Dr. Who, The Ponds & What to do now…

Some will think I’m obsessed, and perhaps I am.  I love Dr. Who.  Yes, I’m 41 (almost 42!) and I can recite Whovian phrasings and trivia with the best of them.  On a day trip to North Bay today, with my fellow poet and dear friend, Melanie Marttila, we spent a good half hour debating the best character traits of past Dr. Who actors and mourned the fact that David Tennant is no longer on the show.  (He and Tom Baker will always be my favourites….but Tennant is much sexier than Baker…. 😉

So, some will ask, what’s the big deal?  You watch a show about a Time Lord, the last one of Gallifrey, and a painted police box that transports him to different worlds and dimensions.

There are just some of the life lessons that Dr. Who teaches us on a weekly basis:

1.  Life is precious; gather your companions near to you and value their contributions to your life.  (….and when they go, as the Ponds did tonight, weep for their passing, but smile for having been part of their lives….)

2.  Don’t blink.  (Weeping angels are terrifying, even if not supported by modern day physics!)

3.  Remember to conserve your energy.  (…especially if you are thinking of regenerating any time soon… 😉

4.  Honour your closest friends and loves with warm greetings.  (“Hello, sweetie!”….and “Yowzah”, if the scenario calls for it!)

5.  Know the importance of eggs and milk to making souffles, especially when visiting a Dalek asylum.

So….if you don’t watch, you won’t know what the hell I’m talking about here.  That’s okay.  I can only tell you that the writing is brilliant each and every week.  (“A Town Called Mercy” is a perfect example of this, when the Doctor informs someone that their horse’s name is actually Susan….and that “she asks you respect her life choices.”)  It’s witty, intelligent repartee….and I’d love to write a script for Moffatt….but I fear I would hardly come close to his, or Russell T. Davies’, sartorial brilliance.

By now, if you watch, you will know that The Ponds, Amelia and Rory, have been dispatched….in a very bittersweet manner.  I will miss them both terribly.  I only hope the next companion will be thought provoking, witty and warm.  Whenever The Doctor regenerates, or a companion (or companions, in the case of Amy & Rory) moves on, I get weepy and reticent.  Why, I wonder, do things have to change, even on Dr. Who?  Why not just let me continue to feel as if I know them all….as if I could have a pint with them all in a pub and hitch a ride in the TARDIS?  But, as Dr. Who serves as a commentary on human behaviour (even when he deals with alien races like Daleks, Cybermen, or Weeping Angels!), I know the answer even as I write down the question:  change is inevitable.

So, as I move through my own life, struggling with new ideas, shifts in being or thought, pondering what’s next for me, I see that journey paralleled in the weekly episodes on Space.  While The Doctor journeys through dimensions and visits far off planets, he still — at the core of it all — loves the fragile beauty of humanity, and fights to protect it.  (As a poet, that resonates with me; he is eternally hopeful for humanity’s sake….regardless of which incarnation and body he lives in….)

That’s probably why I’d like to write and ask Moffatt if he’d consider me for the role of next companion….sigh.  I’d even wear shorter skirts and buy a pair of tall boots….whatever!  Imagine how amazing it would be to traipse across time, hand in hand with “The Raggedy Man”, side by side with River Song, and maybe—if time travel actually works—I could maybe even supplant Rose Tyler’s spot and travel with David Tennant himself!

….wishful thinking, all….

peace,

k.