Ever since I was a little girl, I would come downstairs and look over at the television and have no idea what my father was watching. I shrugged it off as one of those silly science fiction shows he watched and I carried on playing with my American Girl doll like any other privileged child of around 9 years old.
Now I’m 17, and I have just experienced the most beautiful moment of science fiction in the history of television, the 50th anniversary of the British television show “Doctor Who.” Airing across the globe on Nov. 23 at 1:50 p.m. CST, the world went silent in anticipation. Whovians around the world waited in awe for what could be the most epic moment in television history.
When the show booted back up in 2005 after a hiatus from the 1996 movie with Peter McGann, I didn’t actually start watching it then. Like I said, I was only nine at the time. Until I hit middle school, I did not fully recognize the actual depth of this television show. When I started watching, the ninth doctor had just regenerated into the 10th ( it’s the same character only with different actors). So I was a little behind, to say the least.
So I do what any other sensible teenager might have done in this situation… that is, watch all of the seasons from 2005 to 2010 in about the span of a month right before school got out. That is when I fell in love with The Doctor.
The Doctor means so much more than adventure through space and time. He is a role model to everyone. From younger than myself to older than my parents, he has been there as someone to look up to. The Doctor always seems to do what is right when no one else can. He saves people, and he saves the lives of the viewers who are watching.
In this monumental anniversary, my friends and I did what any other fangirling teenager might do. Which is make homemade jammy dodgers and fish fingers and custard (see season 5), and all pull out our sonic screwdrivers and our Doctor Who t-shirts. And this is only my generation.
This show has not just touched the lives of today’s youth, but the lives from more than three generations. My dad remembers watching the fourth doctor, Tom Baker, when he was a kid. My grandpa remembers watching the first doctor, John Hartnell, in the original black-and-white series.
And here I am. I have watched almost four doctors regenerate within my lifespan. The intertwining of the generations is what makes “Doctor Who” so fantastic. It connects me with generations from the past and the generations of the future.
When I am older and around my parents age, I hope that The Doctor is still flying around in his blue police call box saving the world one episode of the time. Then the generations of Whovians will forever grow as the show gets older and wiser and become the longest running television show in the history of the world.