Thoughts of the past

Now I love Christopher Eccelston’s work as the Doctor – he reminded me how much I adore that character and brought such life and energy to it but he’s not my fave Doctor. My favorite is Sylvester McCoy, the 7th Doctor and the one I remember from my childhood. He was dark and mysterious with a burr of a Scots accent and an umbrella with a question mark shaped handle. Best of all he was paired with Ace, a tough street-wise teenage girl who loved to blow things up and destroyed a Dalek with a baseball bat. I wanted to be Ace. McCoy’s Doctor is terrifying when he’s simmering with rage and was the first Doctor to partly reveal he was more than just a Time Lord (though what exactly is still speculated at from the vague clues given during McCoy’s time). His eyes held worlds and I adore everything about the way he plays the character.

My second favorite is Peter Davison as the 5th Doctor. He offered a gentler version having the hard job of coming after Tom Baker’s legendary manic portrayal. I find Davison's performance, no matter the story, utterly compelling and I love his cricket outfit. Yes I know his companions were vague and ill-defined though I do like Turlough, the boy who joins the Doctor initially to kill him for the Black Guardian. Davison’s regeneration into Colin Baker (dying giving companion Peri the only antidote for a disease they both have) makes me cry. As the Doctor lies dying, he sees his former companions (Tegan, Nyssa, Turlough, Adric, Kamelon) in visions and it’s fitting that his last word is “Adric”, the name of his young mathematically-minded companion who died on-screen trying to save the world – an event so shocking that the credits for that episode were scrolled silently over Adric’s broken badge for mathematical excellence.

I also finding myself loving Patrick Troughton’s 2nd Doctor – my mom’s favorite. An impish mischievous character but full of anger at the cruelty some alien races showed. I have discovered myself falling in love with Jamie McCrimmon, a 17th Century Scottish piper who became the Doctor’s companion in Troughton’s second story and stayed right until the end of the Troughton era. He’s brave, strong and loyal and tries desperately to learn about all the things he doesn’t understand. He always makes me smile and go all gooey.

As much as I love Ecceleston’s 9th Doctor for all his verve, dark side and love of life, I still prefer the old series. None of the new stuff made me cry but I have recently got weepy when the Doctor says goodbye to Jo Grant and leaves her engagement party silently and cried openly when Davison regenerated into Colin Baker. The new series has really jumpstarted me to go back to the beginning to learn how it all started all over again and I am slowly making my way through various different Doctor eras. I have loved how the new series came out, retaining the Doctor’s old characteristics whilst putting him successfully in the 21st Century and Rose as a companion was the perfect fit, the perfect choice and the perfect love for the Doctor. Captain Jack was inspired, amusing, touching and beautiful – I hope he returns for the new series. I have high hopes for the talented David Tennant as the new Doctor and look forward to the Christmas special but for now, I wallow in nostalgia and enjoy my trips into the past in a big blue box.