Memoirs of a Whovian

Around a month ago I was struggling trying to get to sleep. After realizing that I was fighting a losing battle, I turned on the television and flipped through the stations. Lo to my surprise, I came upon a Doctor Who show. I thought that this series was canceled years ago. I guess I was wrong and am glad about it.

In a nutshell Doctor Who-one of the longest-running science fiction shows-"is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a mysterious alien time-traveller known as "the Doctor" who travels in his space and time-ship, the TARDIS, which appears from the exterior to be a blue 1950s police box. With his companions, he explores time and space, solving problems, facing monsters and righting wrongs." (www.wikipedia.org)

I first was introduced to the British Science Fiction show in the fall of 1984, I had an English professor who sparked my interest with the show. He was enthusiastic about the program and was not shy in letting people know. Just hearing how enthralled he was, made me want to start watching Doctor Who. Unfortunately, I could not find any television stations playing this show.

In the summer of 1985, I was walking in the downtown area where I lived. I passed a comic book store and I noticed a sign: "Doctor Who Books Sold Here!" I new I needed to check that out. The next day I returned and brought my first book. I read it in one night. I could not put that book down. So I kept going back and buying more books.

Finally, in the summer of 1987, our local PBS station started showing Doctor Who. Finally, I had the chance to watch the shows. What surprised me was that my dad loved Doctor Who also. Normally we never had much in common; he hated the type of music I listened too and the television shows I watched. What he liked I found boring. Now we shared a common interest; we made plans to keep the television reserved for our show.

Unfortunately, Doctor Who, because of decline in viewership, was canceled. This was a major disappointment, especially to my father and me. Our PBS station also stopped showing the show. Once in a while, we would find an episode late at night. However, it was the same as watching the program every night at 6:00.

Well I am happy to say that Doctor Who is back. In fact, it was relaunched in 2005. By restructuring the shows to meet the audience's wants and demands, this show is targeting a younger audience and well as the original Doctor Who fans. I believe that Doctor Who will be around for a while.

Doctor Who can be found on BBC America. David Tennant (he played Barty Crouch Junior in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) portrays the tenth Doctor. Check your listings for show times.

Reference: www.wikipedia.org