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A little over a year ago I began my journey into Doctor Who. In case you are getting into the show or at the very least interested in doing so, I wanted to offer a breakdown of how my experience watching it progressed. I started with the 9th Doctor, which is what is known as “New Who” to signify the restart to the series in the early 2000’s, and is a perfectly acceptable starting place because the show makes sure to catch you up to speed rather quickly.
Without getting into spoiler territory, first let me explain the character of The Doctor. They are part of a race called Time Lords from the planet Gallifrey. They can regenerate their bodies, changing their physical appearance, but still inherently the same person, hence the numbers separating them. They fly through time and space in their spaceship called the Tardis. There is a lot more to this, but I will let the show do the rest because as I said, it does a very good job of filling you in as it goes. Now onto my experience.
When I began the show, I was very skeptical about it because the graphics and props can be very dated by today’s standards, especially from the 9th Doctor back. So I spent a lot of the time in that first season laughing at the absurdity. It didn’t hit me until near the end of the 9th Doctor’s run (Christopher Eccleston) that that was part of the charm and the story hooked me. Each portrayal has its own flavor of witty dialogue and serious nature. His felt the most extraterrestrial in my opinion.
Due to unfortunate circumstances with Christopher Eccleston, he ended up leaving the show after just one season, and David Tennant took his place, becoming the 10th Doctor for three seasons. His Doctor is one of a very rebellious and scorched-earth nature: very cocky yet charismatic version who is understandably a fan favorite. This is when the roller coaster of emotions really began to ramp up. He had some of the best episodes in the entire series, including one that many Whovians recommend as a jumping off point called “Blink.” Personally I don’t see it because the Doctor is barely in that particular episode, but it does feature one of the Doctor’s greatest villains, the Weeping Angel.
After an epic two-part season finale, Matt Smith becomes the 11th Doctor. This is where I feel the show really started getting network TV vibes. Not only did you have the epic Doctor Who-themed intro, but eventually the show incorporated a character named Amelia Pond narrating her story. Oh, this is a good place to mention that the Doctor always travels with companions on their journeys and they have their own plots that intertwine with the Doctor. Matt Smith’s portrayal is one of a whimsical nature, a sort of moving on from the past. His season is full of callbacks from plots that began in 10’s seasons as well as some really entertaining holiday specials.
Next up is Peter Capaldi as the 12th Doctor and the only one I was unsure of because I hadn’t seen him in anything previously. He brings a sort of grumpy old man professor vibe to the Doctor that I really enjoyed. And he got to show off his rock and roll past a little here and there with his guitar.
Lastly, we get to the most polarizing Doctor, number 13, Jodie Whittaker. There were many circumstances I feel that led to her seasons suffering, but there were some really good episodes and if you look at her solely for her performance as the Doctor she was among my top rated of the bunch.
Now after 13, David Tennant returned as 14 for three specials, followed by Ncuti Gatwa’s debut as the 15th Doctor in a Christmas special. BBC/Disney intend to redo the number on the seasons, starting anew with Series One with Ncuti and make it self-contained from previous New Who to give viewers a chance to start there. We have to wait until Spring 2024 for his upcoming season—and I can’t wait.
