In this post I will be giving you my exclusive Doctor Who cheat sheet!
As a relatively new Whovian myself, the next step is obviously to get all of my friends addicted as well so I can talk about Doctor Who every second of every day, obviously. While some of my friends may be easily hooked, I have a few friends who don't have the longest of attention spans, and are commitment phobic. Since Doctor Who is such an extensive series, it is understandably tough to jump into it from the beginning (2005). I actually started watching from seeing so many Pins on Pinterest about the Doctor. Being a long time Harry Potter fan, and seeing that many DW fans are also HP fans, I figured I should trust them and see what it was all about. I tried Wikipedia for a brief synopsis, but it was overwhelmingly confusing and I had no idea what the show was about. I happened to be scrolling through channels and saw that it was on BBC America, so I watched my first episode The Unicorn and the Wasp. Confused did not begin to describe what I felt, but I knew I loved it. I could barely understand a word of what Donna said and there was a giant alien wasp flying around and the Doctor seemed out of his mind! Next I caught a few random episodes, and then by chance I got lucky because this was right before the premiere of the 7th season so they marathoned the entire series starting with the 9th Doctor. And I watched every episode I possibly could. All day. Then obviously after that had to go back and re-watch and fill in all of the episodes which I had missed. So, back to the point, in wanting to get my friends hooked I was wondering where the best place to start would be. Tennant is great, but to start there is confusing because its right in the middle of its own story. Starting with Eccleston is a bit too slow for getting someone quickly addicted (no complaints about him as a Doctor, but the episodes are a bit slower and cheesier.) That leaves Matt Smith. It works well because he's quirky and fun, and many of the important things to know are explained for Amy Pond, so its like a review. Here is my official cheat sheet of things you are supposed to know by the time Matt Smith rolls around:
Doctor Who cheat sheet for starting with Matt Smith! (Season 5, Episode 1: The Eleventh Hour)
THE DOCTOR AND THE TARDIS:
-The Doctor is a Time Lord. Time Lords are an alien species from the planet Gallifrey. They have 2 hearts, and can live for long periods of time (The Doctor is about 1,000 years old) because when they are about to die, the cells in their bodies 'Regenerate'. They can still die if their cells can't regenerate in time.
-Regeneration means that while the Doctor still is technically the same person with the same memories and experiences, he is a new person physically. Since he has a new body it does effect his personality, which is why each new regeneration has a bit of a different personality. Matt Smith is the 11th regeneration. (Christopher Eccleston is the 9th, David Tennant is the 10th)
-Time Lords travel through time and space in their TARDIS. Each time lord has his/her own, but the Doctor's Tardis is actually stolen. It stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. The Tardis is designed to disguise itself in whatever time period it is in by something called the Chameleon Circuit, but it broke in London in the 60's which is why it looks like a police box.
-The Doctor generally always has someone traveling with him, known as his 'companion.' This helps 'keep him human'. Because the Doctor travels around all of time and space and finds himself in dangerous situations, sometimes the companions can get hurt or die. (Since 2005 his main companions have been Rose, Martha, and Donna)
-The Doctor has a Sonic Screwdriver. It's general purpose is to open any kind of lock or door, but it can also scan things for information and do random things as needed.
-In the old episode of Doctor Who other Time Lords exist. At some point between the older episodes and the new episodes, not shown but spoken about, was a Time War. In this time war the Time Lords went to battle with the Daleks. In order to destroy the Daleks and save the rest of the universe, the Doctor had to kill both the Daleks and the rest of the Time Lords, making him the last of the Time Lords.
-Compared to other time travel shows, Doctor Who has minimal restrictions, making anything possible. One major rule is that you can't cross your own time stream. When crazy things happen it is sometimes referred to as "Wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff" or other nonsensical adjectives.
-A lot of times in an episode things don't make sense right away, just keep watching and usually it will be explained! Things don't always happen in the right order, or in any order.
-Doctor Who has Christmas Specials that are not always technically part of the series, but are generally awesome and do contain important plot points so if its not readily available go find it! I think Netfilx does have them.
VILLAINS AND MORTAL ENEMIES:
-The Daleks are an alien race that are pure evil, and extremely dangerous. The Daleks and the Doctor are mortal enemies. The Daleks are known for taking over other species, especially the humans, and converting them into Daleks by taking out their brains and putting them inside the exterior Dalek body. Daleks feel no emotions.
-The Weeping Angels are scary as shit.
-The Cybermen are similar to the Daleks in that they want to take over other species, usually humans. They do this by converting humans into new Cybermen. The can control humans by using earbuds.
THINGS TO KNOW BY EPISODE:
The Eleventh Hour: The Doctor is fresh off of a regeneration so he is adjusting to his new body and new personality.
The Time of Angels: River Song is a time traveler that we have met in a previous episode with the 10th Doctor. We know at this point that she knows the Doctor in the future, she trusts him unconditionally, and at that point it was the first time he met her. They have journals so they can keep track of where in time they have met, so as not to give any information away about each other's future. She is super smart and awesome. The first time we see her is the last time she sees the Doctor, but the first time he sees her.
The Doctor's Wife: The Ood are an alien species that are generally good natured. Their single purpose in life is to serve others, and without direction or purpose they die. They use their orb to communicate. The Doctor has encountered them several times in the past.
So that's it! I am not claiming it is perfect or all inclusive, but it should do for the beginning Whovian. I tried to give the basics, while still leaving things as a surprise. If there's anything I forgot feel free to leave a comment! And feel free to use this cheat sheet to spread the wonderfulness of Doctor Who to your unsuspecting friends!
Another thing that really helped me catch up without being confused was watching the Doctor Who specials that are sometimes aired on BBC America. (Such as The Companions of DW, The Science of DW, The Locations of DW) They really help pin point important information, without giving too much away.
My next adventure is tackling the old series! Here is a great article with tips on getting into the old episodes (not written by me) http://herotaku.com/scifi/2012/11/19/8-tips-to-start-watching-classic-doctor-who/
Enjoy!
