Doctor Who

I've kind of been avoiding talking about Doctor Who because I know how rabid I can get about this show and I'm such a fangirl, that I sometimes forget that there are people in the world who haven't seen this show or have seen it and don't like it. Actually no, I don't think there are any people who have experienced this show in such a way as to understand what its about and have not enjoyed this show. I find myself getting very judgey of people who will not give the show a chance or who brush the show off as "stupid." One of the things that makes Doctor Who is charming is that you can tell that when they started, they had a very low budget and they still made magic with trash bag monsters and and Daleks with plungers and wire wisks.

Doctor Who, for those of you who have managed to avoid BBC American and any number of rabid fans (because those are the only kinds of fans The Doctor has.), is the longest running show in TV history. This year, the show will be celebrating 50 years on air! The Doctor (no, Doctor Who is not his name. Only River knows his name) is a Time Lord, the last of his kind, from a far away galaxy who thinks humans are just the neatest things and he spends most of his time with a a human companion touring through time and space saving the world. Okay, not just our world, all of the worlds!

The Doctor, being a Time Lord, has the ability to regenerate into a new body when the old one dies. This is probably the smartest thing the TV creators could have woven into the mythology of the show. This allows an actor to only play they role of The Doctor for as long as he wants to and the show never gets into a rut and is always fresh. Each actor has his own interpretation of who The Doctor should be and how he will react to situations. Some Doctors are silly, some are serious and tortured. The Doctor is more than 900 years old and he's always learning about himself.

My first Doctor was David Tennant. I loved how he solved problems with his brain instead of weapons. He wanted to help everyone and make everyone OK even if that person wasn't supposed to be at the end of the day. I fell in love with the idea that there was someone watching out for all of humanity and for the innocent lifeforms on other planets. I'd like to think that whenever something good happened in history, The Doctor was there helping and chasing away the baddies.

If I ever have children, I will not be teaching them about any of religious deities, the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus. I will be teaching them about The Doctor. The Doctor is the one who is watching over them at night and chasing the monsters out of the closet.

I was away from The Doctor for a few years while I was in college but when I graduated, I found myself living in a house with satellite tv and BBC America and a man who had never seen a single episode of Doctor Who. There were many, many evenings when he would come home from work and I would be on the couch, hiding behind a pillow from a statue of an angel. He didn't get it. He thought it looked stupid and didn't understand why I was so enthralled by the hokey special effects.

Between Matt Smith's first and second season, I convinced Chris that he really would like the show and should give it a chance. Luckily before the new season, there were several "Best of" and "Behind" shows talking about the mythology and the history of the show and lo and behold, he was converted. He and I have now watched every single episode since the reboot and our nerddom is scattered all over the house. There is Amy Pond art on the walls, I've made Chris a 4th Doctor scarf and we currently have three sonic screwdrivers.
Everyone needs to have someone or something to believe in. I believe in The Doctor.