Why I love Doctor Who: Part One (in an occasional series)

I was just reminded today of this quote, from part three of the audio adventure Storm Warning featuring Paul McGann's Eighth Doctor:

"Breath in deep, Lieutenant Commander. You too, Charley. You feel that pounding in your heart, that tightness in the pit of your stomach, the blood rushing to your head? Do you know what that is? That's adventure. The thrill and the fear and the joy of stepping into the unknown. That's why we're all here and that's why we're alive!"

It harks back to the voiced-over dialogue that ended the original series back in 1989, a passage that still demonstrates the sense of wonder the series could inspire at its height:

"There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, and the sea's asleep, and the rivers dream; people made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, somewhere else the tea's getting cold. Come on, Ace, we've got work to do."

The universe is out there, says the Doctor, and living life is what makes it worthwhile. He won't take life because it's precious, and he really appreciates just how precious it is. Some have said (usually in arguments about why the Doctor doesn't, or shouldn't, have relationships with his companions) that his is a big love, a love of all life and all the cosmos and that individuals are beneath his notice in this way. But I disagree. His is a big love, it's true, but a love of everything small - every detail, every life, every individual. He is fundamentally a lover, not a fighter.
( So why doesn't he, er...shag his companions? (Want to know more?) )