The Awesome Blog: January 2011

In what is clearly a nerd's blog, I guess this was an eventuality. I mean, there is only so much Batman, Barry Allen, Buffy, movies, etc. before I have to touch on this. If you couldn't guess from this entry's title, I'm talking about Doctor Who.

Whenever I see this, the theme tune plays in my head. And a glorious tune it is...

Now, unfortunately, the majority of America has no clue about Doctor Who. Maybe they've heard it whispered in hushed tones by the pop culture savvy (read: nerds, geeks, and shut-ins), but they don't really know anything about it. For those uneducated in this area, let me give you a quick primer. First and foremost, the main character is not called Doctor Who. He is the Doctor. Just the Doctor. The Who part is a play on words. Example:

Person: "And you are?"

Doctor: "The Doctor."

Person: "Doctor who?"

Doctor: "No, just the Doctor."

He's witty, charismatic, and fun loving. Also, he has been played (canonically) by eleven actors to date (well, twelve, technically...it's complicated, wibly-wobbly, timey-wimey...stuff).

Some brought gravitas...some brought absurdity. Others? Both.

The Doctor is a member of the ancient race known as the Timelords that hail from the planet of Gallifrey. Listen. I know. But it's science fiction. Anyways, the Doctor was always a bit of a rebel, going so far as to steal a TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimension in Space)/TT Capsule, which is a sentient Space/Timeship of Gallifreyan design.

The TARDIS: don't worry, it's bigger on the inside.

Using his TARDIS, the Doctor has traveled through time (and space...obvi) through television/print/audio adventures for damn near 50 years. He often travels with a companion, and sometimes even multiple companions. As he has taken a shine to Earth and the human race, most of his companions are human and act as the eyes of the audience.

Mostly humans, but sometimes aliens & robot dogs. And Kylie Minogue. Love the Minogue.

Not pictured are the newest incarnation of the Doctor's companions, Amy and Rory, who, in continuity, were just recently married. Also, I would be doing the world a great disservice if I did not show a picture of the stunning Karen Gillan, who plays Amy.

Still totally hot while super drunkface.

There is so much history & mythos surrounding the show and the Doctor, himself, that I know I would do him a great disservice if I were to continue. That, and I would be writing for an unnecessarily long time, and I would most certainly lose the interest of all readers before I finish, if I haven't already. Who am I kidding? Nobody reads this to begin with.

Just found a way the show would be even better...Is Jason Segel a Whovian?

Getting back to the task at hand, this article is about my Doctor. And no, I don't mean my PCP or rheumatologist. "My Doctor" is an oft-heard term used by Whovians, or, in my case, N-Whovian (pronounced "nuvian"...a portmanteau that I just created to describe "New Whovians," people who became fans during the most current run of the show...did I just create a new subgroup of Who fans? Probably not.), to describe the Doctor that they most associate their memories with. Old school American fans often consider Tom Baker to be their Doctor, as his stories were the first aired by PBS in 1977. The Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) originally had a few of his stories shown in the US, but they were aired out of order and floundered, so I'm not even counting it. But, yeah, Tom Baker is the Doctor to many older American fans. Hell, my Dad knows who (Who?) Baker is, and he didn't really watch it back in the day.

When I think Tom Baker, it's all scarves & Little Britain.

No, Tom Baker isn't my Doctor. Neither are William Hartnell (the First Doctor) nor Matt Smith (the Eleventh, and current, Doctor). It isn't even Christopher Eccelston, the Ninth Doctor, whose stories were the first complete run that I'd ever seen.

The face of the sole survivor of the Time War.

If he looks familiar to you non-Whovians/N-Whovians (I'm going to make it stick), Mr. Eccelston is, sadly, probably better known in the States as Laird James McCullen Destro XXIV from the childhood murdering atrocity GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra. Though the movie stunk, he was still awesome.

In cartoon Cobra Commander voice: "Doctor, you eeeeeeee-diot!"

No, no. Like many N-Whovians, David Tennant, the Tenth Doctor, is my Doctor. While it seems like the "cool" thing to do, I have my reasons.

My Doctor, risking pneumonia out in that cold...

While the Ninth's story may have been the first that I saw to completion, the Tenth was the star (or should I say, lack of star) of my first Who adventure. If you can't guess which episode I mean by that last sentence, I am talking about the Steven Moffat penned episode Blink, featuring the terrifying-on-an-Alien-level Weeping Angels.

Word to the wise, Sally Sparrow: Don't blink. Don't even blink. Blink and you're dead.

I watched that episode, and just like with Amy Pond, the thought of the Angels stuck in my mind until I could no longer handle it. In the span of about three weeks, I had bought every episode of the new Who that I could. I grinded through the Eccelston-era, gaining a fleeting crush on a pre-Callgirl Billie Piper.

And who wouldn't get on that lechery train?

And then, at the end of the Ninth's run, there it was: the moment of truth...Regeneration! Oh, for those of you who aren't "in the know," the Doctor Regenerates after "dying," an ingenious way of changing lead actors, while keeping continuity firmly in place. In a glorious burst of energy, the Ninth became the Tenth, and David Tennant quickly made the role his own.

Also of note, he put a lot of strange things in his mouth.

Tennant played the Tenth in a way that was light and fun, yet there was a haunted soul behind the fun-loving exterior. And maybe that's why he resonated with me so much. Unlike the gruff, often brooding Ninth, much of my own personality was reflected in the Tenth (well, at least to me). As already stated, he is overtly fun-loving and playful, much like myself. He tries to keep things light, even in the face of serious problems. And yet, you can tell that there is something deep down that haunts him. He keeps his problems corked up, as I do also. Never wanting to burden others, never wanting to ruin anybody else's time. I dig that. I relate.

I also dig the '50's style 3D glasses.

The Tenth & I share more than that, though. We have a fondness for Chuck Taylors. We like having a slack tie with the top button undone. We make up words. Best of all? Tenth & I both have a proclivity for the music of the protopunk Cockney linguist Ian Dury (and the Blockheads, of course).

I have less than zero context for this "Doctor Hoot" picture.

The Tenth's stories were both far reaching and close to home. Far in the past to the extremely distant future. Funny. Frightening. Action-packed & heart-wrenching. They were all these things, and more, especially engrossing. It could be the story of how the Doctor has impacted the life of a young ELO fan (Love & Monsters) or a possibly non-canon short in which the Tenth came face to face with his Doctor (Time Crash).

Getting a bit meta, but Tennant, Moffat, & the Tenth's Doctor was the Fifth.

Unfortunately, all great rides must come to an end.

Spoilers, Sweetie.

After saving the world with his Children of Time during the Series 4 finale, the Tenth was given his swan song by the BBC in the form of a series of bank holiday specials. There he was, alone on multiple adventures, a companion-of-the-day in each, but by that point, it wasn't a secret. By the end, the Tenth would suffer a catastrophe and would regenerate. I had only just really gotten into Who not long before this sad occurrence. And it really hit me. I was just starting to dig it, and my Doctor was being stolen from me? A travesty, to be sure. And who (Who?) is this new guy being thrust into the role? What gives them the right? But, at least I can say that the BBC, Russell T Davies, et all sent the Tenth off in grand fashion. It was heart-wrenching and heart-breaking. It was perfect.

It was also bright. And all glow-y. And stuff.

At episode's end, we were left with a kid with wacky hair & a disheveled suit shouting "Geronimo!" I had my doubts. I hotly anticipated Series 5, though with baited breath. Steven Moffat was taking over for the departing Davies. This Smith guy was taking over for Tennant. I peeked at the production stills and had to admit that I was going to be a fan of the Scottish ging that was to be his companion. It was almost like a full reboot, certainly more so than when Davies restarted the show with Eccelston. There were no ties, other than the TARDIS, the monsters and River Song, to the past Doctors. And yet, it felt right. It was the natural progression of things.

Sure, the Eleventh looks like a Jimmy Olsen/Orville Redenbacher hybrid, but look at Karen Gillan.

While the Eleventh is not, and will never be "my Doctor," he has proven himself a more than adequate replacement for my beloved Tenth. His predilection for trying to pass off essentially "uncool" clothing as "cool" is fantastic. This has ranged from bowties, in the series premiere:

"Bowties are cool."

To fezzes in the season finale:

"I wear a fez now. Fezzes are cool."

And, as seen in the trailer for the upcoming Series 6(!), Stetsons.

"I wear a Stetson now. Stetsons are cool."

Doctor Who's fanbase is growing rapidly in America, which on one hand is awesome, yet, on the other, makes me fearful. I say this because everything that was once a good & nerdy and an "in the know" kind of thing and gets brought into the mainstream gets tarnished, if not outright ruined (see the Green Lantern trailer for an example). I hope my fears will go unfounded. If not, well...at least there's almost a half a century of stories to fall back on.

Eh, like I said, it's all wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey stuff.

If anybody is still reading this, you are probably already a Whovian/N-Whovian. If, for some reason you're still reading this and you aren't, watch the show. Start at the Ninth. Start at the Eleventh. Watch Blink, like me, and work your way back. But give it a chance. Who knows? You might like it (see what I did there?). As Craig Ferguson explained, us nerds love it because in the end, the story is all about "intellect and romance over brute force and cynicism."