You could make the argument that, after fifty-one years, the horse has well and truly bolted as far as keeping the Doctors past a secret is concerned. But while we have learned quite a lot about the Doctor in the past half-century, there are still great swathes of his past that we dont know about. Which is a vital part of the character. We have never needed to know who the Doctor is. That hes an alien time traveller who fights monsters is all we need. In an uncommon move for a programme about a time traveller, the focus is on the now. Hes a man with no name and a distant past that he tells nobody about. And that perfectly suits a character of such phenomenal intelligence and life experience because it distances him from the audience and heightens his almost mythic qualities. Knowing about his earliest years, and all of the experiences that came with them like family, lost loves, and the creation of the Sonic Screwdriver would completely undermine his mystique. Strip all of his mystery and centuries of accrued knowledge away by going back to his very origins; and hes just a madman without a box. And a considerably less interesting character as a result. The Doctor needs mystery. And any kind of prequel would completely dissolve that. Do you think a Doctor Who prequel would be a good idea? Let us know in the comments section below...
JG Moore is a writer and filmmaker from the south of England. He also works as an editor and VFX artist, and has a BA in Media Production from the University Of Winchester.
