4. Humans, Always Seeing Patterns In Things That Aren't There
Ever since the internet enabled fans to express their opinions publicly, this line from the Eighth Doctor in the TV Movie is commonly used as a slight against anothers theories or observations. Is it coincidence that the first two words get dropped from the quote? Like the tendency to make faces out of clouds or other random patterns, making connections, seeing links between one thing and another, is part of what makes us human. It is how the mind works, making order out of chaos. Sometimes a person recognises a pattern that has been intended by another, and other times one can create the pattern either from scratch or from what was already created unconsciously. And yes, sometimes, when speculating about where the Doctor Who team is leading us, fans can get it spectacularly wrong. Whats really going on here a lot of the time is that the person who appeals to this quote is simply jealous that he/she has not come up with it themselves. And in any case, even if they are right and the pattern is somewhat contrived, what is the point of simply stating a fact? Yes, everybody sees patterns in things. And quite right too! There is something similar here to the dogmatic claim that different peoples believe in different gods, an idea depended on the belief that one is true and the other is false. Compare this to the interfaith idea that everybody looks at the same elephant from a different perspective. Part of the fun of talking to other fans is that of learning new viewpoints and making new connections but it is the same world they are exploring together - the fictional universe of Doctor Who. Some fans are pleased as punch with this quote that they can even apply it to non Doctor Who conversations about all manner of things, both frivolous or deeply serious. Why is it that the quote is only ever used as a negative slight? If fans are to use it, why not see it as a positive? Celebrate our creativity and quest for meaning! After all, what were those first two words? "I love".
Paul Driscoll is a freelance writer and author across a range of subjects from Cult TV to religion and social policy. He is a passionate Doctor Who fan and January 2017 will see the publication of his first extended study of the series (based on Toby Whithouse's series six episode, The God Complex) in the critically acclaimed Black Archive range by Obverse Books. He is a regular writer for the fan site Doctor Who Worldwide and has contributed several essays to Watching Books' You and Who range. Recently he has branched out into fiction writing, with two short stories in the charity Doctor Who anthology Seasons of War (Chinbeard Books). Paul's work will also feature in the forthcoming Iris Wildthyme collection (A Clockwork Iris, Obverse Books) and Chinbeard Books' collection of drabbles, A Time Lord for Change.
