the betrayal of Doctor Who

It has been so great being back in Americaland for a month for a number of reasons.

One of those has been finding the opportunity to watch the first Peter Capaldi season of Doctor Who, which i finally finished last night. He can stay.

As with the other doctors it felt like it took him a little bit of time to find his feet but i think he has now and so am very much looking forward to the next season when he jumps in owning the identity.

With each new regeneration [every time a new actor plays Doctor Who the storyline accomodates it by changing the appearance and characteristics of the character] there is a different flavour of the Doctor and i am really enjoying this one.

But the stand out moment on the show was when his companion, Clara Oswald [played brilliantly by Jenna Coleman], who was suffering deep grief from an event that had just happened in her life, had a moment of betrayal of her best friend and this conversation happens shortly afterwards:

Clara: You’re going to help me?

The Doctor: Well, why wouldn’t I help you?

Clara: Because of what I just did, I just…

The Doctor: You betrayed me. You betrayed our trust, you betrayed our friendship, you betrayed everything that I’ve ever stood for. You let me down!

Clara: Then why are you helping me?

The Doctor: Why? Do you think that I care for you so little that betraying me would make a difference?

Boom! Right between the eyes. Doctor Who drops the mic and leaves the stage…

But imagine if we thought and lived like that?

Powerful, powerful stuff.

Doctor WHAAAAAAAT?

this weekend i started watching Doctor Who.

i told people i was watching Dr Who but someone’s daughter told me that in this case you aren’t allowed to abbreviate Doctor and who am i to argue with anyone ever?

i started watching the Christopher Eccleston Doctor Who because that was the start of the new generation of Doctor Whos [Whose?] although for the first two tweets i spelled his last name Ecclestone with an e on the end and fortunately discovered my error before the grandma police [or anyone else’s daughters] could come calling.

[and to be completely honest, i actually saw my first ever Doctor Who episodes with Tom Baker back in the day when my dad did an exchange with a pastor in the unfortunately named Hull in England – you try saying, ‘My dad is a pastor in Hull’ with a South African accent! – and so Tom Baker’s Who was always the picture i had in my mind of Doctor Who]

IT BEGINS

but have been meaning to watch it for a while and eventually got round to sneaking an episode on Friday i think it was. 

and it was weird! 

the fun part is that i love Christopher Eccleston. i think he plays the part so ridiculously cheekily arrogantly fun and he reminds me of Tim Roth as the Doctor, Cal Lightman, in ‘Lie to Me’ which is a series both tbV and i enjoyed a lot. but i could definitely see him having taken on the role directly after Eccleston and creating a seamless transition if only anyone had thought of it.

so episode one – you know, the one with the plastic mannequins and dustbins that come to life and start chasing people and then shooting them with the guns that appear from underneath their fingers like an Austen Power fembot on steroids.

but so many people had said such nice [and extreme] things so i felt i had to carry on.

episode two was the one about the end of the world – you know, level up the intensity slowly cos once you’ve killed earth, where exactly are you going to go from there? but since it was something like 5 billion years in the future [you know, plausability and all] and because the mom from ‘My Family’, Zoë Wanamaker [a surname slightly less silly than the premise of this episode] played the last living human who was in essence the last living stretched out human face and skin and veins that would have made Michael Jackson say, ‘um, hold on the scalpel please’ i decided i had no choice but to see what episode three had to give.

which was ghost people trapped in the gas piping who inhabited dead bodies and tricked Doctor Who into thinking they didn’t want to take over the world, but fortunately Charles Dickens [yes, THE Charles Dickens] was on hand to figure it all out and save the day.

you can’t make this stuff up. oh wait, apparently you can and they did and i have been warned by my podcasting friend, Jacob, that the next two episodes are rubbish and i’ll thank him when they’re over [i’m not quite sure why i’ll thank him for having just watched two rubbish episodes but i’ll take it!] – he also told me that after these next two episodes, it’s gold. i’m not sure if that is suggesting that it is suddenly going to get super good or if the next two episodes have gold as a major plot point, or with the evidence i’ve seen so far maybe even a major character.

YOU CAN DETERMINE MY FATE

i’ve been told to EJECT! and head over to Matt Smith, i’ve been told to RETREAT! and back pedal to more classic Who like Tom Baker – what’s a boy to do?

so my question to you is this…

why should i continue [without giving away major plot points]? is it the story or the acting or the vibe of the show or the absolute ridiculousness or the immeasurable brilliance or what?

what i am asking is why do YOU enjoy the show? 

[as for now i’m going to keep watching for Eccleston’s steely charm and Piper’s giddy smile every time she runs, especially when she is running hand-in-hand with the Doctor]

[…and, of course, because i have yet to witness a single Dalek!]