I'm relatively new to Doctor Who (but then I guess a lot of people are relatively new to a series that's been around for almost 50 years), so being the n00b I am, I have a question for you. I browsed through the primer thread, but I don't think it was addressed there. This thread may possibly contain spoilers up to episode 2 of series 6. Please do not spoil beyond that episode.
First a bit of my personal Doctor Who background. I had seen the odd episode before (of the new series, I don't think I've ever seen an episode of the original run), but never really liked it enough to start watching on a regular basis. The episodes I'd seen came across as rather light, uninspired, and pointless. Perhaps I had an unlucky sample, or I wasn't in the right mood, or my expectations were too high. Whatever the case may be, I never got into the series. Until last year. I cannot remember why exactly (perhaps because I had heard there was a new actor taking over the role of the Doctor, perhaps because I had quite a few friends who always had nothing but high praise for the show, or perhaps because I had recently watched and liked some Torchwood episodes), but I decided to watch the series 5 opening episode and I was sold. I liked Matt Smith as the Doctor, I liked Karen Gillan as Amy Pond, and I liked the pacing of the story and dialogue. I've been watching ever since.
As might be clear from the above I didn't come into the series with a blank slate. I knew a little bit about the background of the series and what it is about and one thing I thought I knew was that I should see the whole time travel aspect as nothing more but a quick and easy way to get the characters to whatever setting they needed to be in for the story to unfold. I went in, not paying a lot of attention to the plausibility of the whole concept, just taking it in and enjoying the story. Then something happened, over the course of series 5 and especially it seems the most recent episodes of series 6 time travel started playing a much more central role in the story. Not only that, but the story started inviting me to think about it. It was no longer possible to ignore it and view it only as a story telling tool to get the people to where they needed to be, it became an integral part of the story. Mysteries started presenting themselves, the contemplation of which demanded attention was paid to time travel.
So finally, here is my question then: What, if any, are the rules of Doctor Who time travel? Has there been any sort of consistency in what is and isn't possible over the history of the show (or at the very least, over the history of the modern incarnation of the show)? For example, can the Doctor travel back and interfere with his own past? It seems he can, given the events in The Impossible Astronaut. Can he interfere with previous incarnations of himself? Do his actions in the past change the future or create a new timeline or somesuch, or does it follow a kind of "whatever happened happened" philosophy in which he *always* changed the past (or is there no consistency on this point either)? If it changes the future, isn't he concerned with that? For example, in Day of the Moon, isn't he concerned that driving out the Silence from earth would stifle progress (since apparently the Silence were responsible for initiating such advances as the flight to the moon) and hence change the future? If he isn't concerned with that, what prevents him from going back to whenever the Silence first arrived on earth and kick 'em back then, instead of in '69? Etc. etc. etc.
Again, I came into this series thinking that I shouldn't be paying attention to these kind of questions and just enjoy the ride, but the story seems to be inviting me (us) to ponder such things. Any input? Thanks!
First a bit of my personal Doctor Who background. I had seen the odd episode before (of the new series, I don't think I've ever seen an episode of the original run), but never really liked it enough to start watching on a regular basis. The episodes I'd seen came across as rather light, uninspired, and pointless. Perhaps I had an unlucky sample, or I wasn't in the right mood, or my expectations were too high. Whatever the case may be, I never got into the series. Until last year. I cannot remember why exactly (perhaps because I had heard there was a new actor taking over the role of the Doctor, perhaps because I had quite a few friends who always had nothing but high praise for the show, or perhaps because I had recently watched and liked some Torchwood episodes), but I decided to watch the series 5 opening episode and I was sold. I liked Matt Smith as the Doctor, I liked Karen Gillan as Amy Pond, and I liked the pacing of the story and dialogue. I've been watching ever since.
As might be clear from the above I didn't come into the series with a blank slate. I knew a little bit about the background of the series and what it is about and one thing I thought I knew was that I should see the whole time travel aspect as nothing more but a quick and easy way to get the characters to whatever setting they needed to be in for the story to unfold. I went in, not paying a lot of attention to the plausibility of the whole concept, just taking it in and enjoying the story. Then something happened, over the course of series 5 and especially it seems the most recent episodes of series 6 time travel started playing a much more central role in the story. Not only that, but the story started inviting me to think about it. It was no longer possible to ignore it and view it only as a story telling tool to get the people to where they needed to be, it became an integral part of the story. Mysteries started presenting themselves, the contemplation of which demanded attention was paid to time travel.
So finally, here is my question then: What, if any, are the rules of Doctor Who time travel? Has there been any sort of consistency in what is and isn't possible over the history of the show (or at the very least, over the history of the modern incarnation of the show)? For example, can the Doctor travel back and interfere with his own past? It seems he can, given the events in The Impossible Astronaut. Can he interfere with previous incarnations of himself? Do his actions in the past change the future or create a new timeline or somesuch, or does it follow a kind of "whatever happened happened" philosophy in which he *always* changed the past (or is there no consistency on this point either)? If it changes the future, isn't he concerned with that? For example, in Day of the Moon, isn't he concerned that driving out the Silence from earth would stifle progress (since apparently the Silence were responsible for initiating such advances as the flight to the moon) and hence change the future? If he isn't concerned with that, what prevents him from going back to whenever the Silence first arrived on earth and kick 'em back then, instead of in '69? Etc. etc. etc.
Again, I came into this series thinking that I shouldn't be paying attention to these kind of questions and just enjoy the ride, but the story seems to be inviting me (us) to ponder such things. Any input? Thanks!
