It’s time for another one of my true confessions.
You paying attention? Good.
I didn’t start watching Doctor Who until about a month ago.
I know, I know, it’s shocking, the sort of thing you’d have expected to have been leaked by Edward Snowden from a secret cave somewhere in the Caucus while dodging Predator drones.
But, seriously, while it’s obviously not really a big deal, you’d be surprised at how many people have looked at me quizzically over the years after asking me if I was a fan of the show and then finding out I’d never so much as caught more than a minute of it.
You paying attention? Good.
I didn’t start watching Doctor Who until about a month ago.
I know, I know, it’s shocking, the sort of thing you’d have expected to have been leaked by Edward Snowden from a secret cave somewhere in the Caucus while dodging Predator drones.
But, seriously, while it’s obviously not really a big deal, you’d be surprised at how many people have looked at me quizzically over the years after asking me if I was a fan of the show and then finding out I’d never so much as caught more than a minute of it.
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Needless to say, she totally didn’t have time for that. |
I guess it’s because it’s just one of those shows that’s been such a “nerd” or “geek” staple, and a lot of us get grouped and stereotyped into having to like one thing or another all the time. Somewhat related side confessions: Firefly bored me to tears and Star Trek wouldn’t interest me enough to watch regularly if Natalie Portman captained the bridge topless.
See? We’re not all the same.
Even still, Doctor Who was a show I wasn’t watching simply because I couldn’t find the time. It was always on my radar, and I’d heard from so many people that it was a lot of fun, but between work and writing and childrearing, well, there are only so many hours in a day.
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Oh, who am I kidding? I’d watch her bash America on al Jazeera while wearing a burlap sack… |
But a few weeks back, I wasn’t feeling too great and my wife got suddenly exhausted due to being pregnant and went to bed at like 8 pm on a Saturday and so I was alone, sick, and bored, with nothing but Netflix to love me.
And so I figured, “Eh, in lieu of a real doctor, let’s give this one a shot,” and I started with the first episode of the 2005 incarnation of Doctor Who.
To both my surprise and delight, it was definitely enjoyable enough to warrant watching a second episode. And then a third. And a fourth. And a…well, you see where this is going.
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| No, you moron. FIVE comes next. Geez, the education in this country… |
The show was cheesy and campy, but fun and entertaining, those latter adjectives by far trumping the former ones. The production value of the opening scene practically screamed 1980s music video, and the T.A.R.D.I.S. flying through space and time had all of the special effects of Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, if those.
But I found myself drawn in regardless, and, yes, Billie Piper as Rose Tyler was definitely a help.
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I almost enrolled in fake medical school immediately. |
The Doctor himself, in this season only Christopher Eccleston, took a bit to grow on me, mostly due to his needlessly over-expressiveness during certain scenes like in “The End of the World” where he’s grinning like some idiot who just huffed some paint while the aliens enter the scene as if it’s the funniest thing he’s ever witnessed.
Just go back and watch that part again; it’s like he got into the paint chips.
But I came to really like him, his sarcastic pull-no-punches wit carrying several episodes, and I was impressed at his tenderness during “Father’s Day,” where he definitely put on his serious face, but still showed he felt for Rose’s ordeal during it all.
Not knowing anything but the broad strokes of the show, I enjoyed being able to be shocked and surprised by events, not having had them spoiled for me in advance, and while I knew Eccleston was only the Doctor for one season and that it would end with David Tennant coming in, it was still cool to see the shift happen.
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It was definitely a pretty big change to be honest. |
The show’s not perfect and some episodes grated on me—well, mostly some characters like the whiny little kid saying “mommy” eight billion times during the “The Empty Child” and “The Doctor Dances,” or the voices of the Daleks or, as I call them, Steampunk Orkos—but the characterization and development was fantastic and guys like John Barrowman as Jack Harkness really brought a lot of entertainment value in those early goings.
I’m almost through the first David Tennant season and I warmed up to him quicker than I would have expected, at first being unable to see him trying to act tough—given him wearing pajamas and looking much more like a pretty boy compared to the soccer hooligan-esque Eccleston—but soon coming to absolutely love the guy.
I know there are twists and turns awaiting me. I know companions and Doctors will change before I’m done watching, but that’s also part of the fun, getting to experience this world for the first time.
So while I’d not yet call myself a Whovian, I’d definitely call myself a fan—this was well worth the wait.
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I’ve so got to get me one of these things… |