Despite best efforts to protect this historic prequel from being outed by the spoiler hounds, up until its online release yesterday there had been a growing buzz of anticipation on internet forums. The word was certainly out there that finally Paul McGann would be making his second TV appearance in the role of the eighth Doctor.
It is fortuitous that large numbers of fans took such a rumour with a massive pinch of salt. A McGann comeback, like the return of the Rani, has remained a stable feature of fan speculation and rumour mongering since the show re-launched in 2005. As predictable as a dissenting poster attempting to derail speculation by quoting “Humans always seeing patterns” it had become a running joke.
We never did find out whose voice it was in the Time Lord data cube in The Doctor’s Wife, but for many it did bear an uncanny resemblance to McGann’s. With hindsight one wonders now whether this was a deliberate tease by Steven Moffat (whether McGann or a soundalike). A misdirection to heighten or hasten the resignation that McGann would forever be the George Lazenby of TV Doctor Who.
McGann’s masterful performance in less than six minutes is a testimony to his confidence in the role due to the massive body of work he has built up on audio. This is a fantastic advert for Big Finish who are quite rightly lapping it up and making the most of the commercial opportunity. What a generous gift of Moffat to reference the audio companions and spark curiosity for newcomers to the range.
We discover in this minisode that the war between the Time Lords and the Daleks has if anything made the Doctor more Doctorish. Tending the wounds of those impacted by the fall out from the conflict, the Doctor’s whole raison d’etre is to be a healer, a saviour, a hero. No longer just exploring the universe from idol curiosity and a sense of wonder, he is motivated by a desire to undo the wrongs that have been committed in part by his own people.
The unrelenting force of the conflict is such that the Doctor is acting partly out of a spirit of denial. For every life saved there are thousands lost and in a universe so broken he must question what he is saving them for in the first place. Only be denying these two truths can he continue the illusion he is making a difference. For all his goodness and the power of the TARDIS and time lord technology on his side, the Doctor is no superhero or miracle worker. As that first conversation with Cass poignantly illustrates he is not immune to the criticisms levelled at his own people and consequently harbours a sense of guilt by association.
The offer of the elixir of life by the Sisterhood of Karn is of course on a primary level the chance to escape certain physical death, but it is also the opportunity for the Doctor to reinvent himself and in so doing acknowledge that his methods and his mission have been flawed and doomed to failure.
If his first line in the minisode had the “squeeee factor” the last line of the eighth doctor is arguable the greatest line ever written for the character, and it is of course one that has been borrowed from an ancient Aramaic saying. It certainly trumps the last words of all the other incarnations to date.
The wording is derived from Tyndale’s translation of Luke’s Gospel “Physician heal thyself.” (in itself a Greek translation of an Aramaic maxim). But for the author of Luke this is no proverb of Jesus to silence his critics, instead he is second-guessing their own taunts against him, voicing their thoughts. Having gained notoriety for healing people in neighbouring villages, he has returned home to be greeted by cynical opposition. Those who remembered the boy Jesus, who knew the scandals and rumours surrounding his family and who had seen first hand his own failings were deeply sceptical. If he is such a great healer, why doesn’t he heal himself?
Unlike Jesus, the Doctor here is taking on board the quote for himself, acknowledging that he is in need of healing - that he is broken, torn and damaged. It is a remarkable admission for a man who has been trying to save the universe. Today of course, psychologists will attribute value in being a “wounded healer.” Tempted by the offer to be free from the perceived impotence of non violence the Doctor is ready to turn from hero to superhero (a recurring motif across the eras of the show e.g. The fourth Doctor not able to destroy the Dalek incubator, the Fifth Doctor not able to shoot Davros).
We could therefore argue that the Doctor could not be the Doctor except in name only without pain and suffering. In A Good Man Goes To War we have the witness of Lorna Bucket from the Gamma Forest, who knew the Doctor as a Warrior. So for her people the phrase Warrior Doctor is not a contradiction in terms but a tautology. It seems likely that it is the Hurt Doctor whom she is referring to. Indeed the Hurt Doctor is the probable catalyst for Madam Kovarian and the clerics war against him.
The Doctor’s taking of the cup of life is in stark contrast to Jesus’ taking of the cup of suffering. Whilst in Christian theology Jesus chooses the way of the cross and rejects Peter’s zealot call to arms against the Roman occupiers, the Doctor here chooses the way of the warrior.
It is clear from the Eleventh Doctor’s comments in The Name of the Doctor that he is ashamed of this choice. Not only is the Hurt “warrior Doctor” an aberration he is ultimately rejected. At some stage the moral misgivings and pacifist stance that we have come to associate with every incarnation of the Doctor will of course be resurrected. Whilst he still has the potential to make a good Dalek (see Dalek) the embittered Ninth Doctor cannot go through with the end game in The Parting of the Ways and needs Rose’s intervention.
So we know of course that for all the hyperbolic talk about changing the course of the show, the Doctor will come good in the end. Is The Day of the Doctor his moment to shine or fall? One question that should be on our minds as we look forward to the epic anniversary special is whether or not the Hurt doctor will find redemption. Will he be broken enough for him to die a Doctor rather than a Warrior?
Paul Driscoll, father of five and a lifelong fan since the early 70s lives somewhere near Marco Polo (allegedly).
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The Day of the Doctor (3D Blu-ray) Also includes the option to watch in 2D Starring Matt Smith, David Tennant, (yes, the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors on screen together!) Jenna Coleman with Billie Piper and John Hurt. The Doctors embark on their greatest adventure in this 50th anniversary special. In 2013, something terrible is awakening in London's National Gallery; in 1562, a murderous plot is afoot in Elizabethan England; and somewhere in space, an ancient battle reaches its devastating conclusion. All of reality is at stake as the Doctor's own dangerous past comes back to haunt him. This must-have Blu-ray contains the eagerly anticipated feature length anniversary episode, the explosive The Night of the Doctor starring Paul McGann and much more! Order The Day of the Doctor today, direct from BBCshop today.Please note, due to issues around broadcasting and licensing agreements, The Day of the Doctor, Doctor Who 50th Anniversary title is not available to buy from BBC Shop for delivery Australia or New Zealand.
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