Here are 9 fantastic firsts for Doctor Who that we saw in that all-too-brief Eccleston Era…
First time the Doctor is slapped
The Doctor, aka The Oncoming Storm, is slapped by Jackie Tyler in ‘Aliens of London’. It’s the first time he’s ever been slapped and it sets in motion a rather uncomfortable precedent. Ten is slapped by Martha, Martha’s mum, and twice in the same day by Donna.
Eleven gets slapped so hard by River in ‘The Impossible Astronaut’ that you can still feel the reverberations across the quantum field, and she almost manages it again in ‘The Name of The Doctor’. Clara slaps Eleven in ‘Nightmare in Silver’, really wallops Twelve across the chops in ‘Into the Dalek’, and threatens to slap him so hard he’ll regenerate in ‘Kill the Moon’.
And it’s not just Time Lords: Rory gets a slap off his missus in the Children in Need short ‘Time & Space’; although he’s thinking naughty thoughts so maybe that one is admissible. Otherwise, no slapping. This isn’t EastEnders people – use your words. It’s what The Doctor would do.
First time you *think* you see a Dalek go up stairs
There’s that terrific moment in ‘Dalek’, where the pursuing dustbin trundles to the stairs and stops long enough to give a sense of false victory before deciding to ‘E-LE-VATE!’ up towards its targets. Look ma, no strings! Who says Daleks can’t do dramatic timing?
It’s such a great scene that at the time new fans – and, it has to be said, some old ones too – thought it was the first time a Dalek had ever mastered the stairs. But that’s not true. The first on-screen Dalek hovering happened 17 years earlier in 1988’s ‘Remembrance of the Daleks’.
In a cliffhanger at the end of Episode 1, a Dalek proves its race is free from the tyranny of ramps and lifts by levitating up the stairs towards a trapped Doctor. Well, you can’t wage a Time War if you need a block & tackle and three strong Kaleds to move you an inch or more above where you already are.
First non-heterosexual companion
Between 1963 and 2005 there had never been a LGBT companion in the TARDIS. The introduction of John Barrowman’s Captain Jack Harkness put that to rights; kicking down the doors of Televisually Awkward Rigorous Distinctions In Sexuality (acronyms!) with his pan-sexual outlook on the universe.
There wasn’t an alien of any sex that time agent Jack wouldn’t flirt with, not even robot Trinny & Susannah (wow, that is a reference that has NOT aged well).
When we first meet Capt. Jack he’s a quixotic omnisexual Han Solo; a time-travelling anti-hero with a Tom Cruise set of teeth, a devil-may-care attitude, and two year’s worth of missing memories. He’s a handsome rogue who’s easy to warm to.
Soon though he moved from walking innuendo to a character of greater depth, and then Torchwood allowed his character to become something far more substantial than a wink and a grin. To this day Capt. Jack has left us wanting more. Well, that’s just the way he’d like it… *wink*
First volcanic regeneration
One of the fun, traumatic, and memorable things about regeneration in Doctor Who pre-2005 was that it was always different, which lent it an air of terrifying unpredictability for both The Doctor and the viewer. Whether it was glowing white light, a Technicolour spiral, or a grotesque physical morphing, the unfamiliarity of it kept you off-kilter, and even when it was over you weren’t sure it was entirely successful.
In the 21st century show regeneration has been standardised to a volcanic eruption of golden light and we’ve got used to it. Almost too used to it. Mind you, you couldn’t say that about it the first time you saw it, as the Ninth Doctor exploded before our eyes, and burned away to reveal a new man and his, ooh…new teeth.
Which other firsts have we missed? Let us know below…