Television part 1

The next few weeks, I will explain my loves in television. You may find them weird or odd choices, but you see why I love them.

There are few shows that I have come across in my life that just shook me to my core. One of these is Doctor Who.

Yes, I know that this is a sci-fi show. I do not watch sci-fi at all, besides this show. I started watching in 2006 after the Russell T. Davies reboot took off. I got the first series(season to us Americans) on disc from the library. It did not say sci-fi on the label, so I did not have any judgments on it. I was roaming around looking for something new. When I saw BBC on the label, I picked it up. Thanks to PBS, I was hooked onto anything BBC since the age of 10. I got the DVD set home and popped in the first disc. The first episode, called Rose, was about a teenager living a normal life in London until she is cornered by some mannequin aliens in a basement. You don’t see the Doctor until about 15 minutes into the show. He swoops in, grabs her hand, and tells her to run. At first, I thought that this was a cute show about young people living in London and how mundane their lives could be. But when the aliens showed up, I wanted to turn it off. But there was something about Christopher Eccleston that made me want to keep watching. His speech about the Earth and his role in life, he got me. Billie Piper, I had only heard of her through music, so I wanted to see if she could act, so I kept watching. I watched the first episode and didn’t know what to think of it. So I watched 2 more episodes. By the end of the third episode, I was hooked. They got me. The stories, the action, the drama, and the evolution of a love story, they got me. I had completely forgotten about the sci-fi element.

But then, it was the series finale and Eccleston’s final episode. Now, I was a new viewer, so I had no idea about regeneration and how this worked. So, naturally, I was confused. I knew that the show was still running, but if they killed off the main character, the show would be obsolete, right? So he regenerates into David Tennant. I had just gotten used to Eccleston on my screen and there is someone else. Tennant’s first episode was The Christmas Invasion. He was barely used until the end. But whenever he was in the screen, he commanded it. Maybe it was the large eyes, huge smile, or his chemistry with Piper, I don’t know. His first full episode was New Earth. Billie shined in the episode, but David was hilarious. You have to watch it for yourself. You could see that even though it was a new man in the role, the character remained the same. He was suffering and strong until Rose showed up and made him find love and adventure in life.

Series 3 brings a new companion, Martha Jones. I loved her so much. She was a medical student, so she could match the Doctor on some of the science stuff, but she was brass and strong. She had no filter and had no problem standing up for those who couldn’t stand up for themselves. She took on the role of the Doctor when he couldn’t. She was his friend, protector, and teacher. She provided me with a lesson about life that I will never forget. We can hold onto a love for years, and they may never look at me twice. I cannot pine over someone for years and see the right path for my life. If I know that something will not work out, then I must leave it alone. If I know that any relationship that I am in will not work out, it is best to leave that person alone.

Series 4 brought in Donna Noble. She was older than the other companions, and she had so much fire. She could give jabs back to the Doctor if he tried to be smart with her. She brought him back to reality better than anyone. She could make you cry and laugh at the same time. You just have to watch for yourself.

The three women that David Tennant worked with(Billie Piper, Catherine Tate, and Freema Agyeman-see right photo) brought something different to their roles that made the Doctor gain so much knowledge about people and himself. The core message of this show is about how humanity can only work when people from all backgrounds can be kind and honorable with each other.

The show is on series 10 currently. I am excited to see what the 12th Doctor will do. Peter Capaldi is awesome in everything he does, so I am sure that this will be great. He knows how to grab the audience and shake them. He can motivate you, he can make you scream in joy, he can make you cry. This is his final season on the show, so I expect to be balling my eyes out when he regenerates into whoever the next one is.I skipped the 11th Doctor, but I still want you to see these episodes as well. Matt Smith is dynamite. The show was taken in a different direction after Davies left the show in 2009, but it was a good change. The writing was good, and there was so much room for the actors to shine. There were some great cameos from the likes of Mark Sheppard and Alex Kingston(if you watch series 4, you will get this).

Even though this is a kid’s show(I cannot see how this is true), I highly recommend this to everyone. Make sure you start from the Ninth Doctor. People tend to skip him because he only had one season. But go ahead and watch that season first. There are elements from this season in any season after it.