Doctor Who

It is now wonder this show has run for as long as it has. I'm reviewing the classic series only, although why it's split into two I've never fathomed out. Seven actors held the mantle of being the Doctor, credit to William Hartnell, for being the hook, for gripping the initial viewers, and credit to Patrick Troughton for doing the unthinkable and taking over the lead role.

I love how each generation of my friends had a 'Doctor,' and how passionate they felt towards theirs. I grew up with Sylvester as mine, and sadly by then the show was in a huge decline and subsequently ended up being axed.

Purple patch of the show for me Series 13, Tom and Lis on supreme form, fantastic production values, and writing to match, the whole Gothic horror format worked amazingly well. Such a shame that the quality went out of the show during the late eighties for the most part, but there are definite hidden gems in there, Remembrance of the Daleks being a prime example.

I'm sure we all know parts of the series inside out, so doing a general review is quite difficult, all I can say is that I've loved this show since I was young and continue to do so.

Highlights, Caves of Androzani, Genesis of the Daleks, Pyramids of Mars, to name but a few.

Legendary 10/10.

'Dr.Who' was the first television programme I got hooked on. It was 1968, when Patrick Troughton was the incumbent. The story, a repeat of 'Evil Of The Daleks', was the most incredible thing I'd ever seen. Wild horses couldn't have dragged me away from the set at the same time the following week. Dalekmania had passed by then, so I never got my toy, but I did get a Dalek colouring book on Christmas morning, as well as that year's 'Dr.Who' annual. As the '60's gave way to the '70's, my interest in the show intensified as Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker steered a successful course through the choppy seas of T.V. ratings. I started to lose interest in the '80's though, though that was probably my fault for growing up. When it ended in 1989, I wasn't surprised. Now its back - and a whole new generation of children are just as excited about 'Dr.Who' as I was back in 1968 - my enthusiasm has rekindled. We can all look back on the 1963/89 series as 'the classic years' even though as far as I'm concerned they're not over yet.

Doctor Who was my childhood. This show was, and still is, awesome. Right from the start, it was set apart from sci-fi shows at the time. This show was originally intended to be educational. But all that changed one fateful day in 1963. Yes, that's right, I'm talking about... the Daleks.

These monsters were one of the few things from sci-fi that could illicit pure, unadulterated terror in me. Other monsters eventually cropped up over the years, like the Cybermen, Sontarans, Silurians, Sea Devils, the Master, the list goes on...

In short, there is a reason this show has spawned countless spin- offs, a TV movie, and has lasted for 50 years.

It is because it is a staple of British television. Even cancellation couldn't stop this gem.

After 16 years in development hell, barring the aforementioned movie, Doctor Who returned.

`Doctor Who', in a nutshell, is probably the most imaginative show ever created. Initially, it was about an eccentric time-traveller from another planet, who looked human and affected an English manner and style. The interior of his time machine (called a TARDIS) was huge and highly advanced, but the exterior quaintly resembled an English public call box. The Doctor was a self-imposed exile from a race of powerful beings called the Time Lords. The Time Lords observed history, but never interfered with it. This bored the almighty heck out of the Doctor, so he made off with an older TARDIS and decided to see the Universe for himself.

When the original actor who played the Doctor decided to leave the show, the writers came up with the inventive concept of `regeneration'. Whenever the Doctor was close to death, or actually killed, he would `regenerate' into a new body (and persona). The show went through seven highly talented actors in this fashion.

The format of the show was highly adaptable. Didn't like the way the show was going? Just wait two or three years. The style always seemed to change whenever there was a change of Doctor, producer and/or script editor. The series went from educational children's drama to monster show to intelligent adult sci-fi/drama to gothic horror to high camp, et cetera, et cetera, and so forth.

This was a wonderful, imaginative, fun show when it was on. I was sad to see it go.

Doctor Who ran for 26 years, and its last episode was as fresh and imaginative as its first.

The show chronicles the adventures of a time-and-space traveling alien who wanders the universe battling evil conquerors, ruthless corporations, and other exploiters of the innocent and oppressed. Every few weeks, the Doctor would travel to a different planet or time, allowing the show's cast, setting, and tone to constantly change. Even the Doctor himself was periodically replaced by a new actor, "regenerating" his body whenever he was on the verge of death. This format gave the show an amazing freshness and allowed it to last for over a quarter of a century without becoming stale.

Since the show's cancellation, Doctor Who has been sustained by hundreds of books and radio shows. Although the concept is beginning to seem a bit old now, great "Who" stories are still coming out all the time.

Television remains the ultimate format for Doctor Who, however, and the series has something to offer for just about everyone. The early episodes, starring William Hartnell, were mysterious and realistic in tone, and are terribly underrated by the show's fans. Tom Baker, the most popular Doctor internationally, had a succession of wild and colorful adventures that are more entertaining and a lot funnier than most of the sitcoms on TV today. In its dying days, when Sylvester McCoy was in the lead role, Doctor Who became highly allegorical and politically charged.

Every Doctor's era has some merit, though some are obviously more inspired than others. In the early 70s and early 80s in particular, the show suffered from some poor production values and repetitive plots, but even the bad episodes are fun to watch and often redeemed by some strength – good performances, an interesting plot twist, etc.

Lovers of modern, flashy science fiction will probably laugh Doctor Who off the screen because of its modest special effects, but nevertheless it remains one of the most visually inventive TV shows ever made. Episodes like Tomb of the Cybermen and Remembrance of the Daleks contain unforgettable images that stack up to anything Hollywood produced on a 100x bigger budget. If you want to pick the show's visuals apart, you can, but you'll be doing yourself a disservice if you don't suspend your disbelief and allow yourself to be drawn into the Doctor's universe.

I may be in the minority, but I enjoyed the 1996 TV Movie that attempted to resurrect Doctor Who years after its cancellation. I don't buy the argument that Doctor Who couldn't survive in today's big-budget entertainment arena. The intelligence of the X-Men and Spider-Man movies has convinced me that a slick, cerebral version of Doctor Who could be produced today that would be faithful to the not-so-slick, cerebral original. But regardless of whether Doctor Who returns or not, it remains one of the great TV shows of all time. It still wins awards even today, and enjoys widespread popular and critical acclaim. Even Doctor Who's detractors only serve to prove that the show is famous enough to draw criticism!

In short, Doctor Who is smart, fun, and endlessly creative. It has kept me entertained for over fifteen years, and my enthusiasm for it has barely waned. Science fiction is in a dumb rut right now, so you could do a lot worse than look back at this show, one of the genre's crowning achievements.