While not a major part of the show’s mythology, the afterlife has been explored in Doctor Who before, in several different forms. Here are some examples that stand out.
The Series 12 finale The Timeless Children heavily explored the ideas of other realities and other lives. No matter what you thought of the revelations (I personally despise them), it definitely presented more of the Doctor Who universe.
Doctor Who has delved into realms beyond our own multiple times. Rather than alternative universes or bubble universes, I started to think of the metaphysical – when has the Doctor Who universe hinted at or confirmed the existence of the afterlife?
Naturally, as a science-fiction show, we seldom have stories that centre on the spiritual. Over the years, however, the world of Doctor Who has confirmed that consciousness (in some form) survives after the death of the physical body. So let’s delve into the mythos of Doctor Who and see where the afterlife fits in.
Several episodes have given us clear glimpses of an afterlife in the Doctor Who universe – including Series 12’s The Haunting of Villa Diodati.
Photo Credit: James Pardon/BBC Studios/BBC America
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Ghosts and hauntings
First of all, I am discounting ‘afterlife’ achieved through advanced technological means. Whilst interesting and appropriate for a science-fiction property, I am focussing on the concept of a soul/consciousness surviving naturally after death. So forget about Gallifreyan Matrix technology or the Data Ghosts of the 51st Century – as fascinating as they are.
The first hint I’d like to bring to attention is in fact from an incredibly recent episode: The Haunting of Villa Diodati – a classic case of a gothic-cum-supernatural story subverted by the true technological or alien cause. In this case, the Cyberium AI construct. Whilst we find out it caused the ‘hauntings’, the entities that Graham encounters are left open to interpretation, with Team TARDIS failing to come up with a rational explanation.
Maxine Alderton 100% included this to represent the fact that the universe is far bigger and stranger than you may have thought. I quite enjoy it when a story allows the Doctor to accept that there are things beyond her understanding – it reaffirms that the character isn’t omniscient and creates an air of mystery.
Something extremely similar happens in Hide. The main ‘ghost’ of the story is revealed to be a time-traveller from the future – projections of events from other times can leave a distorted bleeding image that humans could interpret as a ghost. However, as the episode concludes we see two unaccounted for apparitions staring out of a window in Caliburn House. Again, whilst left open, it is a suggestion that there may very well be life beyond death.
Moving away from Earth, in The Time of The Doctor, Tasha Lem, the head of the Papal Mainframe (later to become The Church of The Silence), declared that the organisation would select the “appropriate afterlife” for a couple of dead Sontarans. This suggests, perhaps, that consciousness can be extracted after death and can live on in specific dimensional planes.
The afterlife in Torchwood
Talking of dimensional planes, Torchwood provides the Doctor Who universe with some of the biggest hints of an afterlife. Random Shoes is an entire episode centred on the surviving consciousness of a dead man, Eugene Jones. Aided by a Dogon Eye, he survived in a ghost-like state until he dispensed with the artifact.
One could argue this is pseudo-technological, but at the end of the episode, we witness paranormal phenomena. Eugene’s ghost-state briefly enters into our reality, interacting with the living. He then begins to ascend into the sky surrounded by a bright white light – clearly evoking a Heaven of sorts.
This isn’t the only time Torchwood has dealt with death in such a fashion. When Suzie Costello is resurrected she claims that there’s nothing after death. But, she contradicts herself when she begins to explain said ‘nothing’. She claims there’s darkness and that she could sense an entity moving around inside it. So, clearly there was a form of awareness that survived death. It seems she was describing the existence of a Purgatory-esque plane of reality.
Ultimately, the afterlife or anything of a spiritual nature won’t be the primary factor in a show like Doctor Who. But, I find it immensely fun when the Doctor Who universe occasionally does depict life after death. It makes everything seem so much larger and enigmatic.
Have you enjoyed Doctor Who‘s exploration of the afterlife? Do you think the series should do it more often? Let us know in the comments below.