In 2017, I taught my first seminar on Doctor Who. This term saw its first regeneration.
Lessons from my class:
Some of the students are just as ambivalent about technology as we are (this comes as a relief).
Many of them were amazed by the revelation that the Daleks are stand-ins for Nazis. (I sometimes forget what surprises freshmen, in terms of literary analysis.)
A few of the students hadn’t watched any Doctor Who before. They all reported liking it, but a couple said they weren’t going to watch the whole series because it’s too many seasons (and they’re just talking about doctor 9 on) to catch up on.
Lesson: some of this generation are quitters.
I let the students vote for themes to discuss in the last few weeks–this doesn’t always go well (the same thing happens in my Simpsons seminar). One of the themes they picked this time was happiness. A few were frustrated that class discussion kept going onto what makes us unhappy (what did they think was going to happen?).
In our poll on scariest monsters, the weeping angels won.
In our poll on best doctors, David Tennant won.
Martha and Clara were both lambasted by many for being our least favorite companions, but many students came around on Martha after I pushed them on it one day. They like that she’s a doctor; they like that she chose to leave–to move on.
We all love Donna.
We all love Jack.
We all love River Song.
In fact, the spin-off series we want to see most is The Adventures of River Song.*
I’m disappointed that none of the students took me up on the challenge of writing the fan script explaining Jim the Fish.
My favorite comment in the whole quarter?
A student’s observation that the humans who travel with the doctor are his emotional therapy animals.
*I’ve spitballed a few alternate titles:
Dr. Song, Non-Medicine Woman
Professor Song and the Temple of Doom
Kiss of the River Song
Melody/Song
For Whom the Angels Weep
Alias River Song
Bringing up River Song
River Song and the Chamber of Secrets
It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad Universe
I Walked with a Time Lord
Touched by a Time Lord
River Song’s Guide to the Galaxy
Red Lipstick Diaries
Interview with an Assassin
A Wrinkle in Time and Space
The Woman Warrior
The Professor is In
Welcome Back, River Song
Not Mostly Harmless
Spaced
River Song’s Adventures in Wonderland
Mapping the River Song
Let the Right River Song In
Lifestyles of the Rich and Infamous
My Big Fat Gallifreyan Wedding
Lost in Tardis Translation
Professor River Song, Actually
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Assassin
River Song of Arabia
River Song’s Web
Educating River
Spoilers!
The Diary of River Song
Are You There Doctor? It’s Me, River Song
Diatribes of a Mad Professor
Doctor Song, I Presume?
Hello, Sweetie
Love’s Labors Lost
Close Encounters of the River Song Kind
[Note: almost all of these could also be porn titles]
