer overall.
Of course, as long as Tennant sticks around, I might have to grin and bear it anyway. :P
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rusty-halo on July 9, 2008 3:20 pm | Link
You’re right–there is so much in the season that shows the opposite. It’s so blatant to the audience, but it’s also really clear that the Doctor doesn’t see it. He never seems to acknowledge or recognize how he makes people better.
I think that’s why it’s so tragic, because he does have such a positive influence. He saves the world and the universe over and over. He inspires people to become heroes. He sets positive examples, for Jenny and Martha and Jack, shows that you should always try non-violent solutions first.
I think the theme is the same whether the Doctor recognizes it or not. If he recognizes it, it’s a story of emotional and moral growth. If he doesn’t, it’s a tragedy, the story of a hero who fails to recognize his positive impact. I wish it had been the story of growth, but I think both story choices are equally legitimate. I assume the main reason RTD chose the latter was that he believes the character is too iconic to change very much.
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JayDK on July 9, 2008 2:44 pm | Link
I don’t think I agree, entirely. I think there are too many other elements simultaneously happening to decide the Doctor does everything because he’s decided he’s a poisonous influence that must be both removed and punished.
In the case of Martha, Jack and Sarah Jane, he doesn’t send them away; they go back to their own lives, and he hasn’t cut off the possibility of all future contact with them. I would argue that is actually why, in fact, he’s okay with it; because they do have their own lives, he knows he won’t be the center for them any more. I think he needs that distance to feel comfortable in maintaining the relationships.
In the case of Donna, he really doesn’t have a choice, and I do think he realizes how awful it was, because he loves Donna. I don’t think he thinks this is best for Donna or the preferable outcome; I think he thinks it’s just the best he can do. If Donna’s head wasn’t about to explode, I don’t think the Doctor would have come up with some reason to dump her somewhere — I think she’d still be traveling with the Doctor (addressing the characters only and putting aside the meta-reason of CT staying with the show for just a year, of course). And even if he did, Donna wouldn’t let him dump her anywhere — which is another part of the equation, that the Doctor needs the primary person in his life to reach out to him and fight him on his personal decisions.
In the case of Rose, I think there is a definite element of the Doctor not thinking he is good for Rose — but I think that’s because alt!Doctor is an available choice. He looks at alt!Doctor and sees a self who can give Rose the one thing that the Doctor can’t — a life they can share together in every way, including growing older. I think it’s a definite choice on the Doctor’s part not to kiss Rose, not to tell her he loves her, not to move their relationship to a romantic level — but the reason he makes that choice is not up to him: Rose will die, and he will live on. And I think a key part of the equation is that Rose does desperately want that full relationship with him. She would have taken his hand and travelled in the TARDIS with him forever, but there would have been something she wanted that he wouldn’t give her.
It’s a lack of bravery on the Doctor’s part that he won’t go there and take the tragedy with the joy, but I do understand the reasons why, and I do see why, when the Doctor sees that Rose can have that full life with alt!Doctor, he arranges it ruthlessly. He knows that Rose will pick him over the alt!Doctor, so he refuses to give her what alt!Doctor will — and when Rose responds to alt!Doctor with a kiss, it’s the key moment that allows the Doctor to escape. If alt!Doctor had not been in the picture, Rose would never have let the Doctor leave her, the way a healthy Donna would never let him dump her. But she does want what alt!Doctor offers, which the Doctor can’t and/or won’t give.
I definitely see elements of self-punishment in the Doctor, and self-destructiveness, but I think in the case of both Donna and Rose, there were other motivations going on. I think the self-punishment aspect is most evident in the fact that the Doctor not only gives Rose alt!Doctor, but essentially locks them away in the parallel universe — he won’t let himself look back and he won’t let Rose come look for him again. But in a way, that’s also giving Rose and alt!Doctor the best possible chance — the Doctor has taken himself out of the picture as much as he can. It’s incredibly arrogant and awful, and yet at the same time, the Doctor just breaks my heart.
As for the idea that the Doctor can’t see that Martha and Jack have become heroes — I agree that part of it is that they’re embodying the aspect of his personality that the Doctor hates, the part that wreaks destruction in order to save. But honestly, what Jack and particularly Martha are threatening to do IS horrifying — Martha is going to blow up the entire Earth! That’s not a good option, because as it turned out, there was another way. I think it’s especially telling that when saying their farewells, the Doctor tells Martha to go save the world again by disabling the Osterhagen Key, and she agrees. I think the Doctor hates himself for what he’s had to do and become at times — but I guess I don’t agree that he’s wrong to hate that part of himself, and hate seeing it reflected in others. Committing a lesser atrocity to stop a greater one is still committing an atrocity, and it should be terrible and unspeakable and I guess I think it should wreak emotional damage such as that suffered by the Doctor. And I really don’t think he’s wrong to be horrified by what alt!Doctor did to the Daleks, because alt!Doctor’s actions were not in any way a “last resort”, more like a pre-emptive strike — ironically, right after we’d seen that at least one Dalek, Caan, could change and realize the horror that the Daleks had become. Which is not to say I think alt!Doctor was particularly wrong, but I can totally see why the Doctor is horrified, and I’m glad that the Doctor continues to be horrified by acts such as those.
I agree that I like imagining alt!Doctor and Rose in the parallel world, especially if includes dealing with alt!Doctor’s moral evolution and Rose’s mourning for the Doctor who left her, along with the fun adventures in space and hopefully, eventually, time. But for me, my first thought will always be our Doctor and his journey, however self-destructive he may be. He just breaks my heart!
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rusty-halo on July 9, 2008 3:00 pm | Link
Hmmm. I don’t think I disagree with any of what you said. I just emphasize different elements, I suppose.
Okay, the one thing I disagree with is that there’s anything wrong with killing the Daleks. Yes, Dalek Caan changed, but he’s an extraordinary case, and there’s no evidence that any of the others Daleks are going to do anything similar. (Redemption inspired by an emergency temporal shift into the Time War itself? Not likely to happen twice!) I get why it upsets the Doctor, because he’s horrified at any form of genocide, but they’re about to destroy reality itself. Their entire purpose is to destroy anything that isn’t them. Fighting the Daleks is the most justified war you could ever fight. (And this is me. You know I’m not saying it lightly.)
Martha is going to blow up the entire Earth! That’s not a good option, because as it turned out, there was another way.
Yes, but she offered the Daleks a choice. She’s not genocide!happy, she’s just doing what she has to do. Sacrifices for the greater good are horrible, but sometimes they’re necessary. I think the Pompeii metaphor applies here, too–it’s awful that the Doctor has to destroy Pompeii, but he has to do it to save the whole world. Either way, Pompeii is screwed.
I’m not saying the Doctor shouldn’t angst about it, because it’s awful and it deserves angst every time it happens. But he can’t reconcile himself to the fact that sometimes it just has to happen, and it’s destroying him. He needs to be able to deal with it, in order to function while living the life he chooses to live.
He just breaks my heart!
He breaks mine too, but honestly, I’m getting frustrated with him. Like goldy_dollar said above, he had a choice this time, and he chose to be miserable anyway. He’s losing my sympathy and patience when he creates his own unhappiness. Even though, yes, I do understand why he does it and the pain from which it stems.
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JayDK on July 9, 2008 3:19 pm | Link
I don’t disagree, re: the Daleks. But I think it ties into part of why I love the Doctor: he won’t just reconcile himself to the idea that sometimes genocide is necessary. Every time he has to face a terrible choice, it truly is terrible and unbearable for him — and I love him for that. Because it would be so easy, SO easy, for him to simply say, as alt!Doc does, “I *am* the Doctor” and flip the switches and end a race and go on his merry way. And on the other side of that, it would be so easy for him to either completely withdraw from life and all these terrible decisions, or find a way to passively commit suicide by giving his life for a good cause as he did in the Turn Left parallel world.
And the Doctor does neither. He keeps choosing to live this life, with all of the horror, and he keeps trying to help, and he keeps saving lives, and he keeps making the terrible choices, without allowing himself to become either numb to the horror or accept that well, sometimes genocide is right. I really like that although it might be necessary, it’s never right and the Doctor never believes that it’s right, even though that means he’s easy prey to someone like Davros when they push the right buttons.
I suppose I’m more sympathetic than frustrated with the Doctor because, although he ended up alone, I truly think he’s alone not because he wants to wallow in misery but because he wanted Donna to live and he wanted Rose to have a happiness that he couldn’t give her. I’m actually not frustrated at all about the situation with Donna, because the Doctor didn’t have a choice, and I’m only somewhat frustrated re: Rose because I really see it as a choice the Doctor made because alt!Doctor was a better option for Rose. I don’t feel as if the Doctor would have made either choice if Donna’s life was not on the line, or if alt!Doctor was not an option and in some ways, a necessity. I feel bad for the Doctor much more than I’m frustrated with him.
Plus, I think it’s good and perhaps progress that while Jack, Martha, Mickey and Sarah Jane are off to their own lives, they don’t seem like they’re out of the picture and they all left on good terms with the Doctor. He’s not entirely cut off — now they all have his number, I guess.
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rusty-halo on July 9, 2008 3:24 pm | Link
Rose crossed universes to be with him, and he sent her away without even discussing it with her. That’s the part that angers me most. Even if it was the right choice, he’s too caught up in his arrogance and martyrdom to do right by Rose, and that just pisses me off. Yeah, I get why he does it. But he had much more of my sympathy when his misery wasn’t so self-inflicted.
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JayDK on July 9, 2008 3:39 pm | Link
I totally agree that it was an awful thing to do to Rose, and yet another example of the Doctor’s making unilateral decisions for her life. I don’t see it stemming from a self-centered desire for martyrdom, but a desire for Rose to be happy. Definitely arrogant, to believe that he knows best; but also, not entirely wrong, because the Doctor is only able to leave because Rose gets something from alt!Doctor that the Doctor can’t/won’t give.
I suppose the real difference is, I don’t see the Doctor wanting to end up alone at the end of the episode — I think he accepts being alone because Donna’s life and Rose’s happiness are worth it. The crux is whether the Doctor’s arrogance in making decisions for Rose, as infuriating as it is, is outweighed by the genuineness of his love for her, to love her enough to want her to have a full life with alt!Doctor. For me, it is, and I see the Doctor’s actions as ultimately generous and not about himself, although I certainly would be pissed off at at him if I were Rose.
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rusty-halo on July 9, 2008 3:57 pm | Link
Hmm, no, I do see him as wanting to be alone. Not because he actually wants to be, but because he thinks it isn’t worth the cost. He destroys people, so it’s better to remove himself from their presence, even though he desperately wants companionship. That’s why, when there’s a dozen friends he could turn to, we end on a shot of him alone and miserable.
I don’t see it stemming from a self-centered desire for martyrdom, but a desire for Rose to be happy.
I think it’s both. If he just wanted Rose to be happy, he’d have talked it out with her fully and respected her decision. I absolutely think that it’s generous and a gift, but it’s also arrogant and selfish. (I don’t think it’s a conscious desire for martyrdom, but it’s very much a subconscious motivation. He wants to take every burden onto himself, even when he doesn’t have to, even when it hurts others, even when it’s blatantly unhealthy and unsafe for him to do so.)
the Doctor is only able to leave because Rose gets something from alt!Doctor that the Doctor can’t/won’t give.
Yeah, but I think the reason he wasn’t able to give it was because he decided the joy wasn’t worth the pain. The same way he decides that being with his companions isn’t worth turning them into weapons. I think he makes insular choices, to close himself off emotionally and cut others out of his life, because he thinks it isn’t worth the risk. And I think he’s wrong, that the lesson he should’ve taken is that opening up emotionally and letting others in is worth the pain that follows.
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JayDK on July 9, 2008 4:33 pm | Link
I think we’re just going to have to agree to disagree on this one, because I see a lot of other factors in play regarding the Doctor’s decisions and actions. But talk to me another day and I could have a whole other point of view ;-).
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rusty-halo on July 9, 2008 4:38 pm | Link
NO. WE MUST ARGUE UNTIL ONE OF US DEFEATS THE OTHER. DOCTOR WHO DISCUSSION TO THE DEATH!
Er, or, yeah, we could just agree to disagree. That’s cool too. ;)
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rusty-halo on July 9, 2008 3:10 pm | Link
Oh, and as far as Jack, Martha, Sarah Jane, etc. I don’t think it stuck. Because at the one time he needs his friends most, when he’s just lost Rose and Donna, he doesn’t go to them. Sure, they’ve got lives of their own, but there’s no reason they couldn’t take some time to be there for him. If he’d learned the right lesson, he wouldn’t be alone at the TARDIS staring at nothing at the end. He’d go to Sarah Jane or Martha or Jack for a big hug and a distraction.
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JayDK on July 9, 2008 3:25 pm | Link
I think that would be pretty out of character for the Doctor, though. He doesn’t seek people out for emotional support unless, well, unless they’re Rose or Donna. When the Master died, the Doctor didn’t turn to either Jack or Martha for emotional support — and it happened right in front of all three of them. In fact, he apparently made it fairly easy for them to leave him.
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rusty-halo on July 9, 2008 3:27 pm | Link
What’s the point of having all those friends in the background if he never goes to them when he needs them?
That’s what I wanted him to learn, that he does need people. And it’s like he did, with Donna, but he lost it when he lost her.
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JayDK on July 9, 2008 3:47 pm | Link
I think that lesson is going to be a constant struggle for the Doctor, especially because he doesn’t connect the same way with every single friend and traveling companion. If he’s traveling with Jack and awful things happen — like say the last other member of his race dying in his arms — the Doctor still doesn’t turn to Jack. And yet he immediately lets Donna in on his emotional life, in a way we haven’t seen before. It’s not just something the Doctor needs to learn, but part of the way relationships happen to develop.
It’s funny, because I feel like we’re not going to know exactly what the Doctor takes from all this until we see him again and see how it impacts his future relationships.
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versaphile on July 9, 2008 6:59 pm | Link
I think maybe the Doctor has learned in S4 that he needs people, that he needs that support network. But he hasn’t yet learned how to *use* that support network for anything more personal than world-saving. And that’s sad but at least it’s a step in the right direction, because at the end of S2 he had *no one* and that was when he almost offed himself. So he’s no anywhere near 100%, probably not even 50%, but he’s not at 0% either.
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rusty-halo on July 9, 2008 8:31 pm | Link
Hmm. I think maybe he has learned that he needs people; he flat out says it in “Fires of Pompeii.”
Unfortunately he’s also “learned” that he turns them into weapons and destroys them.
So I think maybe he’s at the impasse of knowing he needs people, but not wanting to “destroy” them, and so sacrificing his own need for others for what he thinks is their own good.
Which I guess is slightly more emotionally honest than insisting he doesn’t need anyone at all, but is still pretty sad. Knowing he needs someone, but denying himself because his need isn’t worth their “destruction.”
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versaphile on July 9, 2008 8:37 pm | Link
Exactly. He’s willing to call on the support network to save the universe, but just for himself? That’s so much harder, because a) he doesn’t have the practice and b) he feels their happiness is worth more than his.
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JayDK on July 10, 2008 1:29 pm | Link
But I think it also has to do with the individuals as well. The Doctor is just not as emotionally intimate with Jack, Martha and Sarah Jane as he is with Rose and Donna, so he won’t turn to them in the same way. He would seek Rose and Donna out for comfort, so he does have some practice at it.
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versaphile on July 10, 2008 6:55 pm | Link
There’s definitely variation, and it only makes sense that there would be. We all feel different levels of comfort with different people, and Jack != Donna != Martha. The tragedy is that the Doctor pushed away the two people he was most likely to open up to, one so she could be happy with a human version of him and the other so she wouldn’t die. And so we’re left with a situation where the Doctor may or may not be willing to open up, but he has no one to open up to.
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chloris on July 12, 2008 7:30 pm | Link
I just read your comment here and now I don’t have to write up a coherent post on the Doctor’s emotional state and his relationships with the other characters because you already wrote up my opinion on the issue. I still might, but I don’t have to. *g*
I think there are too many other elements simultaneously happening to decide the Doctor does everything because he’s decided he’s a poisonous influence that must be both removed and punished.
I truly think he’s alone not because he wants to wallow in misery but because he wanted Donna to live and he wanted Rose to have a happiness that he couldn’t give her.
I agree. Most everyone goes off to their lives and of the two he would have kept with him. One needed her memory erased to save her life and the other had a chance with a half-human version of him. Without the memory crisis or new!Ten, I have no doubt we would have ended the season with the Doctor off traveling with Donna and Rose. I don’t think he really wanted to push either of them away and even if he did, they wouldn’t have let him.
It seems to me that a lot of his sadness at the end of the episode is that he lost the two people he most didn’t want to lose. Even though he feels that this was what had to happen, it doesn’t make it any easier.
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mikelesq on July 9, 2008 10:01 pm | Link
What’s interesting is that this story arch fits the archetype of the solitary protagonist so perfectly, as the Doctor has from pretty much the beginning of the series to now. From Beowulf to Buffy, the story of the lone hero always works: Only Gods and Monsters live alone, and it can be difficult to tell the difference.
I know you’re not into Classic Who, but you might want to catch “The Pyramids of Mars.” Four’s dialogue in the first five minutes with Sarah Jane pretty much sums up the character traits you’ve touched upon.
Also, did you notice how what happened to Donna paralleled what happened to Jamie and Zoe at the end of “The War Games”?
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rusty-halo on July 10, 2008 10:55 am | Link
From Beowulf to Buffy, the story of the lone hero always works
Oooh, interesting. Now you’re making me want to compare it to Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. That’s also all about the lone hero and whether/how much he needs his friends (and whether they’re better for knowing him and/or if he just gets them killed).
I definitely noticed the parallel to “The War Games.” It was horrible there, too, although at least Jamie and Zoe got to keep some memory of the Doctor. Of course, that was more of a violation, since it was so arbitrary, whereas Donna would have died without it.
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Blue Rose on July 11, 2008 11:29 am | Link
I still think that the Doctor needs endless amounts of huggles. And I really hate the amount of emo they poured onto him this season.
I’m just hoping that he recovers and doesn’t explode. :(
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rusty-halo on July 11, 2008 11:32 am | Link
I can’t argue with the need for endless amounts of huggles. *sniffles* Poor Doctor.
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