It's a bird, it's a plane, NO it's a TARDIS!

[orangerful]

So, I'm sure this has been pointed out elsewhere but I'm going to type it here and pretend it's an original thought:

Anyone ever notice how much Superman and Doctor Who have in common?

Both alien.
Both the last of their kind.
Both hide their true name.
Both have an love and respect for humanity.
Both only help humanity when it can't help itself.
Neither of them wants to hurt or kill anyone (especially humans).

And andy_wolverton pointed out that both have fascinations with small booth-shaped boxes (phone booth and police call box).

I was reading the new take on Superman "Earth One" last night and I've been watching Series 4 of Doctor Who, with Doctor and Donna. Most recently I watched "The Doctor's Daughter" and "Midnight" (which, oddly enough, guest starred both King Arthur [from Excalibur] and Merlin [from TV series] - but I digress) and both of these episodes had The Doctor trying to get the humans around him to find peaceful ways to end conflicts. In the "Doctor's Daughter" he gives that little speech at the end about how they should found their civilization around the fact that he wouldn't shoot King Arthur the General. And it seemed like the sort of position Superman would find himself in - with an easy chance to take revenge on someone who hurt him, and he would show mercy instead.

thoughts? Is Doctor Who Britain's response to the American Superman myth? Does The Doctor represent the same things to British viewers as Superman does to American? My Superman knowledge only comes from a smattering of comic books and the movies (and a little bit of Smallville but I take that with a grain of salty Tom Welling goodness).

andy_wolverton suggested I turn this into a book, so if anyone knows a publisher willing to pay me to sit around and read Superman comics and watch Doctor Who all day, please leave the contact information here! LOL!

Okay, maybe I should just Google it and see if someone has already written an entire novel on this subject.

Comments

[nycshelly.livejournal.com]

That's not entirely true. Superman hides his true name when he's in disguise as Clark Kent. Plenty of people know his name is Kal-El. Some even call him Kal. Also, while he started out as Krypton's sole survivor, he's no longer the last of his kind. There have been plenty of Kryptonians who've showed up over the years, including his cousin Supergirl, in a couple of versions. The rest can be true of a lot of characters who are heroes.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

Well, River apparently knows The Doctor's real name...and we've bumped into The Master, who was apparently a Time Lord, and the Doctor's Daughter is running around somewhere...

look, just work with me here! :-P

[nycshelly.livejournal.com]

True, River knows his name, but no one else and no one in the current time period. I assume she had to know his name for their wedding ceremony. I'm sure she's his wife from the future. :)

The closest to Superman would be the other people from Krypton knowing his real name, ie his cousin, his now dead aunt and uncle, and so on. But unlike the Doctor who does not tell people his name, Superman hasn't been so reticent. Wonder Woman has called him Kal on a number of occasions and isn't the only one.

It's an interesting comparison, but not airtight. ;)

[lostacanthus.livejournal.com]

Does The Doctor represent the same things to British viewers as Superman does to American?
I think that's actually a pretty cool idea! I don't know much anything about Superman though. I've... seen the first movie with Christopher Reeve and Superman Returns anddd like, 5 episodes of Smallville, only for the guest stars x) (Kyle Gallner and Sam Witwer YESS PLZZ) I've always been more of a Batman girl.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

I think, depending on who is writing the story, Superman can be very interesting or really really boring. I enjoy Batman but I have a soft spot for the farm boy haha.

[ekaterin24.livejournal.com]

I love the ideas you bring up! And regarding your last paragraph about the two, both heroes seem to be so much a part of their respective countries' contemporary mythology.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'd have to do a bit more research. As was commented above, most of this is true of a lot of heroes, but there's just something about these two that really connects for me...

[toothlesshag.livejournal.com]

I never thought of this, but I really like the comparison. No wonder I like the Doctor so much.

omg, I totally had a sex dream about David Tennant.

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

Pfffft, the real news would be someone NOT having a sex dream about David Tennant.