The Doctor, the Master, and the Boundaries of Friendship

“Time Lords are friends with each other, dear.  Everything else is cradle-snatching.” – Missy to the Doctor

The Doctor is a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey, in the constellation of Kasterborous.  All Time Lords possess the ability to regenerate, meaning when they are near death they are born again in a new body with a new personality while retaining their memories.  Barring accidents or being killed again during regeneration, a Time Lord is essentially immortal.  No matter how much I watch Doctor Who, I can’t fully comprehend that sort of life.  I am a finite being so I can’t fathom traversing all of time and space for millennia.  I love thinking about it!  I love speculating about it!  But I’ll never – no matter how long I ponder – fully understand what such a life would be like.  As a result, I can never fully understand the Doctor’s relationship with the Master.  The Master is another Time Lord, the Doctor’s childhood best friend who grew up to become one of their greatest enemies. 

“Fancy a Trip in the Box?” – Considering the TARDIS and Each Companion’s First Trip

One of my favorite things about Doctor Who is the first trip the Doctor makes with any new companion.  Now I’m not talking about their first adventure, where they meet the Doctor and get pulled into a much larger world than they knew existed the day before.  No, I’m talking about their first trip, the moment they decide they want to travel through time and space with the Doctor inside that little blue box.  I love it, in part, because these episodes always make me think how would you even begin to choose?!!?  If you had allllllllllll of time and space laid out before you, where would you even want to go first?  How could you pick?!?  Or, if you were in the Doctor’s place, how do you decide what first to show your new companion?