Nerd Movie Reviews

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  Benjamin April 25, 2011 at 11:25 pm

  Before going into this, I must admit that my experience of Doctor Who does not include the original show, but only the reboot (2005 and later). I only started watching it a few months ago, but quickly fell in love. So, here we go!

  “The show is not funny” : Personally, I don’t understand where this claim is coming from. I think the show is hilarious and the comedy of it is one of the main reasons I was hooked. The humor can be pretty British, though, so if one doesn’t like British humor, then that person probably shouldn’t be watching shows produced by the BBC with the intent of finding an enjoyable comedy…

  “The Dr is super smart but nearly always rendered helpless or confounded in every show.” : Yes, the Doctor is very smart and does not always figure out what is going on right away, but just as often, the Doctor knows exactly what is going on and it is simply the audience who is left in the dark.

  “The Dr doesn’t have a gun.” : No. No he doesn’t. Neither did Hawkeye Pierce in M*A*S*H and HE was still awesome! The Doctor does not carry a gun because he is not on a mission to kill baddies. He is exploring the galaxy for kicks and giggles and, when he does come across something that has gone wrong, his goal is to fix it as peacefully as possible.

  “Everyone around the Dr gets kidnapped.” : This happens every once in awhile, but it’s a thankfully rare thing.

  “Each incarnation of Dr Who is more annoying than past Drs.” : This is obviously simply a matter of opinion, but I would say this is entirely false. While I adore Christopher Eccleston, I think David Tennant was a much better fit for the show. I think Matt Smith is quite wonderful as well, though he is very different.

  “The Dr doesn’t die, just regenerates. Regenerates from what, not being dead?? Why regenerate a perfectly good body??” : The Doctor does not regenerate at random. He can only regenerate when he is dying. If he chose to not regenerate (which has been proved possible), he would simply die. So it’s not a perfectly good body that’s being regenerated.

  “There’s no special effects.” : There are lots of special effects – especially as the show’s budget increases. However, the show tends to avoid them when possible because they know their budget is limited.

  “There are no scary villains.” : Doctor Who is not meant to be scary. It’s an adventure show. While there are some super creepy villains (like The Weeping Angels), that’s really not what the show is made for. Darth Vader isn’t scary, either. He’s just awesome.

  “The Dr. has no defined purpose.” : No. He’s a real person. He’s taking life one day at a time. There are things that are driving him that you learn over the course of the show, as with actual people, but he has no “goal” aside from living life to the fullest.

  “Like Quincy or Murder She Wrote, things just happen around him.” : Yes. Well, at least the parts of his life that we see. It’s implied that there are other ‘normal’ adventures that are had between episodes. That’s a recurring issue, though. Some people see the Doctor as being cursed because he is followed by death wherever he goes. It’s an interesting take on that cliche, I think.

  “There are no hot girls nude,” : Um…so? If you want to see hot naked girls, go rent a cheesy porn film.

  “nor are there hot girls with clothes on.” : That comes down to opinion. If you don’t find the actresses attractive, then it’s just your loss.

  “Each episode costs about .37 cents to produce and it shows.” : TV shows in general, and specifically those on the BBC, are known for not have the best budgets. They do the best they can and it DOES get better as the show goes on.

  “There is no good place to start watching the show. Either you were born and raised to it or you’ll never get it without watching all the shows.” : The show was rebooted in 2005 after about a 18 year dry spell. I never saw the old show, but the new one has seemed to explain everything pretty well as it goes along.

  “The future looks like modern day London. Except if you’re watching old shows, then it looks like 60’s London.” : The show also takes place in present day – in fact, a lot of it takes place in present day. The episodes you’ve seen in modern day London probably WAS supposed to be modern day London.

  “The Dr’s time traveling device is a telephone booth. From my understanding, everyone can see it and see him pop in from whenever he’s coming from.” : The TARDIS looks like a police box from the 1950’s because it has a circuit that is supposed to let it blend in with its surroundings that got stuck when the Doctor was visiting the 50’s. He never really tries to conceal it and, when asked about it, the Doctor claims that people just assume it’s a gimmick and leave it alone.

  “What’s to keep someone from getting into his phone booth and jacking his time-ride?” : The TARDIS is biologically imprinted to it’s owner. Plus, he has a key!

  “When phasing into existence, what happens to the people who are occupying the street where the phone booth lands. London is a walking town and the streets are always full of people.” : To be honest, I’ve often wondered this myself. I have yet to see this issue addressed, but the Doctor seems to generally be pretty good about landing the TARDIS in abandoned alley ways.

  “Why is the super smart time-space phone booth called a tardus???” : TARDIS stands for Time And Relative Dimension(s) In Space.

  “I feel like I’ve been left out because it seems that the show is really boring. I sure would like to understand what it is I’m missing.” : If you aren’t looking for a generally light-hearted adventure show, then perhaps you won’t find what you’re looking for in Doctor Who. I, for one, love it. As to many others. But it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. If you don’t like it, I’d simply say it’s your loss.

  Hope this helps!