This month is starting to become “Speculative Fiction TV Month” as I covered Futurama two weeks ago, and Sherlock one week ago. Yes, I know Sherlock isn’t technically Speculative Fiction, but today’s subject most certainly is.

This is the first time that I have ever brought up Doctor Who on this blog. I’m going to use that “two types of people in the world” intro and say that there are those who have never heard of Doctor Who, and those who talk about Doctor Who constantly. I would like to think I was the intersection of these two sets that never have any union.

Doctor Who has been around for 50 years, and it has become a part of British culture itself. The story is about a man who calls himself “The Doctor”, who is a “Time Lord”. He has a time machine known as the TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimensions in Space), which is disguised as a Police Call Box (an emergency police booth that was common in the sixties).

In the past five decades of its span, Doctor Who has been portrayed by many actors. It is actually a part of the show for the two-thousand-year-old Doctor to get a new body every once in a while, and every fan has a favorite doctor. The doctor also travels with a “companion”, generally a young woman who has also varied throughout the years. The companion is always a different actress and a different character each time, and every fan has their personal favorite.

I fully enjoy watching this show due to its very odd nature. Since the Doctor can travel anywhere in space and time, the plotlines are insanely weird as they are good. For example, these is one where London is invaded by a giant eyeball ship, and that is just one of the normal episodes. There are other alien races that show up like the Daleks and Cybermen, who have been around since the show’s early days.

The show fills a gap that was left wide open after Star Trek: The Next Generation was cancelled. There have been a lot of speculative fiction shows, but many of the bigger ones, like Game of Thrones and Battlestar Galactica, are often dark and gritty. Doctor Who can be dark at times, but it always a lot of fun. This is why many watch speculative fiction, because it is fun! It is fun to see something unusual, and Doctor Who has that, in spades!

If you aren’t familiar with Doctor Who, then give it a chance! I guarantee you will see something that you have never seen before, and isn’t this the reason why we watch movies and television?