Doctor Who

Recently I started watching the 'new' Doctor Who, created by the BBC in 2005.  It's on Netflix and it starts at 'season one', which made me laugh because we all know that's not the true starting point, Doctor Who has been around FOR-EVERRRRR *echo, echo, echo*.

Doctor Who used to fascinate me as a kid back in the 80's--though I would never have called myself a 'fan'.

I grew up (and still live) in Ontario, Canada and like a lot of kids, I enjoyed watching cartoons after school and on Saturdays on TV.  I'd watch the usual mainstream fare: Scooby/Scrappy Doo, Bugs Bunny, The Smurfs, etc. But sometimes I'd switch to this local station called TVONTARIO to catch The Polka Dot Door or Paddington Bear or Simon In The Land of Chalk Drawings or something...but then I'd find, to my dismay...oh no...

Doctor Who was on instead!



Back in the old days, sonny, they didn't show children's programming 24/7. Cartoons were on Saturday mornings until noon and for a few hours after school. During that time, I had the choice of a few channels. There was none of this 'TV On Demand'. So I had to watch whatever was offered, or turn the TV off.

That's how I came to watch Doctor Who. Grudgingly. But with a growing respect...

Recall: this was the (fabulous) Tom Baker period. He of the wild eye, big hair, big teeth, floppy hat and techno-colour Super Long Scarf.

'I'm on my tenth cup of coffee!'

Oh yes, that scarf! It had all the colours of the 70's (red, gold, brown, avocado green). The entire decade knitted up nicely.

The sets, as you'll recall, looked like they'd been stolen from a high-school theatre department. The special effects were often psychedelic, the actors spoke in exotic (to me) British...and all the while The Doctor strode around grinning manically, acting decisively but with a jittery effervesce--like a professor who's had too much caffeine.

'What the heck???'

My reaction to a Doctor Who episode was usually...What The Heck???? There was nothing like it on my television, except perhaps the Ontario-born The Hilarious House of Frightenstein (to which I had similar reactions).

It didn't help that TVONTARIO did not show Doctor Who episodes in order (as I recall). When an episode came on, it could be the beginning, middle or end of a larger story arc. I would watch the slotted 25 minutes-- and then, nine times out of ten, a new, totally different show would come on and I would be left hanging, wondering what happened next to the Doctor and Co. This being decades ago, and before the internet, I had no way of finding out the ending! Thus, no conclusion for me. No resolution! How maddening!

Curse you Doctor Who! And Curse You TVONTARIO!

Thus, Doctor Who in my past is a lot about frustration. I would get hooked on story--and then be denied. How cruel! And it happened almost every time I watched it. So--why oh why did I continue to watch it? Why bother to commit?

I wonder about that now. It wasn't just boredom or a lack of alternatives. I could've changed the channel. I couldn't gotten up and left. But, after that initial belly drop of 'oh no, it's Doctor Who',  I'd stick it out. I'd watch it. And be strangely fascinated in spite of myself.

Maybe I was in awe at its brazen imagination. They were gamely tossing down strange and wild plot lines and barreling through them with glee--I mean, time travel on its own is a pretty heady concept for a 10-12 year old. Add to that odd alien names and tin cans with big pimples screeching EXTERMINATE...It was amazing. They were just doing it and throwing caution to the wind.

'Come here often?'

Then there were the creepy bits...the eerie music and spooky special effects, and moments of growing dread....There was an adult-like level of communication. These weren't really kid shows, after all. But kids watched them, and the stories treated us like we had a brain and could use it. They assumed my emotions could handle it.  It respected me...and I (grudgingly) respected it.

And lets not forget The Doctor's almost uncontrollable joy at the magnitude of the universe. That was an addictive, infectious point of view--and one that seemed utterly unique to television.

So...reflecting on these (possible) childhood reactions, I approached the 'new' Doctor Who on Netflix with some trepidation. How would these 'new' doctors compare with the irreplaceable Tom Baker? Would the show express the same glee? The same imagination?

Thus far, I think, overall, they've captured the spirit and the essence...I just finished Ep. 9/10 (The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances) and those are plenty creepy and strange (*Mummy, are you my mummy?*). But something's missing. The cliffhangers are gone, obviously, because these are now mostly 'single episode'... even double episodes can be resolved with a click of the Netflix 'play' button. So I'm no longer frustrated by a non-ending.

But. No. It's more than that. It must be something embedded in my younger self. Since then, I've seen and read a lot of science fiction. My mind has been expanded.  And while I might be impressed these days by a phrase, an idea, a characterization, a plot point, I just do not feel the awe--the startling, ambivalent awe at turning to channel 2 to find The Doctor grinning in his minimalist TARDIS interior.

That feeling just isn't there this go around.