Doctor Who: 10 Lessons It Could Learn From Other Shows

By Emma Yeo /

10. It's Okay For A Character Not To Die

Imagine how the show could be if those who had been left behind in the Doctor's name were remembered more often: think of the Waters of Mars. How crucial the idea of the 'Time Lord Victorious' was to the episode, how much this added and how it was used simply to show the dying days of the Doctor. Surely he could act like this even if not facing impending death? After all, we can all act in fury and in rage. It would be interesting to see the Doctor acting out more often against the injustices of the world and recognising his own errors, rather than forgetting characters like that 'tree girl' from The End of the World as they pass him by. This is a major flaw with shows such as Doctor Who, the fact that the lessons of the past are never remembered - neither, therefore, are the victims. So many great stories could be told, of the aftermath of the Doctor's travels through alien worlds. The only exceptions to this rule in 'new Who' that are easy to see are in his visits to the Game Station in Series One and in the joking mentions of disaster during the 'Donna era'. This provokes a thought: aside from the requirements of overarching plot arcs, are characters and past events just flung aside? In the show itself even Davros notices this:

"The Doctor, the man who keeps running, never looking back because he dare not, out of shame."

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For a more personal example of a similar issue - instead of characters dying simply to further the plot (and for no good reason!) - there is also the repeated death trope. Look at poor Rory, grinning away with the latest incarnation of the Doctor. We can all remember his innocent start in the show, a bumbling idiot who we all grew to love. From Amy's Choice to Angels of Manhattan it seems Rory Williams doesn't have the best of luck. Now he seems to be just another addition to the Doctor Who graveyard, a ramshackle collection of characters who've seen better days. Some we mourn and some we just forget. Does anyone ever remember Lynda with a Y? I thought not. Other shows kill off characters in a more... dignified way. Or at the least, it's justified. Take King Arthur in another BBC drama Merlin. Sure, Arthur was a main protagonist rather than simply a 'companion' and he kinda had to die.... but still. Wouldn't it be nice if we could go back to the days when killing off a character wasn't so much like a kick in the face?