Doctor Who Revolution Of The Daleks: 10 Huge Talking Points After The New Year Special
1. Who Is The Doctor?
We’ve been here before, it was a favourite preoccupation of Steven Moffat who had the Twelfth Doctor conclude he was a mad man, an idiot in a box, just passing through, helping out. Once again, the question is up for discussion, even though it will always remain only partially answered. It’s not called Doctor Who for nothing.
Revolution of the Daleks brings the question to the fore yet again, with the Thirteenth Doctor unsure of her identity and angry about not knowing the truth. She is shaken out of her malaise or general dithering by the realisation that the Doctor is the one who defeats the Daleks. Previously the Doctor had self-identified as not-Dalek (Into the Dalek), but now she is framing the same answer as a positive – a call to action. She is not simple the opposite of the Daleks, she is the opponent of the Daleks, the one to fight against all forms of tyranny and oppression. Here the Daleks are a symbol of any destructive force, whether Dalek, Time Lord, human, or whatever.
The Doctor might then decide that it doesn’t matter where she comes from, that her identity is totally bound up in what she fights for. She can continue, therefore, to be a citizen of the universe, attaching herself to any like-minded souls, regardless of species and creed, such as her fam from Sheffield.
Ultimately, while it seems unlikely she won’t want to know more about her past, wherever it takes her, the end has already been revealed. She already knows who she is, the question then becomes who else is out there who might need her help? Or more importantly, at least for now, what forces like the Daleks and Robertson are out to stop her achieving just that?