W.T.F. is ‘Doctor Who’?: first four episodes you need to start
By Sam Callahan
What is Doctor Who?
What is Doctor Who? It’s actually more a question of “who” is Doctor Who.
He is an alien called a Time Lord from a planet called Gallifrey, but that’s not really the important bit.
He calls himself “The Doctor” and is an adventurer who just wants to see the universe.
He’s a brilliant, peaceful soul on a long-winded vacation who ends up finding and getting into trouble everywhere he goes.
The more important question to answer is why do I like Doctor Who?
I’ve already told you about how he saved me in a difficult time of my life, which you can read about here, but that’s not why I still watch Doctor Who.
The Doctor finds beauty and awe in everything he touches. One of the first things out of his mouth is “Oh, look at you! You’re beautiful!”
“Girl in the Fireplace” via GIPHY
He has a faith in humanity— a term I’m using loosely to define all species he comes across—that is unfaltering and ground-breaking. He is brilliant and brave, and not afraid of fear. This is a clip from “Listen” in season 8, with the Twelfth Doctor, played by Peter Capaldi:
But most of all, the best way for me to describe why I love Doctor Who so much is by quoting former showrunner Steven Moffat (and I must admit, I usually pull it up and pass my phone over because I can’t read this out loud without getting weepy.)
Steven Moffat on why heroes are important:
"“it’s difficult to talk about the importance of an imaginary hero. Heroes are important. Heroes tell us something about ourselves. History books tell us who we used to be. Documentaries tell us who we are now, but heroes tell us who we want to be. A lot of our heroes depress me. When they made this particular hero, they didn’t give him a gun They gave him a screwdriver to fix things. They didn’t give him a tank or a war ship or an x-wing fighter. They gave him a call box from which you can call for help. They didn’t give him a superpower or pointy ears or a heat ray. They gave him an extra heart. They gave him two hearts. And that’s an extraordinary thing. There will never come a time when we don’t need a hero like the Doctor.”"