Mama Yes I know i havent finished going through for punctuation grammar etc. Evelon he is a Dr not a proffesor I tried reading some of the scenes through replacing the term the Dr with the Doc doesn't quite sound the same but I may have to make that change.
"The Doctor" is not copyrightable. However, it could very well be trademarked. Characters and settings often are, especially in popular TV and movie franchises. It certainly is not a good idea to "borrow" a popular character in this manner, regardless of specific legal liability.
Sorry, your friend is right. As someone who grew up with Dr Who, I would immediately think "rip-off" if I saw someone who travelled through time referred to as "the Doctor", or "the Dr.". No doctor in real life is called "The Doctor" (unless they are making reference to Dr Who). If you are a doctor you are called "a doctor". Even is situations where there is just one doctor (on a ship, etc) you would be called "doc", "quack" etc.
I sense some strong resistance - you're basically being told the same thing your friend told you. Is this guy a medical doctor? It doesn't sound like it. Why couldn't Joe just call him "Professor" as a sort of nickname? I still think you're way too close to Dr Who and its premise. As I said, legal questions aside, readers are going to pick up on it, and not in a good way.
He is not called The doctor he is called Mr. His full title is Dr Mr Darman. It is when Joe refers to Mr he sometimes says the Dr. I'm sure it is not uncommon to refer to a doctor as the Dr. I have read many stories where a character say's The Dr said x,y,z. Or I'm worried about the Dr. Everyone calls him by his name which is Mr. It is only in passing reference that the term the Dr is used. Usually to confirm Joes problem getting his head round the fact he is called Mr, but it seems I may have to replace it with the doc. Which sounds a bit too Americanised for me saying the Doc said x,y,z or I wish the doc would make up his mind etc.
I didn't borrow a character I hadn't even noticed the problem until it was pointed out sometimes the main character will say things like the Dr told me to tell you x,y,z. I the same sense If he was a baker and you couldn't get your head round his name you would say the baker told me. but it does seem I will have to change it to the doc
Personally, I'd want to change it for peace of mind if nothing else - there has to be an alternative, whether it's his surname, Sir, or whatever. I would personally steer clear of using Doc too given the time travelling element, but I'm pretty cautious
Sir said x,y,z doesn't scan. Neither does I will have to consult with sir. The whole thing is set in a private psychiatric clinic where Joe is a councillor and Mr is a Dr. As well as being a mental health Doctor Mr is a doctor of reality. Does anyone have any other suggestions If The doc is still to close? I understand the problems as regards to copyright or seeming to copy/borrow from Doctor who, but I can not think of a term that fits to references like I need to see the Dr. You will have to make an appointment to see the Dr, The Dr know's best or I wish the Dr would make up his mind. All of which would be acceptable if he did not manipulate time and space. Replacing the Dr with sir or the proffessor does not work in these instances and like I said when talking to him his first name is always used. Dr is his official title and Job description. So now my question is what words or phrases could I use to get around the problem?
Having a character saying - "you'll have to see the doctor" isn't really the problem here. The problem (or potential problem) arises because the whole thing is too suggestive of an existing programme. If you call one of the main characters The Dr. and he behaves in any way similarly to Dr. Who, which from what you've said, he does, then you could hit a few snags. And I don't mean by that that you can't say, "the doctor will see you now". But if you use The Dr. as a name of this character, you could run into problems.
You should be stubborn if you're defending your ideas and your way of doing things. But along with the stubborness (that's not even a word!) you need to stand back and look closely at your work with a very critical eye. If your friend had issues with The Dr. and some people here have issues with it, then you can bet that there is a problem. It's just that you haven't seen it yet. Look at from the point of view of the Dr. Who team and imagine what would be going through their mind.
Just remember, you are the one who asked the question. If you don't like the answers, is it because you've already formed an opinion and are looking for someone to back you up?
my charachter is not called Dr or the Dr I have never used either of these terms as his name. The phrase the Dr is used in reference. Like I'll need to ask the Dr. The Dr's instructions make no sense. The Dr will see you now. These references are quite frequent as the story mainly focuses on Joe and his sessions counciling clients. At no point does any one say to Dr Darman "I think you are wrong Dr". It is very clear throughout the story that his name is Mr and this causes confusion on earth because on earth Mr is a title not a name(it is a running gag). When people talk to him they call him Mr. His name is not DR he is a Dr. When he is not there people refer to him as the Dr as in "I think the Dr has made a mistake". What the hell is the Dr playing at or put it in the Dr's mail tray. It is not every reference sometimes it is said "Mr has made an arse of it this time" or "Dr Darman is very busy could you come back tommorow." But when referencing him when he is absent it feels natural to say The Dr has gone too far this time or the Dr usually knows what is best. I know that if my doctor did not travel through time there would be no issue. So because it is an issue I need to some help coming up with suitable alternatives. For when I want to say the Dr is in his office. He never behaves in the manner of Dr who other than they are both capable of time travel. Dr who is not a Dr he is a Timelord his name is Dr Who or the Dr. My character is a doctor he can travel through time through the abilities of his staff in the engine room he is not a timelord. Dr Darman may be able to work out where and when, him and his clinic need to be, but without the staff operating the various engines he could not get there. Dr Who operates his time machine himself. Dr darman never enters the time machine because it is a dirty place full of quantum grease monkeys. There are 10 members of staff required to operate the engines required to move the clinic through space and time. Three of whom are prominent characters in the plot. Dr Who saves the day. Dr darman does not, he works out where and when they need to be so Joe can save the day. Dr Who is a very dominant and assertive character. Dr Darman is not he is very much quiet and in the background. I never use the Dr as the characters name sometimes the characters make reference to the Dr. Also they make references to the secretary. The secretary was in a bad mood. The Dr was not in his office. The whole story centres around Joe who is a councillor (or maybe he thinks he is) his superior is Dr Mr Darman who is a doctor(though he may not exist). There are 3 departments in the clinic twenty five staff. Six of whom are characters in the plot. There are no personality similarities between Dr Who and Dr Darman. Time travel is not a personality trait. The only thing suggestive of the programe is, as a result of the story you have someone who's proffesion is a Dr travelling through time and space along with 25 members of staff. Dr who is not a Dr and travels through time with a sidekick. No Dr Who story line focuses on councilling people. Dr Who does not have members of staff. Dr Who is not awfully posh he doesn't drink copius amounts of sherry nor smoke ridiculous amounts of marijuana. Dr Who is very gungho. Dr Darman is very laid back and batshit crazy. There are no character similarities. Time travel is not a character trait. At no point have I said they behave the same if Dr who behaved anything like Dr Darman it would never have been shown on the BBC. If any Dr Who story lines were as far fetched or as nonsensical as mine it would never have been aired. In the program Dr Who is real there is no doubt of that. He really does travel through time. Dr darman and all of his staff may travel through time or they may just Hypnotise Joe into thinking they do. This would not be out of character for DR Darman it would be for Dr Who. It maybe Dr darman does not exist outside of Joes possible drug psychosis and would still fit with his character. I can see a problem If someone from the BBC heard there was a Dr that travelled through time, they may think hang on that ours. If they took the time to read the story they would see no character traits in common whatsoever unless you count time travel as a personality trait. Which seems unfair that Doctors can not travel through time but a councillor and secretary can. Especially as Dr Who is not a Dr. So now I have the problem of how can I get around this. Dr Darman is a Dr i cannot get around this it is important to the structure of the clinic. They all travel through time I can not get around this. The logical paradoxes of the story are based on time travel. Some scenes are in other dimensions some or on Neptune for very good reasons. Should I abandon the idea because a lot of people view time travel as a personality trait that overshadows all other personality traits? Or should I find a way around this. My friend who raised the question agrees there is no character traits similar. Other than time travel.
Why not just drop the Dr. and have people call him Mr Darman? If it is important for readers to know he does doctoring, make it apparent by the setting and by his actions.
It looks like this is what I am going to have to do it just feels more natural to say The dr will see you now or can I make an appointment to see the Dr.
This whole thing sounds like Dr Who fan fiction to me. Or worse, a complete rip off. Good luck publishing it. ps. And please don't write a thousand word essay explaining why I am wrong to think that. If that was your intention, then you are wasting everybody's time with this thread, including your own.
I think there's some confusion, at least on my part, and I think it comes from your capitalization of "Dr". If you write it correctly, "the doctor" is just a noun. The guy's a doctor, so no problem. But if you use "The Doctor" or even "the Doctor", that's practically begging people to associate it with the TV show, because Who is introduced or identified as The Doctor - it's not what he is, it's who he is. He even introduces himself as The Doctor. And you mention Joe's problem with Darman's name (is "Mr" supposed to be the name or is it "Mister"?) - why not just have him use plain "Darman" when referring to him?
Dr Mr Darman? Is he a Dr or is he a Mr? You seem confused. You are one or another. Just as if someone becomes a lord he is no longer a Mr (or a sir, or a Dr) he is Lord so and so. Either this Darman is a Dr or a Mr. If he is a consultant - a surgeon for example - (in the UK anyway) he will be referred as Mr Darman (not Dr Darman, even though he is a qualified Dr. He will not be called Mr Dr Darman).
I always thought when using the word Dr as a title it should be capitilised. I am still trying to relearn proper punctuation etc. So if it was just a story that involved a doctor I would use the dr and not the Dr? Could this be causing the confusion for others also? Because essentially if i wrote a story with a doctor in it regardless of the sci fi theme i would have wrote. The Dr will see you now. I learned yesterday from cogito on a seperate subject that it's the doctor not the Doctor. I did not realise it would be the same for the dr. This is what I have being trying to get across (rather poorly) in my characters case doctor is what he is not who he is. Mister is his name the confusion caused on earth and non earthlings inability to understand the confusion is a running gag (an intentionally lame one).
does this mean it is not possible to have a time travel story involving a doctor that is not a Dr Who fan fiction or rip off??
Dr is shorthand for doctor. In a story you can refer to someone as Dr Wilson, but not dr Wilson. You can refer to someone as a doctor, or the doctor, or Doctor Wilson, or Dr Wilson. The Doctor is Dr Who. The Dr is the same, although I think in novels of Dr Who he is always referred to as the Doctor. Then refer to him as Dr Mister Darman not Dr Mr Darman. Remember Mr is a shortcut of Mister, just as Dr is a shortcut of Doctor. If your name was Mister, you would not shorten it to Mr.
so would it be the dr will see you now or the Dr will see you now? I am sorry if I am trying peoples patience or if i come across stupid or arrogant. I have several borderline learning disabilities and sometimes find i have difficulty making myself understood. It just doesn't seem right to me that I can't have a story about time travel where one of the characters happens to be a doctor without people assuming I am ripping of Dr Who. Thankyou! So my character is Dr Mister Darman.
