The New Doctor

For my second post, I thought it would be fitting to write about one of my all-time favorite shows, seeing as how I'm probably going to mention it a lot on this blog.  I am, of course, talking about Doctor Who.  I discovered this show last April, and it has quickly consumed all of my geeky interests.  In fact, I like it even more than Star Trek. (Blasphemy, I know.  But it's true.)

For those of you who have never heard of this show, let me tell you a little bit about it.  Doctor Who follows the adventures of an alien known as a Time Lord.  He's called the Doctor, and he travels through all of time and space (Awesome!) in his spaceship.  His spaceship is alive and is called the TARDIS--it looks like a 1960's British police phone box.

Yes, this is a spaceship.  It's bigger on the inside.

The Doctor travels with a variety of companions, and they save the world.  A lot.  (Again, awesome!) Because of the Doctor's alien nature, when the original actor who played him became too old, the creators of the show decided that Time Lords have an ability to regenerate their bodies when they're dying.  This allows them to hire new actors to play the Doctor, when the current actor decides to leave the show

       These two people are actually the same person.  You can tell by his intense gaze.

So far there have been 11 Doctors, and fans will usually refer to them by their number.  For example, my favorite doctor is 10--played by David Tennant. He is the handsome face on the right in the picture above.  Fans will hotly debate on who is the best Doctor--for many 4 is the favorite, played by Tom Baker.  He holds the record for the longest run on the show, and also has the record for the longest scarf.  Watch it, and you'll understand.

What makes Doctor Who so fantastic, is that the show is so flexible.  When you have all of time and space at your fingertips, the story possibilities are endless.  The Doctor can travel back in time and meet Shakespeare--or he can go forward and witness the end of the Earth.

Most awkward first date ever.

In order to love Doctor Who there are a couple of things about it that you must accept.  One: the special effects can be REALLY cheesy sometimes.  No, I'm serious.  Think like the Original Series of Star Trek cheesy.  Sometimes the effects are awesome--other times, not so much.  That's okay, because the characters and story lines make up for it.

Two: there are some bad episodes.  It's a TV show, no one is perfect, and like any TV show there are some pretty awful episodes.  I think one of the worst episodes is  "Love and Monsters."  But even in bad episodes, there's usually something you like.  For example, there are some really funny scenes in "Love and Monsters."

And Three: Doctor Who is British.  It has a British sense of humor, characters speak with British accents, and any action on Earth usually takes place in Great Britain (though, they have visited America a couple of times). If you're like me--a British soul trapped in an American body--then this won't be a problem.  (Cup of tea?  Thank you.)

Just recently the BBC has announced that Peter Capaldi will play the next Doctor, since Matt Smith is leaving the show.  I'm super excited by this news.  Apparently Peter is well-known in England, but I've actually never heard of him before.  Fans were throwing around crazy theories about who would be the next Doctor--including people like Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) or Benedict Cummerbatch (Sherlock/Kahn). Both are never going to happen, and in Rupert's case, that's probably a good thing.

So after 9, 10, and 11 all being younger Doctors, we're finally going back to what is usually the norm for the show and having an older Doctor again.  This disappointed a lot of young girls apparently, who were only watching the show so they could squee over the 'young, sexy Doctors'--but that is NOT what makes Doctor Who awesome.  Give Peter a chance before you write him off.

He's already got the intense gaze nailed.

Frankly, I can't wait to see what he does with the role.  What I love about Doctor Who is that it is constantly changing.  While sometimes it's hard to let go of favorite characters or sets, ultimately all the change keeps the show interesting and fresh.  Doctor Who can be hilarious, terrifying, heartbreaking, and just plain cool--sometimes all at the same time.  So if you haven't had the pleasure of watching this show before, I highly recommend it if you're a fan of sci-fi.  You can do what I did, and start at the beginning of the new series, with 9, or you can watch an individual episode to see if you like it.  If you go with the individual episode, I'd recommend either "Blink," "The Girl in the Fireplace," "The Empty Child," "Father's Day," or "Vincent and the Doctor."  Those are all from the new series, I haven't been able to watch any of the Classic Who yet, but I will. And then I will probably blog about it. :)

Fun Fact of the Day: Matt Smith actually owns the tweed jacket his eleventh Doctor usually wears.  Also, bow ties are cool.

TTFN! Ta Ta For Now!