Doctor Who?

Want to get into Doctor Who, but don't know where to start?

Trying to get your friends into it, but can't seem to get them to commit?

Started the show, but not sure what the heck is going on?

This two part series is for you!

What I am NOT going to do, is drown you with every last fact and detail. I promise! This show is approaching it's 50th anniversary making it the longest running Science Fiction TV show ever; there would be way too much to cover! Side note, I'm sure that we have Battle Star Galactica, Star Trek, and Star Wars today all thanks to this highly original pioneering show, much like we have JRR Tolkien's Lord of The Rings to thank for our modern fantasy genre. 

Part One of this series will cover the Doctor himself and what we need to know. Part Two will include practical guides to figuring out where the best place is for you to start the show, a guide for those who are unsure and want to perhaps sample it a bit, and a guide to introducing friends to the show.

First and foremost, the vitals! 

The essentials! 

The crucial bits to know about the Doctor to get the gist of the show! 

WHO is Doctor Who?!! We don't really know. That's kinda the main question. He's just generally referred to as The Doctor and occasionally by other things such as The Caretaker. His true identity is a mystery.

What we DO know, and this is VERY important, is that he is not human. He was from the planet Gallifrey, home of the Timelords, until the planet and it's residents (minus The Doctor himself) were destroyed in the The Last Great Time War. Gallifreyans, or Timelords, while looking like any old human, are anything but!

It is crucial to understand the Doctor as a Timelord. While appearing human externally, he actually has two hearts, a vastly superior intellect, and the ability to live a very long life through regeneration. Each time he is about to die he regenerates an entirely new body instead. Timelords have only 13 regenerations. The new body he generates generally has a new personality, an entirely new look, new appearance of age (older or younger), and can also change sex (a new concept to the show). The Doctor is currently in his 11th incarnation, or body. He retains all of his memories and emotions from his entire life's experience through every regeneration, though it is expressed and handled through the filter of his current body's personality. As a Timelord, he is a gaurdian of the Time Vortex, is one of it's very few users, and can understand it's depth, it's laws, and can mentally grasp the entirety of time and space. 

He used to be a Timelord of some prominence before he began his travels. He was even President of Gallifrey during his 4th regeneration. His true passion lies in adventure running away in a TARDIS to explore the universe. He has a very special affinity for Earth and almost always travels with a human friend, often referred to as his companion. He did once travel with a fellow Timelord named Romana. It's his love for humans that often leads him to step in to save the day when troubles arise. 

Onto the TARDIS!!! TARDIS stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. It is the vessel the Doctor uses to travel through the Time Vortex to arrive at his varying destinations and times. The TARDIS appears as an English blue police box commonly seen in the early 60's when the show began. Normally, a TARDIS can change it's appearance to fit in with the environs it lands in. However, the Chameleon Circuit of this TARDIS is irreparably broken leaving it stuck in it's last camoflauge. In fact, this TARDIS had been officially put out of action in Gallifrey before the Doctor quite sneakily helped himself to it. Despite it's small appearance externally, it is actually quite huge! Parts of it reside in other dimensions so it's kind of like an incredibly complex scientific optical illusion. Internally, it can change itself, renew its control room, change it's layout, change it's vast number of rooms, etc. It's just the outside that is stuck looking the way it does. We (the fans) love it and would't have it any other way!! Most importantly, the TARDIS kind of has a spirit of it's own. You grow to the love the TARDIS just as much as if it was a fully fledged character.

Time!! Time itself has rules. If these laws of time are broken, time itself breaks and can lead to the destruction of the universe itself. There will be moments in the show when the Doctor can NOT go back to a certain point to change events, even if it is to save the day. It's best to just trust the Doctor's knowledge when he doesn't do what we would think could easily solve the problem. It's almost always NEVER that easy. This concept does get explored from time to time. As you watch the show, your understanding of the laws of time will grow, but in the meantime just trust the Doctor. His intention is also generally to travel in time merely to observe without disturbing history or the future. Whatever battles he faces in the time he is in, he solves within that time rather than jumping back or forwards for a solution. This IS important!! Trust him! The laws of time aren't a clear cut black or white matter that can explained easily. Even the Doctor himself could only summarize it as a big ball of wibbley wobbley timey wimey!

Through his travels, we meet many strange alien races. Two races, the Cyberman and the Daleks are his two longest running enemies. The Daleks, however, are his ultimate mortal nemeses. The are bred to be creatures of pure hate and destruction of anything that is not Dalek. They've existed in the show from the very first Doctor. Some new viewers see their design and conclude that the show must be cheap or cheesy, but what should be understood, rather, is that they were first created in the early 60's in order to be appreciated for their long history in science fiction television. That said, they are highly adept killers, difficult to destroy, and should never be underestimated.

There are some traditions of the show to understand as well. The Doctor is traditionally cast as an older man. The current doctor is the youngest ever cast for the role. He is also meant to be somewhat british and should be appreciated for his aspects that reflect british sensibilities. He's not meant to be some typical modern day movie and tv character. There are nuances that reflect the history of the show and it's british roots; this is largely what sets Doctor Who apart from anything else on TV.

That, my dears, are the essentials required to fully grasp the show. If you've already started the show, you'll know what's up! Armed with this information, you should be able to pick up on the little things that come up here and there and keep rolling with it. More to come in the next installment! Watch this space for Part Two next week.

Finally and best of all, Season 7 resumes over the Easter weekend!!!

I'll be back!!

Heather

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