Who serials/Doctor meta

The Myth Makers (One, Steven, Vicki)
Somehow, this serial reminded me of The Kingmaker. Not quite as ironic and satirical, but for a First Doctor serial, it is unusual. And both serials play havoc with history while referencing Shakespeare.
My favourite bits were the First Doctor gleefully pretending to be Zeus and his "ingenious" plan to conquer Troy not with a wooden horse, but with flying machines and catapults. Also, his flying machines don't work. Based on that, I conclude that Theta's science experiments must have been wild, dangerous and generally rubbish, and it's no surprise that he ran with that villainous crowd.
Vicki's exit is good. Sure, she gets married off, but her romance with Troilus seems credible to me as two teenagers crushing on each other.

The Daleks' Master Plan (One, Steven, Katarina, Sara Kingdom)
Two very short-lived female companions in one serial - and both die heroically. And I liked both of them, too. Katarina's rock firm conviction that the Doctor is a god and she on a journey through the underworld is both creepy and wonderful. Sara Kingdom is a stock character - henchwoman/secret police member - but that makes her completely different from the Doctor's usual companions (if she counts as one.) Also, this was the serial where I realised that Steven had oddly advanced tech-knowledge and is not, in fact, "random 20th century guy" like Ben.
Then there's Bret, who made me think, "huh, that guy sure sounds like the Brig" and I was right, he was played by Nicholas Courtney. I kind of want fic that explains how the Brig ended up in the future fighting Daleks. And then the Meddling Monk showed up and I was baffled because I didn't know he was in more than one serial.

One thing that the progress from Susan to Vicki to Katarina (and I suppose Dodo) has made me think is that maybe the Doctor constantly tries to re-create his family. He's very willing to accept replacements for Susan. He has a similar (paternal) relationship with some, but not all, of his later female companions (Victoria, Zoe - not quite - , Jo, Sarah-Jane, Nyssa, perhaps Peri) and it seems to me that quite a few of his male companions (Ian, Steven, Ben and Harry) also fall into one character stereotype. Maybe the Doctor had a son who was a bit like that - someone very normal, an upright Gallifreyan citizen so to speak. I can't imagine that that father-son relationship was very harmonic (and there is some of that tension between One and Ian and One and Steven). Other companions don't work within these roles: Barbara, Polly, Liz, Romana, Tegan and Mel come to mind. They're all grown-ups somehow or other, and their relationship with the Doctor isn't as a family member (if anything, maybe as a sister, aunt or a good friend). Then there's Jamie, who, if we're not talking slash, is most like a brother to the Doctor. This leaves Leela, Adric, Turlough and Ace, whom I would call protege/student/ally/foot-soldier.

Which makes New Who pretty cool, because it works exactly in these categories: Rose is the ersatz-Susan, Mickey is the "ordinary guy" son, Jack and Martha work in the line of protege/ally/foot-soldier, and Donna stands in the tradition of grown-up woman/sister.

Who serials/Doctor meta

The Myth Makers (One, Steven, Vicki)
Somehow, this serial reminded me of The Kingmaker. Not quite as ironic and satirical, but for a First Doctor serial, it is unusual. And both serials play havoc with history while referencing Shakespeare.
My favourite bits were the First Doctor gleefully pretending to be Zeus and his "ingenious" plan to conquer Troy not with a wooden horse, but with flying machines and catapults. Also, his flying machines don't work. Based on that, I conclude that Theta's science experiments must have been wild, dangerous and generally rubbish, and it's no surprise that he ran with that villainous crowd.
Vicki's exit is good. Sure, she gets married off, but her romance with Troilus seems credible to me as two teenagers crushing on each other.

The Daleks' Master Plan (One, Steven, Katarina, Sara Kingdom)
Two very short-lived female companions in one serial - and both die heroically. And I liked both of them, too. Katarina's rock firm conviction that the Doctor is a god and she on a journey through the underworld is both creepy and wonderful. Sara Kingdom is a stock character - henchwoman/secret police member - but that makes her completely different from the Doctor's usual companions (if she counts as one.) Also, this was the serial where I realised that Steven had oddly advanced tech-knowledge and is not, in fact, "random 20th century guy" like Ben.
Then there's Bret, who made me think, "huh, that guy sure sounds like the Brig" and I was right, he was played by Nicholas Courtney. I kind of want fic that explains how the Brig ended up in the future fighting Daleks. And then the Meddling Monk showed up and I was baffled because I didn't know he was in more than one serial.

One thing that the progress from Susan to Vicki to Katarina (and I suppose Dodo) has made me think is that maybe the Doctor constantly tries to re-create his family. He's very willing to accept replacements for Susan. He has a similar (paternal) relationship with some, but not all, of his later female companions (Victoria, Zoe - not quite - , Jo, Sarah-Jane, Nyssa, perhaps Peri) and it seems to me that quite a few of his male companions (Ian, Steven, Ben and Harry) also fall into one character stereotype. Maybe the Doctor had a son who was a bit like that - someone very normal, an upright Gallifreyan citizen so to speak. I can't imagine that that father-son relationship was very harmonic (and there is some of that tension between One and Ian and One and Steven). Other companions don't work within these roles: Barbara, Polly, Liz, Romana, Tegan and Mel come to mind. They're all grown-ups somehow or other, and their relationship with the Doctor isn't as a family member (if anything, maybe as a sister, aunt or a good friend). Then there's Jamie, who, if we're not talking slash, is most like a brother to the Doctor. This leaves Leela, Adric, Turlough and Ace, whom I would call protege/student/ally/foot-soldier.

Which makes New Who pretty cool, because it works exactly in these categories: Rose is the ersatz-Susan, Mickey is the "ordinary guy" son, Jack and Martha work in the line of protege/ally/foot-soldier, and Donna stands in the tradition of grown-up woman/sister.