On Harriet Jones, Prime Minister

Recently, I have been able to get my boyfriend to watch Doctor Who. Naturally, we started with Nine, and he absolutely loves the show. We are currently on season 4 of NewWho, adventuring with the Tenth Doctor. Our favorite villains are the classic Daleks, with the silly way they scream-talk. My favorite Doctor is Ten, but I do not think that my boyfriend has made up his mind yet. After all, there is still Eleven and eventually Twelve. Perhaps he will like the War Doctor (8.5) the best. Who knows?

I love how each season kicks off with a Christmas special. I have never really been a big fan of Christmas, so I can appreciate alien invasions ruining the conventional Christmas traditions of Londoners. Maybe that makes me a terrible person, but who are you to judge? As Sirius Black from the Harry Potter series wisely tells Harry, "The world is not split into good people and Death Eaters." Everyone has good and bad things about them, but we are all mostly shades of grey. This principle naturally applies to Doctor Who and is clearly seen in Harriet Jones. Harriet Jones is first seen in "Aliens of London," where Nine and Rose first encounter the Slitheen. She aids Nine, Rose, and Mickey as they launch a missile at 10 Downing St. Harriet is then seen "The Christmas Invasion" as Prime Minister of Great Britain when the Sycorax invade. After Ten defeats the Sycorax leader in hand-to-hand combat, she uses Torchwood to fire an alien weapon that blows up the Sycorax space ship. The audience is presented with two sides of Harriet Jones, both seeking to protect Great Britain. 

While the rise and fall of Harriet Jones is interesting to see, the line that stuck out to me most in "The Christmas Invasion" was when she said, "There is an act of Parliament banning my autobiography." Obviously, she is referring to the previous incident with the Slitheen. I think that one can read into this on a much deeper level, though. The first side of Harriet Jones is a total badass. She snuck around the Prime Minister's house during an alien invasion and read classified information about what to do in an alien invasion. She brought a secretary coffee both as a bribe and just to be nice. The secretary had been working his butt off during the initial response to the alien crash landing and probably needed a pick-me-up. Harriet was an absolutely awesome character. 

I think we should all try our best to live like there is an act of Parliament banning our autobiographies. I think that to live like that really means to be nice and respectful to others and to not be afraid to take risks that could potentially lead to trouble. Do what is morally right, not what is easy (unless doing the morally right thing is easy for you, then good for you). Live so the Doctor would be proud of you.