Among my accomplishments this summer, I count the conversion of both daughters into Doctor Who fans. This was a big deal to me, because I spent a great deal of my youth watching this man:
That’s the Doctor, played by Tom Baker from 1974 to 1981. I did watch the show after the Doctor regenerated (ie: was replaced by a new actor, Peter Davison). However, the next Doctor never won my heart. Although I can easily recount any number of plotlines that starred Tom Baker, I can’t recall any adventures of Doctor Who when he was played by Peter Davison.
Up until recently, I would have said Tom Baker was MY Doctor.
But then, BBC resurrected the series in 2005 with Christopher Eccleston playing the Doctor. Wow – a tough-looking Doctor in a leather coat! I liked him! But he only lasted one season, and I was sure I wouldn’t take to the new Doctor, David Tennant, and I quit watching the new series in 2006.
But I was wrong. After rediscovering the shows this summer with my daughters, I think David Tennant has become MY Doctor, although the newest one, Matt Smith, is growing on me, too. David Tennant wins for sexy though, because Matt Smith has a funny-shaped face and invisible eyebrows.
And how weird to think of the Doctor as sexy at all? The classic series avoided the subject entirely (which was fine for my teenage self). Although he always traveled with a young female companion, there was never the slightest suggestion of hanky-panky in the TARDIS. But the new Doctor?
Rose Tyler was in love with him, and most fans believe he was in love with her. Martha Jones had an unrequited crush on him, and Amy Pond tried to seduce him when she had cold feet about marrying Rory. River Song claims she had a long term love affair with him, hints they were even married, but it’s her past and his future, so that remains to be seen.
With the TARDIS turning into Peyton Place, it was a breath of fresh air to have Donna Noble on board in Season 4. She was the only companion in the new series not to have the hots for him! Good thing they laid down the ground rules from the start:
The Doctor: …With Martha, like I said, it got… complicated. And that was all my fault. I just want a mate.
Donna: You just want … to mate?!?!
The Doctor: I just want a mate!
Donna: You’re not mating with me, sunshine!!
The Doctor: A mate! I want a mate!
Donna: Well, just as well, cos I’m not having any of that nonsense! You’re just a long streak of nothing! Alien nothing!
The Doctor: Well there we are then.
So, are you a fan of the show? If so, who’s YOUR Doctor?
I LOVED Doctor Who when I was growing up in England. Everyone watched it there. I used to play Doctor Who with my cousins and brother. I was always Jane, mainly because I was the only girl in the group.
But then we moved to the states and that was the end of the show. Are you telling me my family could have still watched it???? We had no idea. We never saw it listed in the TV guide, otherwise we would have watch it. It was a family thing we did in England.
I loved Tom Baker. He was the best Doctor Who.
I just can’t get past the look of that first photo. I remember seeing commercials about the show, but never did watch. (Sorry…)
David Tennant all the way. And Donna Noble is my favorite companion.
I’m learning to like Matt Smith. I still enjoy the show, but he’s not…well, MY doctor. 🙂
Alas, I am deprived. I never watched the show. (gasp!)
If you never watched and have Netflix streaming, you can watch the last three doctors there. I did that and caught up.
David Tennant for me. Did you know he is a Shakespearean actor and decided he was going to be Doctor Who when he was a child? He also married the young woman who played his daughter in one episode.
Matt Smith has a cute quirkiness that he can turn into grim darkness surprisingly well. He’s growing on me too.
hi miss dianne! WHO???? i didnt ever see that show. im gonna look for it and see if i could like it.
…hugs from lenny
Definitely David Tennant. Loved him in that role. Swore I wouldn’t watch anything with the new guy, Matt Smith, but then I harrumphed my way through the first ep with him and I have to say, he’s all right. Time will tell.
I do remember Tom Baker when I was a kid, but I never knew what the heck was going on with that show whenever I watched it. Totally went over my head. It just seemed like a bunch of bad effects and British people freaking out. I think I was merely intrigued by his scarf.
I’ve never watched the show, but I love that little snippet you shared about wanting to mate – how funny!
I’ve never seen Doctor Who. Not one of the serires! I don’t know how this happened- it was just never on television anywhere I happened to be. So what makes the doctor Who so special? I know it has a lot of fans but I have no idea what the main premise of the show is.
That’s hilarious. I’ve only seen a bit here and there of the old show. But I hear about Dr. Who all the time because so many of my friends are rabid fans.
I only know Tennant as the Doctor and I haven’t seen the whole series. maybe I should rent it on netflix?