Doctor Who: British TV Series, International Sensation
This TV show has been around since 1963. It started out as a black-and-white educational kids show that taught about history and science, but adults watched the show as well. Many people grew up watching the shows all over the world. In the U.S., the episodes were often shown on local PBS stations. It was one of the first successful British scifi shows, the most successful, and is the longest running scifi series of all time. Video: Doctor Who Basics Explained
The Doctor, the hero of the show, is a Time Lord, which means he can travel through space and time in his ship , the T.A.R.D.I.S. He looks human, but he is an alien from the planet Gallifrey. The outside of the ship looks like a blue British Police box, "which was a common sight in Britain in 1963 when the series first aired." The Doctor travels around to help people in need, to save civilizations and to combat foes. He has some companions who travel with him. The Doctor is very smart and powerful. He doesn't need a weapon, aside from his intellect and his sonic screwdriver. In face, The Doctor doesn't like guns. His famous alien enemies include the Daleks, The Master, and the Cybermen. Video: Companions
It was originally a serialized story in multiple parts. After the first series ended in 1989, they started it up again in 2005. The new series is not generally shown in multiple parts. They've had several specials and movies as well as the regular series. Video: Every Doctor Who Serial 1963-2013
The main reason that "Doctor Who" has been able to air for this long is because the main character, The Doctor, can regenerate after he dies. Each time he regenerates, he is played by a different actor, which keeps his story going indefinitely. Time Lords can live for thousands of years. William Hartnell was the first Doctor. He was in poor health after three years, so he left the show. They replaced him with Patrick Troughton, who also lasted for 3 years. Originally, The Doctor was "crabby, selfish, and heartless," a dramatic foil to the other characters, but they softened him. However, the Sixth and Twelfth Doctors often showed those crabby aspects of his personality. Video: The 12th Doctor In a Nutshell
Jon Pertwee (whom I met in 1986 at I-Con) played The Doctor after that for four years (into the 1970's). His son, Sean Pertwee, followed in his acting footsteps. He plays Alfred on the "Gotham" series on FOX and also played Inspector Lestrade in "Elementary" on CBS. Video: The Second Doctor meets the Third Doctor
The fourth Doctor, Tom Baker, was very popular. He was the first young-looking Doctor. He played The Doctor for 7 years (longer than any other actor). Peter Davison was only 29 when he started playing The Doctor, and he continued on for three years. Colin Baker was the Sixth Doctor and only lasted for two years. The series went on a long hiatus during this time because the head of the BBC didn't like the show. Scottish actor Sylvester McCoy was the last Doctor of the original run, from 1987 to 1989. Never officially canceled, low ratings convinced the BBC not to continue the show. Other than an American "Doctor Who" film in 1996, the show did not air again until 2005. Video: Iconic Quotes & Humorous Moments of The Fourth Doctor
Each time The Doctor regenerates, not only does he look different, but he has different mannerisms or quirks, and a different style of dress. Some of the Doctors wear bow ties. Some like wearing a fez on occasion. The Seventh Doctor had a long knitted scarf. The Sixth Doctor wore very colorful, clashing clothes. Some are very old and authoritative. Some are young and rebellious. Some are high energy; almost manic. Video: 13 Doctors Ranked From Worst To Best
The series ran for years in re-runs all over the world. Like the original "Star Trek" series, it grew in popularity through the re-runs, novels and fanzines.The show has been shown internationally since 1964. The modern series is shown in more than 50 countries. It's "one of the five top-grossing titles for BBC Worldwide." In the U.S., it now airs on BBC America. Fans of the series are called "Whovians." Video: 2 Doctors Meet Their Craziest Fans
Christopher Eccleston portrayed the first Doctor of the new series (technically, the ninth Doctor). He was fantastic but left after one year. The new show is much faster paced, and has great writing and better production values. David Tennant (my favorite), another Scotsman, took over and played The Doctor for five years. He is a successful actor who's appeared in many TV series and movies since. I was thrilled to interview him over the phone in 2014. All of the new Doctors are far sexier than their previous incarnations, which probably reflects the changes in TV, and society in general, between the 1980's and the 21st century. Video: The Doctor Being Sassy
Tennant was replaced by Matt Smith, the youngest Doctor at 26, who played him for three years. Peter Capaldi (yet another Scottish actor) then played The Doctor for three years. He was considerably older than the previous modern Doctors, at 55. To me, he seemed even older than that. He played The Doctor as a very dour man who rarely smiled or laughed. The best thing about Tennant and Smith was the pure joy they brought to the role, as well as the youthful energy. The stories were fine, and Capaldi's acting was good, but he just didn't impress me as much as the others. Video: Peter Capaldi Acting for 26 Minutes Straight
The latest Doctor, 35-year-old Jodie Whittaker, is the Thirteenth - and first female - Doctor. She was previously known to audiences for her role in the great British drama series "Broadchurch." She is very popular with most fans since taking over the role in 2017 and returns in 2020. Video: Interview with Jodie Whittaker
During the Eccleston-Tennant years, the show had its best writing. Welshman Russell T Davies, who had previously written the groundbreaking drama "Queer As Folk" and other UK series, was also the executive producer/showrunner/writer. He revived the show and updated it, having lobbied to bring back the show since 1998. His writing elevated it beyond a children's show. He also created two successful spinoff series: "Torchwood," which was even more adult; and "The Sarah Jane Adventures," aimed at a younger audience. Video: The Sarah Jane Adventures: Series 1-5 Trailer
Although "Doctor Who" has always done social and political commentary, the recent series does "explore racism, sexism, war and colonialism for a family audience." While some fanboys object to having a female Doctor or having episodes that address racism and other social evils, most fans welcome both the latest Doctor and the socially relevant stories. The writing in the series faltered a bit after Davies left, in my opinion, but it's back on track with new Executive Producer Chris Chibnall and his staff of writers. Video: Series 11 Trailer #2
I love "Doctor Who" because the characters are interesting and likeable; the shows are thrilling and have lots of action; the dialogue is often very funny; and the show surprises me most of the time. Not only do the plots surprise me, but they often make me gasp in wonderment or laugh gleefully like a child. It gives me chills and makes me weep with geeky enjoyment. Video: The Eleventh Doctor is a Badass
Keeping it Real in Soaps
Carolyn Hinsey is a journalist who got her start at the Chicago Tribune in 1981, learning the newspaper business from the ground up (starting in sales and promotion), and then moving to the New York Daily News in 1985, where she honed her writing skills. In 1992, she became a columnist, and later editor, at Soap Opera Digest. While there, she also still wrote about soap operas for the New York Daily News, and later at the now-defunct Soap Opera Weekly (where she was also an editor), and at In Touch Magazine. She's been at Soap Opera Digest (AKA SOD) since 1992, except for a brief 2 years period where she had to leave to work at In Touch Magazine (when there was a conflict). Many of us who follow the soaps look forward to her column and read it every week. She writes really well and is often very funny.
To be an honest or opinionated critic means that you will have many fans, but you will also have many people who hate you because they disagree strongly with you. Fans of any kind can be very passionate. Soap opera fans have a well-earned reputation for being a little unhinged. Hinsey has very strong opinions. I don't always agree with 100% of what she says, but I always enjoy reading her column, nonetheless. Although Hinsey is critical of the shows' writing, she is careful never to single out any particular person - either writers, producers nor actors. She writes for a soap opera magazine, and thus has to be careful not to alienate the actors, the shows, or the people running them, for fear of losing access.
One of the things that Hinsey values in the soaps is the use of older characters, or fan favorites. Sometimes they're not used as much as the younger actors or the newer characters. Fans are used to watching the same characters for many years, so they know them well. It works better if the soap writers, when they introduce a new character, find a way to tie that person to the existing characters or families on the show. It's also helpful if they write the character really well to make them interesting, and then give us plenty of time to get to know him/her, before introducing more new characters. In the past, whenever writers have introduced a lot of new characters at once (or a whole family), it hasn't worked. One example of this is the Eckert family that "General Hospital" introduced in 1991. Within a year, they had killed off the father, and we never heard from the mother again. They kept around the more interesting characters for a few more years. Even worse, it was the great Gloria Monty who was in charge of this fiasco. She had previously revolutionized GH (and other soaps from that influence) with her ideas.
Because soap operas have made many cuts to their budgets in the past 25 years, the drop in production values sometimes affects the story. The casts are still large, but instead of having most of them on contract, many are only on "recurring" status, so they can only work certain number of days per week. This means that when they have a wedding or other event, only a small part of the cast is there. This makes the story less realistic because weddings usually have large crowds (soap opera weddings used to have almost everyone attend). The sets are also smaller and often a character's house set will only have a living room, which, again, makes it less realistic because we only see them there. Soap operas need bedrooms! These type of problems are pointed out by Hinsey in an entertaining and effective way.
Soap operas used to be written in a more character-driven fashion, but now they're more story-driven. This leads to problems because they have characters who act in way that are unbelievable, just to suit the story. For instance, if they have a serial killer or other villain, and they want to drag the story out for awhile, they have to make the police and other heroes seem really stupid. This happens quite often on all of the soaps, unfortunately. It's been happening lately with the Ryan/Kevin serial killer story on "General Hospital." It's been happening with the police on "Days of Our Lives" as well.
I've been reading SOD since the 1980's, when I first started watching "General Hospital" and then added many other soaps. Now I only watch one regularly ("The Bold & The Beautiful"), but I still keep up on what's going on in all of the soaps, and who's who. SOD helps me me with that, both the online and offline version. In fact, not only do I pay for a paper subscription, but I also pay for an online subscription via Zinio because I used it for my site (and the paper copy is often late). Hinsey is about my age, so she and I both have a long history of watching daytime TV. I've only been writing about them for my site since the 1990's, though. I can only hope that one day I'll be half as good of a writer as she is.
You can find Carolyn Hinsey's column, "It's Only My Opinion," in the pages of Soap Opera Digest. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
