What Doctor Who Means To Me
By Paul Bowler
Well, here we are, the 50th
Anniversary of Doctor Who is almost here. As I write this on a cold rainy
Friday evening, I’m looking forward to the Doctor Who clip that will feature in
Children in Need tonight. Just like everyone else I’ve been tweeting today I’m
really excited about The Day of the Doctor, especially after seeing yesterdays
special min-episode: The Night of the Doctor, were Paul McGann returned as the
eighth Doctor and transformed into John Hurt - The War Doctor!!
So, for this special celebratory
piece I’ve been asked to say what Doctor Who means to me. Well, there’s a
challenge! I could go on for pages and pages about how much I love Doctor Who,
seriously, I could fill a TARDIS with memories and anecdotes. Well, that in
itself might make a good feature or article for another time perhaps, who
knows, but for now I will concentrate on exactly what Doctor Who really means
to me.
For me Doctor Who has been a
constant voyage of discovery, for as long as I can remember, pestering everyone
about those old episodes of Doctor Who I’d vaguely heard about or seen pictures
of in Doctor Who Magazine. Oh my, and what tales of discovery they were: of
Daleks invading London, Cybermen in the sewers, giant spiders that sang “Ohm
Buddy Buddy” and chased the Doctor and a princess around a castle (ok, now I
know that one has really got you scratching your head, it’s a funny story, and
I will tell you it one day, promise), creepy Egyptian Mummies stalking the
woods, and Leela saving the Doctor from a glowing skull. As the stories and
reality begin to collide somewhere in time as we drift through the vortex,
Davros’ cobwebbed hand came back to life, Romana left and took K9 with her, the
Cybermen returned as Adric went splat, there was a Doctor Who team up with
EVERYONE in it, and finally the man in a colourful coat became someone much
darker, who was very good at chess and travelled with a girl who could beat up
Daleks…
The TV Movie that never quite
turned out to be what everyone hoped it would be led to even more books and
more stories, with videos being overtaken by DVD’s as each piece of the past
fell into place like segments of the Key to Time, seeking out those old Target
books, all the while with hope for the future, and a time where one day, one
day, yes one day it would come back… and you know what, it did! Russell T
Davies resurrected Doctor Who and a whole new generation of fans became
enchanted by the magical; wonderful world of a mad man in a blue box.
My favourite Doctor is Tom Baker,
his marvellous bohemian incarnation of the fourth Doctor is just brilliant, but
in many ways I also feel that all of the Doctor’s are “my” Doctor, as my
journey in discovering them all has been just as haphazard as the Doctor’s own
time travelling adventures. This article was written after a day spent having
lunch with old friends I hadn’t seen for a very long time, so after good food,
plenty of laughter, and a bottle or two of wine later here I am writing this.
Indeed, after this is written I will come back and tell you how I spent the
latter part of the evening tweeting one of my old Cult Den colleagues, all the
way over in South Africa, about all the excitement for the 50th Anniversary.
Yes, it was a very good day indeed, filled with good times, many happy
memories, and all interwoven within this joyous, magical tapestry of Doctor
Who’s 50th Anniversary.
So, what does Doctor Who really
mean to me? Well, two things constantly spring to mind as I kept thinking about
writing this. Firstly, a few years ago, while decorating, an old wardrobe had
to be moved and lo and behold, as it was emptied of junk, I found a bin bag
that had been gathering dust at the back, and I was thrilled to find it
contained some of my old Dr Who Target books! There were even a few Agatha
Christie books as well, which I also loved to read, and still do. I honestly
thought this lot had been lost during a move, so finding them again like that
was brilliant!
Having watched the final episode
of Poirot (Curtain) this week, and as I thought about this article, The Day of
the Doctor, and everything else, it made me think how similar Doctor Who and
Poirot are in some respects. They each arrive in the middle of a mystery and
then solve said mystery with the power of their minds, both have had many
faces, they can also be manipulative and charming in equal measure but seldom,
if ever, use violence unless it is to defeat a great evil. I know you may be
thinking what the hell is Paul on about here? Well, reading has always been
something I’ve enjoyed, books, comics, history, astronomy, but above all else
it has been Agatha Christie’s novels that engage my “little grey cells” and
Doctor Who that fires my imagination.
Secondly, and perhaps just as
importantly, is the Impossible Astronaut. Yes, that episode means a lot to me.
I was never that keen on the Doctor travelling alone, so after Donna left, my interest
in new Doctor Who at the time did waver, yes, shocking as that may sound, but
its true. I still tuned in, or recorded those specials, yet even when Matt
Smith’s first season debuted, only the stories with the Daleks and the Weeping
Angles really appealed to me.
But then, after reading about
Twitter in Doctor Who Magazine prior to watching the Impossible Astronaut that
Saturday, that gloriously warm sunny weekend, I joined Twitter and started
chatting to other fans who had just watched the episode. I discovered a whole
community spirit around the show that I’d never really experienced before,
chatting to people here, there, and all around the world, about Doctor Who
episodes old and new, comics, novels, audio adventures, and now even newly
discovered episodes on iTunes! What a find eh? The Enemy of the World and The
Web of Fear, it still hasn’t quite sunk in, that we can enjoy these wonderful
episodes again. Terror of the Zygons, my favourite Doctor Who story is now on
DVD as well, with its missing scene from episode one beautifully restored! The
Reign of Terror, The Ice Warriors, and The 10th Planet are also available, with
their missing episodes replaced by some superb animation. Very soon we will be
taking a nostalgic look at the creation of Doctor Who itself, in An Adventure
in Space and Time by the brilliant Mark Gatiss, and the excitement will build
as we finally reach Saturday the 23rd Nov, and settle down to watch The Day of
the Doctor, and what’s more nearly all of us will be able to watch it together
at the same time, either on TV or at the cinema.
So, as I leave you now to watch
Children In Need, have a cuppa tea, and read some more of the fantastic 50th
Anniversary Edition of Doctor Who magazine, what I hear you say, does Doctor
Who really mean to me? Fun, community, and friendship, yes, that about sums it
up for me. I’ve gotten to know so many fantastic people since The Impossible
Astronaut was first shown, fans who love the show just as much as I do, perhaps
even more so, many of whom, I’m happy to say, have become good friends. So,
enjoy this moment, this very special time, think of all the happy times and
places we have shared, and all the wonderful stories and adventures still to
come…
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