Who is Doctor Who?

I have no idea when I started to like "Doctor Who"--I'd head about the show before every now and then, but I never really go into it for the longest time. It was just another show for me. Then, over the course of several years, I've become interested in the series. I believe it was when I was in college--not in college, but probably during the summer after my freshman year of college.

I saw an episode where something happened with Rose and then Chris Eccleston regenerated into David Tennant. For the most part I ignored the series, but my cousin kept me interested... a little. I don't really recall paying attention to the show until recently, say 2011 or something like that--I can't remember--when I started to watch a couple of David Tennant's specials and then Matt Smith's time as the Doctor.

Ever since then, I've really delved into the series. It's about a time-and-space-travelling alien (his species is called "Time Lords") who goes on an adventure throughout the universe with his ever-changing companions. Because of the nature of Time Lords, he can regenerate, which allows the producers to change actors. The show's been going on for 50 years, although technically 40-something because the series, which first started in 1963, was cancelled in 1989, then had a TV movie in 1996 and re-started in 2005.

It was around the time "Downton Abbey" was becoming popular that I really got into "Doctor Who", I believe. I never really like "Downton Abbey", but because "Doctor Who" was up next, I had something to watch and I'd watch Matt Smith's (the 11th Doctor) adventures.

I think the reason I like "Doctor Who" is because it's... fun. That's the biggest reason I can think of. It's not the only reason, though. Part of that is The Doctor himself. In the right hands, The Doctor is a lovable madman who does what he can to help those in need. Instead of beating up a bad guy, The Doctor uses his brains and wits to beat the bad guys. Okay, so he's not above using his fists, as the Third Doctor era has proven.

Of course a good hero isn't a good hero without his bad guys. Monsters like the Daleks (those things that look like salt shakers and shouts "EX-TER-MIN-ATE!"), the Cybermen (robots who were once human but replaced their organic materials with cybernetic ones) and villains like The Master have given The Doctor a rogue's gallery that can match Batman's.

His companions are also a heck of a crew. Fan favorites like intrepid journalist Sarah Jane Smith, the omnisexual Jack Harkness (who's hitting on you even when he's just introducing himself), Scottish Highlander Jamie McCrimmon and the fast-talking Clara Oswin Oswald keep The Doctor grounded and allow him to explain things to the audience.

"Doctor Who" is about to begin a new era as the 12th Doctor has been announced (as you can see in a previous post) and there's no sign the show is slowing down. The show is a British institution and it's conquered the world. Give it a watch, you'll be hooked immediately. Now if you'll excuse me, ALLONS-Y!!!