How to become a Doctor Who fan

So, you've heard about this show, Doctor Who. Apparently, it's pretty good, but it's also humongous. Where would you start if you wanted to become a fan? Or maybe you're a fan, and you want to introduce others to the fandom, but how do you start your friends off?

Just a couple months ago, I was in very much the same position. At the time, I wished that there was some sort of article which would give me recommendations about where to start and how to continue. With that in mind, I'm writing such an article now. In just a few easy steps, you or your friend will go from Who-clueless to Who-fan in no time. It's pretty basic and it only really gives genral advice, but it should be more than enough to get you off and running.

Step One: Get some context

Before you delve into the show you should know a bit about what it is, and familiarize yourself with a couple concepts and terms.

Doctor Who is a long-running British science fiction show about an alien Time Lord named the Doctor. The Doctor travels through space and time in his TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimensions In Space), a space-time ship that looks like a Police Box but is vastly bigger on the inside. The Doctor often travels with one or more companions, often young females.

Doctor Who (the name of the show, and not the name of the character) began in 1963 and has always been very popular in the UK. The Doctor, like other famous characters such as James Bond, has been played by various actors. Unlike James Bond, however, the change from one actor to another is a plot point in the show. Whenever the Doctor "dies," he cheats death and "regenerates" into another Doctor with the same memories but a different body and a change in personality. To date, there have been ten Doctors.

The original program ran from 1963 to 1989, featuring the first seven Doctors. Despite the series's popularity, attempts to revive it were unsuccessful, although a television movie was produced and aired in 1996 featuring the Seventh Doctor and a new, Eighth Doctor. Finally, in 2005, the series returned, featuring the Ninth Doctor, and then the Tenth Doctor. "Classic" Doctor Who is referred to by season (season 1, season 7, season 23) whereas "New" Doctor Who is referred to by "Series" (series 1, series 2, series 3). It is common in the UK to refer to television seasons as "series."

Because the Doctor Who series as a whole is so long, attempting to start at the beginning and work your way to the current episodes would be insane. Not to mention impossible: many early episodes no longer exist at all, owing to the poor BBC archiving practices of the sixties and seventies. Instead, you're going to want to keep up with the current episodes, and see some of the best older ones.

Step Two: Familiarize yourself with the current Doctor

It's vital that you get a taste for the Tenth Doctor, because he's the current Doctor and an extremely popular one at that. The Tenth Doctor, played by David Tennant, has starred in the second and third series of new Doctor Who.

I'm going to recommend that you start with "Smith and Jones." Smith and Jones is the first episode of series three, featuring the Tenth Doctor and the debut of Martha Jones. This episode is in many ways a great jumping-on point because the Doctor is also starting anew with a new companion. Other than some passing references to his previous companion, Rose, this episode and next couple largely function on their own without requiring previous Doctor Who knowledge.

So, for that reason I recommend that you watch "Smith and Jones," "The Shakespeare Code," and "Gridlock" (you can read my reviews of those episodes here, here, and here). These episodes will introduce the show and give you a basic idea of what it's like. If you like, you can continue on with the third series, but I don't think that's the best idea at the moment. Now, you'll want to step back in time.

Step Three: Watch the new series from beginning to end

By now, you're familiar with the Tenth Doctor, so now it's time to take you a bit outside your comfort zone and introduce you to your next Doctor. Practically nobody immediately likes the second Doctor that they see. But with time, they often come to appreciate him and it becomes easier to adjust to other Doctors. The second Doctor you should see is the Ninth Doctor, Christopher Eccleston.

This time, what I think you should do is begin with the first episode of the new Doctor Who series, "Rose" form 2005. Then watch every episode in order. This includes all thirteen episodes of the first series: "Rose," "New Earth," "The Unquiet Dead," "Aliens of London," "World War Three," "Dalek," "The Long Game," "Father's Day," "The Empty Child," "The Doctor Dances," "Boom Town," "Bad Wolf," and "The Parting of the Ways."

Now you have finished the Christopher Eccleston era. Congratulations! Before you move onto the second series, there are two specials, "Children in Need" and "The Christmas Invasion," although "Children in Need" can be skipped if necessary.

The second series consists of "New Earth," "Tooth and Claw," "School Reunion," "The Girl in the Fireplace," "Rise of the Cybermen," "Age of Steel," "The Idiot's Lantern," "The Impossible Planet," "The Satan Pit," "Love and Monsters," "Fear Her," "Army of Ghosts," and "Doomsday." Once again, you ought to watch these episodes in order. After that, you should watch "The Runaway Bride."

At this point, we're going to take a break from the new series and delve a bit into the classic series.

Step Four: Meet the Doctors

At this point, if you haven't already, you should look at some doctors prior to the Ninth. It's not really necessary to see all of them at this point unless you really want to, but I recommend you at least check out the Fourth and Eighth Doctors.

The Fourth Doctor was played by Tom Baker and is still remembered as the quintessential Doctor. He is easily recognizable by his very long scarf and curly hair and his extremely eccentric and sometimes aloof demeanor. Several popular Tom Baker stories are available on DVD, but perhaps one of the best is "City of Death," written by science fiction legend Douglas Adams. Like most classic Doctor Who stories, "City of Death" is a serial made up of half-hour episodes.

The Eighth Doctor was in the different but still enjoyable 1996 movie, simply entitled "Doctor Who." This movie is difficult to find if you live in America but it's certainly worth finding as it contains a superb performance by Sylvester McCoy as the Seventh Doctor as well as Paul McGann as the Eighth. It also involves the Master, one of the Doctor's greatest enemies.

You may also wish to check out various other Doctors and their stories. Some stories I enjoy include Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor in "Inferno," Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor in "The Caves of Androzani," and the first three Doctors in "The Three Doctors." All of these and many other classic Doctor Who stories are available on DVD, and more are released every few months. However, not every classic Doctor Who story is a gem. The classic series was far more inconsistent in its level of quality than the current one. So, just because you don't like one classic story doesn't mean you will dislike another.

Step Five: Finish off the Third Series

It's time to finish off the third series. Continue through "Daleks in Manhattan," "Evolution of the Daleks," "The Lazarus Experiment," "42," "Human Nature," "The Family of Blood," "Blink," "Utopia," "The Sound of Drums," and "Last of the Time Lords."

That's as far forward as you can go. "Journey of the Damned" will air this Christmas, and then the fourth series will run next year. In the mean time...

Step Six: Branch Out

I can't really tell you much of what to do now. There are a ton of classic episodes to watch, not to mention the current spinoff series Torchwood, featuring John Barrowman as Captain Jack Harkness. Then, of course, there are tons of novels, audio plays, and comics. There's enough material to last years. I myself am only beginning to digest it.

Obviously, this isn't the only way to enjoy Doctor Who. I took a slightly diferent approach myself. But this way is my preferred way to introduce new people to the fandom.