Two Hearts

As a fan of Doctor Who, knowing the Doctor has two hearts is common knowledge. Thomas Ling in this article, says the Doctor’s two hearts are a contradiction to the Doctor Who canon. Since many fans do not always start watching Doctor Who from the start, they don’t know much about the First or Second Doctors. So, they believe two hearts are the norm for Time Lords.

After watching a few episodes of the First and Second Doctors, the absence of this part of the Doctor’s physiology is apparent. Ling mentions one part of the story Edge of Destruction where Ian says that the Doctor’s heart seems fine.(1) Now, the reason for this is unknown and is something only the writers of the show know. There is not any indication the Doctor has two hearts even in his Second incarnation. Now, as a fan, watching the First and Second Doctors is a need. So. the only I am going on is in the article.

So, fans see the Doctor’s two hearts in Jon Pertwee’s first episode, “Spearhead From Space.” It is here we see an x-ray which shows that Doctor’s chest and the shadows of two tickers. Everything about the Doctor confuses the earth’s doctors.

The question for me is, did the Doctor have two tickers in the beginning or does the Doctor receive the second heart after his first regeneration? How does the First Doctor function with only the one heart? Another question does the Second Doctor have two tickers? As fans, we don’t find out the Doctor’s race until the end of “War Games”. Then after landing on earth, we find out about the two tickers.

Classic Whovians who have watched most of the original series may know more about this matter, but from watching only a few episodes there little to go on. The Doctor is a character of mystery. Therefore, we don’t know everything about him. Which is okay?

The answers to these questions may be in the stories, then again maybe not. It does not matter it is just something to think about when you watch the show. In closing, two hearts are important to the Doctor, so why don’t we find out about them until the Third Doctor.

two hearts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2018-01-30/the-7-biggest-contradictions-in-doctor-who-canon/