It’s hard to describe Doctor Who to the uninitiated. Yes, it is about a time travelling alien solving various problems across time and space, but it’s also so much more.
Doctor Who is the longest running television show in history, with fifty six years having passed since it first aired on BBC. What makes Doctor Who unique is the titular character’s ability to ‘regenerate’ when near death: he (and now a she) changes into a wholly different person, allowing for other actors to take up the baton and put their own mark on the legendary character.
There are a variety of reasons why Doctor Who is worth watching. At the center of them is the Doctor herself, who is a cooky, quirky and highly charismatic figure who gallivants across space and time trying to right wrongs wherever she finds them. She is accompanied by human companions, who are each endearing and memorable in their own ways.
The Doctor prefers not to resort to violence, instead using a variety of creative ways to find solutions to the dilemmas she faces.
The Doctor faces a variety of foes, both earthborn and alien, but her most deadliest foes are the Daleks, a race of genetically modified beings encased in metal shells who are hell-bent on exterminating others they see as inferior beings. Other memorable foes include the Cybermen, the Silence and the Weeping Angels.
While there is a lot of wonderful sci-fi goodness to be found in Doctor Who, it’s mostly the strong character dynamics the Doctor has with his companions. One of his companions, Rose, for instance, is a spunky girl from Cardiff who starts to fall for the man, especially when he regenerates into the Tenth Doctor (played by the handsome David Tennant). Another companion, Amy Pond, was visited by the Doctor when she was very little, and as her life progresses, she finds it deeply intertwined with the Doctor’s adventures.
If you haven’t seen any Doctor Who yet, it’s a good idea to start with the show’s reboot in 2005.
Those early few seasons have a weird, anachronistic charm, as they are noticeably low in budget and have very schlocky elements. However, these seasons, helmed by then showrunner Russel T Davies, are rich in character moments, while the latter seasons, helmed by Steven Moffat, ups the ante in terms of intricate, ridiculous sci-fi plots.
Watching Doctor Who is weird, because the Doctor is very, very weird. But she also sees everything with a kind of wide-eyed wonder, and when she looks at humanity, she sees the best of us. Each actor brings something of their own into the role, and the personal journey that each incarnation of the doctor goes through endears you to them by the time they are ready to leave.
Whether it be Christopher Eccleston’s shaken, post traumatic Doctor or Tennant’s confident, manic Time Lord, there is something to love about almost each Doctor.
And that’s why when he says, I don’t want to go, or that I will always remember when the Doctor was me, it hits you right in the heart.
Doctor Who isn’t high art. Some of it is absolutely dumb, and the villains are sometimes downright hilarious. But it does make for engaging television, and sometimes, great long-term storytelling. The story of the Doctor and his wife, River Song, who keep meeting each other in reverse- the first time he meets her is the day she dies- is sweet, full of twists and turns, and poignant.
Sometimes the series loses itself in the tangles of various plot threads, but other times it makes the experience of the Doctor and his companions meeting up with famous historical figures absolutely fantastic.
There’s a poignant moment at the end of one episode where the Doctor takes Van Gogh to the Louvre and shows how well received his work is in modern times, reducing Van Gogh to tears. It’s when the show strikes such genuine emotions it works the best, such as Amy Pond sacrificing herself because she wished to grow old with her husband, Rory, or the Doctor suffering for nine billion years because he wanted to save his companion, Clara.
There are also genuine explorations of the Doctor’s character, such as when he becomes frightfully cold while avoiding his death, or when he goes on one final date with River and strives to be as gentle as possible with her.
At it’s base, Doctor Who is sci-fi, but in truth it can be anything it wants to be. It can be horror, suspense, mystery or even comedy. Furthermore, the change in lead actors and showrunners ensure that things change up drastically over time.
While the stories get creative and inventive over time, what makes them engaging is that at they are, at their core, very human.
Right now, the Doctor is a woman and having adventures with a brand new set of companions. While there has been much backlash about the move, with accusations of catering too much to liberal SJW interests, the show is still ostensibly good and has a promising future. For a show that’s this long running, that’s no small feat!