13 Days of Doctor Who: The Alien within Us
Monday, December 19, 2011 
banner by Studio DI am so thrilled to be a part of Erica O’Rourke’s and Eliza Evans’ The 13 Days of Doctor Who! In anticipation of this year’s Christmas special, you have thirteen chances to comment and win prizes, and in the meantime you can fall into a Whoubliette of posts about our favorite Oncoming Storm. At the end of the post, you’ll find everything you need to enter to win the grand prize of the S6 Doctor Who DVDs or a prize from me. (Um, spoilers ahoy!) Are you ready? Allons-y!
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As the thoughts for this post coalesced in my mind over the past two weeks, and while I whittled it down into something manageable to read, the following tweet from The Mary Sue showed up in my stream:
Nothing could have made me happier. I have grown to like Amy Pond when I’m not figuring out how to steal her husband Rory’s affections, but I feel like the two of them have run their course. Moffat, who rarely listens to me, has given me a few weeks during which I will close my eyes, cross my fingers, and wish on blue leather journals for an alien companion in season 7. Classic Who had more than a few near- and non-human companions, but since the reboot, we’ve had a stream of humans at the Doctor’s side. An alien companion would make an interesting choice for novelty alone, but for me, there’s more to it.
Doctor Who is packed full of aliens; we zip away to alien worlds in seconds and defend the planet against alien species when they invade. No fun having all of space and time at our fingertips and then only hanging out with a bunch of the same ol’ species we can see without a big blue box. Most Who aliens are episode antagonists and are treated in one of two ways by the writers*:
- Some aliens are big, bad, baddy bad bad guys. They have no redeeming qualities; they’re malevolent and don’t care about human life or our dominion over the planet. If you encounter them en masse, you get practically the same experience as you do when you encounter just one of them. Cybermen are perfect examples, and so are Sycorax, Krillitanes, or the Silence.
- Some aliens have layers. They may land anywhere on the good guy <—-> bad guy continuum, but they reveal flaws, senses of humor, and other aspects of humanity that make them more interesting to the story. To access a multi-dimensional alien character, you have to encounter them in small numbers or alone, instead of in large quantities. (And, um, it helps if they aren’t trying to kill you at the moment.) Enemy species examples include the Cult of Skaro, who defy Dalek tradition by adopting individualizing traits like names and distinctive armor, and Blon Fel-Fotch Pasameer-Day Slitheen, who could get misty over babies and then, minutes later, hatch yet another plan to wreak destruction.
When we see Raxacoricofallapatorians in a group, we worry; it takes serious firepower to destroy them and—there’s just no nice way to say this—they are plum crazy and make lots of indiscreet noises. But Blon on her own? Devious, but charming and a little lost. Almost fun. And on her own is the only way we’ll ever get to see her pain, to identify with her in any way, and to cheer when she gets a second chance at the end of the episode. She transforms from a one-dimensional enemy into a character. The story is richer for it.
Most episodes don’t have time to flesh out the alien antagonist. It’s more important to understand Vincent than the Krayfis in “Vincent and the Doctor”; we pity the Gelth as requested but they won’t stop reanimating our “Unquiet Dead.” But the show shines when it lets us see the complexity beneath the colorful skins and varied lumpy-bumpies of the alien characters, when it gives us a Sontaran who’s willing to nurse your infant but also hopes to defeat you on the glorious fields of battle. It reaches its heights when it turns one of the creepiest looking alien species ever invented—the Ood—into paragons of peace, intelligence, and sensitivity, even after teeny supplemental brains fall out of their mouths. And we accept it, and we will fight against the humans who want to silence this song.
The concept of The Other is present in philosophy, literary theory, and anthropology. To a certain degree, it’s common sense: We learn who we are, and define it, by figuring out what we aren’t, especially when we are overwhelmed by options for defining ourselves. (Everyone in the First World is, at this point in human history.) Confronting The Other means opening ourselves to what we might be, too, only we don’t know it yet. We too might feel self-loathing, rage, yearning, and incalculable sadness and wish someone would order us to extinguish ourselves. We might think we’ve done the right thing, patched up what’s broken, only to find we’ve made things worse. (We may, in fact, just want our Mummy.)
Bearing witness to The Other allows us to embrace flaws and difference and commonality at the same time. These are powerful elements of story, primal ones that everyone knows in their bones. And I would love to watch an alien character travel in the TARDIS, with the Doctor and another human companion, learning to love humanity for the best of what we have to offer, in spite of our frailties and arrogance, and racing against time to save us. Can’t you just see it? It’s time once again, I think, for the whole human race to embrace its inner Other.
*Obviously, this is a drastic simplification—there are neutral aliens, like the Reapers from “Father’s Day” and the Adipose infants; there are aliens who are engineered by outside forces; there are nice aliens like Madame Vastra and Jabe from the Forest of Cheem, and boy howdy do we have some jerk humans.
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Prize time!
Every comment on this post (one per commenter, please) is an entry for the grand prize of this blog hop: the Season 6 DVDs, with all the eye-drives you can handle. Here are the specifics:
To enter the grand prize giveaway, please leave a comment with your name and email address. You may enter once at every stop on the blog tour for a total of thirteen chances. The Grand Prize giveaway is limited to the US and Canada, due to regional restrictions on the DVD. Individual contest will close at the discretion of the author, but the Grand Prize contest will accept entries on any site until midnight CST on December 24th. We will post the winner on December 25th, and notify the winner via email.
In addition, I’m giving away a prize of my own. If you know me at all you know I love snail mail. So I’m giving away one box of Doctor Who postcards—there are a hundred of them in this box, and I will send them anywhere that Canada Post will deliver (but they are not the most zippy of postal services, so I can’t say when they’ll get to you). My contest will close at midnight EST on December 27, and I will email the contest winner directly and edit this post with the name of the winner. Every comment on this post is an entry for the postcards, so please use a valid email address in the form!
Tomorrow’s stop on the blog hop is at Patricial Riley’s site, Tangled Up in Words. Make sure to check it out and comment for another chance to win the Season 6 box set!
Reader Comments (25)
I suspect they've avoided an alien companion in the re-boot series since, traditionally, the role of the companion is that of us--the companion asks the questions we would ask, makes observations we would make, and sees the Doctor's world through our eyes. Because of this, there needs to be sufficient identity between us and the companion for this to work. Given that the re-boot assumed an audience unfamiliar with the classic show, it made sense to keep the companion human.
However, after six years, it would make a nice change to have a companion not of this world. And it could be done as long as there is enough about the alien with which we can identify. This has essentially been the trick with past alien assistants. Most of the time, Vicki (1st Doctor), Zoe (2nd Doctor), and Adric (5th Doctor) acted like teens (Adric particularly carried off the moody teen thing very well). Susan (1st) and Romana (4th) were both fellow Gallifreyans, but their relative youth and lack of experience meant that they still asked questions we needed to know. These are just a few examples of how an alien companion could work. Of course, they could (as you seem to suggest) add two companions: an alien and a human. But it doesn't seem as if that's the plan.
It will certainly be interesting to see the direction they go. Thanks for the thought-provoking article, Kim!
cds-at-colindsmith.com
Very interesting thought. An alien companion would be pretty awesome. My vote is for homo reptilia!
I agree with Colin's comment. I think the idea of the Doctor's companion is that she (or he) is someone we can relate to. We're supposed to put ourselves in their shoes and understand what it would be like to experience life with the Doctor, and it's easier to do that if they're simple humans like us. If the Doctor's companion were an alien, then they would have to be similar to a human, in the same way that the Doctor is slightly similar in appearance and actions, in order for us to be able to relate to them.
I also think you made a really good point about The Other, though, and how embracing it helps us figure out what/who we are by experiencing what/who we are not. It would certainly make for an interesting change of pace, and it might actually even make the Doctor seem more relatable/human, which would be quite a different direction for the increasingly godlike character we've become used to. I would love to see an alien companion, and I think that could work really well.
Thanks for this! I say it every time, but I'm really loving this bloghop. :D
Interesting idea, I'd never even though of an alien companion as a possibility. I'm not sure what I would think of that.
Thanks for the blog post and the giveaway!
I definitely think it would be interesting for the Doctor to have an alien companion, but I agree with Colin's comment about the role of a human companion. We've definitely met aliens who are interesting and who we can empathize and identify with, but I think the other function of the human companion is to also serve as contrast to the Doctor himself, who looks like us (or we like him) but who is also himself an alien. So, the alien companion situation would work best if, as you suggested, there was both an alien companion AND a human companion. Love your thoughts and analysis on the role and importance of The Other!
I dunno, I think the companions will remain human. After all, they are the audience stand-in, right?
Very nice post! I've only watched the reboot, so I hadn't even given a thought to an alien companion.
smcdanielc [at] gmail [dot] com
I've been wondering about the never finished story line of "The Doctor's Daughter". She's still lurking about! AND SHE IS A TIME LORD! Is she key for when it's time to reboot again after the 12th Doctor (because there can ONLY be 12 of ANY Time Lord. Man. There's a few alien side kicks I'd actually pick but I'd like to see someone with the dynamic of Donna. Not only was she a healing figure for the Doctor, helping him come to terms with himself, his inevitable end, and the realities of the life he leads, but she was fun as hell.
Enter me! MUAH! srolsonliebert at gmail dot com
My dude, whom I've recently persuaded to watch the series, has the idea that there's a sort of British post-colonial guilt at work with the Doctor and treatment of the alien races. Which I don't think is an entirely invalid reading, and possibly lines up with your (excellent!) post quite nicely.
I would love to see an alien in a closer role, Such as part-time companion, not just a hit and run encounter. Wouldn't they need to keep a human one on call at least?
Great ideas.
The TARDIS herself is an alien sentience as well, from what I've come to understand... Alien Doctor, Alien Companion, and Alien TARDIS would be much too much Alien, and our sense of human wonder would be deleted completely. (Not that I would mind. I love how The Doctor is so much larger than life. We should all be more like him.)
lionthursday*at*hotmail.com
I like this idea. I'm ready, as well, to see the Ponds go. I love Rory but I think Matt Smith could excel with new people. And we haven't seen aliens as companions since Old Who (like season 5) and I would really enjoy the layers it could add. Just as you're saying.
I really hope Moffat makes wise decisions with this last season of the Ponds.
I would LOVE to see an alien companion after Amy and Rory leave. I mean, the Doctor has all of time and space to choose a companion from and he continually chooses someone from earth? Lame. Although, I suppose it's quite a bit easier to fit in with the humans, what with looking similar and all.
Name: Heather R. Holsclaw Email: hrholsclaw (at) gmail (dot) com.
Can we count Jack as an alien, since he's immortal? :p
I, too, was thinking the other day about how it was time to do an alien companion. However, I think I found myself even more excited about the possibility of a companion from a different time period, whether that be in the past or future. Zoe was great because she was from the 21st century and not only knew about current technology, but future as well. Then again, someone like Jamie, who has never seen an automobile, let alone a time machine, would be fun as well. Oh, who knows, but I think we need someone other than a human from early 21st century Earth, that's for sure.
Ooh. Interesting thought of the "other" in Dr. Who. I just finished a Post-Colonial literature class, so this kind of stuff has been on my mind a lot - fun to see it applied to one of my obsessions!
sonshinemusic at gmail dot com
I don't honestly know how I would feel about an alien companion... I suppose I like the idea in general, but at the same time have grown to love the human companions so much I think I would miss that dynamic. Perhaps 11 could have an alien companion though... I would never believe 10 with one, he loves humans too much :)
I rather like the idea of an alien companion. Sure, it might make things slightly more complicated, especially when traveling in the past on Earth, but come on, the Doctor can totally manage it. Only slightly more awkward than when a regular Companion wears inappropriate attire for a time period.
great read! : D thanks! I wouldn't be against an alien companion, although, if you think of it, humans are just another form of alien out there.... (we're aliens to everything else)
Fantastic post! I actually think that if an Alien Companion is done right it would do so much good as sending a message of tolerance even further to the watchers of the show! Thanks!
Regardless of the race, I'd like to see a male (or male-ish) primary companion.
I tend to agree with Grace -- I suspect it might be the thought that it would be too much alien. I love the idea of the companion being a stand-in for the audience. That being said? what a beautiful image you paint -- the alien companion alongside the human companion, learning to love the human race for all its foibles in addition to all its positives....
And I really am enjoying this blog tour :-)
Everyone is so different but so fabulous...
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I think I actually gave a little a squeal of delight when I heard that the Ponds were on their way out. And I'd *love* to see an alien companion, although who knows if that will happen. But your take on things here is intriguing and I'm glad that the blog tour has brought me along here.
Much as I'd love to see a Draconian or some other "nice" alien hop along with the Doctor and crew, I don't think it's going to happen. I once wrote Big Finish about an alien companion for thier audio series (after all, you don't need makeup) and they said (even with the example of C'rizz) that it might prove "too confining." The Doctor is already alien (and usually represents one aspect of humanity taken to the Nth degree) and audience identification is crucial. The average audience member who likes the show but doens't necessarily like "Sci-Fi" in general will not relate to a reptile man or a avian. They'll want a human--preferably an attractive one for eye candy.
greg