10 Reactions To Doctor Who: The Return Of Doctor Mysterio
5. The Fantastic Powers Of The Doctor
Back in 1973, Doctor Who’s producer at the time, Barry Letts
claimed that the Doctor was a superhero and a pacifist.
But the Third Doctor was more of a James Bond action hero than a caped crusader.
Like his two predecessors, he was a reluctant and flawed hero, who despite his
alien anatomy, rarely displayed extraordinary powers. Instead he relied on his
wit and intellect, not to mention a few handy gadgets such as his sonic
screwdriver and super speedy car, Bessie.
The nearest the Doctor gets to being a superhero comes in his preoccupation with saving the universe from various despots and disasters. Only occasionally has his alien physiology appeared miraculous to mere mortals, such as the Fourth Doctor’s speed reading ability, or the Ninth Doctor’s slowing down of time in The End of the World.
The new series has made something of a theme out of challenging the Doctor’s heroic status, with his qualifications and success rate being called into question on several occasions. We’ve seen the fall of the Tenth Doctor’s Time Lord victorious, the Eleventh Doctor giving up on the job and retiring to his TARDIS in the clouds, and the Twelfth Doctor questioning whether or not he was a good man.
Instead of using the superhero conceit for a positive commentary on how the Doctor is a different kind of hero, this story sees him once again setting himself up as a miracle man, and by the end of it, his carelessness in turning Grant into a superhero is not a cause for regret. The Doctor’s fantastic powers here include the ability to make strangers around him tell the truth and being able to summon Nardole and the TARDIS with a whistle.