*SFN* | Feature: A Wide-Eyed Girl Slips Into the Whovian Universe

Posted Saturday, 2 November, 2013 by jorielov 20 Comments

SFN Feature badge created by Jorie in Canva

Did the Whovians get back with you in regards to which “Doctor Who” episodes/series, I should attempt to watch!? I only ask as my time window to watch them is greatly reduced from a few weeks ago, and if I could start to watch them as soon as I can, it would be quite helpful! :) A general overview of their Top 5s and your ‘go to’ Who, would be extremely helpful…

And, so began this seemingly innocent introduction into “Doctor Who” as I decided it was high time that I get my tail into gear and sink into a tv serial that has consistently been recommended to me over the years! I remember that some of the interested parties attempting to convince me when the ‘right moment’ to watch ‘Who’ would be (generally it was ALWAYS a right now, don’t wait kind of talk!) engaged in such a lengthy discussion of who “the Doctor” is but without giving me anything truly tangible to hold onto! I would be given little curtain glimpses of who he was, what the series was about, but it was more OR less a conversation that frittered around certain terminological Whovian codes: TARDIS, time lord, screwdriver (that was a unique tidbit!), time slips and time travel, and other words I have long since forgotten but as I watch the episodes some of what I learnt over the years is coming back to me!

I never wanted to read too much about the series, as I kind of like the idea of getting to know a character (especially one of this particular nature!) through watching their growth over the score of a serial! I started to ILL (inter-library loan) BBC dramas and comedies (i.e. As Times Goes By, The Good Life, Rosemary & Thyme, Monarch of the Glen, etc) a little over three years ago when my local library was encouraging us to ILL the series that were not yet in our collection! I’ll never forgot how they ordered the Complete Serial of “As Times Go By”, including the Anniversary Specials whilst we were unable to fetch them through ILL channels! That simply rocked our (my parents & I) world! I had it in the back of my mind to start to fetch “Who” but I simply shrugged it off.

The few times I pitched the idea, I noticed that my Mum & Da simply weren’t into seeing ‘Who’ as much as I was, so I let it slide a bit, as we were starting to get into Downtown Abbey, Sherlock (with Benedict Cumberbach), and finishing through Monarch of the Glen! (in 2012) When SFN started to come together, I knew it was time for ‘Who’ once and for all! I mean, all those years of people referring me to this serial (who knew my heart lie with Roddenberry’s Starfleet and Lucas’ Star Wars) must have been a recommendation that I could trust! I decided that even though I am going to post ‘diary entries’ for the episodes and series I watch for SFN, I wanted to make this a family affair! Therefore, with the exception of All Saint’s Day, my Mum & Da are watching ‘Who’ alongside me! They were the original inspiration behind why I have a sci-fi heart which is why it makes sense that on the brink of discovering a ‘new serial’ we engage in it together!

The fascinating bit to watching BBC tv serials on serial dvd, is that for the most part my local library has grown their own catalogue of resources to this end at least tenfold since 2009! However, the few that are not yet available I must say that the consortium by which my local library is a member of is a great one to get ‘complete and whole sets’ through ILL!! I realise that dvds and most media materials are ‘not’ available at all local libraries for ILL. (the reasons vary, but generally its because they do not loan out the same materials themselves) For this one reason, I am extra thankful that despite an initial hiccup, our second attempts to get ‘Who’ in time for SFN has been successful! Ooh, I had forgotten to say, that the most fascinating bit to watching the BBC in this fashion is that you never know what your in for as you slip in the disc, sit back on your couch and settle into,… the unexpected!

When I first heard the ‘music’ of Doctor Who I was simply transfixed! You see, this is not the first time traveler I have come across as although I had limited feeds for “Time Trax” I always was endeared to the character and his quirky sense of humour! Dr. Beckett was my mainstay for time traveling which I touched on yesterday in my feature “Seventeen to Seven“. And, lest I forget to mention “The Traveler” from “Star Trek: The Next Generation” who had the greatest impact on Wesley Crusher!? Yet. My fascination and concentration of time bending characters doesn’t stop there! Ooh, no! There was the young boy in “Flight of the Navigator“, the curious hovering ships in “Batteries Not Included“, the quirky adventures of Doc Brown & Marty McFly in “Back to the Future“, as much as trying to keep up with my favourite Starfleet Captains in the original five series of Trek!

The music brought back an inertia of happy memories of my ENTIRE EXPERIENCE in the science fiction universe which is not even limited to the few serials I have already mentioned! At some point, they all start to blur a bit in my mind’s eye, because I have literally watched a science fiction or fantasy tv serial as long as I have been watching murder mystery serials! Between the two, I could fill a voluminous tome of a journal! Here were my first tick-tocking reflections as a bit of a beat of a clock was present in the overtures: upbeat, adventurous, exciting, exploding with curious perplexities, possibilities that lie in the impossible, and a gearing up for the unknown!

I’m a wide-eyed adventurous girl slipping herself into the Whovian universe, geared up for excitingly curious escapades spent traveling with a quirky Professor-like Doctor, whose as mysterious as any person she’s ever greeted in a sci-fi series! Let these first adventures be the start of many more to come in the near future! As time is temporal and constantly in flux!

And, without further adieu here are the select episodes I will be viewing in order to achieve:

| A Crash-Course in Doctor Who |

[by order of suggested viewing]

[list complied by: Emma, Annie, Charlene, Rebekah, Rinn, Lianne, & Christine]

[anything in bold was cross-suggested by the Whovians!]

(Series One) Episodes: Rose, The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances, Dalek, Father’s Day

(Series Two) Episodes: The Christmas Invasion, The Impossible Planet / Satan’s Pit, Tooth & Claw, Army of Ghosts, Doomsday, School Reunion,  The Girl in the Fireplace, New Earth

(Series Three) Journey’s End, Human Nature / Family of Blood, Blink, The Runaway Bride, The Shakespeare Code

(Series Four) Turn Left, Midnight, Silence in the Library / The Forest of the Dead, The Fires of Pompeii, The Unicorn & the Wasp

(Series Five) Vincent & the Doctor, The Eleventh Hour, The Time of Angels / Flesh and Stone (to be seen with Blink)

(Series Six) The Doctor’s Wife

(Series Seven) Nightmare in Silver

How far will I reach into the Doctor Who universe!? How much of his world and life will I understand when November starts to fade from view and the Christmas holiday season enters into view!? What beautiful things will I learn from the Whovians taking part in SFN?! Where will the conversations and discussions lead me next!? And, just how fast can I re-Que the entire series in order to watch each set in its entirety!? Join me on *Saturdays* during November to find out!!

Meanwhile, I am going to open up my first-ever discussion thread here on JLAS!

You have the option of sharing in your own blog post about how you came to know Doctor Who, which series stood out to you thus far, and/or you can focus on one or more of the episodes I will be watching from the above list speaking about why you are captivated by it yourself! Be sure to come back to this post to attach the link of your post in the comments! ONLY link directly to the post you created on this topic, DO NOT link to the main page of your blog! I will be checking! Thank you! I cannot wait to see what everyone’s post!! :)

This feature is brought to you by:

Sci-Fi November | Hosted by Rinn Reads{SOURCES: Sci-Fi November Badge provided by Rinn Reads for participants to advert the month long event and to encourage people to follow along with those of us who are contributing! SFN badge used with permission. SFN Feature badge created by Jorie in Canva.}

Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2013.

Related Articles:

Doctor Who – (en.wikipedia.org)

TARDIS – (en.wikipedia.org)

About jorielov

I am self-educated through local libraries and alternative education opportunities. I am a writer by trade and I cured a ten-year writer’s block by the discovery of Nanowrimo in November 2008. The event changed my life by re-establishing my muse and solidifying my path. Five years later whilst exploring the bookish blogosphere I decided to become a book blogger. I am a champion of wordsmiths who evoke a visceral experience in narrative. I write comprehensive book showcases electing to get into the heart of my reading observations. I dance through genres seeking literary enlightenment and enchantment. Starting in Autumn 2013 I became a blog book tour hostess featuring books and authors. I joined The Classics Club in January 2014 to seek out appreciators of the timeless works of literature whose breadth of scope and voice resonate with us all.

"I write my heart out and own my writing after it has spilt out of the pen." - self quote (Jorie of Jorie Loves A Story)

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Posted Saturday, 2 November, 2013 by jorielov in Alternative History, Bookish Discussions, Britian, Doctor Who, Library Love, Sci-Fi November, Science Fiction, TARDIS, Time Travel, TV Serials & Motion Pictures, Typewriter Culture




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20 responses to “*SFN* | Feature: A Wide-Eyed Girl Slips Into the Whovian Universe

  1. It’s great that you are watching this series with your parents! It’s definitely a great family show, and I think the episodes that were picked will give you a great overall feel for the series. And then you can start with the first episode of the new series and watch them all straight! :)

    I saw a couple people recommended watching the original or classic series that feature Doctors 1-7 (The 8th Doctor was a TV movie) and I second that! The new series is easier to get into because it has better production values, but the classic series is fun and has it’s charm. One of my very favorites is The Horror of Fang Rock with the 4th Doctor. The special effects in that one is terrible, but the story is really good and suspenseful and the 4th Doctor always makes me laugh!

    • Hallo Charlene,

      I was thankful that my parents are settling into the series as happily as I am! I wasn’t sure what to expect at first for ‘Who’, but to be honest, all I want to do is watch (more) Who! :) I will definitely have to sort out how to watch classic Who at some point, but I am thinking that I will leave those Doctors for 2014, and simply attempt to carry-on with what I have scheduled to view right now with the episodes I want to get through during SFN! Reason being: not every attempt to get a set of Who is working out so we have to stay on top of it!

      Curious: when does the 12th Doctor come on the scene!? Do you know which channel he will be featured on!? I did propose this question somewhere, because I am not sure if it is a PBS or BBC America feed!?

      When I get into the classics of Who I’ll seek out the one you recommended! I am enjoying watching Who through the eyes of who know him well! Thank you!

  2. Awesome to hear that you are becoming a Whovian. My Doctor memories go back to the early 70’s and it has been a big part of my life ever since. I recently started watching it with my two children, but my wife just can’t get into it. It is so hard for me to choose one favourite, but all the ones suggested to you so far are great choices. I’m going to try and put together a top ten later in the month, but in the meantime I will have a memories post up with a giveaway early on Sunday.

    • Hallo William,

      I added your blog behind your comment ID as I felt bad if people were reading your comments here they wouldn’t know to ‘click over’ to see your awesome SFN posts! Sorry I didn’t catch that earlier!?

      I just read somewhere today that Series 1 is really the 9th Doctor!? Did they put the original Doctor Who on dvd and if so, when, where, and who is Doctor 1!? I’m still trying to sort out how many times he regenerates/reincarnates! I think its brilliant that you’ve been with it since the 1970s! That wasn’t that long ago, you know! :)

      You can tell I’m not fully awake yet! Laughs. I blame that on burnt midnight oil to make rounds through SFN &/or read the books I’m reviewing or writing the posts that go live! *Your the one!* who told me about the doctors over on my other post! Sighs. Forgive me! Okay, I’ll talk about that in a moment,… I wanted to say that I look forward to seeing your Top Ten List lateron in the month, as you will notice I attempted Top Ten Lists myself for SFN but ended up with *longer lists!* Oy!

      Jumping to your Whovian post,…

    • Hi Jorie,

      A lot of the earlier classic Doctor Who stuff is available on DVD. I-tunes also has a fair bit and I’m planning on getting some of this after Christmas. I think that Netflix also has a small selection of classic stuff on offer.

      I’ll probably have problems narrowing down my favourites to a top ten, but I’m determined to do it. Me and my kids had a five episode marathon today, watching the final five shows from season six and there was at least one if not two of these that have potential to be part of my top ten!

    • A lot of the classic stuff is available on DVD, but you can also find it via web searches. I’ve watched a few episode cycles for the first Doctor (who started in 1963), one for the second Doctor, and a few Tom Baker (the crazy guy with the long scarf). My original goal was to see something from each Doctor before the 50th, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.

    • William and Maria:

      Thank you both for being so open and honest about how to watch Who and where I should head next after I get myself acquainted with the episodes I have slated! I was trying to decide the best way to see Who, and as I was just relaying to Charlene – I think its best if I keep the classic Who to watch in the New Year, and focus right now only on these series that I slated to watch during SFN! However, I am thankful to hear that the classics are on dvd and are available to be seen! I will have a nice adventure sorting out how to fetch them! Meanwhile, I’m still sorting out how/when the new Doctor arrives! I pitched the question to Charlene as well – so I’m only awaiting to see who responds first! :) Laughs.

      More than anything I am enjoying all the talk of ‘Who’!

    • Hi Jorie,

      We probably won’t see anything from the new Doctor (Peter Capaldi, Doctor #12) until the fall of 2014. This will give you lots of time to see as much of Doctors 1-11 as possible. Wikipedia has a fairly comprehensive list of all the Doctor Who episodes HERE.

      • Hallo William!

        Ooh, that’s different! I was under the impression that they were going to be shown on tv lateron this month!? Perhaps that is reserved only for those in SFN who live in England, then!? Hmmm, I was clearly confused on that point! :( Thank you for clarifying it for me! I do appreciate it! And, your quite right, that does give me a good lead time to watch more of the Doctors!

    • No, it’s OK Jorie. Nobody anywhere will see anything of the new Doctor until later next year. The 23 November is the 50th Anniversary Special, featuring both David Tennant and Matt Smith. Then Christmas Day will be the last episode featuring Matt Smith. They probably won’t even start filming the Peter Capaldi shows until January 2014 at the earliest. Something secret and awesome will probably be revealed during the 50th Anniversary Special. One theory is that there is a missing Doctor between #8 and #9, because the regeneration of #8 has never been seen before. Without giving a spoiler, this is speculated because of a brief glimpse of a character shown in ‘The Name of the Doctor’, which is the last new episode that has been shown so far. If there is a missing Doctor then I guess they’d have to renumber Doctors 9-11, but so far that is only one speculation. Whatever the case turns out to be, the 50th Anniversary Special will be one not to miss.

      • William,

        When does the 50th Anniversary Special air and on which channel!? Can we see it in America if we do not have BBC America!? Do you think it will air on PBS? That’s my biggest concern!? Aside from thinking I was missing out on seeing Doctor 12! I loved the whole back-story you shared! I appreciate your kindness in bringing me up to speed! :)

    • I think initially it may only be on BBC America, but I’m not sure. We don’t subscribe to any TV channels. The options are lousy for cable or satellite, but it would take a lot for us to even want to sign up. There’s too much other good stuff to do and we’ve never really missed it that much since we cancelled it 3 years ago. So I’ll be relying on i-tunes to get my copy of the 50th Anniversary Special. It’ll probably cost about $2.99 for the episode. They usually have it available a few hours after it has been shown on TV, so I’ll be avoiding the Doctor Who internet sites/blogs/posts for about 24 hours as I don’t want any spoilers.

      • Ahh, I had a feeling it might be on BBC America! :( I suppose it was only wishful thinking for PBS! I had forgotten you watch everything exclusively through iTunes! :) We have only have basic cable and I agree, its getting harder to find good coverage for the channels your interested in seeing. I don’t blame you for the media blackout! I wouldn’t want to have that spoilt either if I were you, esp after I read your full history with the series! Cheers though for bringing me up to speed! I do appreciate it! :)

    • wcs53

      Hi Jorie,

      Just following up on the availability of Doctor Who episodes and where to watch them. I just discovered that Netflix has everything from the first Christopher Eccleston episode (“Rose”) up to “The Angels Take Manhattan” in season 7 of the Matt Smith series. Which means that it is only the most recent ones (the second half of series 7) that are not available there yet. At only $7.99 a month that could be a lot of Doctor Who to watch. Just make sure you have enough bandwidth.

  3. Welcome to the fold!

    Seriously.. I’m a new Whovian myself, and I’ve written a bunch on my blog about many of my favorite episodes from the Eccleston series. I’m dedicating a whole week on my blog (Nov 17-23) to Doctor Who. A friend and I plan to share our favorite episodes from each year in 7 separate posts. I am wrapping up working on my first post, and I think I actually talked about almost EVERY single one. I adore Eccleston.

    My sons and I dressed up as the recent 3 Doctors for Halloween, and I have a post going up on that as well during Doctor Who week.

    For now, I’ll just link you to my initial “New to Who” post from my blog. http://www.mariaselke.com/2013/02/new-to-who.html

    Hope to see you around this month!

    • Hallo Maria! :)

      I was checking the TW channel and saw that you had tweated about my post! THANK YOU! I’m not on social media myself as I have limited free time which I use to populate my blog and stay active in the bookish blogosphere! I am always thankful for those who can handle blogging & social media in tandem! And, therefore, know that you & Rinn made me smile tonight as you both cast out tweats for me! Seriously awesome! :) And, I accept your offer to join the fold! I was trying so hard not to reveal too much as I am finishing up my first ‘diary entry’ about the first episodes I watched last night, but perhaps it bled through in my missive here — I’m a bonefide Who fan! Yes. I am!! :)

      I am finding that everyone connected to SFN are a lovely bunch of enthused appreciators who are the nicest to talk too about sci-fi, and I am enjoying this month as it unfolds! I’m going to earmark your Who week in my daily calendar so I won’t miss the special posts! Let me do that right now, as my November spread of days is FULL of SFN posts!! Love it!

      I am enroute to your blog as I want to make sure I put it in my SFN folder where I can jump quickly to the blogs I am visiting throughout the month! I hope I didn’t miss you whilst I stayed up til nearly 5a leaving “Happy SFN!” messages!? Oh, happy day! I did leave you a message! :) I’m not yet familiar with everyone’s handle &/or blog!

      I’m happy to see that I am not the only one who is discover the Doctor for the first time during his 50th Anniversary year!!

      What does this mean, “the Eccleston series” or refer too!?

      Thankful you dropped by my blog, and esteemed you liked what you read enough to tweat about it!
      Catch you around the SFN blog network!
      And, I will be back on your blog!!

    • Didn’t see a way to reply to YOUR reply below, so I’m putting it here!

      Eccleston refers to the series with the Ninth Doctor. The actor is Christopher Eccleston. Sometimes (especially when you are around “classic who” fans) the Doctors are referred to by their actor names instead of – or in addition to – their “number”.

    • Hallo Maria!

      Your comment found the right place to be! I think this blog template only leaves one reply button per comment thread!? Each template I find is different and I am still learning about this one! As I began JLAS with Greyzed! Never worry – I’m not too particular about where replies end up, as I am more focused on the conversation! :)

      *Thank you!* for sharing the differences, as not only did I not realise Whovians speak of the actors | Doctors through their last names (of the actors) but I hadn’t realised we were meant to say which # of the Doctor we are enjoying as well! Clearly though based on the next comment that came in, I am at a loss as to know how many Doctors there are & when each Doctor is assigned their #! Hmm,… its a learning curve I am enjoying!

  4. I think it’s cool that you’re watching the show with your family, I hope you all enjoy it!

    The music is AMAZING – Murray Gold does a consistently fantastic job. I hope you’ll listen to my little DW playlist when you read my post through properly later (I can totally understand you wanting to watch some episodes first ;D).

    I’m glad someone recommended Midnight – that one totally slipped my mind when I was choosing my list, and it’s definitely super creepy. Let me know if Vincent and the Doctor makes you cry like it did for me!

    I’ve voted for Blink as my favourite episode, because of the Angels – but I would not recommend it to someone who had not seen any other Dr Who episode to watch first of all, because you barely see the Doctor. I’d say watch that one after watching at least a few other eps to get an idea of who the Doctor is.

    • Hallo Rinn! :)

      I don’t want to spoilt my reaction to Vincent, so I will keep ‘mum’ about it until I let that post go live! :) I’m tweaking it now as dinner was delish and I’m ready to finish my second post of the day, as much as work on morrow’s review as I had to make an alternative selection as the original book I chose did not come in! :( I saw the playlist briefly, and thought, ooh I cannot wait to duck back! I was originally going to go back tonight, but felt it best to give myself another week at least, so I can dig into the next Series that have come in! :) :)

      One library in my library’s consortium sent us *3!* of the Series!! That is seriously awesome! :) I cannot wait to see what those episodes will reveal to me, and Midnight will be one of the next ones I see! I did catch a glimpse that you were talking about the Weeping Angels on the thread on your blog!? Ooh my dear ghouls! Those were freaking me out of my skull! :( :( Seriously! I was not prepared for them! Ooh, whoopsie!! I meant to not reveal anything,… (smiles)

      I only crossed out “Blink” to be watched in sequence with Flesh & Stone because I didn’t have the Series on hand of which its a part of to watch it! :( I still intend to watch it as Series 3 is finally coming in! IF only it had come a week earlier, eh!?

      I’ll keep you apprised on how we’re enjoying the (good) Doctor, for sure!! My Mum & Da have started to get on the bandwagon which you’ll read about in due course!

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