i heart Dr. Who
When I was growing up, our local PBS station would broadcast the adventures of Dr. Who, featuring Tom Baker as the Doctor. The serialized adventures were edited into complete movies, lasting anywhere from one hour to three, shown every Saturday night. My father spent hours aligning our antenna, trying to find the best direction to increase reception, so we could enjoy the Doctor’s adventures in time and space.
At some point, when I was in college, not watching or paying much attention to television, Dr. Who was cancelled. I didn’t notice, or miss it, until sometime in the late 90’s, a very lame Americanized version was broadcast on Fox. There was only one episode, and it was not good. It didn’t feel British.
When it was announced that a new Dr. Who was coming in 2005, I was skeptical, but I watched it. The first season was not great - the writing was kind of bad in some episodes - but the show felt right, despite the many lapses in logic. It had that British feel, and Chrispher Eccleston’s characterization of the Doctor, as the loneliest man in the universe, had a poetry to it.
The second season of the new series was even better, with David Tennant stepping into the role, with consistently better writing, and I have to say now that the third season is just totally amazing. Each episode is better than the last, leaving me on the edge of my seat. I feel like a kid again.
In fact, I have to say that the best thing to happen to me in the past month has been watching this show. (Yes, my life is so pathetic that WATCHING A TV SERIES is now the most important thing in it.) (Actually, I am probably not alone in this sad lifestyle.)
I absolutely love the third season of Dr. Who. It’s brought back my fond childhood memories and made them even better (like we all wished that the Star Wars prequels would have done). I hope there are a lot of young kids out there watching, and I hope that twenty years from now, the Doctor’s adventures are still being broadcast.
