Doctor Who

For as long as I can remember, I've heard about the good Doctor, references, inside jokes and the like. Such as "Real Daleks don't climb stairs, they flatten the building".

The quandary was this: Where do I begin, with thousands of episodes aired? I was afraid of getting myself into something deep, dense, voluminous and possibly repetitive, impossible to get back out of.

The very simple yet belated answer was, of course, by accident.

On one of those sleepless nights, flipping channels, I saw astronauts in a Victorian library, and was immediately intrigued by the weird homage to Kubrick. Before the commercial break, I was treated to electronic ghosts and invisible floating piranhas.

Then this absolute beauty comes up, I paraphrase - "You've been living in a computer simulation, your physical body is elsewhere" - "But I've been dieting"

Bleak, subtle and sophisticated humor? Check, and count me in.

As it turned out, I had stumbled into the middle of a Sy-Fy Channel short marathon of Doctor Who. I resisted going to sleep until the damn thing ended five or six episodes later, at ten in the morning.

What wildly imaginative premises, what a high-quality level of writing, what a gem this is! There is serious brain-power at work here, courtesy of the BBC yet again, on a continuing heroic mission to sacrifice short-term profit for long-term legacy. As evidence, I present "Monty Python's Flying Circus", "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy", "The Singing Detective", "Brideshead Revisited".

From what little I've seen in half of a short marathon, Doctor Who deserves a ten out of ten.

Seasons 1 through 10 are brilliant overall. Seasons 11 and 12 are so awful that they might as well be a different show altogether. From 2018 onwards, the vibes and tone are just plain wrong. Don't even bother watching any episodes post-2017.

I am one of the millions that have stopped watching it, and I have no joy in saying that, but under Chris Chibnall's course this show has become a laughing stock. The first episode attracted 10+ million viewers, that number has now sunk to less than 4 million. If I lost 60% of my customers I would be out of business, why hasn't there been an announcement that Chris and Jodie are leaving?

I would class the Chibnall era as 1/10, the episodes are unwatchable, Resolution was enough for me. Prior to that we had Capaldi, not my favourite, but in comparison he was good. The Tennant and Smith years were the greatest, as a family we'd have pizza and make an evening of it, now we just enjoy the DVDs.

Please BBC listen to your viewers, give us back Doctor Who, before Chibnall wrecks nearly sixty years of history.

It seems that there is a huge diversity in the reaction to this show. Fortunately for the IL' Doc, I think this means he will be around for awhile again. I have seen "Rose," The first episode in the revamped BBC series, and I have to say I am thrilled. The majority of the negative reviews seem to be coming from ultra-die hard Whovians. I myself was a giant DR.Who nerd in my younger years. I had a subscription to Dr.Who magazine, I sent Tom Baker a letter when I was 10 years old, (I still have the autograph he sent me back, thank you Tom!)My grandmother knitted me an eight foot long scarf etc..etc..

I could tell you who Roger Delgado is and why when he looked like Geoffery Beevers he really wanted to go on Holiday to Traken.

In early 1984 when I was 8 years old, I met the Doctor and his friends Sarah and Harry. It was at midnight in Arizona on a black in white television that was barely 10 inches wide. I was transported to somewhere I had never been and have never been since. It was like Peter Pan taking you to Neverland. Anyone who met Doctor Who at such an early age will agree with me that the magic was that vivid and so real that you felt you were right there side by side with those characters.

As I grew up, I grew out of it. Real life takes a hold, and while Perpugilliam Brown was amazing to stare at, it became a lot more important to go talk to a girl in person on a Saturday night than stay home by the time 16 years old came around.

A passing interest in Sylv and Sophie was there, but ultimately, Puff the magic dragon let out a mighty roar because this Jackie Paper had grown up.

Having said that, I watched "Rose" with two hats. The former obsessive fan with the critical eye, and the adult who wanted to be whisked away by Pan again.

I feel the show succeeds in the latter department. I had a huge smile on my face the entire 45 minutes, and if I had to guess, this show is going to capture the fancy of a lot of young ones, and even though Doctor Who was always my best friend, I'm ready to share him with the people who he was made for in the first place. Thank you Russell and welcome back Doc!

Doctor Who was at it's absolute peak with Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant and Matt Smith. The stories from each season connected beautifully, the cast was memorable and the story was much more creative than it is now.