It is fair to say that the Doctor is usually a subscriber to Clarke’s 3rd law, which asserts, “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”. In fact, the Time Lord is commonly found in pursuit of the scientific and rational explanations for spooky goings on, claiming, “…to the rational mind nothing is inexplicable, only unexplained.”
That said, he has had various brushes with dark forces and witchcraft over the years and has often chosen to challenge things such head on, like taking companion Ace to a haunted house in order to confront her fears. He has also impersonated a wizard on at least one occasion, and apparently has a red headed destiny as Merlin in another dimension.
Here CultBox takes a look at some of the Doctor’s more magical moments and spiritual situations…
‘The Shakespeare Code’
Martha’s first trip in the TARDIS involved a visit to the Globe Theatre for a run around with Shakespeare and some genuine witches. The alien Carrionites’ ‘witchcraft’ manifested itself in the form of a linguistic science allowing them to reshape reality with words and incantations.
The Carrionite trio took a variety of forms. While their true appearance was something clawed and skeletal, they mainly presented as classic Shakespearean crones, warts and all, except for the youngest who went undercover as a comely young wench.
‘The Unquiet Dead’
An abortive trip to Naples wound up as a visit to late Victorian Cardiff early in Christopher Eccleston’s tenure. Despite the recently departed being laid to rest at the Sneed & Company Funeral Parlour, the dead were not staying put. However, these wandering corpses were not the result of restless spirits, but rather a race of gaseous creatures known as The Gelth who were accessing them via the temporal Rift that runs through the city.
If we are to believe them, their perilous state was a side effect of the Time War that the Doctor and his people fought with the Daleks.
‘Army of Ghosts’
Thanks to the endeavours of Torchwood, who had the Canary Wharf tower constructed in order to reach it, the stimulation of a tear in the fabric of reality allowed ghosts to appear all over the world.
After the initial shock, they were welcomed with people believing they were the returning spirits of past loved ones. Rose Tyler’s mum Jackie was just one such believer.
Despite the Doctor’s intervention, the ghost shifts continued until the spectral forms were eventually revealed as the massed ranks of the Cybermen, invading from an alternative universe.
‘The Satan Pit’
Lurking deep below the surface of the Sanctuary Base on Krop Tor was a creature which appeared to manifest in the form of the Devil himself. Controlling hordes of massed Ood and hapless archaeologist Toby Zed, its bid for freedom involved bumping off the crew in decidedly scary fashion, using the golden tones of Gabriel Woolf and that chilling phrase “Don’t turn around.”
With the Doctor descending into the pit itself, we got a rare insight into what the Time Lord does and does not believe in as he confronts the beast and his own view of the universe too.
‘The Daemons’
In the mid-Pertwee era, the issue of science vs magic reared its head when the Master took over a coven in the village of Devil’s End. Seeking to summon the Dæmon Azal, in order to gain the creature’s power for his own ends, we were treated to a living statue as well as a battle of wills leading to a confrontation with the horned God himself.
During the tale, the Doctor is given the alias of the Great Wizard Qui Quae Quod by local white witch Miss Hawthorne in order to cow some of the Master’s followers, but his magic is limited to controlling his car Bessie by remote.
This is not the only time the Time Lord has run into a coven, with ‘Image of the Fendahl’ being another memorable example. This story also had haunted woods, a result of Fetch Priory being it being located near a Relative Continuum Displacement Zone, which leaked images and other phenomena, much like Cardiff’s Rift.
Honourable mention: ‘The Chimes of Midnight’
A Big Finish audio rather than television story, ‘The Chimes of Midnight’ sees Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor arrive in a darkened haunted house at Christmas time, accompanied with his Edwardian travelling companion Charley Pollard. There are ghostly, murderous goings on and a mystery to solve, but to say any more would be so spoil a rather marvellous mystery.
Written by ‘Dalek’ scribe Robert Shearman, the story is regularly cited as one of the finest in the audio medium, and was recently picked out by Steven Moffat as his favourite McGann adventure.
What’s your favourite supernatural situation in Doctor Who? Let us know below…
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