the doctors as ponies by_lissy_strata
Last year, my kids became obsessed with Dr. Who, the long-running BBC science fiction TV show. Their friends were all watching the show and pressured my kids into watching it too. They binge-watched during the first few weeks of summer and emerged complete Whovians.
Because I knew the time commitment it would take to play catch up for the past 9 years of the show, I was hesitant to begin the binge. Last month, I took a deep breath and dove in with the ninth doctor.
Here are some thoughts about the show:
- It’s a combo of Star Trek, Quantum Leap, and Lexx. When I mentioned this to Daughter, she added that it was also supposed to be a lot like X Files. It wasn’t until later (I’ll point it out) when I would agree with this.
- It was bit like Stephen King and Twilight Zone.
- Rose reminded me of Zev from Lexx, especially when she had braids in her hair.
- The Tardis, being an alive creature, was also like Lexx.
- Constant theme of aliens masquerading as humans.
- The writers must have really liked Zeppelins, since they were featured in multiple episodes.
- There was a season 3 nod to Harry Potter with an Expelliarmus spell.
- Christmas is a bad day in Dr. Who’s universe. Anytime Christmas would be the time line, earth would be in the gravest of danger. With Christmas even extending to Trenzalore!
- I was excited to see Neil Gaiman as a writer for two episodes: I can see his flavor in the stories.
- Episode with evil snowmen, the phrase “winter is coming” was used. This is a main phrase from Game of Thrones.
I did like the ninth doctor, since he was my first doctor and I couldn’t imagine liking the tenth. Then I crushed hard on the tenth doctor and never got over him. Moving from the tenth to the eleventh, there was levity and playfulness. He was younger, his companion was younger, a new story arc ensued, appealing to a younger audience.
When Stephen Moffet took over as head writer, the X Files influence became more noticeable to me. There was one scene with Amy where she’s walking through a dark building with a flashlight, her red hair done up like Scully, that looked like it could have been lifted from the X Files. S6E2.
As I waded through the episodes, I would ask my kids different questions about their thoughts about characters and story lines. They were enthusiastic to converse on these topics. We rated the doctors and their companions. Opinions flowed freely.
The companions all wanted to be loved by the Doctor. They each tried to get a response based on their own needs. Clara, the final companion of the eleventh doctor, was the only one who was given total positive attention. She was made to feel special in the way that all the other companions craved.
Netflix doesn’t carry the current season 8 but I know that my kids have watched it. When I asked them where I could find the current episodes, they said I could find them at various sketchy sites on the internet. Great. I think I’ll wait for the legal version.
With so much energy given to Dr. Who, there has been spillover all things Dr. Who onto Tumblr, Pinterest, Twitter, and Facebook. There is a Dr. Whooves crossover with My Little Pony, fan art, memes, and You Tube theme compilation. Addiction. Ahhhh, this is why I didn’t start on the series before!