Nearly 60 years of being the best in Time and Space

I have often thought how funny it is to be a newcomer in a classic-fandom world; how dipping your toes in an already mature fictional series can be incredibly exhilarating and daunting at the same time, and I have a particular sympathy for those individuals who choose to explore the contents of stories that have been going on for longer than they might have noticed. I have been exploring Star Trek in such a way with my husband at the moment (mainly previously knowing I liked The Next Generation and was partial to Data and Geordi La Forge, and of course being a fan of Spock and Sulu even before really watching the original series, perhaps because being a fan of them just seeped into our consciousness when we humans begin liking anything Sci-Fi or Fantasy).

I won’t write about Star Trek yet because I’m fairly new to it, but perhaps someday. I would like to talk about another Sci-Fi series which also delves a lot in fantasy themes, as you might have surmised by the title and picture: Doctor Who. Exactly 7 years ago (at the time of writing this), I was visiting my now home, Glastonbury, for the first time, and meeting, also for the first time, the man who later became my husband, and I was here for the reason for filming Stephen’s episodes for a friend’s fan video series of Doctor Who, for which he had invited both myself and Stephen to be his Doctors. Stephen, as I knew, was a walking enwhoclopedia, and I asked our mutual friend if he was sure he wanted me in the role, as I was back then just beginning to delve into it. Mani, our friend and the creator of his fan series, was adamant that I play the role, as he really wanted a female Doctor and he saw in me the qualities he wanted to portray. I knew I absolutely loved David Tennant, that that Christopher Eccleston had been a perfect introduction for me into this world, that Matt Smith had me in stitches but also made me think a lot, that the character of Rose was really lovely but that Martha was really underrated and that she’d had a huge disservice done to her when people compared the them both, that Donna Noble was really relatable and that Amy Pond was just the best – and Rory by default. I knew that Wilf should have had way more air time, too! Also, I had a massive crush both on Doctor Ten and River Song, so that drove my obsession forward – and backwards, depending won who was at the TARDIS helm! I desperately wanted to watch it all, from beginning to end, and was doing my best to find snippets of the classic series on YouTube and to read everything I could on it on BBC books I bought or borrowed from friends. I was keen on watching the differences between all the Doctors and on seeing Who would be my favourite. I was told I should have a favourite. I was demolished on FB fan pages for stating that David Tennant was the best, or that his Doctor’s relationship with Rose was a good thing. I was demolished in the same pages for saying that it’s okay to call him Doctor Who, because that’s what he was called in the credits in the original series (and Christopher Ecclestone actually requested to be called that in the credits, too) – but fans fought left, right and center for what they believed in, and I simultaneously begrudge and don’t blame them for it, because on the one hand it’s perfectly normal that when you have a passion for something you will actively defend said passion if someone doesn’t agree with it, but on the other hand sometimes it felt it was a bit out of proportion considering that it’s a fictional world that we’re talking about. Although, that being said, I was also incredibly lucky because back then I was in a lovely Doctor Who FB group just for the sake of having the production team interacting with each other for the sake of Mani’s fan series.

Being on ran FB pages can be an uplifting or a demoralizing experience, depending on many factors, but in any case today, thanks to Doctor Who, the Avengers and MCU, Joss Whedon, Harry Potter, Tolkien, Star Trek, Star Wars, the DC Universe and The Big Bang Theory (just to name a few obvious examples), being a geek is cool. In all honesty, I did like quite a few of those things way before they were cool, and I was seriously terrorized at school because of them! I remember how a guy I fancied during my BA actually stopped talking to me because I told him that I’d dreamt the night before that he’d told me I was Buffy… and that was nearly 20 years ago. I know that a lot of us feel that our fandoms have been tarnished by what the authors or creators have shown themselves to be like in reality, but at the same time, I believe that if that particular story gave you a good thing once, you get to keep that good thing, no matter what (even if you choose to leave the fandom). Also, if you’re a current fan of anything today, classic or new: enjoy it! Bask in it, and enjoy that you can now openly take pleasure in so many wonderful things!!

Still, having open discussions about important matters are half the fun of being in a fandom anyway, and there was a lovely example of this in another TV show that I love: In an episode from Castle, which I started watching because of my addiction to Firefly and absolutely loved because it is so funny and because of the amazing chemistry between Castle and Beckett), it happens that a young woman who’s trying to get an old TV show back on people’s minds gets murdered; that show was called Nebula 9, and from the looks of it, it’s like Star Trek and Babylon 5 but lower in quality (as it seems by the snooty comments Castle makes to Beckett every time she says she used to like it). Right by the end of the episode, she closes with this speech, which I absolutely love:

‘You’re right, okay? It was a stupid show. I mean, a handful of Academy Cadets on a travelling mission and suddenly the Earth is destroyed and they´re all that’s left of humanity? I completely understand why you hated it. But, Castle, I also understand why people loved it. Why Anabelle loved it. It was about leaving home for the first time, about searching for your identity and making a difference. I loved dressing up as Lieutenant Chloe. She didn’t care what anybody thought about her. And I kind of did, at that time. I mean, she was a scientist AND a warrior, that was all in spite of the way she looked. It was like I could be anything, and I didn’t have to choose. So don’t make fun, ok? (...) Besides, it didn’t hurt that my legs looked great in the outfit…’

The “(…)” is when Castle is saying that he agrees with her, which is a “Yay!” from me, because she’s so right… I have started seeing that everything (or at least most things) out there actually has a reason for being, a message being told to the readers, watchers and listeners; so, with the exception of those in which the message is actually bad for us, we should really start respecting each other’s likes and dislikes. Who am I to say which has a good message and which has a bad one? That’s easy, it’s all about common sense, and we all have it, so it’s mostly a matter of deeply considering what is on the page or on the screen, rather than just seeing it shimmer and thinking it’s pretty when in reality it’s not…

So, yes, I was really lucky that in 2014 the group of people that I did the Doctor Who Imaginarium project with were very open to my newness (even about David Tennant!! Gasp!!), and that made me feel safe when I said the stupid things that sometimes came out of my mouth (especially when I had no control over them because my brain disconnected, although that has something to do with being neurodiverse, *not* with my newness to the fandom)… In any case, they knew that I had studied a lot about the Classic series, even if I hadn’t watched any of it yet, but that usually gave me brownie points with them.

By the way, like I already said, the first time coming to Glastonbury seven years ago was also the first time I met my now husband, Stephen Stevie Cole. Because he is a major geek (had to be, otherwise I would not have fallen for him, could I?) and like I said a Walking Geek Encyclopedia type, we immediately had the “David Tennant talk”. Long and short of it, he’s con, I’m pro. Rose Tyler, sigh, the same. So it happened that shortly after getting together, while I was having a coffee with a friend I said (quite loudly, as I usually say these things when I get over-excited) “We’re perfect for each other: he doesn’t like David Tennant and I am very okay with that!”. Need I even say that a sentence like that can bring about all kinds of funny looks from people? A passerby gave me one of those looks that I’ve grown so used to that can’t even be described as the strangest look I’ve ever got, and I laughed so much that it just prolounged it, by the way.

Let me tell you how I got into Doctor Who in the first place, while I was still in the “before it was cool” gray area in Mexico (where I am from, but I’ve been in the UK since 2012… so, I guess you might say that I’ve been in Glastonbury 7 on 9 years! No, no, Sandra, stop it, that’s another series for another time!). So, before moving to the UK, I kept hearing little things about Doctor Who, including my friend Alan recommending me to watch it, and it being mentioned over and over in The Big Bang Theory, so one day I decided to check it out, and it so happened that an episode was just finishing but I still tuned in to see what I could glimpse… What I saw was a lonely beach and a blonde crying her heart out, with a group of people watching from far away and crying a little too. Then this skinny man appears and tells her that he’s burning a star to say good-bye and that they’re never gonna be able to see each other again… She cries, he cries, she says I love you, he says Rose Tyler I—and disappears. I say What the hell? and see that the skinny man is now inside the TARDIS (yes, that much I knew about the series by then), and he’s crying and things seem sad and I am just about to ask another question (yes, to the TV set), and a red-headed woman appears and turns around. She’s wearing a wedding gown and demanding to be taken back to the church. The episode ends with both the skinny man and me yelling What??

Now, I refer to Tennant as the “skinny man” because at that time there were still pictures of Christopher Eccleston in the TV guide and stuff, and even though I faintly recall people telling me about the regeneration, at that moment my brain was not quick enough to process all the information. All I knew was that I had no idea what had just happened and that I now had an overly-demanding need to watch the show so that I could understand what it was all about. Funny thing is, I didn’t know there’d be so many parallels between Tennant’s Doctor and my life --er, minus the timey-wimey stuff… Considering that I had been single for several years before I met Stephen, the idea of this man who’s been traveling alone for ages and suddenly finds himself with a need that he probably hadn’t had for ages, maybe ever since he created the family that delivered him his granddaughter (minus a flirt and a snog here and there, of course, Rose included) was alluring to me… suddenly he finds himself looking gorgeous and fit and telling everyone that he’s so clever and making many people hate him because of that, and to top it all, in front of a pretty girl that has the hots for him… Anyone might fall for that, come on! Even when Peter Capaldi was beginning his tenure as the Doctor, I wondered how many people might not be falling for him? As back then he was good enough for Milady to try and seduce him, I was willing to bet that even as the Doctor he would have more than one heart throbbing for him. Or what, just because he’s of a certain age did that mean he wouldn’t deserve any love? Or any of the other Doctors, for that matter? Sarah Jane had a thing for Four, and Peter Davison was actually annoying to some fans because of his suave quality, wasn’t him? Anyway, yes, they might have played it wrong having a full-on romance between Ten and Rose, but if you think about it for a bit, it is the tale of the absolute ultimate loneliness… I mean, the guy actually had to see his own *clone* stay back with Rose while *he* had to walk away alone again… And yes, Doctor Who is and should remain being way more than about romantic issues, so I do not fully agree on everything about that particular story arch, but I will always defend the Doctor’s right to wish for love, no matter who is playing him (or her).

So far I have stuck to the earlier half of the New Doctor Who segment of the series, mostly because I wanted to focus on how I discovered the series and what if meant for me back then. I caught up on New Who in 2013 and 2014, and by now, married with my own Doctor, I have had the luck of collecting as many serials as we can afford and watching as many bits we can find online, so I’m caught up in all the Doctors if not all the series, and of course between then and now we have had the always incredible Peter Capaldi come and leave his mark, and the absolutely superb Jodie Whittaker at the help of the TARDIS, whom I will deeply miss at the end of her tenure. We have also had a lot of bad writing, unfortunately, but I will always defend the actors anyway because all Tennant, Smith, Capaldi and Whittaker have done amazing things with the material they were given. In between we also had the ultimate Masterclass in acting that was the great late John Hurt portray the War Doctor, and of course we have had a myriad of baddies, some better than others, but all fantastic within the storylines developed, and I am so happy to have delved into this show in the first place! There is so much more that the series could still bring in, but even nearly 60 years might not be enough to bring in all the subjects that matter. Still, I applaud that the show has been consistent in tacking subjects that matter all along – inclusivity and historical issues that have so much impact in the world today. There is so much room for the series to grow (as we all well know that is so much bigger in the inside anyway), and I’m waiting ting with bated breath to see what they will bring in for closing Jodie Whittaker’s storyline and for WHOmever replaces her!

In the meantime, as a bit of a closing and as a homage, I want to give my 13 (plus an extra) reasons why, even though I love so many series, cinematic universes and fantastical novels, Doctor Who is, personally for me, the best there is, because it shows us:

1. That learning about history and science is really important, that it doesn’t have to be tedious or boring, and that it can be really necessary to understand the cultural and political issues from the past that have affected our present.

2. That it’s good and healthy to refresh and rejuvenate yourself if given the chance, and that a regeneration might have to do with practical aspects in the outside but that there is no shame in taking the opportunity when it comes.

3. That being stuck in one place for lack of resources does not have to mean being stagnated and that we can be as ingenious while being grounded as we are when we have Time And Relative Dimensions In Space at our disposal.

4. That it’s okay to be called out sometimes if we have got a bit way over our heads. We need to keep humble even if we feel like we’re the most powerful person in the Universe, and that doesn’t make us any lesser!

5. That when you have the responsibility for people who never had the resources you have and are learning all kinds of things through you, it’s better to be honest and kind, because there are cultural, political and psychological reasons why someone might not understand the context or consequences of something. Always teach when possible, and truth and facts will prevail in the end.

6. Truth and facts will prevail in the end also when you are being put into places and circumstances which might make you act out of character, but no matter what is said about you, or ho you are judged, your true you will shine through if your heart is in the right place.

7. That no matter how different you think you are, you will always find a home with someone, and that your oddity will actually likely be what makes the difference in situations that matter. Also, that if you can provide that home for someone, you can be as lucky as them are!

8. That even when others take your story and try to make it theirs, as long as you keep your essence you will still be recognised as yourself by those who love you and have followed your trajectory so far.

PEACE: that after a necessary war, no matter how bad things were, you can always reconcile with yourself and come back to where you belong, welcomed back with open arms and a loving, respectful community.

9. That even if it takes a really long time to return after a hiatus, your fantastic self will shine so much that new generations can start following you and embracing you as if you had always been there for them – you just need to keep true to yourself and know you are, indeed, fantastic!

10. That no matter how long you have been alone or for what reasons you deserve love.

11. That no matter how long you have been on your journey and how deeply wise you have become, it’s important to keep a youthful awe about what you experience – it’s not about the age you are, but about the perspective you have about things.

12. That it’s okay to shake things up a bit and do things in a completely different way than everyone had been expecting. There might be people who won’t like it, but if you’re enjoying what you do, then just keep it going!

13. That if you feel that it’s necessary to go deeper into the social, cultural and political aspects of life that many other people avoid because of their own privilege and comfort, because you genuinely want to help, by all means do so! There are many who won’t like it, but it’s the reason you started doing what you do and there are many people who are being helped and inspired by what you do, and that balances out the hate. You will be understood when the time comes.

In any case, I know that there will always be people going for or against something we like, and discussion will arise whether we try to remain impartial or not. Discussion is pretty healthy most of the time, and it should always be respectful, because as a fandom geek everyone in the world has given us a hard enough time as it is since decades unspoken of, so why give each other the same hard time now that we are so free to like what we like?

And, fortunately, most of my friends and family has always been very respectful of mine or anybody else’s quirkiness, but who knows who has to read this message, right? Especially since there is still so much bullying going, and knowing that many people in my close circles have suffered as much, or even more, than I from it…

In any case, these are the reasons I personally feel that the nearly 60 years of Doctor Who top anything else, and I’m looking forward to reading what fandoms you think top them all, too! Let’s see what we agree on, and what we don’t let’s just agree to disagree. Thank you for reading!