What was your favorite radio or television show from your childhood? What was the program about and who was in it? - Without a doubt Doctor Who is my absolute favorite show...EVER...then and now! I can talk about how absolutely wonderful the show is for hours, but I will do my very best not to here!
Doctor Who has been around since 1963 and new episodes are still being made today. That's some staying power! What's it about? Well, The Doctor is a Timelord. He ran away from his people stealing a time/space machine called a TARDIS. He loves to travel through time and space and help people along the way. He hates being alone and is almost never without a companion or two. Earth, of course, is his favorite planet and home away from home. He's a pacifist of sorts. He hates war and the people who start them. This pacifist, however, cannot stand watching someone get bullied and he runs to their rescue (inadvertently causing all sorts of problems in the attempt!). An extremely intelligent show that stresses using your brains to stop a problem instead of blowing everything up. Having said that, the show still has lots of things blowing up...there are still baddies so there's lots of action!
The show was originally meant for children but it was such a hit and had adults hooked as well. One of the best bits was that the writers tried their hardest when doing episodes to be as historically accurate as possible. Even some of the science was accurate. Doctor Who kept me interested in reading and in school during some very awkward teenage years. A very positive role model for all kiddos which is why I've got no worries having my kids watch! The violence (if you can call it that) is much less than what you'd see on most television shows and blood is rarely shown. When it is, it's mild and only as necessary as the scene dictates. How many shows today can you say that about!
The Brits are absolutely crazy about Doctor Who over there! I'm just one of their crazy American fans that can't get enough! Children in the UK would hide behind the sofa and peek over the top during the scary scenes. I look back at the early episodes and the special effects were hardly special, but no doubt high-tech during their time. It's hard to believe that kids were scared of the show, but they were...and still are today. My kids hide behind the sofa during some of the scarier scenes when we're watching Who! I said that I'm a giant dork and that's no exaggeration when it comes to Doctor Who. The show came back after being on hiatus for several years and I was soooo ready! My oldest son had watched the old VHS tapes of Doctor Who with me, so he was ready too. My youngest son was only a few months old when the show came back, but he was ready too! When he was only 10 months old he'd look at the TV when it would come on, point and yell "Dokka Oooo!" it was as close as he could get to saying it!
He's almost 5 years old now and there are plenty of Doctor Who toys lying around the house and BBC America is a popular channel for the Cayemberg family. Even my husband who despised the older version of the show (before the 2005 revival) calling it "campy" really gets into the new series.
It won't be around forever. The Doctor can regenerate (change his appearance and thus heal when his body has been gravely injured) 12 times which gives him 13 different appearances. Right now the BBC is filming with Doctor #11 and it's as brilliant as ever! You can catch the new season on Netflix (or pretty much daily on BBC America), many of which are available for instant viewing. Some of the older shows are on Netflix as well, but nothing close to all of them.
If you check it out, take the old shows for what they are...cute and creative. The newer Who are so extremely well done they can make you cry! If you'd like a good cry I can suggest several, but "Father's Day" in the new Season 1 is a good one for a cry. You don't need to be a follower of the old series to catch the new one either!
Yes, I sound like an advertisement for Doctor Who. I can't help it....I'm a giant dork! I've posted 3 clips of the show. Just remember when viewing to take it for what it is...science fiction and a fun ride! The first is an old black and white starring the 2nd Doctor, Patrick Troughton. It's actually a pretty good preview, but the volume's a bit low on this clip...
The 2nd is the new series with the newest Doctor. Doctor #11, Matt Smith (just giving a little then and now action!)...
And the last clip BBC America has listed as "The Best of David Tennant". He's my favorite Doctor and Doctor #10 so he's very recent.