How Doctor Who Became So Addicting and Emotionally Resonant

Doctor Who has largely always been an inconsistent series in its revival form. Even in stronger seasons the show has had episodes that are absolute clunkers. Take a stronger season such as the second season, which has such forgettable efforts as “The Idiot’s Lantern” and “Fear Her”. Fan favorite pegged as series best “Blink” is in one of the most erratic seasons of the series (I would argue that Martha isn’t a bad companion but rather she gets stuck in some of the most middling efforts of the series). The first season really should have been an indicator of the patience required of any potential fan of the series. There’s lots of promise in the first season but there’s plenty that makes even the most stouthearted of Doctor Who fans cringe (the less said about the Slitheen the better). There’s some really solid efforts from the series that demonstrate just how adventurous and fun the series could be given time (particularly from future showrunner Steven Moffat in the two-parter “The Empty Child”/“The Doctor Dances”), but you’d be forgiven if you just didn’t have the patience to get through the first season. The show didn’t really figure out the type of show it wanted to be in full until the season one finale which hints at a lot of the type of storytelling that the show would play around with more in later seasons with varying degrees of success. I would argue the only season that is completely consistent is the fifth season which has the most well-thought out and clear vision for the season long narrative while doing plenty of great stand-alone stories that nicely service the characters. But even that season has episodes that I wouldn’t say are memorable (“The Beast Below”, “Vampires of Venice”) so much as the quality never dipped below a certain respectable level.

I bring this up because there’s something devoted fans of the show dare not admit: Doctor Who is a frustrating series (even as it remains one of the most entertaining). When the show is firing on all cylinders it packs a punch that few series can manage. Even when it’s disappointing (which is another thing more often than not fans wouldn't care to admit), it still has an undeniable charm; one that a show so procedurally heavy really ought not to have in such abundance. Amongst its less well-realized outings, the show still sneaks in enough moments that are so indelibly specific to its mythology and its general philosophy that it’s hard not to want to stop in at its worse just for these slivers. 

Some have argued that Doctor Who is a religion. While this may seem like an overstatement, it gets to the heart of the series’ powerful hold over its fanbase. The show certainly creates a religious like fervor in people who follow it. Many people watch the show to be part of something larger than themselves, the engrossing fandom, which turns the show into much more than a television series but a live-in experience shared with other people. 

Even as the show has me wondering if it’s simply run out of steam, I cannot shake my affection for the series. What I began to realize is that Doctor Who uses motif better than just about any other series, and it calculatingly uses it to form some powerful emotional connections between its audience and the show.

The more obvious aspects of this are the symbols the show has encoded from early on. That big blue box the TARDIS is an image we’re taught to recognize very early on and whenever it reappears we’re immediately cued in. Even the outfits of the Doctor are carefully chosen and timeless in that they rarely ever change from episode to episode. Certain villains take on this symbolic function as well, notably the Daleks and the Cybermen. 

The reoccurring imagery doesn’t stop there though. Tumblr gif sets love to juxtapose images from different episodes and while it’s rather amusing it’s actually an incredibly interesting exercise. For example, note how the divide between Rose and Ten in “Doomsday” eerily parallels the divide between Rory and Amy in “The Girl Who Waited”. The show knows when and where to draw its connections and it does it often enough that it seeps into our subconscious. It helps that these connections are typically made during emotionally fraught moments.  

Look to the way the show treats its characters. The introduction of companions almost always takes the same path. An episode takes place where the characters is introduced and peaks the interest of the Doctor. The Doctor invites them along for an adventure and the following episodes, their first adventure, is set in the future, usually on some alien planet. The second adventure is generally more historically based and set on Earth. The series has taught us to expect these things of the characters in their growing relationship with our favorite Time Lord. It’s also taught us to anticipate fairly emotionally devastating exits for companions as they leave the Doctor. 

This reoccurrence structurally, visually, and symbolically emotionally ties us to the series but perhaps most important of all are the themes and philosophy of Doctor Who. The Doctor is a godlike, paternal figure who takes along someone who sees themselves as ordinary and the Doctor, through many misadventures, proves their extraordinary. The Doctor is an altruistic figure who feels the need to right wrongs and save worlds wherever he may go. Though he’s well-intentioned, the Doctor is flawed and frequently making things up as he goes along; this makes victory that much sweeter and noble. The Doctor faces many evils and aliens, but he ultimately believes that people are really good at heart and has a deep abiding love for humanity (Earth has become his second home after he lost his own home planet Gallifrey in the Time Wars). Essentially the Doctor is a god but a very human one. His knowledge and his agelessness make him superior to others but though others look up to him, he squarely places his own faith in us. This is crucial as the companion is almost always a surrogate for the audience. The Doctor isn’t just suggesting that his companions are capable of being “fantastic”, “brilliant”, and “cool”, but that in fact we are too.    

If anything all this adds up to a world view that has religious qualities but is more overtly based in secular humanism than anything else. The Doctor believes in people and doing the right thing, and though he’s often wrong on both accounts, his faith steers him to be better and better those around him. That’s a very hopeful and life-affirming philosophy and the way the show uses it shape our vision of the characters and the narrative makes for a truly unique experience. Not much may happen (and what may happen may just be plain bad – *cough* “The Unicorn and the Wasp” *cough*) but there’s a certain distinct pleasure to watching this worldview in action, not just because it’s very life-affirming but because it feels like a philosophy that’s worth living by (which sounds wishy-washy but the romantic inside me wants to just say, “get off me!”). Not only that, but the series shows that it’s a philosophy with limitations which makes the Doctor’s faith in it and the victories achieved through it that much more palpable and important.  

The variety of ways the show utilizes its motifs bonds its viewers to the show. Though on an intellectual level I know there are better series out there, on an emotional level Doctor Who trumps plenty of other series out there. That emotional bond was a slow, long con that has progressed over the course of seven seasons and has been achieved largely through motifs.