It seems I have chosen an extremely appropriate time to begin my task of watching all episodes possible of "Doctor Who". Interestingly, 2013 marks the show's 50th anniversary, although it did go on hiatus from 1989 until a movie was made in 1996, and then again until the modern revival began in 2005. There have been 11 Doctors in all, spanning the length of the show's run. For those of you who have no clue what I'm talking about, I'll give you the Reader's Digest condensed version of what it's all about, kind of a 'Who's Who in Doctor Who'.
"Doctor Who" first aired on November 23rd, 1963 and was originally intended to be a children's show. Having watched those original episodes, I've got to say, either kids in the 60's had a better attention span than those today, or the plan failed miserably. But more on that later. There were 26 seasons in the original run (or Classic Who as it has come to be called), the 1996 movie and the current run is on its 6th season. Each season is made up of a number of serials (roughly 8 per season until the 7th Doctor when it was reduced to around 4), and each serial is made up of multiple episodes (some as few as 2 some, *gulp*, as many as 12). Are you confused yet? Sadly, in the 1960's and 70's, the BBC began destroying much of its older material in an effort to make more room, so much of the footage of the first 2 doctors was destroyed. Many of the episodes were found in possession of other studios and fans of the show, but 106 of the 253 episodes from the first 6 years of the show are gone. Some of them have been restored in audio form, which is an extremely challenging way for someone new to the show to experience the episodes. I have done it, so I know what I'm talking about.
The Doctor is always referred to as "Doctor",
although his name does appear in the credits as "Doctor/Dr. Who". He possesses the ability to regenerate, which explains why 11 different actors have played the role over the last 50 years. Although we don't find this out until later seasons, The Doctor is a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. He travels through both time and space in the TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimension In Space), which is shaped like a 'police box' (looks like
blue version of Superman's phone booth), items which were commonly seen
in England in the 60's. The Doctor is accompanied by a number of
'companions' throughout the show's run, beginning with his granddaughter
Susan and two of her teachers, Barbara and Ian. After the departure of
Barbara and Ian, the number of companions reduces to 2 for the remainder
of the episodes, one male and one female.
Each regeneration of The Doctor has his own quirks and habits, and some are favoured over others by the fans. Here is a list of the Doctors in order and the lengths of their tenure.
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| The Doctors in order |
First Doctor- William Hartnell, 1963-1966
Second Doctor- Patrick Troughton, 1966-1969
Third Doctor- Jon Pertwee, 1970-1974
Fourth Doctor- Tom Baker, 1974-1981
Fifth Doctor- Peter Davison, 1981-1984
Sixth Doctor- Colin Baker, 1984-1986
Seventh Doctor- Sylvester McCoy, 1987-1989 (and briefly in a regeneration scene in 1996)
Eighth Doctor- Paul McGann, 1996
Ninth Doctor- Christopher Eccleston, 2005
Tenth Doctor- David Tennant, 2005-2010
Eleventh Doctor- Matt Smith, 2010-present
That's it for my introductory post on my Whovian adventure. As I finish each Doctor I'll post my thoughts and progress.
Here's a link to the show's original theme. This is the full version, not the short one that appears at the beginning of each episode. I guarantee most of you will have heard it at one time or another.
Doctor Who Original Theme
For more information on The Doctor and his adventures check out this blog by Tansy Rayner Roberts. Her blog has really helped me navigate through the massive amount of information that was thrown at me as I started my quest.
A Modern Woman's Guide to Classic Who
I have finally done it! List item #4, Move Out of My Parents' Spare Bedroom is complete! As most of you know, I moved all my stuff into the basement at the first of the month and started sleeping down here shortly after that. It took me a while to get everything all sorted out, and I still have to get some curtains and hang pictures, but I am permanently down here now. I cook my own meals down here, watch TV and except for showering and the occasional visit to my parents (it would be rude not to...and I still do some shopping in their fridge) I am down here exclusively.
As nice as it was to be staying with my parents and saving money, it was hard to not have my own space. It was like we were roommates. And I'm sure that my parents (as I know I did on occasion) would have liked to draw up a 'Roommate Agreement' as per Sheldon Cooper. Watching television was a challenge, since my parents and I have different taste in shows. They also eat supper much later than I'm used to, and I never feel comfortable cooking in other people's houses (even if this was where I lived at one time), so it's nice to be able to cook what I want when I want. Provided of course I don't need an oven. I only have a toaster oven down here, so anything larger than that requires me to go upstairs and borrow my "landlords'" oven. It also never seemed to fail that more than one of us would need the bathroom at the same time, so it's nice to have the option to pee when I like.
Perhaps the hardest thing I experienced over the 9 months I was a squatter in the spare room was the separation from my stuff. We are living in a material world and I am a material girl. Not really, but when 80% of your belongings are in storage, you really start to miss them. I had to be very choosy when deciding what to store and what to cram into my bedroom when I moved in with my parents, and for someone with almost 250 books and movies (that's 250 books, and 250 movies, not a combination of the 2), that was a challenge.
I brought my most treasured possessions with me, but to be honest, I love ALL my things. They mean something to me, and it took me a lot of time and energy to collect things I really love. That's not to say I didn't also have a lot of crap, but I got rid of most of that when I unpacked. Incidentally, upon unpacking I also discovered that I had given my pizza pan to my ex when I divided the household. Not my smartest move. I was overly charitable at the time. It was a good pizza pan, but I've replaced it and like the new one better. So there you are.
As penance for leaving my beloved belongings in storage for 9 months (which, admittedly, is longer than I was expecting), I am devoting this blog post to honouring those left behind. These are the things I missed the most. Don't judge me.
1. My movie collection; I brought the ones I watched the most and all my Blurays (that small collection on the bottom right hand shelf), but it would have been a logistical nightmare to squeeze these all into a bedroom. This collection has been my pride and joy for many years and it was very hard to be separated for so long. And no, I don't know exactly how many I have. I lost count...
2. My spices; My parents have a routine of foods they eat, and although they are starting to branch out a bit, they don't use spices with as much enthusiasm as I do. So I missed my spices, those you see here as well as the spice rack of everyday spices I didn't take a picture of and the several other bottles that wouldn't fit in this drawer. I clearly took the Spice Girls song "Spice Up Your Life" to heart.
3. Scene It; The video board game that tests your movie knowledge. Only 1 person has ever beaten me (my best friend), which is why I don't play it very often. My sister and cousins actually asked me to play it with them last week and I declined. It just wouldn't be fair. I'd kick their asses and it would be embarrassing. For them.
4. My books; Even fewer of these than the movies made the cut to come with me, and to be honest, this is the first time I've ever had enough room to display them all. Some are more valuable to me than others, but books have always been a source of comfort and escape for me and seeing them all on this shelf was one of the things that made me most comfortable in my new home.
5. My Harry Potter books; In particular, I missed these ones. I've read them so many times that I didn't figure I'd miss them, but I really did. And now I'm re-reading them again. Weasley is our King!!
6. My Bath and Body Works soap; Yes, my mom had some, but for some reason she doesn't like the apple scented ones, which are my favourite. Also, my Halloween one will now have to wait to be used until next year. I just can't bring myself to use them out of season. And I also love the grapefruit one, which is almost impossible to get anymore.
7. My Maroon 5 CDs; Although I brought their first album (technically second if you count the one they released under their previous name 'Kara's Flowers', as seen in the picture) 'Songs About Jane', which is probably my all time favourite album, and I bought their most recent album 'Overexposed' while I was living with my parents, there were times when I wanted to listen to their 2nd or 3rd albums and couldn't. The first thing I did when I unpacked them was throw on 'It Won't Be Soon Before Long' and rock out as I organized all my stuff.
So here I am now, in my home, with all my belongings and my cat Diggory. Who, incidentally, is loving the new digs even more than I am. He runs and plays like he did when he was a kitten, and gets more than a little territorial when my parents' cat comes down. He's also claimed my loveseat for his own.
Still no pictures of the actual apartment. Sorry guys. I'm hoping to get some painting done this weekend, so maybe by the end of next week I'll be ready. But no promises.
