Unlike most Doctor Who fans, (who refer to themselves as “Whovians”), “Blink” isn’t my favorite episode. It’s certainly well done, perhaps technically the best episode of the entire series, and as the previous posts on this blog can attest to, it certainly keeps you on the edge of your seat. But personally, the reason I like Doctor Who so much is because of the style of the series overall, the overarching story line and themes that always intrigue. I can probably safely say I’ve never been bored during an episode.
A few semesters ago I took a Shakespeare and Film class with Professor Peter Holland. One of the clips he showed us in class, with an explanation of how popular the show is in the UK and a brief disclaimer about the camp sci-fi effects, was the episode of Doctor Who in which the Tenth Doctor, played by the remarkable David Tennant, encounters William Shakespeare. It’s a cheesy episode and isn’t really regarded as one of the good ones, but it’s what led me to further investigate Doctor Who.
Thanks to Netflix instant streaming, I was able to go through most of Tennant’s episodes – Series 2-4, over winter break. The dialogue was witty, the characters charming, the villains sort of cheesy, but all of it just a lot of fun.
Doctor Who doesn’t try to be completely serious; the situations are sometimes silly, crazy, rather unbelievable, or at times even completely illogical. Basically, Who can do whatever it wants, and does. It’s an extremely flexible, diverse show, and you never really quite know what you’re going to get with a certain episode. But if you “suspend your disbelief”, and just allow yourself to watch a few episodes with an open mind, pretty soon you begin to really care about the characters, despite the fact that some of them are strange looking aliens or plastic robot people…
Here’s a breakdown of one of the most recent episodes of Who, which explains in a little more detail why this show is so original… (Warning: Spoilers!)
http://bobcanada92.blogspot.com/2011/10/why-i-love-doctor-who.html
I too took Holland’s class and experienced my first episode of Dr. Who with him, and I liked your point about “suspension of belief”. I feel like in the US, sci-fi shows like this or Fringe are looked over because the plots are “ridiculous” or “far-fetched”. At the end of the day, it’s fun to just escape into a world where anything can happen…especially with two plucky Brits!