Getting it right
In the first episode of the 2005 Doctor Who series, Rose tries to find out something about this strange Doctor she’s met. Clive the conspiracy theorist tells her that he has one constant companion – Death.
Clive has a point. Though the Doctor usually prevents bad situations from getting much much worse, there’s no doubt that people drop like flies while he’s around, and that’s been the case throughout the 44-year history of the series. It’s strongly implied that just before he met Rose, the Doctor was partially (if, perhaps, accidentally) responsible for the death of his entire race.
So, for me, the scene in Friday’s episode where the Doctor begs the Chula nanogenes for one tiny miracle – one day where no one dies because he wasn’t a little faster, a little smarter, or a little luckier – is poignant as hell. Imagine the guilt that a compassionate man would carry after 900 years of not quite getting 100%, wondering if maybe he could have made it all work a little better.
Then, see the look on Eccelston’s face as this time he gets it right. For once in all his centuries, no one has died on his watch, and there are no horrors which are even partially his fault. Eccleston plays it beautifully, and maybe this is just a TV show, but it’s moved me every time I’ve watched it.
On the other hand, my geek cred is eroding a bit. 5 episodes into the new season, I haven’t managed to find time to watch even one of them. Oh well.
