Thursday, April 6, 2023

#AtoZChallenge2023: Doctor Who Earth

Doctor Who - Earth
When you go back to the stars and tell others of this planet—when you tell them of its riches, its people, its potential— when you talk of the Earth. Then make sure that you tell them this: “It. Is. Defended.” 

- The Tenth Doctor, The Christmas Invasion

More than any other planet in all of time and space it is the Earth that is the Doctor's favorite. It was where The First Doctor and his granddaughter hid when they left Gallifrey. It was The Third Doctor's home in exile during the 1970s when he worked for U.N.I.T. It was the Earth he returned to time and time again.

The Ninth Doctor took Rose to the end of the Earth to watch the sun consume it. The Tenth Doctor took Donna to see the Earth form from rocks in space. The Eleventh Doctor then took Clara to see the Earth from formation to its end to get a picture of a slow-moving time traveler. 

Of course, there are a lot of practical reasons for this. The writers are most familiar with the Earth over all the other planets.  All the filming of Doctor Who is done on Earth, so the sets are already here. 

In-universe there are a lot of reasons are given. I have seen that Gallifrey has the same length of day and year as the Earth. And, of course, the people of the Earth look like Time Lords. A fact the Time Lords always found curious. That was never mentioned on the show, but in a few of the books and audio dramas do.

"You think it'll last forever, the people and cars and concrete. But it won't. One day it's all gone, even the sky."

- The Ninth Doctor, The End of the World


The Doctor mentioned time and time again how much he loves the Earth and humans. Even going as far as the Tenth Doctor falling in love with a human and the Eleventh Doctor marrying the (mostly) human daughter of Rory and Amy. 

Atraxi: You are not of this world.
The Doctor: No, but I’ve put a lot of work into it.

- The Eleventh Doctor, The Eleventh Hour

Good thing for us that he does!


A to Z of Doctor Who

All images are used with permission from the BBC and are copyrighted 2023 by the BBC.

3 comments:

C.D. Gallant-King said...

I mean, it always comes back to Earth because of cost reasons (and in the old days, whichever sets the BBC had laying around), but I appreciate that they work into the plot and mythology why it's so important.

E is for Edge Highlighting

PT Dilloway said...

Just like Star Trek it's a lot easier to film in an Earth-like environment than something really alien.

Anne E.G. Nydam said...

Well, I have always found it odd that in so many fantasy universes the Earth should be so central... But of course we're only consuming the stories intended for Earthling audiences!
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