Why the Second Doctor is More Canonical Than You

[capri0mni]

Notes:

• This subject line is borrowed from a caption on one of calapine's icons. At first, it made me go: "Eh? How's that exactly?" But it got me thinking, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was true.



• I'm joking, really (but only a little bit); as far as I'm concerned, ALL of Doctor Who is canon -- from fanfiction to comics, movie screen to computer monitor, to television screen -- after all, the dude lives paradoxes, breathes alternate dimensions, and regenerates on a regular basis. We can't really expect him to fit comfortably in our puny little pigeonholes, now can we?

However, even though all Doctors are created equal, here's why the Second Doctor is more equal than the rest of them:

1. His regeneration from Hartnell!Doctor to Troughton!Doctor, at the end of "Tenth Planet," is the first onscreen moment that begins to answer the question: "Is he an alien from another planet or is he a human from our own interstellar future?" Up until then, the BBC had been deliberately ambiguous this point. And although the hints had been building throughout Hartnell's tenure that he might be alien, the Peter Cushing movies, made in 1965 (toward the end of Hartnell's time reign), could still present the Doctor as fully human and not shatter the audience's suspension of disbelief. That would have been much harder to do if the movies had been made after the start of Troughton's time as the Doctor, and downright impossible if the movie had been made after "The War Games," which ended Troughton's tenure. We don't get any ambiguity in the Doctor's alien nature again until the TV movie, 30 years later, and even then, he's only half human, and even that one line is still the cause of some controversy in fandom.



2. It was during Troughton's time that the Doctor's age was established as 100x years old, instead of 10x, like the rest of us (he tells Jamie and Victoria that he is about 450 years old, in Earth years, at the beginning of "Tomb of the Cybermen), thereby establishing that "Timelords are practically immortal, barring accidents."



3. In the beginning, Hartnell's Doctor was downright hostile to Ian and Barbara; the only reason they stuck with him, in the beginning, was that he was their only ticket home. And although the First Doctor grew to be quite fond of his companions, toward the end, it was the Second Doctor that really established the character as their teacher and protector. If the writers and Troughton had decided to try and continue with Hartnell's characterization, instead of going in the radically different direction, I have a hard time imagining any father asking the Doctor to look after his daughter, as Edward Waterfield does at the end of "Evil of the Daleks."



4. And, as evidenced by the point above, it was the Second Doctor that established the expectation that the Doctor's personality changes with each regeneration, so that the instability of his character remains one of his more enduring attributes.



5. We are introduced to the Gallifrey and the Timelords in Troughton's last story, and thereby learn that the Doctor is not merely an eccectric, but an outlaw, and we learn the true nature of the society he is rebelling against. Gallifrey and the Timelords, even after the writers have tried to destroy them (twice, in two different canons), have remained a driving force behind the Doctor's character ever since, from Third's obsession to get the TARDIS fully functional again to Nine and Ten's angst over the Time War, and from being "the last of my race."

And that's why the Second Doctor is "more canonical than you."

Nearly all of the attributes essential to the Doctor's character began with the Second Doctor (except the TARDIS, and for a long stint in the Eigth Doctor books the TARDIS wasn't around). If I were in the mood, I'd argue the First Doctor is only included in the fraternity through creating retroactive continuity (hence the arguments over whether Susan is really his granddaughter). Certainly, all the subsequent actors to play the role, from Jon Pertwee through David Tennant, have been carrying on a tradition established by Troughton.

[cross-posted to two_love]

Comments

[blinovitch.livejournal.com]

There was an article in some issue of Friends of Doctor Who years back that said pretty much the same thing, tracing elements of all the subsequent Doctors back to Troughton.

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Heh. Well, as I indicated in my opening note, I came to this idea second-hand (at least). And while I was thinking it through in composing it, part of me worried that the whole idea was so blatantly obvious it didn't need saying at all... But when did a Who fan ever remain silent on the minutia of the Doctor's story? ;-)

Of course, all this might have been different if Hartnell had remained healthy enough to stay on until more of those nagging questions got answered more definitively. But Fate had other ideas.

[blinovitch.livejournal.com]

Well, some of the canon was set up during Hartnell's time. The fact that the Doctor flies a beat-up, outdated TARDIS started with Mortimus' spiffier model in The Time Meddler. The alien nature of his and Susan's home came up in The Daleks.

But yeah, that's what you get once the show settled into one particular producer. The fine details and little things changed to suit their tastes. After Verity Lambert left, there was a series of stop-gap fill-ins until Derrick Sherwin stepped up. Or maybe Innes Lloyd was around longer than I think. At any rate, it's the change in the creative team line-up that does it.

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

The alien nature of his and Susan's home came up in "The Daleks".

Yeah, and I think it's during "Marco Polo" that Susan hints that their home is somewhere among the stars. But it's still unclear whether they are aliens, or humans from a time when humans have colonized different planets.

I know, too, that there are a lot more people behind the evolution of Doctor Who than the actors that get credited for "creating" the character of each era. But I think it was really Troughton's skill as an actor that convinced the audience to stay with the series after Hartnell left. If he hadn't had the chops, I doubt Doctor Who would have lastedl beyond the '67 season, the fandom would be even smaller and even geekier than it is now, and Hartnell's characterization would be seen as the one true one, with the Peter Cushing movies being the biggest spin-off, alternate canon. In other words, the Doctor would probably be remembered (if remembered at all) as an old eccentric human in London.

[uncacreamy.livejournal.com]

He's running out of bodies soon, isn't he?

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Yes. But that's only if you assume the creators of the new series will continue with the "12 regeneration limit" set in the last series.

And there are quite a few that doubt that they will.

[uncacreamy.livejournal.com]

That would make me sad if they didn't. Though, The Master had more bodies than he should have had, too. Though he had to hijack a black hole, and then someone's body to do it... and then other times without real explanation. Anything for an arch villian, I guess.;>

[uncacreamy.livejournal.com]

And, you know, I haven't seen the eighth Doctor. He looks cute, but was only there for a movie. Have you seen it?

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Yes, I saw the tv movie. I didn't think much of it, personally, but a lot of people loved it.

Though Paul McGann (the actor who played the Eighth Doctor) has continued to play the Doctor in the Big Finish Audio Dramas, and I've enjoyed him in those that I've heard.

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

The Master was also given a second set of regenerations by the Time Lords, iirc, for saving the day in "The Five Doctors."

And, of course, if they need to, the writers for the new series can always write a new reason for the Doctor to have more than 13 lives -- like maybe: "Now that Gallifrey is no more, the limits placed on regeneration by Rassilon have been destroyed as well."

[pedanther]

He was *offered* a second set of regenerations in return for his assistance - but since he ended up trying to run off with the Macguffin, and since in subsequent stories he's still making a big deal about being on his last life, I think it's safe to say that he didn't actually *receive* it.

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Correction noted.

However, the very fact that the Timelords were able to offer a second set of regenations, and the the fact that the Master believed them, implies that the limit of 12 regenerations for each Timelord is more of a societal law than a legal one, which, now that Gallifrey is no more, would be a moot point.

Or, at the very least, that could be a plausible loophole for the writers of the current series, should they wish to use it.

Good post!

[barbarafett.livejournal.com]

This was interesting to read, as I expected. :-)

Re: Good post!

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

Thankee!

Have you seen any Troughton episodes? I first saw him in "Mind Robber," and fell in love with his character in the first episode

Re: Good post!

[barbarafett.livejournal.com]

Nope, I've just read all about each of the Doctors online. It is my goal to watch some of each Doctor's episodes when I can get my hands on them.

Re: Good post!

[capriuni.livejournal.com]

To be honest, I've only actually seen two of his serials: "Mind Robber" and "Tomb of the Cybermen" (though I've read the script for "Power of the Daleks" -- his first story -- online), so I'm hardly an expert.

But one of the things that struck me right away was the ease with which his companions teased him (articularly Jamie), and the ease with which the Doctor sort of agreed with them, which is an attribute none of the other Doctors have. But that one trait just lent an air of coziness and familiarity to his TARDIS -- a real avuncular fellow.