I don’t usually seek out narratives that involve adoption. It’s too painful. But I can’t avoid it in #DoctorWho now, and to my astonishment it continues to demonstrate an emotional accuracy that’s rare in genre tv/movies, where adoption and orphans are abundant. 1/

When the Doctor expresses her anger at having huge pieces of her life hidden from her—that’s adoption trauma. The uncertainty of yourself that can crop up in moments of crisis, felt very real. Even though she felt strong in the s12 finale, it makes sense for her to falter. 2/

This is by no means perfect representation of the experience but it far surpasses other orphaned heroes whose adoption is merely a catalyst that is forgotten once their heroics kick in. Here, we get to see the struggle. 3/

Been thinking about this a lot recently because of a piece written by my friend, Sarah Koff: https://sarahkoff.medium.com/from-the-queens-gambit-to-harry-potter-adoptees-are-everywhere-in-film-and-tv-f5adc29cb6b7

#DoctorWho continues to be unusual and I’m curious to see where it takes this story. 4/4