Call me a nerd, call me an anglophile, call me what you like. I love Doctor Who.
The show returns to BBC America this Saturday at 9pm, and audiences could not be more excited. The series, already a hit in Britain, has gained popularity in the United States within the past few years. It is outlandish and often silly, but well worth the spotlight.
For those not familiar with the show, Doctor Who is a long-running British science-fiction program. It’s about a humanoid alien (the Doctor) who flies across ages and galaxies in the TARDIS, a ship shaped like a blue 1960s police telephone box. The Doctor is traditionally accompanied by a human companion, usually female, who follows him around on all sorts of wild adventures. Every couple of years he “regenerates;” he dies and is reborn again as a new actor, allowing the cast to be replenished and the show to go on even after the lead actor wants to move on to new projects.
Doctor Who is often undeniably camp. It originally ran from 1963 and 1989, and was resurrected for modern audiences in 2005. Much of its canon—its villains and concepts—come from a simpler time when tin robots were scary and special effects included a light switch and a fog machine. Hence, there are corny sequences and stories some weeks.
So why should any casual viewer pick up with this season of Doctor Who?
The show returned to television in 2005, dubbing that year “Season One.” The 2005 series is the usual place for new viewers to start. But viewers with a short attention span can begin now, as well.
Last year Steven Moffat, who wrote some of the show’s best episodes, took the reins as show-runner. He rebuilt the show from the same concept, but with the new and younger cast of Matt Smith and Karen Gillan. What’s more, with Moffat’s direction, the focus of the show has shifted.
While many modern science fiction shows attempt dark, gritty stories to draw in older viewers, Doctor Who doesn’t have to. It already has its audience. Last season’s episodes were more fantastical and imaginative than ever. The Doctor tackled vampires in Venice, evil statues, and the mysterious lodger in the apartment upstairs.
This season holds even more promises: the first episode will feature the Doctor chasing monsters on horseback through Utah’s Monument Valley, and famous British author Neil Gaiman penned a mid-season episode.
A viewer with the most basic knowledge about the show and its concept can tune in and understand what’s going on. And for those hungry for more background information on the show before watching: like every science fiction franchise, it’s got a massive wiki all it’s own.
Doctor Who premiers in the US on BBC America at 9pm on April 23.
