I did an informal poll at my work not long ago....and out of 10 people I asked...only 1 knew what I was talking about and really only that it was some show her husband watched. So....not really a big thing with that crowd (admittedly, pharmacy people aren't nearly as geeky as you'd think they'd be).... Honestly....you'd think people would have heard of it by accident...it's only been on TV for fifty freaken years. But yeah...I dragged my wife along and gave it a try. (Charge: Sweetest woman ever....Evidence Exhibit A: puts up with my geekery)
Sure, there was the chance that I'd watch an episode or two and decide that it just wasn't for me (a-la Star Trek), but being a huge anglophile (at least as far as TV tastes) I didn't think that was likely. (I can get into that in another blog post). So...we watched a few episodes of the "new series" and we're hooked. Then, Vera was born and I got a bunch of time off from work.
Nothing gets the happy new parents through those rough midnight to 2am hours like a couple episodes of Doctor Who. There were times we almost wished she'd start fussing at the end of an episode so we'd have an excuse to watch the next one.
I've watched some of the old episodes on netflix (and have downloaded a few more), and while plot-wise they read pretty good...probably as good or better than the "new series"....the special effects, and costumes, and even some of the acting falls into the so-bad-it's-good category.
So yeah, I'm officially a "fan". One of the things that finally convinced me to give it a try was that Steven Moffat was one of the main writers/producers and in the last few years became one of the "show runners". (basically the big boss in BBC-speak). To most canadians his name will mean pretty much nothing....but if you have any liking of British TV you can go through his filmography and you'll probably L-O-V-E-love his work ***.
Sherlock - Modern-day Sherlock based on the original stories with a modern twist
Coupling - England's "friends" - not really....but to sum it up in 2 words....sure
Jeckyl - A modern day twist on the Jeckyl and Hyde story - AWESOME!
The Adventures of Tintin - Ok...a movie and not TV....but not terrible either...
(*** unless you're a feminist.... the internet world is full of posts that despise his treatment of female characters ... not something that has jumped out at me .... but being male you'll have to excuse my obliviousness.... the way I see it, except for Coupling his main characters are almost exclusively male, so it seems reasonable to expect them to be the most well rounded characters....yes the female characters tend to be more one-dimensional, but from my male perspective so do his secondary male characters.)
Alright...enough of that.
Doctor Who fans are some of the most dedicated out there.... there's this entire website dedicated to people who have built or are building their own T.A.R.D.I.S.
I even have a new tardis ipad case on order...as we speak ...
from Etsy:MyGeekyBoyfriend
I'll let you know how it is when it arrives.
Unfortunately, the new Doctor Who series isn't on netflix in Canada. There's about 6 of the 4-episode serials from previous years on there and there's the Torchwood spinoff (seems decent so far but working on about 1/3 of the budget and it looks it). Extra unfortunately the DVDs of the seasons tend to be priced much higher than comparable sets of more popular BBC shows. I'd say go hit your local video store and rent them....but I think they're all out of business. Zip.ca might have them, but it might take forever to get to the front of the line. You could always illegally download them....but you know what happens to people that illegally download things.... oh yeah....nothing (at least in canada....for now...) . I'd recommend that route then.
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