It’s 11 pm. on a Sunday evening in 1984. I’ve just returned home from my job at Papa’s Pizza Place, where I load pizza all night into 500-degree ovens. I’m wired from drinking gallons of pop and goofing around with friends all night. And I’m excited, because the TV is tuned to WTTW channel 11. It’s Doctor Who time!
Sprawled out on the couch in an oregano and sweat infused t-shirt, I’m chugging more pop, probably chowing on some pizza and reveling in the opening theme song. If it’s a good night, it will be Tom Baker, the 4th Doctor, although it really could be any of the 2nd – 4th incarnations. On a few rare occasions, you even get an episode with the first Doctor. I lived for these Sunday nights back then, the episodes were a joy to watch, as campy and cheesy as they sometimes were, and Baker was a master.
The years go by and we get a 5th and 6th Doctor, but I’m now in college and don’t often get to watch much. Eventually WTTW takes Doctor Who off the schedule as the show gets cancelled in the UK. The Doctor fades out of my life like a lost friend. And that, my friends, was a bummer.
It’s 1996, and there’s a made for TV Doctor Who movie. It will have the Timelord’s old nemesis, the Master in it! I’m excited. I watch the US premier, and it’s not the Doctor I remember. Turns out it’s a one-off and the show passes from memory yet again.
The "Modern" Doctor Who returns with the 9th incarnation
Almost a decade later, the Doctor gets a reboot with the 9th incarnation. But I have no way of watching it. I hear about it, but life is busy. The show becomes popular again and I begin reading about it all over the place. They say it’s good again. Finally, I get the BBC on my cable package, and I get Netflix hooked up to my Roku box – and I can finally see what the hubbub is all about. I got a chance to see a couple David Tennant episodes, and I was liking what I was seeing. But it wasn’t until I began seeing the Matt Smith episodes on the BBC until I began to really get hooked again.
The 10th Doctor, David Tennant
I know that in recent times, Tennant is spoken of as the greatest modern Doctor – maybe the best of all time. In some ways it’s hard to compare the old vs. the new. I like David Tennant a lot. I’ve watched a handful of episodes (including “The Library” with the first appearance of River Song, and his first incarnation) and they are really great. I’m looking forward to watching more.
What I loved about Tom Baker was that he was Doctor Who. It wasn’t like he was an actor playing Doctor Who, it was like Baker was really him. I know that sounds odd, but a lot of people who love Baker will tell you the same thing. He could be really funny in many ways, but he was just so darn believable amongst all the Styrofoam and plastic scenery. The writing wasn’t always that great, but you could always count on Baker. Moving forward to Matt Smith, that’s exactly the thing I like about him – he IS The Doctor, period. He’s just so believable that he’s actually that person.
Matt Smith as the 11th - and best - Doctor
Sure he’s funny, but it’s more than that. You seem to hang on his every action, and you really believe when he is in trouble, or he is in emotional distress because of Amy, or River or whoever. Not that Tennant wasn’t believable either – he was. But Smith seems to just have that little extra. Plus, he so looks the part. He’s got just an odd enough face, that slim and tall body and wave of hair, he looks the part of a Timelord. The way he whips around the sonic screwdriver, you’d think it actually works!
But maybe the key to Smith is the writing of the series, which is absolutely brilliant. Steven Moffat has put together a run that is just captivating. It’s more than just a jaunt here, a jaunt there – it’s the bigger stories that really keep you engaged. The Silence, River Song, the death of the Doctor – all supremely played out (so far at least.) The episode written by Neil Gaiman (“The Doctor’s Wife”) was brilliant as well, and personifying the Tardis was genius and fun.
Maybe the best thing about all this for me – aside from reconnecting with a show I loved as a teenager – is that my family enjoys it, too! Even my wife, who used to fall asleep bored to the old episodes, has enjoyed the Matt Smith episodes. My daughter Sarah is as hooked as I am, and together we have caught up on all the current episodes except last week’s. I am really looking forward to this weeks installment, and seeing how (spoilers, sweetie, spoilers ahead!) – how the whole issue of River killing the Doctor plays out.
As for revisiting the Tennant episodes – oh yes. I plan on eventually watching the whole run on Netflix. I really like Billie Piper’s character a lot, she’s a great companion. I watched a handful of the Christopher Eccleston episodes already, where she was really good. Eccleston is odd, he doesn’t really look the part, and I didn’t think I would like him, but I actually warmed to him quite fast. He’s different from Tennant and Smith, but he’s good. His last episode was really great, and quite emotional, tying into the first David Tennant episode, where Rose had this close tie to the Doctor who has now changed and she doesn’t quite understand what is happening.
Anyway, I know it’s old news, but Doctor Who is back and I couldn’t be happier! It brings back great memories, and it has already forged some new ones. So who’s your favorite Doctor?
