{"id":217,"date":"2010-06-08T08:44:28","date_gmt":"2010-06-08T08:44:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/pandora\/?p=217"},"modified":"2010-06-09T14:24:52","modified_gmt":"2010-06-09T14:24:52","slug":"defining-the-non-human-a-twist-in-the-tale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/pandora\/2010\/06\/08\/defining-the-non-human-a-twist-in-the-tale\/","title":{"rendered":"Defining the non-human: a twist in the tale"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Matt
Defining the non-human ?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I’ve written previously <\/a>about science fiction’s essential truth: defining what it means to be human.<\/p>\n

But a recent episode of Dr.Who<\/em>, ‘Amy’s Choice<\/a>,’provided a new slant: defining what it means to be a Time Lord. (Warning: a few plot spoilers ahead: for those of a nervous disposition, look away now.)<\/p>\n

With the revelation that the Dream Lord was in fact the Doctor himself – the clues were there, in retrospect: who else might know the Doctor’s dreams, and has been with him all the time ? – in fact, the dark side of the Doctor, given voice through psychic pollen that feeds on one’s innermost thoughts, the true thrust of the episode became clear: it was about what it meant to be a Time Lord.<\/p>\n

As the Dream Lord himself says: ‘The old man prefers the company of the young.’ He was giving voice to the dark preoccupations lying with the Doctor, about abandoning his companions, never making real friends, losing touch with them ‘once they leave the Tardis’ (and what about poor old Adric, sometime companion to Peter Davison’s incarnation, who left the Tardis not by choice, but by dying ?).<\/p>\n