Doctor Who: The many loves of The Doctor
There鈥檚 a lot of hate in Doctor Who. The Daleks, un-anthropomorphic antagonists, feel nothing but it. There is also a frequent, terrible absence of any emotion at all. Cybermen 鈥� humans that have been shredded up, molded into metal, and forget who they used to be 鈥� feel nothing for anyone. Doctor Who鈥檚 writers have always liked plot lines that rob characters of their memories, of what they used to feel for other people.
But if there is a lot of hate in Doctor Who, or, even worse, the horrific loss of any emotion at all, it often seems to be there to emphasize what has, for five decades, been among the show鈥檚 most consistent, resonant themes: love.
Doctor Who is big on love. In almost every episode, characters make choices because of love, for love. And perhaps the biggest lover of them all is The Doctor himself, lover of a lot of loves. He loves his wife, and he loves his other wife. He loves a French mistress and a British nurse. He loves his companions 鈥� all of them, though with different kinds of love. Most of the time, he would prefer not to be in love, because, for The Doctor, love always means loss. But he loves all the same, and all the time.
So, in honor of 50 years of Doctor Who, here鈥檚 a brief list of some of The Doctor鈥檚 biggest loves from the modern series (yes, just the modern series 鈥� there鈥檚 a lot of love in five decades of Doctor Who):
The Doctor and Madame de Pompadour
The Tenth Doctor meets Madame de Pompadour, mistress to King Louis XV, when he steps through an 18th-century French fireplace in a 51st-century spaceship. He falls in love. He saves her from aliens. She鈥檚 beautiful. Smart, too. There鈥檚 a connection 鈥� a literal, telepathic one. Then, as is The Doctor鈥檚 perennial misfortune, he loses her to time. In the minutes that Doctor Who spends back on the spaceship, fending off the aliens, years and years pass back where 鈥渢he girl in the fireplace鈥� is. By the time he gets back through the fireplace and into her world, she is dead. She has also left him a letter, one that, though we never know its contents, seem to suggest that his love has been the long-running theme of her entire life. For The Doctor, it was just moments.
The Doctor and River Song
River Song is The Doctor鈥檚 wedded wife, and never before in television has there been a more long-distance marriage. The Doctor and Dr. Song, a cosmic outlaw who rivals The Doctor in intellect and courage, do not get to spend much time together. That鈥檚 because River is a time traveller, too. So, this is a love story that unfolds out of order, as a collection of meetings that don鈥檛 mean quite the same thing to them at the same time, since one of the two always knows what comes next, and the other doesn鈥檛. The first time The Doctor meets River is also the last time they meet. River knows it鈥檚 the end, but the Doctor doesn鈥檛. In fact, he doesn鈥檛 even know who she is, and the significance of their final moments together are almost 鈥� but not quite 鈥� lost on him.
The Doctor and the Tardis
The Tardis is The Doctor鈥檚 other wife, or so it was imagined in Neil Gaiman鈥檚 episode 鈥淭he Doctor鈥檚 Wife.鈥� The two have, well, a troubled relationship. The Tardis is not particularly pleased about Doctor鈥檚 often young, female companions. Actually, she really doesn鈥檛 like a lot of them. So, sometimes she locks them out. She also keeps The Doctor鈥檚 biggest, darkest secrets in her always scrambling, very scary halls. Sometimes she takes him where he 鈥渘eeds鈥� to go, not where he 鈥渨ants鈥� to go. It鈥檚 a marriage. It鈥檚 complicated.
The Doctor and his companions
Rose is one of the Doctor鈥檚 biggest romantic loves, but, of course, the two are torn apart in a split in time. Martha loves The Doctor to no avail, and she eventually leaves him because it鈥檚 too hard to love someone that won鈥檛 love her back. Donna and the Doctor love each other as the best of friends who make each other infinitely better as people/aliens; in one of the most heartbreaking moments in the show, Donna leaves the series losing all her memories and without ever knowing she knew the Doctor. Amy has a bit of a thing for The Doctor, but she eventually chooses human love 鈥� aka, Rory, the man who would do, literally, anything for her. Clara and The Doctor are just friends, with a lot of 鈥渟omething more鈥� innuendo 鈥� oh, and Clara splicing herself into infinite bits to forever wander in time with her only purpose being keeping The Doctor safe. There鈥檚 that.
The Doctor and Nurse Joan Redfern
In 鈥淗uman Nature,鈥� The Doctor Two is stripped of all his memories in order to hide in the quiet English countryside as a 鈥� very human 鈥� young teacher, John Smith. This John Smith is affable and cute. So, Joan Redfern, a lovely nurse, falls in love with him, and he with her. They court, and it鈥檚 adorable, and for a while everything is very normal. But then it all falls apart, because John Smith isn鈥檛 really human, and, to his incredible dismay, he鈥檚 actually The Doctor. So, he has to go back to time travelling and saving the entire universe 鈥� and to a tough love life.
The Doctor and everyone
There鈥檚 no getting around it: The Doctor loves everyone. He loves the universe so much that he鈥檒l do just about everything to save it. There鈥檚 at times a sense, when watching Doctor Who, that the Doctor would be much better off, or at least have a much easier time, if he were a Dalek, or a Cyberman, or just submitted to a plot line in which he forgets how to feel. Doing so would spare the Doctor a lot of loss and hurt (and effort). But perhaps it鈥檚 that persistent love, when not loving would be much simpler, that has kept audiences fascinated with The Doctor for over 50 years: this is a show that鈥檚 profoundly optimistic about human nature, about the choices that people will make for other people, and about the depth of feeling that people can experience. As the Tardis says of her time in a human body: it鈥檚 鈥渟o much bigger on the inside.鈥�
