I've been trying to get to sleep but it feels like theres this twitch in my skull thats not letting me, and after setting myself to finding out what's causing it, I've decided it feels like theres just a bunch of jabbering and energy I need to expel. So here goes, an account of precisely why I love Doctor Who so very much, and subsequently get odd looks from my friends at times, which is about as brief as it is clear. Ie. Not enough. But we begin:

The Doctor: Nigh on immortal due to his ability to regenerate, and able to travel through time and space. The potential for what he can see or where he can go is endless, and due to his regenerative capabilities, he is able to go on indefinitely, recovering from whatever challenges temporarily overcome him. Basically, he can be seen as an embodiment of the aspirations of man: complete power over that which is unknown to us, and the freedom and lack of fear such power affords.
However, (noticeably found in the recent revival of the series) there exists a theme of loss, searching and, subsequently, powerlessness. Countless moments, most presciently under David Tennant's tenure as the character, have shown the Doctor to be utterly alone despite having the universe at his disposal, and emotionally devastated from the simple fact he cannot truly share his own entire life with anyone. Anyone and everyone he could ever love will die, while he carrys on, and on, and it becomes implicit that as much as The Doctor's companion's are awed by the sights he can show them, he too is just as enamoured with the fact he has someone there with him, and that he can make them happy. Even as he draws joy from these times, he lives with the burden of knowing that they will, in one way or the other, leave him alone again in the end. And isn't that what most of us do in our lives? Try to find someone who we can make happy, because it makes us happy (or vice versa), and make it through our existance with them? To focus not on the end we all face, but to fill the time we have with experiences and adventure and, ultimately, having someone to relate it all to. Whether in the heartbreaking exile of Rose, or the cruel, spiteful semi-suicide of fellow timelord The Master, there are moments of true loss dotted throughout Tennant's series': moments when The Doctor's facade of amiability and ambivalence cannot be maintained and his inner need to just feel that someone can care for him for once bursts through the surface.
No matter how much we see of his composed outer self, we know there is a deep need for a real relationship of any kind nestled in The Doctor's two immortal hearts (symbolism, perhaps?), and so there is always a lingering sense that his endless voyaging across time and space is as much a quest for this as it is for anything else. His never ending search across all that is, was and will be may well be ultimately be motivated purely by a wish and a belief that, for everything out there, one person cannot possibly be totally alone.

To have such a rich discussion of the human condition encapsulated in one vaguely ridiculous science fiction character blows my mind, but it is this humanising of the timelord which makes him such a profoundly affecting character for me. Certain episodes of this 'kids programme' have touched me more than almost anything ever, and while it would be amiss to ignore the incredible performances of the cast involved, the very nature of this character, so complete yet so empty, is innately powerful, and I truly find it hard to comprehend how someone, once made aware that it is so much more than 'aliens and time travel', would not at least be able to appreciate and be excited that, in an all too rare occurance, primetime mainstream, genuinely successful television is discussing what it means to be alive. It's borderline philosophical debate, and it's being broadcast into our homes on BBC One on Saturday teatimes under the equally as valid guise of pure entertainment. In my eyes, thats not just masterful programme making: thats an all too rare realisation and utilisation of the potential of television as a medium. Doctor Who, is to me, the summation and pinnacle of what mass popular media can, and perhaps every now and again, should do. Challenge. Entertain. Enrapture. Inspire.

Nerd much?