D is for Doctor Who

A little over a year ago, I knew very little about Doctor Who. I knew it was a television show, I had heard the name in pop culture references, and that there was some kind of blue phone booth involved. Beyond that, I always thought, “Not a show for me.”

This is one of those situations where I couldn’t be happier to be proven wrong.

If you were to look at my Netflix history over the last year you’d see a lot of Pokemon (not me, my kids, I swear) and a lot of Doctor Who. I’ve burned through most of the catalogue, with just a few episodes left of the seventh season as I write this post.

The show originally started in 1963 telling stories of The Doctor, from an alien race known as the Time Lords, as he ventures around time and space in his ship called the TARDIS. That’s the thing that looks like a phone booth, but it’s much bigger on the inside.

The original actor to play The Doctor was William Hartnell. After a few years in the role, Hartnell’s health started to decline and he was becoming increasingly more difficult to work with each episode. That’s when the show’s creators came up with something brilliant: regeneration.

Time Lords have this little trick, a way of cheating death, and it’s called regeneration. Under the strain of what would kill any normal human, The Doctor’s regenerative abilities kick in to completely heal him, but there’s a stipulation. As the ninth Doctor says, “It’s a bit dodgy, this process.”

After regeneration, The Doctor looks like a completely different person complete with a new personality. The tenth Doctor explained that it was like he was dying a new man would be taking his place. We see that as viewers as a different actor takes over after each regeneration.

On the business side, this is brilliant. No actor could ever threaten to leave the show if demands aren’t met, and there’s no reason for an actor to stay “trapped” in a role if he feels limited. There’s no reason why the show would never need to end. At least not due to an actor situation.

Daleks, Cybermen, Weeping Angels, Amy Pond. I could go on for pages about Doctor Who, but let’s consider this an intro into the show and end there. There’s one main question any Doctor Who fan will be wondering of me. Matt Smith is my favorite.

Check back Monday for the next post in my A to Z blogging challenge. It should be exciting. EEEEEEE!