Before the MCU's newest Disney Plus series Loki was even released, everyone knew it was going to be a hit. And it was. Fans of the charming, morally questionable, character were excited to see his story played out in a longer form. People were also incredibly excited when the series seemed to be the first to solidly explore the idea of an MCU multiverse.
Fans have been suspecting this kind of storyline for many years, and the buzz around it was especially increased after the events of Avengers: Endgame, where the team manipulated time and space to defeat Thanos. Loki has so far built a ton on the concept of timelines within the MCU, and what happens when beings do things they aren't supposed to. The rules are being established and new things about the universe are being introduced in every episode.
It's a kind of science fiction not seen all that often. Time travel and multidimensional travel is a difficult thing to explore in art. However, it has definitely been done before. One of the most successful and long-running science fiction shows of all time actually uses traveling through time and space as basically the whole plot of its series. This show even shares a few other similarities to Loki, including a charming lead who takes multiple forms, the existence of a very helpful companion, and just general vibes. Of course, the show is none other than Doctor Who.
Doctor Who is nothing less than a phenomenon, and certainly an iconic show. It's a UK production, broadcast by the BBC since 1963, making it the longest-running sci-fi show of all time. The show tells the story of The Doctor, an alien who is the last of their race and appears to be human. They travel through time and space in their time-traveling spaceship named TARDIS which looks like a blue telephone box. Throughout the series, 13 actors have headlined as the lead with the first woman to do so, Jodie Whittaker, reigning as the current Doctor. Doctor Who is really quite a significant part of British culture and has maintained a lot of popularity, with a cult following of Whovians around the world as well.
The first and most notable similarity Loki has with Doctor Who besides the general plot is the leading character. Loki as a person is in many ways similar to The Doctor, and not just because of his British accent. A key part of The Doctor is that they are always changing form, including gender, which is something explored quite a bit in Loki with the main character. Though the exact story as to why there are many different forms of the Doctor vs many different forms of Loki are quite different, the effect is almost exactly the same. And the characterization of these leads is also similar, with both of them often relying on a lot of wit and charm to get them through certain situations.
The existence of a companion in Doctor Who is absolutely integral to the show. The Doctor is never without a close friend (generally a female) and partner to help them on their missions. Though this isn't explicitly said in Loki, it has been often demonstrated. Loki has had two main "companions" in this series that serve a similar purpose: Sylvie and Mobius. Mobius is of course the wise-cracking TVA member who sees something different in Loki compared to other variants, and Sylvie is actually a different form of Loki himself. These are pretty different characters, who serve a similar purpose. They give Loki ideas and give him information about himself. They also serve as a friend, or maybe even a romantic interest. This is exactly what a companion does, in Doctor Who.
Lastly, the vibes and visuals of the shows just feel kind of the same. This isn't a bad thing, and there's no accusation of plagiarism or anything like that here, but it is true. From the first trailers to almost every episode, many fans of Doctor Who and Loki alike have noticed the similarities. Both of the series just kind of fulfill a similar role, and take up a similar spot in the viewers' life. This seemed especially noticeable in episode three of Loki when Sylvie and Loki were traveling together and talking. Their dialogue and the setting, and even the images and effects, felt like it could easily have been an episode of Doctor Who.
Fans of Doctor Who and Loki will inevitably overlap. Superhero fans often also enjoy science fiction and vice versa. If anyone though has been a huge fan of one series and yet to give the other a chance, that could be quite a big mistake. The shows do have enough differences to stand on their own, but the similarities are glaring and hard to ignore. Even down to the tone and general purpose, these two series match up beautifully and all comparisons are very warranted.