Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
Doctor Who: The Two Doctors

Doctor Who: The Two Doctors

Last updated on: February 21, 2012 at 8:17 am by James F. McGrath

Doctor Who: The Two Doctors 2012-02-21T08:17:30-05:00 James F. McGrath

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Having had “The Three Doctors” and “The Five Doctors,” the next offering of a story in which the Doctor meets himself in a previous regeneration is “The Two Doctors.” Patrick Troughton is the only Doctor who appeared in all of them, and to good effect, since he is certainly one of the most entertaining of the Doctors. It is a pity that even in “The Five Doctors” they didn’t manage an appearance by Tom Baker. It would have been great to see him meet up with any of the others – and it still would!

In “The Two Doctors” the story actually begins with Patrick Troughton’s Doctor and his companion Jamie, and only brings Colin Baker’s Doctor into the story slightly later. The Second Doctor has been unofficially sent by the time lords to pay a visit to his friend Dastari on a space station, in order to get some dangerous experiments in time travel to stop. In fact, the Sontarans and other parties are working to get possession of time travel technology for their various ends. The Second Doctor ends up getting kidnapped as part of the attempt to get the technology to work, since it requires a time lord’s special biological imprint to function safely. (For the manner in which the Doctor as the agent of the time lords has been explained in relation to the earlier story, see the post linked to from here).

The episode has some wonderful bits of dialogue. One of my favorites occurs very early on:

DASTARI: Well, Doctor, what did you make of our chatelaine?

DOCTOR 2: Was she an Androgum?

DASTARI: She was. Now she’s an Androgum TA. Technologically augmented.

DOCTOR 2: Oh, one of your biological experiments.

DASTARI: I’ve carried out nine augmentations on Chessene. She’s at mega-genius level now. I’m very proud of her.

DOCTOR 2: Proud of her, or your own skill?

DASTARI: Perhaps a little of both, but all that Androgum energy is now functioning on a higher plane. She spends days in the databanks simply sucking in knowledge.

DOCTOR 2: She’s still an Androgum. You can’t change nature.

DASTARI: In Chessene’s case, I believe I have.

DOCTOR 2: That’s dangerous ground, Dastari. You give a monkey control of its environment, it’ll fill the world with bananas.

DASTARI: Oh really, Doctor. I expected something more progressive from you. Don’t you understand the tremendous implications of my work?

DOCTOR 2: Yes, that’s why I say it’s so dangerous!

DASTARI: Doctor, our races have become tired and effete. Our seed is thin. We must hand the baton of progress to others. If I can raise the Androgums to a higher plane of consciousness, there’s no limit to what that boiling energy might achieve.

DOCTOR 2: Dastari, I have no doubt you could augment an earwig to the point where it understood nuclear physics, but it’d still be a very stupid thing to do!

There are several tropes which are familiar from sci-fi in general and Doctor Who in particular, including the idea of augmenting organisms to exceed their natural capacities. But there is also a rather disturbing hint of a familiar colonialist trope as well – the idea of the savage whom one may educate, but who can never truly be civilized. That the language of “savages” and “civilized” occurs later in the episode reinforces the presence of this motif (see the quote below), which is disappointing. That the base, savage Androgums seem patterned on the Scots is all the more troubling, and surprising, given the presence of Jamie as a hero.

The motif also runs in reverse (as often in colonialist material, which often feared the possibility of enticement or corruption of the “civilized” by attractive elements in the “primitive” culture). The Doctor receives genetic treatment seeking to turn him into an Androgum.

The story also recalls My Fair Lady/Pygmalion, with sci-fi twists and reversals, once the possibility of the Doctor being turned into Chessene’s consort is envisaged. She had been made less Androgum in the process of augmentation, in her appearance as well as in her thinking, and was often ambivalent about her status and her relationship to her kin. Again, many of these are familiar motifs (seen recently in Avatar as well).

Religion features explicitly in a few places. The most visible (and hardest to interpret) is the piety of the old, blind Spanish woman, Doña Arana, who kneels and prays before a statue of the Virgin Mary, makes the sign of the cross, and soon after getting up is killed, Chessene, the Sontarans and the rest of them occupying her home. It is unclear what the significance of this is, other than to contrast the woman’s vain reliance on the Madonna or God, who fails to protect her from the augmented alien “goddess” who pays her a visit. The Doctor is at his least godlike in this episode, even though present twice over – he is fallible, susceptible to being genetically altered, and at one point Colin Baker’s Doctor once again doesn’t refrain from killing someone in self defense.

There is also a reference on Dastari’s part, and later on Chessene’s, to her being elevated to among the gods. Here is one example:

DASTARI: I shall put her among the gods. There need be no limit to her achievements.

DOCTOR 2: There’ll be no limit to her capacity for evil. She’s an Androgum, Dastari, whatever you may say! She’ll snap off the hand that feeds her whenever she feels hungry.

DASTARI: You don’t know Chessene. I confess I was sad that the Time Lords chose to send you as their emissary, because I’ve always had a certain regard for you, Doctor, personally, and the operation will, by necessity, be very painful. But

DOCTOR 2: It’ll hurt you more than it hurts me.

DASTARI: What gives you that idea? No, I was going to say but at least you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that you have been part of a great undertaking.

(Dastari leaves.)

DOCTOR 2: You are an irresponsible old fool! The Androgums are barbarians! Release them into time and every civilised people in the galaxy will curse your name!

Another important bit of dialogue, which gives insight into the culture of the Androgums, involves a conversation between Chessene and the other main Androgum character in the episode:

CHESSENE: You think of nothing but your stomach, do you, Shockeye.

SHOCKEYE: The gratification of pleasure is the sole motive of action. Is that not our law?

CHESSENE: I still accept it, but there are pleasures other than the purely sensual.

SHOCKEYE: For you, perhaps. Fortunately, I have not been augmented.

CHESSENE: Take care. Your purity could easily become insufferable.

SHOCKEYE: These days, you no longer use your karam name, do you, Chessene o’ the Franzine Grig?

CHESSENE: Do you think for one moment that I forget that I bear the sacred blood of the Franzine Grig? But that noble history lies behind me, while ahead? Oh, ahead lies a vision.

While it might lead to criticism of the plausibility of this imaginary race, the episode can serve as a useful starting point for discussion – in particular, of whether any group has ever or could ever achieve dominance and power while focusing on satisfying only our baser instincts.

Shockeye actually mentions the old woman’s religion previously referred to – but only to say that he doesn’t care about the religion of “primitives” – only what they taste like.

The Androgum characters thus also introduce the issue of perspective: from what perspective, if any, can different cultures in fact be judged “primitive” or “superior”? To a culture that regards hedonistic satisfaction of pleasure as the highest and most worthy end, a culture that failed to pursue or attain that end might seem “primitive.” And so, we are forced to remember, might we, when viewed from the perspective of another culture – alien or terrestrial.

This episode of Doctor Who serves as a reminder that, even as it is sometimes dramatic and even scary, Doctor Who has consistently and persistently ventured into comedy as well. Some elements are not intelligible except in the way that things are on comedies – just realistic enough to work, but clearly contrived to make us laugh. When Doctor Who enters this territory, it usually does so effectively. But even the comical elements often serve to make or bolster a provocative point. So too in this episode, for instance when Shockeye is “tenderizing” Jamie while he is still alive, and he reassures Dastari that he needn’t worry that it hurts, since “Primitive creatures don’t feel pain in the way that we would.” Here too, the fact that primitiveness is a matter of perspective, and thus we should think twice before inflicting pain that we would not wish inflicted on us by those who view us as we view animals. This is not the first time the Doctor has encountered aliens who said that humans are like animals in some sense (it comes up in “The Faceless Ones” which I recently blogged about).

I honestly cannot remember whether I had seen this episode before when I was younger – there are definitely some from several of the Doctors’ tenures that I missed. But either way, I certainly enjoyed it now. Have you seen this episode? If so, what did you think of it?

Previous Post

February 20, 2012

Yahia Yuhana: How Do You Translate a Name and its Translation?

Next Post

February 21, 2012 The God Particle Found!

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 1 Corinthians 1 John 1 Peter 1 Samuel 1 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 2 Corinthians 2 Kings 2 Peter 2 Samuel 2 Thessalonians 2 Timothy academia Acts of the Apostles afterlife Akhaten Alcatraz American Academy of Religion Amos Anglican Arabic Aramaic archaeology art artificial intelligence astronomy atheism atonement Babylon 5 Baptists Battlestar Galactica Bible Biblical Studies Carnival biblioblogging Black Mirror Blade Runner Book of Job book review Buddhism Call for Papers China Christianity Christmas Christology Chronicles Coptic creation Daniel Deuteronomy Doctor Who Dune Easter Ecclesiastes economics education Eldad Keynan Enoch Seminar Ephesians eschatology Esther Evangelicals evolution Exodus Expanse Ezekiel Ezra fantasy Fringe fundamentalism Galatians games Ge'ez genealogy Genesis Gnosticism Gospel of Jesus' Wife Gospel of John Gospel of Judas Gospel of Luke Gospel of Mark Gospel of Matthew Gospel of Peter Gospel of Thomas Greek Harry Potter Hebrew Hebrews Hinduism historical Jesus history Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Holidays horror Hosea humor incarnation India inerrancy information literacy inspirational Intelligent Design Ireland Isaiah Islam Israel Italy James Jeremiah John the Baptist Jonah Joshua Judaism Jude Judges Judith Lamentations languages Latin Leviticus libraries literature Lord of the Rings LOST Mandaeans Mandaic memes Methodism Micah monotheism morality Mormons movies music mythicism NASSCAL Nehemiah new perspective New Testament news Numbers Orthodox paganism panentheism pantheism Patheos Paul and his letters Pentecostals Philippians Philippians 2:6-11 philosophy physics Planet of the Apes podcast politics Progressive Christianity Protestantism Proverbs Psalms pseudoscience racism religion Revelation Roman Catholicism Romania Romans Ruth scams science science fiction Secret Gospel of Mark Society of Biblical Literature Song of Songs Star Trek Star Wars Stargate Swahili Syriac Taoism technology Terminator The Handmaid's Tale The Hobbit The Matrix theodicy theology theory Timeless Titus tomb Torchwood travel TRON Uncategorized United Kingdom Westworld X-Files young-earth creationism Zechariah

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 February 2007 January 2001

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz