BW Media Spotlight

the alternate 8th Doctor

I think it was some time in 1984 that a friend of mine told us about a science fiction show he saw on PBS called Doctor Who that he said was really good. At the time it aired when my family was eating dinner and the VCR wasn’t an option, so it took some time before I finally got to see an episode, and longer before I was able to watch it regularly, when TV schedules and eating schedules didn’t overlap. Once I got to see it regularly, I was in. It was a great show, the TARDIS was cool, and he had a robot dog for awhile. K9 is still my favorite Companion.

I also liked how malleable a show it was, even for sci-fi. That’s one of the reasons I’m such a huge fan of the genre: sci-fi can be or imitate any other fiction and when done well does so seamlessly. I’m one of the few people who likes the episode “Black Orchid” because even though the only sci-fi element were the time travelers, most of whom were from space, doing a simple and strange murder mystery didn’t feel out of place to me. Then they just went back to dealing with the usual cyborgs, monsters, and near godlike beings as usual. Each serial was a different adventure, with continuity coming from being the same people going to the next adventure or transitioning to new characters and new Doctors. Regeneration also kept the Doctor himself fresh.

I was disappointed when it ended, especially since my local PBS station ended on “Dragonfire”, Ace’s debut and Mel’s departure, when I knew more episodes were being made in the UK. Even that I only saw in a final marathon of Seventh Doctor episodes. I enjoyed the TV movie, but because Fox did their usual whammy on sci-fi (I’m surprised The Orville made it past season one), it didn’t go further than that.

Then the new series was announced. AND it would air on The Sci-Fi Channel, meaning I’d actually be able to watch it! I was looking forward to seeing what this new Doctor and new adventure would be like. “Disappointed” is too strong a word given how we use it, but on a technical level it’s not wrong, either. There was a certain charm lost in the hour long non-serials with a bigger budget and seasonal story arcs. Still, I enjoyed enough of it to keep watching until events kept me away from seeing past Peter Capaldi’s debut episode, catching the occasional moment but not getting to see the full thing. I finally got to start watching again with Jodie Whitaker’s debut, and that’s when the real disappointment again, and as I predicted what I’ve heard about the specials right up to the most recent one, “The Church On Ruby Road”, I’m kind of done. NO, NOT BECAUSE OF THE GAY DOCTOR, although the way it’s been done can join the list of reasons why I never got into New Who and why Neo Who, as Harbo Wholmes called it in this morning’s video, was the fork that got stuck in me. All I’ve seen is the club scene and the line about a “long, hot summer” with Harry Houdini. Not that this series cares he was married to a woman because the show created to teach history to kids now can’t even get Isaac Newton’s race right because politics. However, as I’ll be trying to make clear, it’s been a long time coming…and yet I’m still not all the way out of this franchise. Grab a seat and a decent monitor, folks. We’re going to be awhile and sorry if this posts late tonight. It’s been one of those days.

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