Friday, August 7, 2015

Closet Whovian


Day 298: A couple of months ago, I caved in to peer pressure and started watching Doctor Who, beginning with the 2005 series. I had some background on the premise and wasn't sure how I was going to take to a show where the main character changed rather frequently, and grilled my friend Kevin as to whether or not subsequent actors were able to successfully portray enough personality traits to make it believable. On his assurance that I would "see" the Doctor in each regeneration and that the one villain I knew something about would recur, I decided to give it a go. I am happy to say the series did not disappoint. I liked Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor and had no trouble adjusting to David Tennant's assumption of the role. Best of all, there were Daleks: "Exterminate! Exterminate!"

Now this is quite a leap for an old Trekkie. Initially, I had a hard time believing that any series could hold a candle to Star Trek, but my other favourite (Farscape) proved to be a strong competitor for my loyalties. I liked the fact that Farscape's story was an on-going one, unlike Trek's stand-alone episodes. Many of the episodes of Doctor Who appear to be isolated stories, but subtle hints dropped here and there begin to stack up to a larger plot. I haven't quite pulled Farscape down from its pre-eminent position nor dropped ST:TNG below second place, but Doctor Who is definitely running a strong third. I will save judgment until I've survived another regeneration. For right now, I'll say that David Tennant's "slightly mad from having seen and done so much" Doctor will be hard to lose.

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