by David Furritus

Created on: August 12, 2007   Last Updated: August 16, 2008

Doctor Who will always be an important part of my life.

The show is timeless (no pun intended) and is without a doubt the most successful sci-fi franchise ever created (all of the Star Treks combined still can't add up to the number of seasons Doctor Who was on the air). It found a way to tackle moder issues with a quirky British flair.

In the early years (the 60s and 70s) the show suffered from the same problem most BBC shows had: no budget. The sets were cheesy and obviously cardboard and the makeup was laughable at best. As a result, they had to make sure that the writing was top notch so that people could suspend their disbelief and enjoy the show. They did and the show worked. Despite being in black and white and having a rather young cast (save, the Doctor, of course who was quite old at the time) it appealed to all ages. Unfortunately, the first actor the played The Doctor, William Hartnell was aging and unable to continue to play the role so the writers came up with the brilliant idea of having The Doctor "regenerate" whenever his body grew to old or frail. This opened the door to keep the character alive even when the actor was no longer available. Over the years the show would have seven different actors ranging from old and venerable grandfather types to young and more charismatic actors that appealed to the younger audiences.

As stated before, The Doctor was a Timelord hailing from the planet Galifrey. The Timelords' job was to maintain order throughout time and space. The Doctor wasn't a big fan of these rules and went renegade. Helping him travel through time and space is his "Tardis" (an acronym for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space). It's supposed to blend in with the surroundings, but for some reason its chameleon circuit was broken and it looks like a 1960s era Police Box. It's a lot bigger on the inside than the outside (it's said to have infinite space inside), and on many occasions there have been many rooms shown (bedrooms, long endless corridors, and even gardens).

Along with The Doctor, he usually had a companion or two (or three, or four) in tow. In the first few seasons it was his granddaughter and two of her teachers. Over the years, he's had a few hyper-intelligent children, a flight attendant, a random alien or two (that looked human, of course), a Timelady (that regenerated so that she would be played by two actresses), and a robot dog with the highly imaginative name of K9. They usually were able to play off his personality well

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>