DOCTOR WHO

'ello!

I just spent this week watching Doctor Who and loving every second of it.

I focused on the eleventh doctor (Matt Smith) since that's the series that was playing every day and all day on Saturday up until the SEASON PREMIERE (which was amazing but more on that later).

Here are my five top reasons why you should watch Doctor Who.

1. Plot/Story line

This is the first thing I look for in a good TV show: plot. Doctor Who (for those who don't know) is about this man, the Doctor, who turns out to be an alien called a Time Lord that travels in a little blue box through space and time saving the world with various human companions and escaping death through regeneration. In the fifth series (where Matt Smith stars as the Doctor), it's centered around a girl named Amelia "Amy" Pond and a crack in her bedroom wall, later revealed as a crack through time and space. It's a race for the Doctor to find out what the crack is and how to stop it.

This is why I love the plot. It's ridiculous but totally works. Plus, the plot is actually relevant throughout the series up until the grand finale where everything is resolved and it's time for a new beginning. Unlike the anime series Detective Conan or Case Closed, the plot is carried throughout the story and pushes the characters into new troubles and pushes the watchers into new questions.

Another great thing about this series is the fact that it is set in all of space and time: where ever and when ever you want. This creates millions of possibilities of different adventures that are unique and exciting and fulfills every crazy person's imagination of time travel and alien worlds. The writers are amazing at their work; they somehow make the show better and better and more creative with each episode and with each series.

2. Characters (the "Good Guys")

Another thing I look at are the characters. The Doctor is amazingly clever and witty and lovable. He is the last of his race, the Time Lords, and he's forced to live forever, protecting Earth and humankind (possibly to make up for his home, Gallifrey). He's a mad man with a magical box, and everyone loves him for it. He is completely against violence and weapons like guns, and he is only armed with a sonic screwdriver and his TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimensions In Space, his magical blue box). Plus, he's got great quotes, but more on that later.

What's also fantastic are the companions, especially in the fifth series with Amelia "Amy" Pond. She is very strong and very involved in the story line; the entire series and events that happen are revolving around her and it's up to the Doctor to figure out why she's so special. Both her and the Doctor are remarkably great at working together, and you can tell that the actors enjoy their work very much. I know I would.

The other characters (Rory, River Song, etc) have strong and distinct personalities. Every person is unique, and that makes this TV show special.

3. Characters (the "Bad Guys")

There are two groups in this category: the Monsters and the Villains.

The Monsters are like the Weeping Angels in "The Time of Angels" and "Flesh and Stone" that are stone statues until you look away. Then there's the monster in "Vincent and the Doctor" that no one can see except for Vincent van Gogh and is extremely deadly and blind. What's great about the way they portray these monsters is that they are deadly, but you can't hate them. You are terrified of them (possibly enough to hide behind the sofa) because they're all based on a common fear that everyone has (darkness, moving statues, etc), but sometimes, you feel bad for them. They have a reason, whether because like in "Vincent and the Doctor", the blind beast was left behind because of its disability or in "The Hungry Earth" and "Cold Blood", the homoraptilia simply want their home back from the humans so they planned to wipe out the entire race. They're not exactly the kindest monsters in the universe, but they do have heart and the Doctor sees that to know that through peaceful negotiation, there is a way to solve their problems.

The Villains are the Cybermen, the Daleks, and the Master. These are the Doctor's oldest enemies, and he doesn't hate easily. The Cybermen are part human, part robot that want to "improve" the human race by removing emotions and creating a robot race of superiority. The Daleks are the Doctor's oldest and deadliest enemy that live to "exterminate" every race that isn't Dalek and rule the universe since they are "superior." The Daleks show up in every series, and the Doctor is forced to face them over and over again.

The Master is another Time Lord. It is said that he grew mad after looking into the Untempered Schism, a place where young Time Lords can see the time vortex. Since then, he was tortured with the sound of drums tapping four times, like the Time Lord's heart beats (binary vascular system, so two hearts, four beats). In "The End of Time", the Master sacrifices himself to keep the rest of the Time Lords from destroying Earth and escaping the Time Lock (the result of the Time War).

What's great about the villains is that they are truly evil. The Daleks and Cybermen have no emotion or compassion whatsoever, which is both terrifying and dangerous. You can see why they are the Doctor's greatest foes, and that makes their evil believable.

4. Quotes

Doctor Who is a great TV show to quote from. Here are just some examples...

Doctor: It's a fez. I wear fezzes now. Fezzes are cool. ("The Big Bang")

Craig: Where did you learn to cook?
The Doctor: Paris. In the eighteenth century. No, hang on. That's not recent is it? Seventeenth? No no, twentieth. Sorry, I'm not used to doing them in the right order.
Craig: Has anyone ever told you that you're a bit weird?
The Doctor: They never really stop. ("The Lodger")

Doctor: It's a thing in progress! Respect the thing! ("Flesh and Stone")

Doctor: Is this how time normally passes: extremely slow...and in the right order? ("Vincent and the Doctor")

The Doctor: Just popped out to get my special straw. It adds more fizz. ("The Impossible Astronaut")

The Doctor: I'm being extremely clever up here and there's no one to stand around looking impressed! What's the point in having you all? ("The Impossible Astronaut")

Most of them are from the Doctor, but he does have the best funny quotes ever! And yes, there are many, many more.

5. The Experience

The overall experience is amazing. This show feeds on your wildest dreams of time travel and aliens and scares you half to death, enough to hide behind a sofa. There are parts that are peaceful and adorable and others that are terrifying. The monsters are created from common fears (darkness, moving statues, cracks in the wall) but are thwarted almost every time.

The special effects and the story gives the show life. It makes it believable and real, even though time travel probably isn't possible. At least, not yet. But this show gives you something to wish for: your own TARDIS.

Give this show a chance! The new season premiere ("The Impossible Astronaut") is amazing and I can't wait for more! I wish I could spoil it, but that's your job. So go and watch it. Your life will be changed.

~LG607

For more info: Wikipedia