Thursday, September 17, 2009

Doctor Who?






I have wanted to be a Time Lord from the very moment I learned about Doctor Who. I would love to have the ability to pilot a TARDIS through time and space. I could do so much with the knowledge of a Time Lord. I can just imagine saving countless worlds, meeting new and interesting people and being able to explore the universe. Oh that would be brilliant. Having a companion like Sarah Jane Smith, or like Rose Tyler, or even Martha Jones would be a “slice of fried gold”. I love how the Doctor has so much knowledge and yet he also has some physical skills as well. The fact that Time Lords have great long life spans is so appealing to me. I could give the truly daunting tasks everything I have got; knowing full well that if I died I could just regenerate. Of course the stories are completely science fiction.

I think they are really good science fiction. In my humble opinion good science fiction is more like science in fiction. If the story is told well then anything can be suggested. Belief that anything is possible, we just don’t know how yet is what drives me. I like science fiction when fantastic ideas are put forth that make one wonder if this could really be possible.

Take the Dalecks from Doctor Who for example. If you watch the series long enough it is made known that they are not just some fancy trash can looking robots. What we see on the screen is just a vehicle that the actual alien life form rides in. Since the creatures are relatively small their vehicles are small. They are hateful and want to destroy everything not Daleck. This is why they are always yelling “EXTERMINATE!” To me the whole concept seems very plausible even though it is definitely a work of fiction. Of course the show’s writers use techno-babble that sounds good to the layman, but doesn’t usually mean a whole lot.
It is like I said the ideas are there though. The idea of traveling through time and space in a machine that is bigger on the inside so appeals to me. The TARDIS is organic. The Doctor has stated that his ship was grown not built. This would be a marvelous idea. Think about the possibility of growing machines. If one could have a vehicle that is more interior volume than surface area so many problems would be solved. Something huge could travel to places and still remain inconspicuous. In the show his ship can disguise itself to look like objects from the surrounding area. This is another great idea. For the sake of production costs the ship is stuck looking like a British Police Call Box from the nineteen-fifties. I have to say this one of the quirks that appeals to me. Basically the Doctor has a relationship with his ship that is as if it is really more of a pet.


The Idea of having vast amounts of knowledge and being able to apply it is another idea that I must admit I find appealing. The Doctor doesn’t need to use computers. His mind works like a computer, one with the ability to imagine and be creative. This problem solving ability is the one thing I would like to have the most. To have the abilities of a Time Lord and a ship like the TARDIS in reality would be an awesome adventure.

1 comment:

  1. I imagine you continuing to blog about science in fiction and much else.

    From what you wrote I think you might really enjoy Warren Ellis' and Colleen Doran's graphic novel Orbiter. It's sort of like Contact meets one of the aspects of Dr. Who you wrote about.

    I think you might enjoy Warren Ellis' less abrasive side altogether. He's got a lot of amazing ideas about technology and its relationship with humankind.

    And dig around on Blackboard. I've probably got some links you'd like.

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