by Madeleine Bentley
Attention Whovians! On Oct. 11, BBC confirmed that nine of the infamously lost episodes of Doctor Who from the 1960s were recovered in Nigeria. The British TV show started in November of 1963 as a low budget sci-fi series and has become an icon in British culture. According to some, it changed the genre of British science fiction in a way that is comparable to Star Trek in the US, which began on NBC in 1966. Recently, Doctor Who has gained a huge following in the US. I can remember my friend Julia from the UK being shocked that “Americans watch Doctor Who?!” Granted, she probably isn’t the most die hard Whovian, but she recalls her parents watching the show almost religiously in the 1960s and 70s as kids, and describes how all of her family along with the majority of the UK huddles around the TV on Christmas to watch the Doctor Who special every year. It’s hard to describe the cultural significance of Doctor Who to the UK and the longevity of the show as compared to American TV shows, which are considered lucky if they get more than a few seasons.
In the US, Doctor Who has taken over multi-media websites such as Tumblr and Reddit. After a show airs, the fans take to their computers to vent their frustration, anger, excitement, confusion, or over-the-wall-happiness (usually that their OTP, which stands for One True Pairing, has shared a meaningful look, a rare occurrence in British TV) to their fellow Whovians. The term Whovian, which describes a fan of Doctor Who, emerged rather recently as the show began re-producing episodes regularly after fifteen years in 2005 starring Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor and is used to describe a fan of Doctor Who. Many long-term fans of the “cult” or, to use a more modern term, “fandom” look down on fans who start with the Ninth Doctor. Countless blogs such as “Nerdist” and “Doctor Who Official” have been dedicated to guiding new fans through the slightly complicated timeline of the Doctor, most of which suggest starting with the Ninth Doctor. Although the old Who episodes have their moments and are important for understanding some of the concepts and backstory, many find the story rather slow and the effects, while mediocre for the time, outrageously low budget compared to today’s CGI. Writer Neil Gaiman, who began his Doctor Who writing career in 2011 with “The Doctor’s Wife” starring Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor, said at San Diego Comic-Con 2011:
In the US, Doctor Who has taken over multi-media websites such as Tumblr and Reddit. After a show airs, the fans take to their computers to vent their frustration, anger, excitement, confusion, or over-the-wall-happiness (usually that their OTP, which stands for One True Pairing, has shared a meaningful look, a rare occurrence in British TV) to their fellow Whovians. The term Whovian, which describes a fan of Doctor Who, emerged rather recently as the show began re-producing episodes regularly after fifteen years in 2005 starring Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor and is used to describe a fan of Doctor Who. Many long-term fans of the “cult” or, to use a more modern term, “fandom” look down on fans who start with the Ninth Doctor. Countless blogs such as “Nerdist” and “Doctor Who Official” have been dedicated to guiding new fans through the slightly complicated timeline of the Doctor, most of which suggest starting with the Ninth Doctor. Although the old Who episodes have their moments and are important for understanding some of the concepts and backstory, many find the story rather slow and the effects, while mediocre for the time, outrageously low budget compared to today’s CGI. Writer Neil Gaiman, who began his Doctor Who writing career in 2011 with “The Doctor’s Wife” starring Matt Smith as the Eleventh Doctor, said at San Diego Comic-Con 2011:
People are intimidated. They think that there’s 47 years worth of stuff they need to know before they can enjoy anything. And what you want to say is, No. Look, there is a blue box. It is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. It can go anywhere in time and space and sometimes even where it’s meant to go. And when it turns up there’s a bloke in it called the Doctor and there will be stiff wrong and he will do his best to sort it out and he will probably succeed, because he’s awesome. Now sit down, shut up, and watch “Blink.” |
On Nov. 23 of this year, the worldwide broadcast of the 50th Anniversary episode will begin called “The Day of the Doctor.” Last Friday, I went around the school, asked each class who had watched Doctor Who, and discovered that only 31% of the students considered themselves Whovians. However, the variation between grades was drastically between the 6% of seniors having watched Doctor Who (29% of American students) vs. the 62% of the sixth graders answering with an enthusiastic “YES!” Among my group of friends, I would guestimate that 70% are Whovians, possibly more. From the millions of pieces of fanart to the countless uploaded fanfictions, Doctor Who has become a part of a fascinating subculture within our school and the world.