In 1963 the BBC launched a rather interesting foray into Science Fiction on this rather newfangled medium called “television” and so Doctor Who started.  Being a Science Fiction aligned geek, I did attempt to watch Doctor Who when it came on our local PBS channel when I was growing up.  It never really caught my fancy at that time.  It was about this guy who had this obnoxiously long scarf and a robot dog.  I couldn’t really even say what the first episode I saw was, I was that underwhelmed.  I went back to watching Star Trek reruns, Battlestar Galactica, Space: 1999, UFO, Thunderbirds, the Bionic Man, even The Man from Atlantis, completely forgetting about Doctor Who.  Then one day I was listening to a podcast with Mark Waid (comic book writer) and he was talking about Doctor Who and how corny it was, and how someone had loaned him the reboot on DVD.  He felt obligated to watch at least one episode… hours later, he said, he was hooked.  That was the relaunch with Christopher Eccleston.  I thought I should at least try it out and as Mark Waid had said, “the first word spoken by the Doctor shapes the entire series, the word was ‘run.'”  I was hooked and then started to convert friends (as many geeks do).  Some ignored me, thinking I was loony… others gave it a try.  SO on this the 49th anniversary of airing of the first episode I salute the Whovians, and those who have at least given it a try.  I am not a scholar when it comes to the series, I have 49 years of episodes to catch up on, but I have made sure to have seen at least one episode of each incarnation of the Doctor and I think I have finally seen all the episodes from the 9th, 10, & 11th Doctors.  For me if you are going to watch only one episode it should be “Blink” with David Tennant.  While the Doctor isn’t necessarily in the episode, it is suspenseful storytelling.  The latest incarnation played by Matt Smith is one that I happen to like- he definitely is a “Madman with a Box”  He has brought the bowtie into fashion and the fez… and for some strange reason I can identify with him.

The Doctor Who online store headquartered in Indianapolis does sponsor Doctor Who episode viewings each month at Tilt Studio Downtown, Check out their forum or Facebook page for updates as to dates and times.

So let’s see if we can get interactive here-  What episode do you like the best? What do you think is a good starting off episode?  Who’s your favorite Doctor? Remember- NO spoilers 😉