The wonderful thing about writing about hope in a show like Doctor Who is that it never feels cheesy or sentimental. I could probably write ten thousand words on this topic - there are countless examples of this theme; it weaves itself through the whole show in so many ways and forms. But I'll focus on what makes this theme unique in New Who. It ties in with something I absolutely love to talk about: the symbiotic relationship between the Doctor and the human race. New Who really establishes the Doctor's inter-reliance with humanity, and how they trade hope as an essential element for survival. Both give it to the other, both need it, both at times lose it and need help to find it again.
The Moment: [The sound of the TARDIS] brings hope wherever it goes.
One of the greatest things the Doctor does is spreading hope. Sometimes giving people hope and a sense of worth is more important than saving planets and defeating monsters. The Doctor gives hope to people in many ways. With his companions, he catalyses their personal potential - they become so much stronger and greater than they thought possible, because he gives them the freedom and opportunity to do so. He brings a sense of optimism by opening people's minds to a larger reality, beyond the confines of their city or planet or even their galaxy. The Doctor thinks big, and through the whole wide universe that he travels, he sees hope. That's the magical thing about him. And he conveys that hope to people by giving them a glimpse of the wide, vast, joyous universe out there, just waiting to be explored.
The Doctor: My experience is that, surprisingly, there is always hope.
Sometimes giving a person hope is as simple as showing them that their life matters. One of my favourite examples of this is Vincent and the Doctor. It's an exquisite, moving, and deeply human episode that deserves all the praise it gets and more. The story of the episode can be summed up in one small sentence: The Doctor meets someone and gives them hope. And the beauty and tragedy of Vincent and the Doctor is that giving Vincent hope isn't the same as saving his life. His death is fixed in time. But the Doctor and Amy give Vincent something more important: the knowledge that he's a valued person. That he mattered in history. Did it matter that Vincent had one magical, joyous day, when he still took his life in the end? Of course it did. It meant everything.
Cyberman: You are proof.
The Doctor: Of what?
Cyberman: That emotions destroy you.
The Doctor: Yeah, I am. Mind you, I quite like hope. Hope's a good emotion. And here it comes.
If the Doctor hopes in anything - has faith and confidence in anyone - it's the human race. He's travelled the universe, yet there's something about human beings that inspires him - gives him something to live for - gives him hope. The Tenth Doctor in particular is very vocal in his admiration for the human race in general. The human race gives the Doctor hope that there's some good in the world. The Doctor is, on one level, a lost and rather norm-less being; he needs something to believe in; and the human race inspires him not only individually but also collectively, by their persistence in living and evolving, and through the abstract ideals that they exemplify: resilience, adventurousness, compassion, and courage.
The Doctor: ...there's no one else.
Rose: There's me.
Of course, it's through his personal relationships with humans that the Doctor finds hope at its most tangible. His companions have saved him "so many times and in so many ways" - not only physically, but more importantly, emotionally, by keeping his loneliness at bay, giving him courage in his darkest moments, and enabling him to be the best of himself.
The greatest example here has to be Rose. Her compassion and impulsive love for a damaged and traumatised Ninth Doctor utterly transfigured him (that can be a regeneration joke, if you like). Her stubborn loyalty and her belief in him enabled him to forgive himself for his actions at the end of the Time War, and to begin to move on. The Tenth Doctor is only so joyous and optimistic because of Rose's transforming influence. When we first meet the New Who Doctor, he has very little hope. He's worn down, defeated, angry and scarred, and struggling to avoid letting his dark side get the better of him. As Season 1 goes on we see Nine gather strength and lose that despair that so obviously weighed him down. It's no wonder he loves Rose so completely - in Rose he fell in love again with humanity and with all that it symbolises for him. That's the hope that the Ninth Doctor so desperately needed, and that Rose gave him so beautifully.
There's so much more to say. Of course, human beings give hope to each other. Sometimes their hope collides with darker themes, as in Love and Monsters, where LINDA's hope in the Doctor is cruelly exploited. But more often it works out. There are so many colours of this theme to explore, but I particularly enjoy it when it's part of that mutually dependent relationship between the Doctor and the human race. He's not an untouchable alien who just pops down from outer space and solves all Earth's problems. He depends on human beings too. The Doctor inspires us to dream bigger; we remind him what he's fighting for.
