Obviously, there are a lot of things I love about this long-running British sci-fi epic: It could be anything ranging from my natural love of anything science fiction or the fact that I'm drawn to worlds -- and, in this case, universes -- that are vastly different than my own. Because I'm often bored with life, and just don't think I'm interesting, I put myself in completely fictional places. The universe that contains the existence of this charming time-traveler is one of which I am quite fond. As we go on, I will refer to it hitherto as "The WHOniverse".
The character of "The Doctor", as I believe, can be relatable to just about anyone. If you are familiar with the show and you disagree with me, you are probably lying. He is just about as tragic a figure as they come. His species is "Time Lord" as he originates from the ancient civilization of Gallifrey, which was unfortunately frozen in time and transported to a safer place due to the time war against the Daleks -- the "Last Great Time War" as it is referred to. So basically, he is the last legitimate survivor of his species. After the time war, he is estimated to be around 900 years old. However, at the end of Matt Smith's tenure as the title character, he is probably close to 1600 years old, meaning he was "Matt Smith" for almost half of his life.
He is left drifting aimlessly in all of time and space armed with his primary companion and time-traveling device, the TARDIS. Using the TARDIS, he often spends most of his time on planet Earth. This would make sense for a lot of reasons -- it is quoted on multiple occasions that the human race is his favorite (perhaps due to our species being referred to as "the great survivors", and how he essentially looks exactly like one of us). It's just too bad we don't have two hearts, live outrageously long, or possess regeneration energy when our cells are dying.
He'll get himself into a situation in which he'll become acquainted with a human (usually female) and he'll want said human to accompany him. Who can blame him? He's alone! With that established, it's really easy to see how that would be the only reason that he needs. On a few occasions, his need for companionship will end up having disastrous consequences and his human partner will either die or perhaps be trapped in a parallel universe from which she cannot return. These occurrences leave him to feeling guilty as it was his fault he or she left home in the first place. More than one, he will come to realize how many other people have died for the sake of him. (It's not his fault really, he's just so damn special!).
So to put it simply: he's lonely; he's "The mad man in the box". He has no home, he has almost no boundaries, he's nearly a god. This is what I'm going to call the "Time Lord Condition" -- versus the human condition, of course.
This is very prevalent in the dual episodes "Human Nature" and "Family of Blood". They are, in my opinion, some of the best episodes of Doctor Who because of their effective capturing of this condition. The Doctor and Martha Jones are being chased by "The Family of Blood", who wants to live forever. Due to the Doctor's ability to regenerate and escape death, they can have it. In order to hide from them, the Doctor physically becomes a human, not even remembering he was ever the Doctor. This is crazy, and he is "normal" for once. In this surprise turn of events, he had left instructions for Martha Jones (his current human partner) on how he is to be taken care of while experiencing humanity and being undetectable by "The Family of Blood". To Martha's misfortune, he does not mention what she is to do if he falls in love.
Of course, it isn't in his or anyone's best interest for him to develop romantic feelings as his actual identity is that of a different species, even though he makes himself genetically human. This represents him as more of an idea rather than a person, because his love potential could lead him to possibly sacrifice every good thing his Time Lord self will do in the future.
As if we didn't already see it coming, he falls in love with a woman. To make matters more interesting, the year is 1914 and Europe is on the verge of disaster. His human self, "John Smith", makes a living as a school teacher. His romantic interest is also a worker at the institution. As the episode unfolds, he winds up being accidentally exposed because his "Time Lord" essence was kept in what closely resembled a watch. Once this watch was opened, the "family of blood" was able to detect this. Because the Family can only detect the watch, and not the Doctor himself, the hold a group of hostages as they threaten the real doctor to reveal himself. After all of them are trapped with nowhere to run, Martha Jones breaks her initial promise and tells him the truth of his identity and what must be done in order to defeat this alien force. Upon initially being skeptical, he grows convinced at Martha's claims as she shows him his diary. He documented his dreams as an "adventurer" which, in reality, were actual events of his life. He begins to tear up and goes on a relatable speech about how he does not wish to be anyone special; he just wants to be John Smith, a simple school teacher who wants nothing more out of existence than to marry his love and have a family of his own. In doing this, he would live a perfectly normal life unmarked by galactic war and conflict.
After several minutes of inner turmoil and conflict, he eventually chooses the bigger picture. He regains his Time Lord consciousness and is able to immobilize the family of blood. At the end of the episode Martha asks him about the earlier events, ensuring that he is emotionally well. He assures her that he is perfectly fine and that was just a simple ranting of a human.
This is honestly what I love most: the fact that he can never be normal. He is stuck a certain way with specific duties and obligations, because that is who he is, and it makes him unique. It's a depressing truth to this show.
The next thing that I love about Doctor Who is the nature of his companions. Rose Tyler, for example, wasn't at all important. She was an average 19 year old living with her mother in London. She didn't really have a job, nor any money. As it turns out, she didn't need any of those things; she stumbled upon The Doctor and everything changed for her.
Isn't this amazing? How many of us would fantasize about just running away and going on an adventure beyond your wildest dreams? To discover things we didn't know possible. I know I did! I did all the time.
You don't have to be "somebody".
"900 years of time and space and I've never met anyone who wasn't important." -The Doctor
Even Donna Noble (partner in season 4), in the torturing episode "Turn left", repeatedly asks why she needs to be the one to save the earth and claims she is nobody. It's heartbreaking to see that she doesn't know who she truly is, and what she is ultimately capable of.
Also, the idea of saving people. The sound the Tardis makes -- that unpleasant, loud racket -- is a symbol of hope for people in the WHOniverse. They know that they are not alone and that The Doctor will always be there. The idea of having that sort of influence is inconceivable.
