Hi, I'm writing a paper for my degree on whether dr who could be coined a british superhero - how much difference is there between batman and dr who other than the costume anyway?

Interesting question. The definition of a superhero seems to be someone with powers and abilities beyond what normal people have, and the Doctor certainly fits into that category (while Batman, paradoxically, doesn't) but superhero also seems to be something of a career choice-or possibly a vocation. In other words, superheroes actively seek out wrongs to right. The Doctor, at least in his original TV incarnation (1963-1989) rarely did this, at least up until the last couple of years-he was simply a traveller who routinely wandered into trouble by accident and was motivated by personality morality to help out, which doesn't fit the superhero concept at all. Of course, since the 2005 revival he has frequently been seen to actively seek out trouble, so it may be that the 'current' Doctor (or at least, the most recently departed one) can be considered a superhero of sorts while his predecessors were not. Thoughts, anyone?

I don't really think the Doctor was designed as a comic-book "superhero" at all. When Newman, Coburn and Lambert were working on the series creation, the models for the Doctor were ideas like HG Wells' Time Traveller and the "Pathfinders in Space" serials.

It's true Terry Nation's DW scripts were influenced by comics like "Flash Gordon" and "Dan Dare", but this didn't really influence the Doctor's character.

That's true-but then, is 'superhero' really a term that can be limited to one genre, even if it did originate in comics? Isn't, say, the Six Million Dollar Man a superhero? He has superhuman abilities which he actively uses to combat evil, after all. I'd still say the principle criteria for being a superhero are being physically extraordinary and actively looking for trouble, and that certainly fits the seventh and tenth Doctors, at least.

I'd see him more as a Cosmic Entity than a typical super hero.

The last series has made the Doctor into even Superhero than before....I mean now people...famous people call him when there is trouble....that phone in the Tardis is like a Batman signal.

I've often thougt that the Master and Davros are supervillains, so ... logically ... yes, the Doctor must be a superhero. But he'd be right narked if you called him that to his face. (Actually the tenth Doctor would probably smugly love it, but all the others would not).

I wouldn't be so sure about that. Yes the Tenth Doctor was very smug...and the chatter box that he is therefore more vocal....but the others are not far behind, I mean look at the reaction of Eleven when he thinks River is talking about him as be the best person she learnt about how to fly th Tardis, The Second Doctor was vain enough to not want to change, the firstDoctor admits without "any undue modesty" that he is very clever, or the Sixth Doctor calling himself the most extraordinary improvement

Whether he is a superhero or not....unlike most of those superheroes....The Doctor's vanity is through the roof!!!

He is normal for his species, so no. And he doesn't wear a cape. He wears a fez.

Regarding the Tenth Doctor seeking out trouble, he didn't always, as this line from Smith and Jones shows...

I was just wandering past, I wasn't looking for trouble. Honestly, I wasn't. But then I saw these plasma coils surrounding the hospital. They've been building up for two days now, so I thought I'd take a look. I thought something was going on inside the hospital. Turned out it was the Judoon up above.

But the Dude in the fez does. He gets phone calls and saves people. (Like Spiderman and the "Spidey Tenses are Tingling" nonsense.)

But then you can say the same about Superman.

The Doctor is a superhero in the literal sense, he's just not a comic-book superhero. And that's not just because of the medium that his stories are written in (after all, he has appeared in many comic books) but the genre and style of the stories.

'Spidey Tenses'?
Sounds like the man needs some massage therapy...

All good points.

Smarter men than I have laid down a template for what makes up the traditional idea of a superhero (have a look at Richard Reynolds "superheros a modern mythology")

One of the key elements he identifies is the missing parent figure. This is true in the case of Batman, Superman, Wonderwoman, Spiderman ect. While this was certainly not true of the Doctor between 1963-89 it is more so in the post 2005 era with the death of the timelords.

The loss of Galifrey has in many ways a lot in common with the loss of Krypton in the superman mythology.

Another trope of the superhero narrative is the secret identity. In his essay "the myth of superman" Umberto Eco notes that while superman is an alien who grew up on earth can fly through the air see through walls etc, the reader can identify through the more human clark Kent.

The doctor does not have such a secret other self, and while both are aliens, refugees from other worlds who find a home of sorts on earth, the Doctor does not attempt to become human. The lack of this Duality is in my oppinion what makes The Doctor different to this traditional idea of the superhero. ( I know someone will bring up John Smith here but i don't think it really counts as a "secret identity" as such)

Of course that is not to say that the Doctor is not a brittish super hero, but he is certainly different in many important ways from the american version we are used to.



Delilahscfc: I would strongly recomend looking out a book called "Arguing Comics" which was edited by Jeet Heer and Kent Worchester which has the Eco essay and a lot of other really usefull essays on Comic books from an academic point of view as well as "How to read superhero comics" by Geoff Klock, and if you haven't allready read it "understanding comics" by scott McCloud.

Finally, if you can find it "comics and seqential art" by Will Eisner.

neel, I don't think any of those attributes are essential to describing a character as a superhero, only common themes that are used in superhero stories. The traits you mention are common to themes of 'tragic' heroes (not in the Shakespearean sense, obviously) - those with a troubled upbringing that nevertheless fight through it, and understand the downtrodden, to become better than the rest of us. Is the fact that it comes easily to the Doctor a plausible reason for him not to be elevated to superhero status?

Should we stop calling them 'assistants' and 'companions', and start calling them 'sidekicks'?

Regardless of whether the Doctor is a superhero (wonder if he knows super-Hiro) or simply a regular hero I do think certain other characters in Doctor Who could claim that title.

For a start we have Rose 'Bad Wolf' Tyler who possesed the power of the Time Vortex, albeit breifly. Then we have The Master who used his energy bolt power to save the Doctor. Ofcourse their is also Jack 'I can't die' Harkness.

I wonder how many other characters could claim to be or have been super heroes.

I always did wonder though who is the more heroic, the indestructable super hero that runs into a burning building to save people or the regular fireman that does the same knowing that he might not come out again.

I agree with neel - the Doctor has no secret identity and therefore isn't, in my opinion, a superhero. Also, (and leaving Batman aside for a moment) superheros have super powers, usually derived from mutations, exposures, etc. that defy physics. You could almost call them magical. The Doctor hasn't got any super powers, he's just really smart, with a LOT of knowledge and experience. The most magical thing about the Doctor is actually the Tardis and that is explained as being the product of Gallifreyan science and therefore not magical at all. The only special powers the Doctor has appear to be a bit of telepathy and regeneration. I don't define regeneration as a super power because having to die to use it is a bit of a flaw.

I think the Doctor is a hero, not a super hero. He does heroic things, but in a way any normal human could if they had the knowledge to do it - there are no special skills and aboilities involved (usually).

Edit:
@korbany the latter, obviously. And that's what makes the Doctor great - he knows he could die doing any of the things he does, and goes ahead anyway.

Or some lessons in Grammar.

I've never thought of the Doctor as a superhero as such, he comes from a race which has advanced technological knowledge and he uses that in his own unique way, but he relies on ordinary humans to assist him.

Often, as Katy Butterfly (lovely name, btw) says above, its just his own intellectual curiosity which gets him involved in dangerous situations.

When I said about the phone thing I was just joking a bit...as really that only happend twice, and River had her own style to call the Doctor.....but what you say is true....having gone through my mind quickily all the beginning of the episodes....in most cases the Tenth Doctor isn't looking for trouble or going with the intention to "fight crime"...or sits there waiting for it...he usually comes across it accidently, and like all the Doctors, gets excited or curious by trouble....and Eleven is the same too...



I can see why you make that similarity....but is it really the same considering that he was the one who brought about the end of the Time Lords...rather than tragedy striking it and him being saved from that destruction? Plus the main reason RTD went with the Time War was so he could get rid of them really


Definitely the fireman

Presumably, we're also leaving aside the Punisher, the Phantom, Wildcat, Green Arrow, Mr America, Phantom Lady and the several hundred other superheroes with no powers? That definition doesn't work, I'm afraid. And in any case...[/quote] The Doctor hasn't got any super powers, he's just really smart, with a LOT of knowledge and experience. The most magical thing about the Doctor is actually the Tardis and that is explained as being the product of Gallifreyan science and therefore not magical at all. The only special powers the Doctor has appear to be a bit of telepathy and regeneration. I don't define regeneration as a super power because having to die to use it is a bit of a flaw.
[/quote] Telepathy, the ability to influence minds (shown more than once by the seventh Doctor), the ability to voluntarily slow his bodily processes down so as to enter a death like trance state (used more than once by the third Doctor), regeneration, a computer like brain, a respiratory bypass system that enables him to withstand poison gas, a superhuman resistance to extreme cold...I'd say these are all super powers!
Special skills? What about Venusian karate?
As could Batman. Or the Phantom, the Punisher, Wildcat, Green Arrow...

The Doctor hasn't got any super powers, he's just really smart, with a LOT of knowledge and experience. The most magical thing about the Doctor is actually the Tardis and that is explained as being the product of Gallifreyan science and therefore not magical at all. The only special powers the Doctor has appear to be a bit of telepathy and regeneration. I don't define regeneration as a super power because having to die to use it is a bit of a flaw.
[/quote] Telepathy, the ability to influence minds (shown more than once by the seventh Doctor), the ability to voluntarily slow his bodily processes down so as to enter a death like trance state (used more than once by the third Doctor), regeneration, a computer like brain, a respiratory bypass system that enables him to withstand poison gas, a superhuman resistance to extreme cold...I'd say these are all super powers! Special skills? What about Venusian karate?As could Batman. Or the Phantom, the Punisher, Wildcat, Green Arrow...[/quote]

Another superpower - ability to fall from a spaceship into a building and only be superficially hurt (End of Time).

Edit: something wrong with the quote - only the last sentence is mine.

At the risk of possibly having my head bitten off wouldn't it make more sense to call them "costumed heroes", in other words normal people who have no special powers yet "fight the good fight" wearing a disguise to mask their true identity, as opposed to characters that have special "super" powers (ie Superman, Spiderman) to do the same thing?

Not trying to cause an argument, I'm genuinely interested in people's opinions on this

Humans have been known to survive falls too like the one the Doctor had....

In the 1940s, the preferred term was 'mystery men'. Though these days, many don't bother with secret identities as such...

It depends entirely on how you define a 'superhero' - in comics terms, Batman is more of a vigilante, the Doctor is an adventurer.


Neither of them are superheroes, either (apart from the very end of Dan Dare's run in 2000AD, but we don't talk about that).

Incidentally, if anyone wants to check exactly how much Dan Dare influenced Terry Nation, it's worth picking up 'The Reign of the Robots' - the first few episodes in deserted London are very close to the start of 'The Daleks Invasion of Earth'.




Actually, the first, second and third Doctors all wear a cape at one point or another.