Mark Collins, Psychos
Ah,
everyone’s favorite bipolar mathematician.
The Doctor’s I’m-clever-and-I-know-it-ness is a big part of who he is. With Mark, PC shows he can deliver
intelligent, cascading monologues with speed and precision. Adding in some technobabble shouldn’t be a
problem. Plus, Mark’s manic state has
him pin-balling from topic to topic; sound familiar? It’s easily reminiscent of the way the
Doctor’s mind races four steps ahead of everyone else in twelve directions at
once.
Malcolm Tucker, The Thick of It
Amusing,
sweary youtube mash-ups aside, there are
similarities between the Time Lord and the foul-mouthed spin doctor. For starters, the Doctor has boundless
energy. Like with Mark above, this is no
problem for Malcolm. Whether he’s
threatening the life of a junior advisor or running frantically across
Whitehall, the man has energy in spades.
If you think PC is too old for the physical demands of Who, think again.
And of
course, there’s the anger. While the
Doctor gets up to plenty of lighthearted antics, he’s also a powerful man who
combats a lot of evil. Anger is a well
that different Doctors draw from to different degrees (Six, anyone?,) but all
employ it from time to time. Malcolm is
best known from his shouty anger (think Seven taking on Davros in “Remembrance
of the Daleks,”) but there are also times when he goes scary-quiet (Ten
destroying the Rachnoss in “The Runaway Bride,”) or when he gets in someone’s
face and the gangly man suddenly becomes intimidating (Eleven confronting
Ambrose in “The Hungry Earth” about his stance on weapons.)
And
come on – if Malcolm’s business cards don’t refer to him as “The Oncoming F***ing
Storm,” they really should.
Dr. Pete, The
Field of Blood
True –
a depressed alcoholic isn’t the first thing that springs to mind when I think
of the Doctor. There’s a sadness to the
Doctor, but it isn’t the ragged type of sadness that clings to Dr. Pete. The Doctor’s sadness presents itself in
different ways (Nine was a raw nerve, Ten was all about the emo, and a lot of
Eleven’s ADD-ness masks his pain,) but he never seems defeated by it.
No, it’s
not the sadness I’m interested in here; it’s the weariness. The Doctor has lived long and seen a great
deal, and sometimes that weighs on him, cutting through his usual mad exuberance. Dr. Pete has that same sort of quiet weariness. Now, he basically lives in the state while
the Doctor only shows flashes of it, but it’s still an important part of the
character. It’s the accumulation of his
experiences, travels, and losses, and PC’s performance as Dr. Pete proves he
can deliver there.
Randall Brown, The Hour
Randall
is just one of many highly-intelligent characters PC has played. I’ve already mentioned wise Islington, clever
Rory, smart-as-a-whip Mark, and shrewd Malcolm.
But Randall’s special talent is his perceptive nature. He sees into people, understanding their pain
and motivations. More importantly, he
sees himself reflected in them, and he proves capable of great empathy.
This is
crucial for the Doctor, especially in his relationships with his
companions. I think of how Two connects
with Victoria in “The Tomb of the Cybermen” over losing her father, or Eleven’s
intuition that Amy is drifting from him in “The Power of Three.” Though Randall can seem stiff, there’s such
warmth in him, and I think the Doctor’s warmth is another of his best traits.
There’s
also Randall’s tendency toward recklessness.
He frequently breaks the rules, either because he believes it’s the
right thing to do or because his curiosity is driving him to see what will
happen. To crib from C.S. Lewis, the
Doctor is good but unsafe, and the show frequently sees him diving headlong
into dangerous situations. The overlap
with Randall is strong here – sometimes the Doctor dives because he believes in
its rightness (like Five searching for Peri’s antidote in “The Caves of
Androzani,”) and sometimes he dives because he simply has to see what he’ll find if he does (like Ten lowering himself
into the abyss in “The Satan Pit.”)
Peter Capaldi
Finally,
PC himself is proof of his ability to bring the Doctor to life. The picture above is from a letter he wrote
to Doctor Who Magazine after he was
announced as Twelve. PC is a Whovian
from the early days who has a genuine love for the show and wants to do it, and
us, justice.
Furthermore,
he just gets it. I’ve grown wary of Moffat playing with
classic series continuity, because his penchant for leaving his mark often
feels like he’s writing “STEVEN’S – DON’T TOUCH” on the show in a big black
crayon. But PC seems to understand that Who belongs to everyone who loves
it. It’s his Who, Moffat’s Who, the
cast/crew’s Who (past, present, and
future,) and it’s our Who as well. I have every confidence that, for his time
with the series, he’ll be its steward and look after it for us.
