Who is Doctor Who?

On the last day of comic-con@home, I'm reminded I haven't been out to any of my usual conventions since Gallifrey One. I've missed Wondercon, Comic Con Revolution, the Las Vegas Official Star Trek Convention, and Star Wars Celebration. It's so depressing. I should be supporting Indie comic creators, buying artwork, attending panels, taking pictures of cosplayers, and a host of other stuff. My only consolation is a virtual revolution to me. Right now, I'm watching a panel about who is the best Doctor Who. I'm a little annoyed that the panelists don't want to vote for the Fourth Doctor as the best. Tom Baker had the longest run on the show. To me, he IS the Doctor. To a lot of other fans, he is the doctor. His fedora and long, striped colored scarf, is iconic. If you add his metal canine K9 to the mix, and he is irresistible. Many Doctor Who fans began to watch the longest running sci-fi show because of him.

The Doctor, how his companions call him, loves humans. He reminds us why we, as humans, should be loved. He tells us and shows us the best in us. In many sci-fi shows, aliens are being shown as being better than us, not in Doctor Who. In Doctor Who, it is the alien who is fascinated in us, who may be superior in some ways, but always finds us fascinating enough to save us. And as he does this, he becomes more like us, often showing emotions that are as strong as ours or even greater. He makes mistakes which make him almost human. He almost wants to be human. He can't though because of his different physiology. He has two hearts which is better to love us with.

Those are the reasons I love Doctor Who as a show. But I also love the actors. Some come from distinguished acting careers and others are just starting a storied career. I loved Tom Baker. I loved David Tennant (the 10th Doctor). Tennant went on to doing all kinds of things including Broadchurch, Good Omens, Bad Samaritan, and now, a favorite of mine, DuckTales. Jodie Whittaker, the 13th and current Doctor also acted in Broadchurch. And she made a splash as the first female Doctor. Peter Capaldi (12th Doctor) won an Oscar in his career before coming to Doctor Who. Christopher Eccleston (9th Doctor) had a distinguished career, and Matt Smith (11th Doctor) actually is rumored to be in Star Wars. My favorite companion is Pearl Mackie, who played Bill Potts, the companion of the 12th Doctor (Peter Capaldi). She portrayed the first openly gay character on the series. I also liked John Barrowman and Catherine Tate.

Doctor Who is often ahead of the curve, and often is the porthole into the current state of society and culture. It always will be.