Confessions of a Sci-Fi Newbie #1: No, Seriously, Doctor Who?

I’ve been down this road before. You can’t live in this world without knowing at least two avid Whovians, so after some badgering, stalking, and finally the use of force, I sat down to watch the infamous Doctor Who. It was the very first episode of the first season. It was about…well, I’m not entirely sure what was happening, but I remember it was like attack of the mannequins or something, and there were aliens somewhere. My thoughts: What the hell is wrong with these people? Why is this show so popular? I just didn’t get why everyone was smoking the Who pipe. That episode completely threw me off the series entirely. As far as I was concerned, Doctor Who was a trashcan travelling through space. (I am so happy none of you know where I live.)

Anywho, I summoned my Nerd Council, comprised of some of the most viciously intense science fiction, anime, pretty much anything under the stars fans, to give me some amaze-ball TV show suggestions, so I could get on top of my sci-fi game. The council ruled unanimously. Apparently, it is wondrous I am allowed to still breathe oxygen having seen only one episode of Doctor Who. According to the council, the key is to travel a few seasons away from the beginning, so I chose to start with season five.

Things I have discovered:

1. The reason why there’s more than one Doctor is because he changes his face every once in awhile, so the Doctor from the first season is supposed to be the same person with a different face. Wow, that must be extremely hard on the actor, Matt Smith, who’s supposed to be the eleventh version of the doctor. Also, the doctor is an alien (I thought he was a human with a time machine this whole time).

2. There are these R2D2 looking things called Daleks that are the mortal enemies of the doctor.

3. The Doctor knows all of the great people throughout history. I guess you get pretty awesome connections after saving the world.

4. Amy Pond (Karen Gillian) has the most amazing red hair.

Questions I have:

1. How come you guys aren’t mad that Doctor Who ripped off Star Wars? I mean, I barely know anything about Star Wars, but everybody can recognize R2D2. Star Wars came first right?

2. How come the Doctor changes his face? I understand with the phone booth because space and time travel can get you a little beat up and rusty, but…wait, is that why?

3. Why does he travel in a phone booth? What’s the significance of that? Because he’s English?

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