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{"id":6181,"date":"2012-02-12T09:16:32","date_gmt":"2012-02-12T14:16:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?p=6181"},"modified":"2012-02-12T09:16:32","modified_gmt":"2012-02-12T14:16:32","slug":"doctor-who-the-twin-dilemma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2012\/02\/doctor-who-the-twin-dilemma.html","title":{"rendered":"Doctor Who: The Twin Dilemma"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ When Colin Baker took on the role of the Doctor, something marvellous occurred. More than ever since the first regeneration, there were moments when one could really have believed that this was truly the same character that had featured on the show in its beginning. At times Colin Baker even seems to look like William Hartnell in his facial expressions. If William Hartnell had lived to see this era of the show, I think he would have felt proud, and satisfied.<\/p>\n

Of course, Colin Baker also does a marvellous job of depicting the Doctor having undergone an unstable regeneration<\/a>. While the Doctor often behaved bizarrely or became unwell immediately after regenerating, this time the Doctor seemed, as the Doctor himself puts it in the episode, \u201cregenerated yet unregenerate.\u201d But the characteristics we see are actually simply the Doctor\u2019s worst traits accentuated: He has a penchant for paranoia, such as we saw in his attitude towards Barbara and Ian during early episodes such as \u201cThe Edge of Destruction.\u201d<\/a> He at times shows profound cowardice, in a manner that takes Patrick Troughton\u2019s Doctor who runs away to new levels. And of course, there is the arrogance which has always characterized the Doctor \u2013 even the fifth Doctor, whom Peri characterized as \u201csweet\u201d much to the new Doctor\u2019s disgust.<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ The Doctor emphasizes that he is literally an alien, and thus his values and morals are not going to always seem appropriate from a human perspective. That too was a point the first Doctor made frequently<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Doctor quite characteristically views his new self as an improvement. When the Doctor seems to come to his senses, and realizes how badly he has behaved towards Peri in particular, he says \u201cSelf pity is all I have left\u201d in a manner that foreshadows the eleventh Doctor\u2019s penchant for self-loathing.<\/p>\n

And of course, his taste in clothing was only slightly worse than it had ever been.<\/p>\n

As far as religious themes and imagery are concerned, several points come up. The human twins whose exceptional math genius is central to the story are named Romulus and Remus. The Doctor in an outburst of paranoia accuses Peri of beeing a \u201cPeeri,\u201d a fairy from Persian mythology (right before trying to strangle her). When he becomes repentant, he proposes becoming a hermit pursuing a life of contemplation \u2013 if necessary for a thousand years \u2013 with Peri as his disciple. This is an expression of penitance, and a desire to atone for what he had done.<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ The planet Jaconda\u2019s mythology also features, and the giant gastropods that were assumed to be the stuff of legend turn out to be real. According to their myth, the queen of Jaconda offended the sun god, who sent the gastropods to ravish the planet. But seeing the devestation, he had a change of heart and sent a drought to get rid of them. Apparently something like this actually happened, and the gastropods survived, and their ruler now had a plan to spread his race throughout the universe.<\/p>\n

The episode ends with the wonderfully confident to the point of arrogance assertion by the Doctor that Peri might find that his new persona isn\u2019t all that bad, adding, \u201cI am the Doctor \u2013 whether you like it or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Colin Baker era is often viewed as something of a new direction for the show, with the Doctor behaving rather manically at times. But having watched the episodes from the William Hartnell era so recently, it seems to me rather to represent a return to the character\u2019s roots<\/a>. What do other fans of the show think?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"