A Treatise in Defense of ‘Doctor Who’
(Buckle in, my little Nerdlings...)
The strata of nerd-dom is varied and constantly shifting, as the sands in the tide. For the most part, comic books have recently become slightly socially acceptable, moving from dark, dank basements to the big screen. More and more people of all ages are willing to wear T-Shirts emblazoned with Iron Man or the Joker, with suffering serious public ridicule. ‘Star Wars’ has also become mildly popular, especially with indie-kids attempting to assert individuality. ‘Star Trek’ has always remained close to the bottom of the nerd food chain, even thought the recent movie grossed over 2.5 million dollars (its embarrassing apparently, but everyone has seen it, odd). However, to find the lamest of the lame, the saddest of the sad, the absolute pinnacle of the bottom of the nerdy Sci-Fi franchise (at least in the U.S.) one need go no further than ‘Doctor Who’.
For those unaware, ‘Doctor Who’ tells the adventures of an timeless, alien being, called simply, the Doctor, who travels through time and space via a living machine called a Tardis, which appears like an old-fashioned British blue police call box, but in reality, is a shape and size shifting time and space machine, capable of being infinitely large on the inside, while appearing small and innocuous on the outside, which, unfortunately, is just a bit broken. The Doctor is the last of a race of beings called the Time Lords who were travelers who moved through all of existence not only bearing witness, but also acting as a sort of galactic peace keeping force, until they were wiped out in the Last Time War. The Doctor, the sole survivor of the Time Lords now leads a solitary, lonely existence, feared on some planets, legend on others attempting to distract himself from his solitary existence. Along the way, he picks up a constantly rotating entourage of fellow explorers who he finds interesting. Usually, his adventures find him accidentally stumbling across some threat to space an time if not existence as a whole, which he is uniquely qualified to stop.
Yeah, right? What’s embarrassing about that? Well, enter all sorts of alien life, everything from Space Rhinos, to Cybernetic Geonocidal killers to Space Witches feeding off of William Shakespeare, and yeah, you have to love Sci-Fi a bit to even make it through the first few minutes (although the theme song alone is worth it). Funny thing is though, its only mired in social stigma here in the United States, in the United Kingdom, it is one of the ratings box office leaders. Much of the appeal of the show comes down to the actor playing the title role, the Doctor. Using a plot device that allows the Doctor to ‘regenerate’ and grow a new body (face, height, voice, everything) the shows creators/writers have the opportunity to change up the lead actor whenever they want to. The current (the 9th) version of the Doctor is played by David Tennat, who, with most American viewers is probably best known in the U.S. for a bit part in the fourth Harry Potter film as Barty Crouch Junior (the dude who is impersonating Mad Eye Mooney). Tennat plays the Doctor as wise beyond human comprehension, but still completely amused by every situation he encounters, especially ones involving human beings, which he seems particularly proud of and entertained by (he comes across as humanities’ biggest fan). Given the way he runs around, putting things together at the same pace as the viewing audience, and the almost flippant manner in which he deals with issues of existence, life and death, make him likeable and admirable in a role where actors can easily come across as snooty and arrogant. His moments of revalation, where he pulls some obscure piece of his 900 years of life-knowledge out of nowhere as the missing key to the puzzle are ones of pure delight and emotion, usually after one of his companions makes some off-handed comment that is meant to mean nonsensical and humorous.
And then there is the weird, wonderful if not somewhat scary creatures and worlds that each episode showcases. Following is a list of five of the best episodes, with brief synopsis (in no particular order):
- “Love and Monsters” – Season 2 – This whole episode is told as a sort of video blog of a man (played by Marc Warren) who starts a group of like-minded individuals who have encountered the Doctor during one of his escapades. The group eventually falls under the control of a mysterious stranger who has his own plans for the Doctor.
- “The Shakespeare Code” – Season 3 – In this episode, the Doctor and his new companion Martha make a trip back to Renaissance England and meet William Shakespeare who is working hard on his (and this bit is true) long-lost sequel to Love’s Labor’s Lost. Unfortunately, he is being unwittingly manipulated by a trio of witch-like aliens whose science is so advanced it appears like magic.
- “Blink” – Season 3 – This is another episode in which the Doctor doesn’t actually appear much, in fact, for most of the episode he just shows up on TV screens as an Easter Egg DVD bonus. In the episode a girl is being hunted by aliens who appear as stone angel statues only when looked directly upon. If one looks away, or even blinks, the angel killers can move.
- “The Empty Child” & “The Doctor Dances” – Season 1 – In this two part story, the Doctor and his companion, Rose, find themselves in London during the Blitz of WWII. While there, they encounter another time traveler, Capt. Jack Harkness, who has much cheesy bravado, he is impossible not to like. In this setting, an odd creature who appears to be a child in a gas mask is terrorizing the night, transforming all those he encounters. Spookily, all the creature states, repeatedly, is the question “Are you my Mommy?”
- “Partners in Time” – Season 4 – In this episode, the Doctor is reunited with one of his past companions, the loud, annoying Donna Nobel. Both the Doctor and Donna find themselves investiaging the same alien plot on Earth, unknowing that the other is involved. This stands as a great example of how funny the show can be, even when using Science Fiction as a genre. Even the aliens themselves, tiny cute anthropomorphized blobs of fat are adorable, if not gross.
Other episodes that merit attention include: “The Girl in the Fireplace” (Season 3), “School Renunion” (Season 2), “Gridlock” (Season 3) and too many others to list.
The last four season feature a veritable who’s who of modern British actors, everyone from Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead) to Anthony Stewart Head (Buffy, the Vampire Slayer) to Alex Kingston (ER) to Derek Jacobi (seriously, you don’t know who that is?!). The recent episodes have seen the resurrection of many of the classic Dr. Who villains from the Master to the Daleks to the Cybermen. Another of the show’s more possitive qualities is its ablity to build its own mythology and play off it. Season four saw references back to season one, and each of seasons has a way of bringing back characters through the show’s history and continuity. In fact, because of the attention to detail and continuity the re-launch of the series has lead to two separate spin off series, one of which “Torchwood” isn’t half bad in its own right.
Although it will never be really T-Shirt or Trapper-Keeper worthy, the show does demand a second look from those of you who dabble in the nerdly ways. Those who don’t well, know your enemy, maybe you’ll accidentally love it. If not, you are soulless and dead inside.
