That's all it will take. Just a Doctor to say that so we can put the whole sorry mess behind us
Moffat (if you're reading) get these words in the Capaldi's mouth immediately please!
I thought it was rather a missed opportunity by Moffat to not have Mcgann himself say something like this during night of the doctor. That way the actual doctor who said the annoying line could have been the one to make sense of it.
As for those who say that saying he was half human was a joke wouldn't make sense with the tv movie, I personally think that the eigth doctor making sense with every other doctor before and since is more important than the plot of one terrible story, especially when small things in who history often contradict anyway.
I don't think the Doctor is half human anymore. Only in the TV Movie, when the McCoy-McGann regeneration happened. How the Doctor became half-human for that, I don't know.
I think they only put that in to spark a debate between "Whovians."
If only Digital Spy had been around, then. Fans would have had a field day!
Actually I quite like the idea of the Doctor being half human. It would explain why he lands on Earth so much and why he has a strong affinity with Humans.
It can't be explained away as a joke by the Doctor because the Master after seeing the Doctor's eyes/retina etc, claimed that the Docttor WAS half human.
The idea of the Doctor should've been to represent us humans triumphing over filthy subhuman alien scum.
So the idea of the Doctor should completely be in contradiction to everything that went into the creation of the series as well as everything that came after? Interesting...
The way I'd resolve this issue is that the dr is not so much half human, but the human race is half-doctor....
Eh? I hear you say...!
The Timelords could have played a part in the evolution of humanoid species. The dr could have been assigned to Earth, using part of his DNA to accelerate human evolution - explaining why the dr is particularly fond of Earth....
The idea of the Doctor should've been to represent us humans triumphing over filthy subhuman alien scum.
That's Independence Day, not Doctor Who.
This was sadly thrown out of the window when they decided to make him just another piece of filthy subhuman alien scum.
Sounds like you haven't liked the show since the Troughton era. That's a long time to hate a core component of the main character. Why are you still watching?
Plus, being alien doesn't make you filthy or scum. It certainly doesn't mean you are subhuman. Most sci-fi involves at least some alien life that is clearly superhuman.
Since then, there hasn't been any point to him, at all.
Fifty years of him remaining a successful and well-loved hero would suggest otherwise.
That's why I like to pretend all that stupid Time Lord stuff never happened.
Actually, it sounds more like you're 'avin' a larf, than actually seriously believing that the Doctor isn't a Time Lord. I'm going with "extreme sarcasm," as the basis for your posts, because there's no way this is serious.
The Doctor as "filthy subhuman alien scum." Just a tad too far to take seriously, that!
Plus, being alien doesn't make you filthy or scum. It certainly doesn't mean you are subhuman. Most sci-fi involves at least some alien life that is clearly superhuman.
Yeah, the whole point of "Doctor Who" is that its hero is an outsider-both from
his own society, Earth society and other societies.
I assume the OP is having a laugh, because otherwise it's hard to understand how
he / she thinks DW is all about humans clobbering "filthy alien scum".
Yeah, the whole point of "Doctor Who" is that its hero is an outsider-both from
his own society, Earth society and other societies.
I assume the OP is having a laugh, because otherwise it's hard to understand how
he / she thinks DW is all about humans clobbering "filthy alien scum".
It would work if the transfusion of human blood that the 7th Doctor was given in the Emergency Room somehow affected the regeneration process - it would have been inside his body at the time.
Then, as a matter of course the TARDIS scanned the 8th Doctor the first time he stepped inside. Being a clever girl, she was immediately aware of the human blood which contaminated this incarnation of the Doctor, and made changes to the lock on the Eye of Harmony accordingly?
This would cover a lot of the holes, apart from Eight's remark about being half-human 'on his mother's side', but this could have been distraction gabbling to give him time to pinch the name=badge.
It only "makes more sense" because of what later stories did.
If you watch the early episodes with no preconceptions at all, the implication seems to be that the Doctor was originally a human who somehow became more than human as a result of his exposure to time travel. The Doctor even specifically says as much in TEotD.
But that whole becoming-more-than-human thing doesn't make any sense if you assume he was never human to start with.
If you watch from the very start it's obvious, and he even says, he's effectively in exile from his own planet, which kind of implies 'not from here' in any way.
The idea of the Doctor should've been to represent us humans triumphing over filthy subhuman alien scum. This was sadly thrown out of the window when they decided to make him just another piece of filthy subhuman alien scum. Since then, there hasn't been any point to him, at all. That's why I like to pretend all that stupid Time Lord stuff never happened.
The exciting and endearing thing about the doctor is that he has no tie's to any of the people or worlds he helps and yet he puts himself on the line to do so almost on a daily basis, taking only the thrill of visiting said worlds as payment for his troubles.
Had he been human it would almost be like he had a duty to earth as a part of the human race, but the fact that he's an alien makes him all the more noble that he does so much to protect us even though he has no responsibility to do so.
Plus, if he were human, it would be, as you say 'us humans triumphing' over the aliens which would mean practically every story would be about protecting earth, so it would have to be 'aliens invade earth' pretty much every week, which I doubt would have been enough scope to produce enough content for the show to span 50 years.
Being a timelord makes him more exciting, mysterious, and important feeling than he ever could of been as human.
First off - really appreciate johnnysaucepan's posts in this thread cos he logically and correctly identifies that we're not just looking at a "passing remark" and it can't be so easily dismissed as the Doctor havin a larf.
Mostly - I have a question (I don't know the answer and it may be something that's come up in the show or in books but...)
Given that a TimeLord can drastically change his/her physical size and shape and we know that they regenerate completely new internal organs (new kidneys - don't like the colour etc) - is a TimeLord able to become (or at least mimic) another race?
If so - could a TimeLord deliberately generate a body with certain elements that are only found in a non-Gallifreyan race - perhaps to help them survive on a planet which wouldn't support them otherwise (e.g. - regenerate with gills to survive on a water-world)?
If that is possible - and I believe that the full quote from the movie specified that he got his "human" elements from his mother's side of the family - so it would be she that had regenerated into a (more or less) human at the time she conceived or gave birth (or contributed to the loom if you go for that idea).
If that sounds too tenuous - ask yourselves this...
If The Doctor had been black when "Jenny" was created from his DNA, would she still have been blonde and pale skinned - or is a TimeLord's outward appearence carried all the way down to a genetic level (whatever is the Gallifreyan equivalent of DNA) and therefore passed on to a child?
And if his mother - who need not have been BORN as a human - did pass some "humanish DNA" onto him, could he have "filtered it out" as a matter of choice during a later regeneration - which would allow for the statement to be 100% true in the movie whilst no longer applying.
(And for a "storyline" type explanation - easy enough to say that TimeLords are able to select at least some of the features for each regeneration cos all of their ancestors' "body designs" are stored in their "DNA" as a kind of accessible, recessive gene)
If that is possible - and I believe that the full quote from the movie specified that he got his "human" elements from his mother's side of the family - so it would be she that had regenerated into a (more or less) human at the time she conceived or gave birth (or contributed to the loom if you go for that idea).
Its an interesting point, and does tie in with what the 9th Doctor said to Rose just before he regenerated: "I might never make sense again! I might have two heads, or no head. Imagine me with no head, ha! And don't say that's an improvement... But it's a bit dodgy, this process. You never know what you're going to end up with."
I think we assume that Time Lords are human-like because that is how they've all appeared. But maybe regeneration is a little more drastic than we realise. Perhaps each incarnation can take on characteristics of other species/races. And perhaps that is what happened with the 8th Doctor.
I was just pondering this and it strikes me that the "body" they have is not just some sort of cosmetic "shell".
When the Doctor choses (or "gets") a younger-looking body, he has been more physically active and when he's had an older appearence, he's walked and talked like an older man.
(I know that's because of the actors' ages but it still has to make sense within the fantasy world)
In other words, the Doctor's appearance must be more than skin deep - and that does point towards something akin to his "DNA" being resequenced at each generation.
(Side point - his recent "younger" incarnations have been rather "randy" - another indicator that their "youth" was more than just some outward appearence.)
Comments
I thought it was rather a missed opportunity by Moffat to not have Mcgann himself say something like this during night of the doctor. That way the actual doctor who said the annoying line could have been the one to make sense of it.
As for those who say that saying he was half human was a joke wouldn't make sense with the tv movie, I personally think that the eigth doctor making sense with every other doctor before and since is more important than the plot of one terrible story, especially when small things in who history often contradict anyway.
I think they only put that in to spark a debate between "Whovians."
If only Digital Spy had been around, then. Fans would have had a field day!
It can't be explained away as a joke by the Doctor because the Master after seeing the Doctor's eyes/retina etc, claimed that the Docttor WAS half human.
Eh? I hear you say...!
The Timelords could have played a part in the evolution of humanoid species. The dr could have been assigned to Earth, using part of his DNA to accelerate human evolution - explaining why the dr is particularly fond of Earth....
That's Independence Day, not Doctor Who.
Sounds like you haven't liked the show since the Troughton era. That's a long time to hate a core component of the main character. Why are you still watching?
Plus, being alien doesn't make you filthy or scum. It certainly doesn't mean you are subhuman. Most sci-fi involves at least some alien life that is clearly superhuman.
Fifty years of him remaining a successful and well-loved hero would suggest otherwise.
Actually, it sounds more like you're 'avin' a larf, than actually seriously believing that the Doctor isn't a Time Lord. I'm going with "extreme sarcasm," as the basis for your posts, because there's no way this is serious.
The Doctor as "filthy subhuman alien scum." Just a tad too far to take seriously, that!
It is taking it too far, yes!
Yeah, the whole point of "Doctor Who" is that its hero is an outsider-both from
his own society, Earth society and other societies.
I assume the OP is having a laugh, because otherwise it's hard to understand how
he / she thinks DW is all about humans clobbering "filthy alien scum".
I don't think OP means what you think it means
I'm pretty sure I remember seeing a scene but maybe I imagined it, but here's RTDs' view:
http://www.kasterborous.com/2014/05/russell-like-doctor-half-human/
Then, as a matter of course the TARDIS scanned the 8th Doctor the first time he stepped inside. Being a clever girl, she was immediately aware of the human blood which contaminated this incarnation of the Doctor, and made changes to the lock on the Eye of Harmony accordingly?
This would cover a lot of the holes, apart from Eight's remark about being half-human 'on his mother's side', but this could have been distraction gabbling to give him time to pinch the name=badge.
But then he might just be joking that he was joking.
Either the fob watch or he revisited himself and erased the entire plot. Fine by me:)
If you watch from the very start it's obvious, and he even says, he's effectively in exile from his own planet, which kind of implies 'not from here' in any way.
The exciting and endearing thing about the doctor is that he has no tie's to any of the people or worlds he helps and yet he puts himself on the line to do so almost on a daily basis, taking only the thrill of visiting said worlds as payment for his troubles.
Had he been human it would almost be like he had a duty to earth as a part of the human race, but the fact that he's an alien makes him all the more noble that he does so much to protect us even though he has no responsibility to do so.
Plus, if he were human, it would be, as you say 'us humans triumphing' over the aliens which would mean practically every story would be about protecting earth, so it would have to be 'aliens invade earth' pretty much every week, which I doubt would have been enough scope to produce enough content for the show to span 50 years.
Being a timelord makes him more exciting, mysterious, and important feeling than he ever could of been as human.
Mostly - I have a question (I don't know the answer and it may be something that's come up in the show or in books but...)
Given that a TimeLord can drastically change his/her physical size and shape and we know that they regenerate completely new internal organs (new kidneys - don't like the colour etc) - is a TimeLord able to become (or at least mimic) another race?
If so - could a TimeLord deliberately generate a body with certain elements that are only found in a non-Gallifreyan race - perhaps to help them survive on a planet which wouldn't support them otherwise (e.g. - regenerate with gills to survive on a water-world)?
If that is possible - and I believe that the full quote from the movie specified that he got his "human" elements from his mother's side of the family - so it would be she that had regenerated into a (more or less) human at the time she conceived or gave birth (or contributed to the loom if you go for that idea).
If that sounds too tenuous - ask yourselves this...
If The Doctor had been black when "Jenny" was created from his DNA, would she still have been blonde and pale skinned - or is a TimeLord's outward appearence carried all the way down to a genetic level (whatever is the Gallifreyan equivalent of DNA) and therefore passed on to a child?
And if his mother - who need not have been BORN as a human - did pass some "humanish DNA" onto him, could he have "filtered it out" as a matter of choice during a later regeneration - which would allow for the statement to be 100% true in the movie whilst no longer applying.
(And for a "storyline" type explanation - easy enough to say that TimeLords are able to select at least some of the features for each regeneration cos all of their ancestors' "body designs" are stored in their "DNA" as a kind of accessible, recessive gene)
Its an interesting point, and does tie in with what the 9th Doctor said to Rose just before he regenerated: "I might never make sense again! I might have two heads, or no head. Imagine me with no head, ha! And don't say that's an improvement... But it's a bit dodgy, this process. You never know what you're going to end up with."
I think we assume that Time Lords are human-like because that is how they've all appeared. But maybe regeneration is a little more drastic than we realise. Perhaps each incarnation can take on characteristics of other species/races. And perhaps that is what happened with the 8th Doctor.
When the Doctor choses (or "gets") a younger-looking body, he has been more physically active and when he's had an older appearence, he's walked and talked like an older man.
(I know that's because of the actors' ages but it still has to make sense within the fantasy world)
In other words, the Doctor's appearance must be more than skin deep - and that does point towards something akin to his "DNA" being resequenced at each generation.
(Side point - his recent "younger" incarnations have been rather "randy" - another indicator that their "youth" was more than just some outward appearence.)