Doctor Who: 10 Dos And Don'ts Of Episode Writing

6. Don€™t Force A Romance

doctor who kiss I€™ll be honest here, romance is not my favourite thing in television anyway. I feel that unless a romance is absolutely vital to a story then it shouldn€™t really be there. And if it is vital to the story then it€™s going to be harder to sell to me anyway. But my personal bias aside, I truly do not think the Doctor should enter romantic situations with mortal humans. I€™m relieved that his only recent romantic relationship with River Song was an awkward one, and at least she can claim to be more of an equal to the Time Lord. While Rose Tyler€™s plotline may have been strong enough during her time as a companion, the Doctor€™s continued pining for her after she left, and her subsequent return, lessened the believability of it. Let me put it like this: the Doctor€™s a thousand-year-old alien from an advanced civilisation. It€™s weird enough when young humans hook up with 100-year-old vampires, not that I€™m making any comparisons at all. In the context of the story, romance should only show up when it€™s really needed to create empathy. Was it really necessary to show Martha and Mickey getting married? Did the sudden twist about the two deformed lovers in €˜Hide€™ add anything? Questions regarding whether romance is gratuitous or not should be asked more, in my opinion. And the Doctor should avoid requiting the feelings of human characters as much as possible. And on that note€
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I am a history student and writer, pursuing a career in film and literature. I also love Star Wars, Doctor Who and many other film, TV and game franchises. It always interests me to hear what people have to say about films and TV shows, and I’m fascinated by new perspectives. I’d welcome any feedback and comments you might have as well!