Dr Who, the Bigamist

The most popular Sci-Fi personage that has ever been has to be Dr Who. No doubts in many folk's minds about that, although he himself may well have come across more popular ones in his travels forward in time and we have just not been told about them.

No selfie-Spoilers, see!

But what we do know of his convoluted and very long life ( apparantly almost as old as the Tavern Keeper m'self) is that he likes the ladies, especially youthful ones. He is rarely seen out without one. 

Yet he is also a MGTOW. !  Almost. He goes his own way, hither and whence, with wench.

I have to say that his current wench is quite a good looking gal, the lovely Clara.......

 Although it has to be said that I am a Knight who likes a pretty face, and I was (still am) rather partial to Rose, too.

Rose could have had me if she'd played her cards aright. But, that's for another time.

But to the Doc. Despite all the lovelies with whom he surrounds himself, the Dr. is a Married man !

Isn't he?

Hmmmmm

Apparantly the argument rages, quietly but insistently in the UK Room in the Tavern.

Let us momentarily consider if he is a man at all. He's an alien, shirley?  Do Human Marriage rules apply?  Can different species hit it off? I mean, more than simply 'fancy'?

Deep questions.

He married Professor River Song, a lady of mature years, unlike his changeable 'ahem'... companions. Didn't he?

River was a smart gal and had as much experience of time travel and adventure as he himself. A Match Made In Gallifrey one might think.

Personally I think they made a fine couple.

But what about Queen Elizabeth the First? 

He married her too, didn't he?

OK, she forced him into it - a shotpike wedding - but technically even though she is long gone, he isn't, so he really should still be the King of England. 

Don't blame me for you all scratching your heads and backsides. Blame Kate Edwards. It was she talking in the bar.

One of the bizarre plot moments in the Dr Who Fifty Year Special was a scene in which Doctor number ?10 (?11) (David Tennant) marries Elizabeth I 

Now, as those who still follow the show will know, Doctor ?Eleven (?Twelve) (Matt Smith) married Dr River Song (Alex Kingston).

So is he a bigamist?   

Is his marriage with River Song invalid?

Marriage is of course dissolved by the death of either partner.  But if you are a Time Lord equipped with a TARDIS, the death of your human partner means rather less than it usually does, since you can visit them at any point in their lifetime without the need to maintain chronological order in such meetings. 

In fact, the Doctor and River Song's encounters, you may recall, mostly seemed to occur backwards from her perspective (the first time they meet from his perspective is the last time from hers).

The solution to the problem presumably is that the two marriages take place between different versions of the Doctor.   

But does Time Lord regeneration constitute death for this purpose? 

I'm going to suggest that the answer is yes: his old body is destroyed after all, and the new one comes complete with a new personality.  And marriage is about bodies in the end, since no one is married in heaven...

I hope this sets you all off with deep thinkings and comments. 

Yet another point is, if I recall, the wedding between the Dr and River was sleight of hand. The Dr was a simulation, as she discovered when she looked into his eye and saw him waving out!! 

Crikey: sending simulants to do the job, and in another time marrying a Queen of a quite different species and then buggering off before it was consumated.... 

The Dr. is a Cad,

Whoever he is.

A drop by the room via the link will show how the conversation developed.

http://australiaincognita.blogspot.com.au/2013/11/quaeritur-what-dissolves-marriage.html 

As a normal human being (I speak of you, not me) it is somewhat limiting to be confined to a few-score years and all following on in the same direction. But we have to acknowledge that it does make for fewer conundrums. 

I need a drink.

I think I shall contemplate a Rose.


Pax.