Why Doctor Who is Brilliant and a Cheater

In honor of Doctor Who’s 50th Anniversary, I wanted to talk about time travel. (Spoiler warning, but none of the episodes I mention are from the latest season.)I asked my friend what aspect of time travel to focus on. During our discussion, he asked which school Doctor Who followed: whether time travelers can change history, or whether they can’t. When I said “both,” he said that’s cheating.

He’s right. It’s cheating. But it’s also brilliant.

According to the Doctor, time is in flux. Anything c...