Backstory: I have two Whovian friends that I have been close to for a while. One day a few years ago, Friend #1, Katie, invited me to hang out at her place for a while. After a bit we got bored with the video games, and she said, "Dude, you HAVE to check out this show called Doctor Who. It's really cool."
Thus I watched the first episode of Doctor Who, starring Christopher Eccleston. At the time I was more focused on the fact that mannequins coming to life were totally weird. I didn't pay much attention to what was going on. Things seemed too fast-paced and random for me to keep up. So after that day, I didn't give the show a second thought.
Enter Friend #2, Rachel. I was over at her house after school one day, and Doctor Who was on TV, starring David Tennant. When I asked what the show was and she told me, I was confused. I thought the Doctor was played by someone else. She began explaining things, then proceeded to drag me back to her room where we ended up watching the first three episodes with Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor.
I still didn't get it.
Long story short: over the course of the past four years, I have slowly been watching more of Doctor Who and learning about the regeneration thing and the weird-but-cool relationships with his companions and whatnot. Any time I hung out with Rachel, we watched Doctor Who.
Then the fateful night came. I was at a sleepover with her and she started playing some episodes before she passed out. I was left alone to really watch the show instead of talking and watching at the same time. I got caught up in the story. The episode I was watching happened to be part one of two. I couldn't just leave it hanging like that, so I let the next one play. I was really intrigued. I watched another episode after that...then fell asleep.
The next morning, Rachel, her mom, and I all gathered around to watch the 50th Anniversary episode. It was awesome. I was becoming more and more interested in this show that EVERYONE was talking about. So finally, when I went home that day, I looked up Doctor Who for Dummies on YouTube, which did a much better job of explaining the show than my two friends, who are well-versed Whovians (and I think have forgotten what it was like before they met the Doctor).
Anyway, after watching that video, I decided to give the show another try, and I started back at the first episode. I got a few episodes in before I reverted back to TMNT. (What can I say? I am Mobian and a Shellhead before anything else!)
And then Rachel told me that a new Doctor was coming on Christmas Day. I thought to myself, "Perfect! I can start watching with the new Doctor and just go from there."
Except if there's one thing I've learned in the past few years, it's that Doctor Who is not a show you can skip around in and still understand everything. One must start from the beginning to fully appreciate the plot and characters.
So when BBC released the trailer for the 12th Doctor, I sat down and told myself, "All right. For real. Watch the show from the beginning so you can get to the new Doctor."
Best decision I ever made. (Well, second-best. Well...third-best. First-best was clicking on the video that introduced me to Sonic. Second-best was clicking on the trailer for the TMNT 2012 series.)
July 2014 I began watching the series from the beginning AGAIN. Only this time, I stayed with it. Peter Capaldi seems like he will be an interesting Doctor, and the only way I will be able to understand things when I watch his episodes is if I watch all the episodes leading up to that. No skipping around for me! I finished Series 1 pretty quickly, then started into Series 2 in August. I just finished Series 4.
My thoughts?
I can't believe I never watched this show before! It's really good! No wonder there are so many Whovians.
Considering that Christopher Eccleston was the Doctor for one season, I don't have much to say about him. I liked his darker personality...I mean, he DID just come away from a massive war as the only survivor. I primarily liked watching his relationship with Rose transform him. I can't say that I cried when he left, since I really didn't get to know him that well, but it was still kind of sad because he was the Doctor that started it all for me.
Then David Tennant came in. I was curious to see what the big deal about this actor was. Any time someone asked, "Who's your favorite Doctor?" the answer I heard 90% of the time was David Tennant. I just didn't know why. But holy crap, watching his character development and seeing his ongoing storyline and different companions was really cool. I bawled like a baby when he lost Rose...TWICE!! Seriously! Can the poor guy never get a break?
Then there was Martha. As I explained to my dad, I really liked her exit. She handled it well and left for a good reason. She didn't die or get sent to a parallel world or have her memories erased...she just decided she'd seen enough. Good for her! I can relate.
Donna was really fun. I liked her a lot, mostly because she was never a love interest. She was strictly a friend, and that's exactly what the Doctor wanted/needed. I did feel terrible when she lost all of those memories, but I didn't cry.
David Tennant's exit from the show was one I was dreading...and honestly, I put it off FOREVER. I just didn't want to say goodbye. But alas, I knew I had to do it eventually, so I finally decided to just rip the band-aid off. I finished his last episode less than an hour ago. I have never bawled so much about anything concerning Doctor Who before. "I don't want to go," was the most heartbreaking thing ever. But it was also bittersweet, because in comes Matt Smith, and he's the actor I always considered to be MY Doctor. So while I was crying saying goodbye to David, I was also fangirling over Matt's entrance.
Here we go again! On to Series 5...Geronimo!
Series 1 Favorites:
- 6 - Dalek
- 8 - Father's Day
Series 2 Favorite:
- 3 - Tooth and Claw
Series 3 Favorites:
- 1 - The Runaway Bride
- 2 - Smith and Jones
- 5 - Daleks in Manhattan
- 6 - Evolution of the Daleks
- 8 - 42
Series 4 Favorites:
- 2 - Partners in Crime
- 4 - Planet of the Ood
- 9 - Silence in the Library
- 10 - Forest of the Dead
- 11 - Midnight
- 15 - The Next Doctor
Overall: I love this show. I will miss David Tennant like no other, but I am also super excited for Matt Smith. I will continue to slowly make my way through the series until I am all caught up - then I can watch Peter Capaldi's episodes.
I'd better get on it. Allons-y! :D
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