A new episode of Doctor Who aired today called The Doctor’s Wife, and I’ve been excited to see it ever since I found out Neil Gaiman was to write it. In a spoiler-free quick review of it, I’d say it was everything I’d expected from Gaiman and more. Intense plot twists and surprises, strange characters, and dark undertones are all big parts of his writing style, and they were all there. I highly recommend it.
For those of you who don’t know, my interest in Doctor Who started a year or two ago, when a friend from UBC introduced me to it. She was so enthusiastic that I couldn’t help watching one or two episodes, and from then on I was hooked. I started with watching the David Tennant episodes, and now consider him “my” Doctor–as in, the actor who was playing the Doctor when I first watched the series. Some people consider Christopher Eccleston “their” Doctor, since he was David Tennant’s predecessor and the first Doctor to be on TV in many years. Since the whole series started in the 60s, and there have now been eleven doctors, people will undoubtedly start watching at different seasons of the show. That’s not to say Matt Smith, the current Doctor, doesn’t play it well. After watching so many episodes now with him in it, I’d say he is a worthy successor to David Tennant.
I was assuming that when I came to Scotland, since it’s in the UK, most of my friends would have heard of Doctor Who and be interested in watching it. I was surprised to find so many people hadn’t seen episodes of it before (though they usually have heard of it), but there are a few in my group of friends who do watch regularly, including my boyfriend, of which I’m very glad. Doctor Who is something that is so compelling and intriguing that it must be shared.