Fri, 18 Dec '09

The Good Doctor

How to convince your friends (or yourself) to care about Doctor Who

If you are a Doctor Who fan, you're no doubt excited about BBC America’s upcoming airings of David Tenant’s final outings as the good Doctor, “The Waters of Mars” (airs tomorrow) and “The End of Time” (Part 1: Dec. 26, Part 2: Jan 2). But that means time is running out for you to convince your friends (or for non-fans, yourself) to get onboard the time-hopping telephone booth.

Unfortunately, that’s not always the easiest thing, since Doctor Who is history’s longest running sci-fi show and even a cursory explanation of its involved mythology requires silly-sounding words like “T.A.R.D.I.S.” and “Dalek.” That’s why we’ve put together this handy “Doctor Who In-Doctor-Ination Kit,” a collection of episodes guaranteed to make anyone want to jump into the Whoniverse.

Blink Arguably the greatest Doctor Who episode of all time doesn’t actually feature much of the Doctor. Which is perfect for a newbie. You get a tense sci-fi story full of time-traveling trickery, a taste of current Doctor David Tenant, plus you aren’t walloped with too much mythology.

The Empty Child & The Doctor Dances The modern era of Doctor Who kicked off in 2005 with Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor. This creepy two-part story about WWII London and gas-masked wearing zombies was his best, and a good way to soak up more mythology.

City of Death The best introduction to old school Who is this four-part 1979 storyline starring the iconic Tom Baker as the Doctor. You get scripts penned by Hitchhiker’s Guide To the Galaxy scribe Douglas Adams, a cameo from John Cleese and an amusing romp involving aliens, time travel and multiple Mona Lisas. If you decide you like these episodes—good news! There are about 200 more to explore!