My first introduction to Doctor Who came whilst I was channel hopping; it was early 2007 and I was looking for something to watch when I came across a re-run of ‘The Girl in the Fireplace’ from Series 2, One of David Tennant’s early episodes. Initially I just left it on for a bit of background noise but found that it really held my interest, it was clever, funny and I didn’t stop thinking about it for hours after. The next morning I found myself still thinking about it while out at a Car Boot Sale in my local area, so when I spotted a Doctor Who DVD for sale I didn’t hesitate before picking it up. The disc I bought was Series 2 Volume 4, usually I am not the type of person to throw myself into a series from somewhere around the middle but I was hooked and the impulse was too strong. A few days later, having devoured my new episodes, I went out and bought Series 1 and 2 and watched every episode, one after the other.
As time went on I began to buy toys, magazines and audio dramas trying to satisfy my hunger for Who, to this day I still remember the feeling of embarrassment and liberation combined that came with walking up to the till point to buy my first Sonic Screwdriver. It was then that I realised that I was a Whovian and I haven’t looked back.
As my love of the Doctor and his adventures grew I branched out, delving into the classic series and developing a friendship with my favourite Doctor, Jon Pertwee. Being born in 1986 I just missed out on the show’s 80s airings I am ashamed to say that it really did take me a long time to get into Doctor Who but I was always aware of the Doctor as a child. Who didn’t know who the Daleks were? And living in Kent I had seen Tom Baker around the train station in the past, but that was the depth of my knowledge until that fateful day in 2007.
I am no stranger to fandoms, I was a geeky child and have grown into an adult just as geeky. As a child I frequented local comic shops, visited Sci-fi and toy shows and I had quite a reasonable collection of Star Wars figures and a cultivated love of comic books which I have now nurtured into my late 20s. I am a huge fan of classic cinema, I loved the puppetry, the basic effects and the passion of the film makers put into every project. It’s hard for a child brought up on the original Star Wars trilogy to see a franchise that they love become a bit of a joke, watching the much loved puppets be replaced with cold CGI animation and over the top CGI stunts. It is this disappointment from my youth that I think really sold Doctor Who for me.
I am sure there are people all over the world scratching their heads and wondering why the Doctor has stood the test of time. The answer is obvious to me; Doctor Who is story driven, it doesn’t underestimate the intelligence of children and it awakens the imagination in the same way the early Star Wars films did for me. It has never been about the big sets or the action; it is about the story, the relationships and the underlying messages. This became more and more obvious to me as I ploughed my way through episodes featuring the first two doctors, William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton, there was no denying it, the show was very much recognisable and easily comparable to the show today and that is the magic of the Doctor and his adventures in time and space.
It’s now very difficult to imagine my life without the Doctor, it has influenced me and mine many times in many ways and sharing my love for it with my girlfriend has only fortified our relationship. This blog is my love letter to Doctor Who, I see this as my opportunity to reach out the fellow fans and discuss my journey with them in the hope that they’ll share theirs with me too. I know others have produced blogs much like this documenting their journey from William Hartnell to Matt Smith, but this is about my journey. After all there is no such thing as too much ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘It’s going to be FANTASTIC’.
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