Doctor Who: The Journey So Far

Doctor Who represented telethons from when I was a teenager. Crazy cheesy stuff I didn't 'get'. little did I know how much history went into them (because at 15 years old, I wasn't paying any attention). I'd attend conventions, talk to people into sci-fi and they'd have a lot to say about Doctor Who and I continued to not understand the appeal. My mind was still on the few rogue episodes I saw with Tom Baker. 

Fast forward to something like 2008. I picked up Torchwood Season 1 without having any idea that it was a Doctor Who spinoff. After a few episodes, it became pretty obvious that I was missing something. That's when I watched Season 1 of Doctor Who's reboot. And I really started to understand not only what other people were talking about but what I had missed out on. It started me down a path that culminated to finishing up the David Tennant run as Doctor Who.

Many factors went into getting through Doctor Who for me. First, I really enjoyed John Barrowman as Jack Harkness. Catching up on his interactions with the Doctor, I looked forward to seeing him show up more. I always liked Chris Eccleston as a villain and his other dramatic roles. Despite all of David Tennant's work, the movie that brought him into my radar was the Fright Night remake. That's when I sought him out and looked forward to seeing Season 2 of Doctor Who.

I never anticipated to be deeply moved by Doctor Who or Torchwood. Both have floored me many times with the way they use a short hour to make characters relatable...even people I cared about enough to be sad they were gone. I'd say that the number of episodes I didn't like are so dramatically outweighed by those I thought were amazing. The finales of Seasons 2 and 4 were incredible (admittedly, I thought Season 3's ending was super rushed).

I thought the 4 specials closing out David Tennant's time were amazing. I couldn't imagine them doing it any other way.

There's still a lot to go. I'm three Doctors behind and I've only scratched the surface of Torchwood Season 2.Then I need to go back and watch some of the older Doctor Who seasons (which are available on BritBox). I can say this: even though I haven't finished or caught up, I can say straight up that I get it now. I understand the appeal and passion of fans of the universe they've created here.

It's been an incredible journey and I look forward to pressing on...even if those final words killed me: 'I don't want to go'.

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