Human Speech In Doctor Who

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Doctor Who, a popular British television series, follows the adventures of a lone time traveller who is the last of the Gallifreyan race. In the episode titled 'Midnight', the Doctor and several passengers board a midnight shuttle to visit the Sapphire Waterfall on an uninhabitable planet named Midnight which is exposed to "exotonic rays" that vaporises all living things. However, the claustrophobic shuttle unexpectedly breaks down midway, leaving the passengers stranded. While awaiting rescue, they encounter an unknown and anonymous entity that lives on the supposedly uninhabitable planet. This creature assumes an intangible form and is mainly defined by its voice. Fear of the unknown grips the remaining passengers as the shuttle is under…show more content…
This is created through the simple technique of repetition where much of the episode is made up of repeated dialogue as the creature echoes the speech of the passengers after it possesses Sky's body, one of the female passengers. Hence, the creature learns the human language and psyche through its repetition and observation of human speech. The evolution of the creature is evident as the episode progresses. Its ability to mimic human speech increases and it is eventually able to speak at the same speed as the passengers themselves. Although the creature is intangible, its mysterious presence and unexplainable behavior unhinges the passengers, giving rise to tension and fear. Even the extraterrestrial Doctor, who has lived over nine hundred years, finds himself powerless and frightened against it. Moreover, these feelings of fear towards the mysterious creature are heightened and amplified with the claustrophobic nature of their…show more content…
When faced with the threat of an unfamiliar creature species, the humans exhibited selfishness and are reduced to irrational and inhuman cruelty. At first glance, the creature seems to be the enemy, the monstrous being to be feared, however it merely mimics the cruel herd mentality the humans present when eagerly deciding to kill Sky. The creature never proves to be a tangible threat to the passengers in the beginning and it is them who have been the threat to themselves all
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