[ad_1]
Summary
- Doctor Who almost broke its rule by considering a buff Doctor in the 90s, which goes against the character’s core traits of peacekeeping.
- Peter Darvill-Evans wanted a muscular Doctor, inspired by Captain Oates, but his vision clashed with the Doctor’s pacifist nature.
- The idea of a buff Doctor would have shifted the character towards an action-hero archetype, losing the essence of the Doctor’s pacifism.
The long-running sci-fi series Doctor Who almost broke one of its biggest rules about the Doctor’s regenerations after the show’s cancelation. Doctor Who premiered in 1963, and saw William Hartnell as the first Doctor. In 1966, the writers needed a solution to continue the show without Hartnell, so the concept of regeneration was introduced into Doctor Who‘s narrative. Even though every Doctor has unique personality traits, each iteration of the character has the same core characteristics of being adventurous and righteous.
Despite its success, the show lost viewership over the years and came to an end in 1989. Following Doctor Who‘s cancellation, Peter Darvill-Evans, editor of The Virgin New Adventures, recognized that there were still Doctor Who stories to be told. He began producing full-length original novels, picking up where the television series had left off. After releasing several books, Darvill-Evans felt it was time to freshen up the series by regenerating the Doctor. However, the direction he envisioned for the new Doctor would have gone against the character’s fundamental physical traits.
Doctor Who Almost Buffed-Up The Doctor In The 1990s
Peter Darvill-Evans wanted to make the next Doctor in his book series muscular, which completely contradicts who the Doctor is at their core. His plan involved bringing in David Troughton as a cover model and using him as a template for the new Doctor’s characterization. This incarnation was intended to be a Captain Oates-like figure, who was a British army officer known for his strength and military experience. The new Doctor would have resembled Oates’ characteristics, like his square jaw and strong physique.
With this new appearance, Peter aimed to retain an element of fragility with the Doctor. He would make the character slightly awkward, as if his being buff could easily break anything in sight. However, in 1996, his license to continue producing the book series was revoked due to the production of the Doctor Who TV movie with Paul McGann. As a result, the concept of the muscular Time Lord never came to be.
Why A Buff Doctor Who Would Never Work
The Doctor Who TV movie ended up being a blessing in disguise, as portraying the Doctor in this manner would have contrasted greatly with his image. At the core of the Doctor’s character, they are a peacekeeper. The Doctor offers the alien races the opportunity to back down before taking any action against them. Transforming the Doctor into a muscular figure would shift the character towards an action-hero archetype, rather than keeping the physicality of a pacifist who fights evil through his intellect rather than with force.
While the Doctor can become threatening when necessary, his primary goal is always to de-escalate situations. Presenting the Doctor as a formidable physical force detracts from the character’s ability to shift into an intimidating presence when needed. Fundamentally, the Doctor prioritizes pacifism, so making the Doctor look like more of an action hero in Doctor Who would diminish many beloved aspects of the character.
Source: Twitter
Doctor Who
Originally premiered in 1963, Doctor Who is a sci-fi series that follows a powerful being known as a Time Lord, referred to as the Doctor. Using an interdimensional time-traveling ship known as the TARDIS, the Doctor travels time and space with various companions as they solve multiple problems and help avert catastrophe as much as they almost cause it. Though the Doctor is always the same character, they experience regenerations, allowing them to be recast every few seasons as a unique immortal being with new personality traits.
- Release Date
- November 23, 1963
- Seasons
- 26
[ad_2]
Source link