My best friend pointed out to me yesterday a curious similarity between two beloved television characters: The Doctor from Doctor Who...
...and Miss Frizzle from The Magic Schoolbus.
Wholly Chao.
Observe the similarities between every millennial child's favourite cartoon teacher and the last Time Lord.
1. Both entities exist in a position of public service. She: teacher, He: doctor... of time, but still doctor.
2. Both entities possess a vehicle, she the Magic Schoolbus, he the TARDIS, that is
a. quasi-sentient
b. larger inside than outside
c. able to travel through time
d. capable of space travel
e. disguised as an innocuous and commonly-seen object: A schoolbus, a police public call box.
f. characterized by a specific sound when it moves from one location to another: a beeping horn and revving engine, a grinding wheezy mechanical sound.
g. able to shapeshift... but in the case of the TARDIS, it is rather stuck in the current shape due to technical problems.
h. shown to travel by rapid spinning/rotation; in the case of the schoolbus, it spins as it transforms from one shape to another.
i. apparently immune to attack from the outside and impervious to extreme environments, despite appearing to be constructed of mundane and destructible substrates
3. Both entities have a very distinct manner of dress. She wears thematically styled dresses and earrings to suit the adventure of the day; he wears a trench coat, suit, and... Converse cross-trainers. In the newest season, he wears a bowtie and tweed jacket.
4. Both travel with a constant companion; Miss Frizzle has her iguana (who is also quasi-sentient) as well as her students, and The Doctor has a rotating cast of human companions.
From this perspective, it seems impossible that Miss Frizzle can be an ordinary human; I conclude therefore she is very probably a Time Lady.
Dear mercy, I do wonder what would happen if the two were ever introduced.
After-the-fact Edit:
Thank you, Morwen, for pointing out to me that there is a character in the Whoniverse named Iris Wildthyme; she is in fact a Time Lady.
Furthermore, I-kid-you-not, her TARDIS is a double-decker bus.