I know I don't entirely get Doctor Who. There's a British quality to it that doesn't completely come across to Americans. But that's probably also one of the things I like about it.
I stumbled upon the Doctor while channel surfing one day and was intrigued. I'd been dimly aware of the series back in the '80s when a few people I knew were into it. But I was a Trekkie and an American comics fan - I didn't need anything else to make me geeky.
Now take a ride on the TARDIS with me and arrive in the year 2010. I had no idea the series had been revived, but I have an hour to kill, so I watch an episode. It happened to be "Fear Her," with David Tennant as the Doctor and Billie Piper as his companion, Rose.
If you're a Doctor Who fan, those names probably mean the world to you. To me, they were just a couple of Brits.
Still, I like SF, and I liked the dynamic between the Doctor and Rose. And I was startled to learn that the Doctor is called "the Doctor," not "Doctor Who." This last thing may have been what really fueled my obsession.
Slowly, I learned the whole back story of Doctor Who. Over the next few weeks, I learned about and followed the Doctor on BBC America, in the process meeting the new Doctor, Matt Smith, pictured above. I also got hold of all the "series" or seasons of the revived Doctor Who. And I fell in love. I was in love with Rose (just like the Doctor was, even though that's a bit of a taboo subject for serious fans, I understand), and I cried when he lost her. I also cried when the Ninth Doctor transformed into the Tenth, and the Tenth transformed into the Eleventh.
And I love the Doctor. I've also begun to watch episodes of Doctor Who Confidential, the "backstage" series that has been on BBC since the revival. In one of these, Russell T Davies, who was the prime mover behind the revival said the key thing, I think: We love the Doctor because he makes us better people. His personality doesn't always make us love him: Christopher Eccleston was a bit brooding and could be harsh; David Tennant came off a bit manic-depressive sometimes; Matt Smith is quite the absent-minded professor, more concerned about his gadgets than the lives he affects. But the Doctor always shows the people around him that they can do better, and even that they can be great.
One thing I love is how the Doctor is always fascinated with humans. He sees us as overflowing with potential. We mess up a lot. A lot. But we have an uncanny ability to fix our mistakes. A point that has been made more than once in this revived series is that an average human being is the most important thing in the universe. If that's the overall message of almost 50 years of Doctor Who, it's a good one.
