Thursday, December 3, 2009

Final Diagnostic Essay Draft: Doctor Who and good science fiction


Kristofer Pearson

Diagnostic revised

ENG 111 63

1 December 2009

I have wanted to be a Time Lord from the very moment I learned about Doctor Who. Enjoying that series has made me a fan of science fiction. The elements of the premise of the Doctor are that he can regenerate when he dies; he has vast amounts of scientific and historical knowledge, and he gets to travel in time and space on board his ship called the Tardis. Did I mention that he is almost always accompanied by a hottie?

Piloting the TARDIS through time and space seems like such a great adventure, that and having the knowledge of a Time Lord. 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”. One of the best aspects of the Doctor is that he not only has all that knowledge, but he has fighting skills as well. The appeal of long life spans coupled with regeneration, is that one could give the truly daunting tasks the last full measure; knowing full well that if death occurred one could just regenerate.

In my opinion this series is a work of 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. Willing suspension of disbelief becomes easier. The 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. What’s more is that they could be an allegory for the Nazis.

One of the other appealing ideas is of traveling through time and space in a machine that is bigger on the inside. This would mean that it takes far less energy to move through the space surrounding it. 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 so many places and still remain inconspicuous. The Tardis can disguise itself to look like objects from the surrounding area. This is another great idea, active camouflage. For the sake of production costs the ship is stuck looking like a British Police Call Box from the nineteen-fifties. This kind of quirk seems to make the story more believable. Being that the ship is organic, grown while the Doctor was just a child; he treats it as if it is really more of a pet.


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