{"id":5715,"date":"2012-01-16T00:08:29","date_gmt":"2012-01-16T05:08:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?p=5715"},"modified":"2012-01-16T00:08:29","modified_gmt":"2012-01-16T05:08:29","slug":"doctor-who-the-war-machines-and-the-computer-that-knew-the-doctors-name","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/01\/doctor-who-the-war-machines-and-the-computer-that-knew-the-doctors-name.html","title":{"rendered":"Doctor Who: The War Machines (and the computer that knew the Doctor’s name)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"The episode of Doctor Who, \u201cThe War Machines<\/a>\"\",\u201d may seem to explore familiar terrain to viewers today. But keep in mind that this episode was written and aired not only decades before Skynet and the Terminator films, but also years before the movie Colossus: The Forbin Project<\/a> was released. And so the Doctor Who episode<\/a> is a forerunner to those famous sci-fi movies and not a mere imitation of them. If you haven\u2019t seen it, you have probably guessed by now that it features a supercomputer<\/a> bent on world domination, the next stage in \u201cmechanized evolution.\u201d<\/p>\n

That in itself is interesting. But there is something even more significant about this episode. The all-knowing computer that is at the heart of the episode, WOTAN, seems to know the Doctor\u2019s name<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"\"When Dodo asks the computer what TARDIS stands for, somehow it knows. And so surely it is significant that the computer refers to the Doctor as \u201cDoctor Who\u201d \u2013 the only character in the series to call the Doctor that (although that is the way the Doctor was traditionally referred to in the show\u2019s credits). It makes one wonder whether the Doctor\u2019s name in Gallifreyan is in fact something that sounds like this English phrase, that perhaps being the reason why he adopted the moniker \u2013 wouldn\u2019t the Doctor take great delight in having people produce his name, or provide countless opportunities to say it himself, and yet never be the wiser?<\/p>\n

So what might his name be? Da K\u2019tor Huu? Perhaps when other time lords call him \u201cDoctor\u201d they too are simply using his name, and it is only English speakers who mistake it for the English word. If so, then perhaps the significant revelation will eventually be not that that is in fact the Doctor\u2019s name, but what, if anything, it means.<\/p>\n

The computer is called WOTAN<\/a>, which of course is the name of a deity in Norse mythology. And so there is more than a hint of the computer being \u201cgodlike\u201d \u2013 although clearly neither infallible nor indestructible.<\/p>\n

There are as always some comical moments. My favorites were when the Doctor hangs an \u201cOut of Order\u201d sign on the TARDIS, and when he pulls a screwdriver from his pocket \u2013 the latter would not have been funny at the time, but is with hindsight, since his screwdriver back then wasn\u2019t a sonic one.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve shared but a few thoughts on some key elements from this classic episode, \u201cThe War Machines,\u201d<\/a> rather than trying to summarize it, since there are other sites that have posted reviews<\/a> or summaries of the episode<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Do you think that the Doctor\u2019s name could actually be \u201cDoctor Who\u201d or something that sounds like it?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The episode of Doctor Who, \u201cThe War Machines,\u201d may seem to explore familiar terrain to viewers today. But keep in mind that this episode was written and aired not only decades before Skynet and the Terminator films, but also years before the movie Colossus: The Forbin Project was released. And so the Doctor Who episode […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[133,86,96],"tags":[443,810,2029,2094,2567,2765,3520,3730,4029,7857,7884,8208,10885,10890,12320,13539,13903],"class_list":["post-5715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctor-who-science-fiction","category-science-fiction","category-technology","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-colossus","tag-computers","tag-deities","tag-doctor-who","tag-forbin-project","tag-gallifreyan","tag-gods","tag-mythology","tag-name","tag-norse","tag-sci-fi","tag-science-fiction","tag-technology","tag-war-machines","tag-wotan"],"yoast_head":"\nDoctor Who: The War Machines (and the computer that knew the Doctor's name)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The episode of Doctor Who, "The War Machines," may seem to explore familiar terrain to viewers today. But keep in mind that this episode was written and\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/01\/doctor-who-the-war-machines-and-the-computer-that-knew-the-doctors-name.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Doctor Who: The War Machines (and the computer that knew the Doctor's name)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The episode of Doctor Who, "The War Machines," may seem to explore familiar terrain to viewers today. But keep in mind that this episode was written and\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/01\/doctor-who-the-war-machines-and-the-computer-that-knew-the-doctors-name.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-01-16T05:08:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/regmedia.co.uk\/2011\/11\/02\/wotan.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James F. McGrath\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ReligionProf\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James F. McGrath\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/01\/doctor-who-the-war-machines-and-the-computer-that-knew-the-doctors-name.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/01\/doctor-who-the-war-machines-and-the-computer-that-knew-the-doctors-name.html\",\"name\":\"Doctor Who: The War Machines (and the computer that knew the Doctor's name)\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-01-16T05:08:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-01-16T05:08:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf\"},\"description\":\"The episode of Doctor Who, \\\"The War Machines,\\\" may seem to explore familiar terrain to viewers today. But keep in mind that this episode was written and\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/01\/doctor-who-the-war-machines-and-the-computer-that-knew-the-doctors-name.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/01\/doctor-who-the-war-machines-and-the-computer-that-knew-the-doctors-name.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/01\/doctor-who-the-war-machines-and-the-computer-that-knew-the-doctors-name.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Doctor Who: The War Machines (and the computer that knew the Doctor’s name)\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/\",\"name\":\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath\",\"description\":\"The Blog of Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, Indianapolis\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf\",\"name\":\"James F. McGrath\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"James F. McGrath\"},\"description\":\"Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. BD University of London, PhD Durham University. Author of John's Apologetic Christology, The Only True God, Theology and Science Fiction, and The Burial of Jesus, as well as (with Charles Haberl of Rutgers University) the two-volume Mandaean Book of John critical edition, translation, and commentary. Also author of numerous articles (and a few science fiction short stories) and the editor or co-editor of several volumes.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ge8ul5\",\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jamesfmcgrath\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jfmcgrat\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ReligionProf\",\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/religionprof\",\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/religionprof\",\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_F._McGrath\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/author\/james-f-mcgrath\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Doctor Who: The War Machines (and the computer that knew the Doctor's name)","description":"The episode of Doctor Who, \"The War Machines,\" may seem to explore familiar terrain to viewers today. But keep in mind that this episode was written and","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/01\/doctor-who-the-war-machines-and-the-computer-that-knew-the-doctors-name.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Doctor Who: The War Machines (and the computer that knew the Doctor's name)","og_description":"The episode of Doctor Who, \"The War Machines,\" may seem to explore familiar terrain to viewers today. But keep in mind that this episode was written and","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/01\/doctor-who-the-war-machines-and-the-computer-that-knew-the-doctors-name.html","og_site_name":"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath","article_author":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/","article_published_time":"2012-01-16T05:08:29+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/regmedia.co.uk\/2011\/11\/02\/wotan.jpg"}],"author":"James F. McGrath","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ReligionProf","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"James F. McGrath","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/01\/doctor-who-the-war-machines-and-the-computer-that-knew-the-doctors-name.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/01\/doctor-who-the-war-machines-and-the-computer-that-knew-the-doctors-name.html","name":"Doctor Who: The War Machines (and the computer that knew the Doctor's name)","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-01-16T05:08:29+00:00","dateModified":"2012-01-16T05:08:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf"},"description":"The episode of Doctor Who, \"The War Machines,\" may seem to explore familiar terrain to viewers today. But keep in mind that this episode was written and","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/01\/doctor-who-the-war-machines-and-the-computer-that-knew-the-doctors-name.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/01\/doctor-who-the-war-machines-and-the-computer-that-knew-the-doctors-name.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/01\/doctor-who-the-war-machines-and-the-computer-that-knew-the-doctors-name.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Doctor Who: The War Machines (and the computer that knew the Doctor’s name)"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/","name":"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath","description":"The Blog of Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, Indianapolis","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf","name":"James F. McGrath","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"James F. McGrath"},"description":"Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. BD University of London, PhD Durham University. Author of John's Apologetic Christology, The Only True God, Theology and Science Fiction, and The Burial of Jesus, as well as (with Charles Haberl of Rutgers University) the two-volume Mandaean Book of John critical edition, translation, and commentary. Also author of numerous articles (and a few science fiction short stories) and the editor or co-editor of several volumes.","sameAs":["https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ge8ul5","http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jamesfmcgrath\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jfmcgrat\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/ReligionProf","http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/religionprof","https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/religionprof","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_F._McGrath"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/author\/james-f-mcgrath"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5715"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5715\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}