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If you had all of space/time at your disposal, who would you spend your life with? If you could live 900 years, or more, with the average health and vigor of a thirty year old, would the answer to the first question change? If in that thousand or so years, your looks and preferences changed rather frequently, even your personality quirks and subtle attributes- how would that affect the first two questions?
One of the difficulties writing aliens is the fact, by definition, they’re not human. Doctor Who is not human. He is an alien. From this literal perspective, it’s difficult drawing conclusions from potential metaphors. He looks human. That makes it easier to write for and makes it easier on the relatability scale. Let’s say, humans have biases. Some of them are unexplored. There is a real danger that we will be nicer to aliens that look humanish as opposed to those who come at us truly alien. Most of us can’t even handle snakes. There are some humans who can. There are rattle snake handlers that have handled rattlers so much they’re immune to the venom. Snakes are just snakes- they deserve respect based on our understanding of them, not necessarily fear. I’d say the caveat being, if you think you can handle snakes and never get bit- you should probably hold onto the fear.
From a metaphorical standpoint, writing for Doctor Who over the years must have been a serious challenge. He was a hero. A savior. He was not supposed to be James Bond or Captain Kirk, with a new love interest every episode. Writing for any character that is…
