I was sitting at my daughter's gymnastic class all set to write about the run I just completed (2mi -- woo-hoo!) when I was distracted by a magazine sitting on the table: "50 years of Dr.Who". So, who cares about running? Let's talk about the Doctor.
As you have probably guessed from my frequent SciFi references, I love science fiction. I have yet to show up to a movie premiere dressed up like a character, but you better believe that I am there. Most of my books are science fiction or fantasy as is my DVD collection. My wife has tried to get me off the stuff by laughing hysterically at plot lines and special effects, but she's too late to do anything.
I got hooked young. I was six when Star Wars came out and excitedly waited in a line that wrapped around the block. I don't remember who was with me or even how long we waited. However long it was, it was worth the wait. I loved it. I needed more. Where can a six year old boy go to get his scifi fix? Now it's easy, there are scifi shows everywhere. There's a whole channel devoted to the stuff, but back then? There was no cable or DVDs or even VHS. Heck, we still listened to AM radio and had to wait for the DJ to play our favorite songs. What was a boy to do? Thankfully, a new TV series started -- Battlestar Galactica (a much kid friendlier version than the more recent one). I was set until the next Star Wars movie. Then something tragic happened: We moved to England.
Moving to England messed me up in a lot of ways: wanting to spell tire as tyre, fearing sacks of potatoes placed under cars, and knowing what bubble and squeak tastes like, to name a few. But to a nine year old the most tragic thing was the loss of American TV. There were some familiar shows like The Dukes of Hazard and Dallas, but there were also strange and boring shows like All Creatures Great and Small. I began to panic. Where was theSciFi? Why are there no kids shows on during the day? Why are there shows about math? Waaah! But then I discovered The Doctor.
Doctor Who was (is) brilliant. Low budget special effects; goofy looking villains? His most lethal foe stymied by stairs? Who cares? Here was a time and space traveling alien who defeated evil through intelligence and cunning -- not violence. I was hooked. Who wouldn't be?
(My wife, that's who. Both her father and sister are fans, but not her. I'm not sure what went wrong. A recessive anti-SciFi gene or something. You'd think she'd at least be in love with the TARDIS. A nice blue box that is way bigger on the inside than the outside [a common theme of British authors]. If we had a TARDIS then maybe we'd have enough space for all her running shoes.)
Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, I fell in love with Doctor Who and fantasized about the Doctor Showing up at my door. I would gladly have gone on adventures to other times and places with him.
I still would, but I'm not as keen on him showing up anymore. Why? Because I have a daughter. She's no where near dating age (she's 4), but it's never too early to be wary of boys showing up at your door.
The Doctor would be any father's worst nightmare. What would you do if your daughter started dating a fascinating alien with an English accent and a fancy "car" with an interior big enough to fit an entire bedroom? He could take her anywhere in the universe; be gone four hours, or days, or years; and be back before you even knew she had left the house. Can you imagine? You wouldn't even be able to lock her in her room to protect her, he could just materialize the TARDIS inside the room!
No thank you, I'll take a nice normal earthling who'd better have her back by 9:00 or he'll loose a knee-cap. (Some of you are probably wondering why I'm not worried about my son's dates. I've delegated that to my wife. Oh, hey honey, you're in charge of keeping our son's dates in line).
The Doctor is hardly ever portrayed as a sex crazed maniac, but you can't trust most of what is on television, so, stay away from my daughter Doctor Who! And you too Captain James T. Kirk! (Can you imagine if he got a hold of the TARDIS? You'd have to handcuff yourself to your daughter to keep her safe.)
I mean it, stay away. I have a Dalek and I'm not afraid to use it.
Stay away, unless you are going to let me borrow the TARDIS for a bit. It would be especially nice on the day of the race. Run two miles, pop into the TARDIS, rest for a couple days, use the TARDIS to go back to the race at the exact time I left, run a couple more miles, pop back into the TARDIS, rest a couple of days, use it to go back in time to the race, and so on until the race was completed.
So, anyway, Doctor Who has been around for fifty years. That's a long time. If I had a dollar for every year it's been around I could supply one person in Africa for clean water for a year. I doubt the Doctor is going to show up to help me with that, but you could. Click the link and donate.
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