2005 is the year that Doctor Who, after more than a decade’s absence, returned to the small screen. Now currently airing on the Sci Fi Channel, Friday nights at 8 p.m. Central Standard Time; Doctor Who is in its 10th incarnation and warmly embraced by old and new fans alike.
The British series can be confusing for the new viewer who has no idea of who Tom Baker, John Pertwee or Peter Davison are. The show debuted November 23, 1963 and inspired a following that could rival any Star Trek. Doctor Who, while labeled a science fiction series, can also be categoriced as a gothic thriller at times, a comedy at others and in many cases an action-adventure.
However, for those of you who have no idea about who Doctor Who is or what it’s all about – the great thing about this inventive series is that you don’t have to be an old fan to appreciate the show. Here are a few elemental facts that can help you understand the universe of Doctor Who.
The show’s main character is known only as The Doctor. The Doctor is a member of a race of people called The Time Lords and they are from the planet Gallifrey. They have a strict policy of non-interference in universal events that The Doctor flies in the face of, willfully throwing himself into the fray to battle evil.
The Doctor’s main time travel device is a vehicle called a TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimension in Space). The TARDIS often appears as a small item, because the chaemealon circuit they possess will make it reflect something that belongs in that period. That helps the Time Lords to avoid detection. The TARDIS the Doctor uses was damaged during a visit to 1963 Great Britain. As a result, his TARDIS appears as a big blue police box.
There have been multiple actors to fill the role of the Doctor over the last 40+ years. All told, there are ten official Doctors including the current one on Friday nights. Time Lords do not die, per se – when they become old or mortally wounded, they have the ability to regenerate. Thus, the Doctor will have a new apperaance and a slightly new personality. The Doctor will have all of his memories, but his mannerisms may change.
This inventiveness allowed for new actors to come and go as well as to help keep the series fresh. The Doctor often travels with a companion. He loves to have them with him. In the current series, his companion is a girl named Rose and she is played by the delightful Bille Piper.
There are some villains that reappear from time to time in the Doctor Who series, among the most famous are the Daleks, the Master, The Cybermen and the warlike Sontarans. The current Doctor Who is played by a gentleman named Christophere Eccleston. Unfortunately, Mr. Eccleston elected to not continue with Doctor Who so in the 13th and last episode of the current season of Doctor Who, the Doctor will regenerate once more. Season 2 of the new Doctor Who is currently airing on the BBC in England.
That brings you up to date with the new Doctor Who and I’ll be sure to throw in more tidbits as time progresses and we begin to review the latest episodes that aired the previous Friday.