/God?
Some people see the Doctor as a god. Many science fiction writers use the image of God as a mystery in a way of re-imaging the world as more enchanting place.15 He goes through many fights against evil, he has his group of believers, and has reincarnations. The Doctor has even seen himself in a godlike way. There are also false gods within the show that the Doctor has to deal with when he comes across them. The writer, Gladstone, of the online web article “How Doctor Who Became My Religion” describes the Doctor as “…a god. But one we can see and understand.” He goes on to explain that it’s because of the love the Doctor has for the human race and he would do anything for us. Gladstone goes on to say that, “It’s a philosophy. A religion,” then providing the reader with why he has come to this realization.16 Some of these reasons have already been looked at within the other pages of this website. This section will focus on the more obvious reasons as to why people see the Doctor as a god.
One of these false gods is that of Rose, his companion. At the end of the first season Rose takes it upon herself to help the ninth Doctor by looking into the Time Vortex. She is then able to see the all of time and space. She can see the past, the future, and each particle that every living and none living thing is made up of. Rose uses this power to destroy the fleet of Daleks and resurrect Jack from the dead. She explains what she is seeing to the Doctor (video on the left) and then he shares that is what he sees all the time. He explains that she cannot control life and death, and realizing that the power is killing her, the Doctor releases the power from her. Then scarifies himself to destroying the false god that Rose has made herself. This can be interpreted as the Doctor needing to be the one true god that can see, “All that is. All that was. All that ever could be,” to use Rose’s words. The Doctor believes that he is the only one higher power. This is shown extremely well in another episode where the tenth Doctor and Rose are in the future. He tells a cat-nun that if he tells her that something is wrong, it has to be wrong because there is no higher authority then him.17 This is another example of how clearly he views himself as a “higher authority” or god.
When the Doctor faces the Master as the prime minister of Great Britain, he uses the people of the world to help him. The Master turns the clock against the Doctor by showing his true age, 900 years old. The Doctor is defeated and his only hope is to send his companion Martha out into the world for help. Martha travels the world telling her story (video to the right) of how she knows the Doctor. Everyone believes she is looking for a way to kill the Master but in reality she is reinforcing the worlds knowledge of the Doctor. Martha explains to the world how many times the Doctor has saved them all and that now he needs their help. By believing in the Doctor they are able to save him from dying. This is the moment where the Doctor is at his peak for his worship from the people of earth. The whole world at the exact same moment say his name, which is enough power for him to be able to de-age himself once again. It is through the worshiping of the human race that he draws upon the power to be able to do this. This is one of the most important examples in showing the Doctor as a god because it shows that he does indeed need people to believe in him or to worship him in some way. A few series after this episode the Doctor believes he has gotten to be to big within the universe. Between people worshiping and fearing him he is no longer able to control how they react. To stop his he makes the greatest sacrifice he ever makes, faking his own death to the worship. Though he did this, he will always be a god. The people in his life will always see him in that light. The Doctor will always decided who lives and dies. He still believes that he needs to protect the human race and that they are what he lives for.
People have always believed in the Doctor in a godlike way. His companions sacrifice their lives to save him on many different occasions. As one writer puts it, “The Doctor is someone people die for without hesitation or regret,” demonstrating how much faith people put into the hands of the Doctor, in a sort of hero-worship manner.18 He has had people actually praying for him, in the case of one of his companions Amy, and he actually answered them in person. The Doctor has been called the Time Lord Victorious by the Master when he explained that he decided who lived and died, and how he must know how it feels to be a god. He behaves like a god, deciding to observe of take action against what is happening. Above all else he has followers who would believe in him and would be at his side to the very end. Therefor the Doctor is a god.