Has the Doctor ever been a dick to humanity?

[Gingerbread Demon]

Has the Doctor in any of his incarnations been a real dick to humanity and left them a little worse off or parts of humanity?

Just watched Smile again and it bothered me that he gave the Vardy free will then tells the colonists "too bad and too sad" that their families were turned into fertilizer. They'll kill them if they try to shut them down or take revenge on them. He then buggers off with Clara for new adventures.

 

[fireproof78]

Has the Doctor in any of his incarnations been a real dick to humanity and left them a little worse off or parts of humanity?

Ruining Britain's next golden age because of the Prime Minister trying to defend Earth always struck me as a bit of a dick move.

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

Kill the Moon.

Mark

 

[Timelord79 (he/him)]

Planet of the Ood. But what can you do when the Humans are the bad guy’s?

 

[The Wormhole]

Just watched Smile again and it bothered me that he gave the Vardy free will then tells the colonists "too bad and too sad" that their families were turned into fertilizer. They'll kill them if they try to shut them down or take revenge on them. He then buggers off with Clara for new adventures.

I must have missed that part of Smile that Clara was in.

But no, being a dick is nothing new for the Doctor, any incarnation.

 

[matthunter]

He's a dick to us when we're being dicks.

That said, I don't agree with Gwen's assessment in Children of Earth that the Doctor isn't helping because he's expressing disgust with humanity's actions. Even if he DID disagree with the politicians, he wouldn't fail to save the kids if he knew of the situation. This is just a "can't be everywhere" scenario.

 

[Qonundrum]

The ninth Doctor loves to call humans "stupid apes".

The fifth Doctor insulted humans as being parochial, and other things, over his span.

The fourth Doctor tells Leela "Some of my best friends are humans. When they get together in great numbers other lifeforms sometimes suffer". He calls humans a disease in the same story.

The third Doctor was a dick all the time. Even toward Jo in her opening story but she was one of the reasons for his mellowing out over time and he became more of a teacher and figure to her as well. He still had choice words for almost every human he dealt with and he never really hanged out with the regular folks.

And at the very beginning of the show in 1963: The first Doctor kidnapped Ian and Barbara and was intend to abandon them in Earth's past so that his secret would never be revealed, not to mention paranoia and prejudice in general that had been built up over numerous (off-air) adventures that in turn created an arc of sorts that had Ian and Barbara being the focal point of the show to teach the Doctor how not to be paranoid and prejudiced. It's actually great stuff. And made over 55 years ago.

But all that's the tip of the iceberg.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

I must have missed that part of Smile that Clara was in.

But no, being a dick is nothing new for the Doctor, any incarnation.

Yeah sorry I keep putting Clara into posts. I don't know why she keeps popping into my head.

9 was one of my favourites but his view of humans as stupid apes when it suited him to say that bugged me. We're more then just stupid apes, we have opposable thumbs

12 disrespected and insulted soldiers a lot and that might be the writers expressing their inner voice but I found that off putting too.

 

[Awesome Possum]

He only did it when we deserved it.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

He only did it when we deserved it.

"shrug" maybe but sometimes I don't know 9 had a habbit of calling humans stupid apes. He didn't do that much but he felt that way some of the time. I'd love to see what the Doctor thinks of humanity between adventures when we're not looking LOL.

I wonder what characters think when "we are not looking" into their world.

 

[Jayson1]

What about leaving Nardole and those humans to basically die from the Cyberman in the last regular season episode.

Jason

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

What about leaving Nardole and those humans to basically die from the Cyberman in the last regular season episode.

Jason

Oh yeah I had forgotten that gem... That was stinky for sure.

Also The Master had truly redeemed herself and he wasn't around to see her or save her. I'm sure she'll be back or is that how they kill off the female incarnation of The Master?

 

[diankra]

The ninth Doctor loves to call humans "stupid apes".

The fifth Doctor insulted humans as being parochial, and other things, over his span.

The fourth Doctor tells Leela "Some of my best friends are humans. When they get together in great numbers other lifeforms sometimes suffer". He calls humans a disease in the same story.

The third Doctor was a dick all the time. Even toward Jo in her opening story but she was one of the reasons for his mellowing out over time and he became more of a teacher and figure to her as well. He still had choice words for almost every human he dealt with and he never really hanged out with the regular folks.

And at the very beginning of the show in 1963: The first Doctor kidnapped Ian and Barbara and was intend to abandon them in Earth's past so that his secret would never be revealed, not to mention paranoia and prejudice in general that had been built up over numerous (off-air) adventures that in turn created an arc of sorts that had Ian and Barbara being the focal point of the show to teach the Doctor how not to be paranoid and prejudiced. It's actually great stuff. And made over 55 years ago.

But all that's the tip of the iceberg.

A big thing about season one is the Doctor changing from seeing Ian and Barbara as, at best, his grandaughter's pets, to seeing them as his friends.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

There's also 11 calling humans "pudding brains".

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

There's also 11 calling humans "pudding brains".

But he meant it in the nicest way.

I wonder if Jodie will insult humans or be kind.

 

[Samurai8472]

There's also 11 calling humans "pudding brains".

That was Twelve. I'm reminded of this argument with Clara.

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[fireproof78]

But he meant it in the nicest way.

I wonder if Jodie will insult humans or be kind.

Probably will depend on the day.

 

[jaime]

Has the Doctor in any of his incarnations been a real dick to humanity and left them a little worse off or parts of humanity?

Just watched Smile again and it bothered me that he gave the Vardy free will then tells the colonists "too bad and too sad" that their families were turned into fertilizer. They'll kill them if they try to shut them down or take revenge on them. He then buggers off with Clara for new adventures.

The whole thing was about immigration and integration. Post-colonialism. The Vardies built the world, literally using the humans resources, but if the humans want to co-exist they need to forget the past...as the reset vardies are not responsible for those actions as (a) it was an error on the part of those above them at the time and (b) that was how the system operated then...these vardies have no memory of it. The humans, if they want to share this wonderful world built by that, have to forgive the deaths of their ancestors and pay their way. Looked at another way, the humans rock up and say ‘we showed you how to build this, our people died building it, now we want a slice’ and are told no...pay your way.
Clumsy as heck, and an interesting question, especially for post-colonial Britain. That it seemed to have gone whoosh over the audiences head, even when the lead family was played by leading British Asian actors, makes it even more astonishing. I still don’t know how I feel about the episode.

 

[Gingerbread Demon]

The whole thing was about immigration and integration. Post-colonialism. The Vardies built the world, literally using the humans resources, but if the humans want to co-exist they need to forget the past...as the reset vardies are not responsible for those actions as (a) it was an error on the part of those above them at the time and (b) that was how the system operated then...these vardies have no memory of it. The humans, if they want to share this wonderful world built by that, have to forgive the deaths of their ancestors and pay their way. Looked at another way, the humans rock up and say ‘we showed you how to build this, our people died building it, now we want a slice’ and are told no...pay your way.
Clumsy as heck, and an interesting question, especially for post-colonial Britain. That it seemed to have gone whoosh over the audiences head, even when the lead family was played by leading British Asian actors, makes it even more astonishing. I still don’t know how I feel about the episode.

OK that's a really, really interesting line of thought.

 

[jaime]

OK that's a really, really interesting line of thought.

It’s sort of theme for the era in some ways...the zygon two parter, the stuff with the monks. Even the regeneration two parter (never have I forgot story titles as fast as this era xD) There’s a lot of back and forth political commentary from both sides of the political spectrum, and the middle. Even prior to capaldi there’s stuff bucking the trend...multiple episodes that are actually father positive episodes (including one written by a gay childless conservative....that must boggle minds in some areas) which is pretty bloody rare for TV dramas and kids T.V (comedy fathers who are idiots, absentee fathers, yup...ones that save the day? Rare.)
Doctor Who has recently been very politically daring, but no one noticed till Rainbow Lass tunes up (this is not derogatory, just in keeping with various doctor nicknames..scarecrow, fancy pants, chin, etc...and I was looking at the costume a minute ago. ) right now. It’s very brave writing, even if I am not quite sure how I feel about some of it. O.k....everyone must have noticed the Zygon two parter, it was subtle like a house brick...