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**bevischief** · 03-26-2013, 01:18 PM

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2013/...-who-season-7/

Doctor Who Returns: Here’s a Quick Guide for New Viewers

By Graeme McMillan
03.26.13
9:30 AM

One of the smartest things about the BBC’s Doctor Who is that the long-running sci-fi show — which celebrates its 50th anniversary this November — has a built-in renewal mechanism that keeps the show fresh and leaves the story mostly unencumbered by what came before. When the title character experiences the sort of trauma that would kill lesser mortals, the Doctor ”regenerates” into a new actor, offering a new entry point for viewers, and removes the weight of continuity.

While the current incarnation of the Doctor is in the midst of his third season, this Saturday’s episode, “The Bells of Saint John,” is actually pretty close to a quiet reboot of the series, with a new companion joining the Doctor after the loss of his former time-traveling friends. That said, if you’re relatively unfamiliar with Doctor Who history, here’s what you might want to know before tuning in:

At the start of the episode, the Doctor — the last of a near-immortal alien race who travels through time and space in a living time machine called the TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimensions in Space) — is on his own, something that historically goes badly for him due to the resulting loneliness and the absence of a human perspective on his actions.

He is looking for a companion to join him in his travels, of course. This time it’s Clara Oswin Oswald, a human woman whom he’s met twice before. The problem is, both of those meetings happened centuries apart on different planets, and both times the two crossed paths, Clara ended up dead. Clara, therefore, is the most attractive of things to the Doctor: not only a fearless, snarky, potential partner-in-crime, but also a mystery waiting to be solved. Is she being constantly reincarnated as herself throughout history — and if so, why?

(For the truly comprehensive, the previous episodes Clara appeared in are “Asylum of the Daleks,” the first episode of this season, and “The Snowmen,” the 2012 Christmas special.)

But for new viewers, the tone of the show may be even more important than the continuity. At its heart, Who is a show with all-ages appeal, and one that tends toward fairy tale logic in its storytelling, particularly since the fifth season of the reboot when actor Matt Smith took over as the Doctor (and even more importantly, Steven Moffat took over as head writer and showrunner).

At its best, this fairy tale quality evokes an epic scale for the stories: Characters wait thousands of years for their true love to return, romances survive death and even the rewriting of history. But it also means that the show has a habit of fudging plot points and details of what’s actually happened in favor of a big narrative flourish meant to evoke grand emotions. Literalists and pedants will likely find themselves driven to distraction by the plotting at times, while others might prefer something more subtle to its sentiment and melodrama. But it’s a show that has a lot going for it, and a lot to differentiate it from its peers.

Inventive and amusingly dedicated to unnerving its audience with small-yet-creepy ideas at the heart of its stories, Doctor Who is a series about smart; not only is the Doctor a character who prefers to outwit (or, if needs be, outrun) trouble rather than overpower it, but episodes and entire seasons are increasingly based around mysteries intended to be solved not only by the characters but by the viewer, with clues dropped where you least expect them.

As talk-show host, comedian and Who fan Craig Ferguson once put it, Doctor Who is a show about the triumph of intellect and romance over brute force and cynicism. On top of that, it’s simply fun to watch. If you haven’t checked it out, you could do much worse than trying out this Saturday’s new episode.

Doctor Who airs on BBC America this Saturday, March 30, at 8 p.m. EST.

There is link to the prequel as well.

03-26-2013, 01:18 PM	#476
bevischief .... Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Somewhere Kansas Casino cash: $8659352 VARSITY	http://www.wired.com/underwire/2013/...-who-season-7/ Doctor Who Returns: Here’s a Quick Guide for New Viewers By Graeme McMillan 03.26.13 9:30 AM One of the smartest things about the BBC’s Doctor Who is that the long-running sci-fi show — which celebrates its 50th anniversary this November — has a built-in renewal mechanism that keeps the show fresh and leaves the story mostly unencumbered by what came before. When the title character experiences the sort of trauma that would kill lesser mortals, the Doctor ”regenerates” into a new actor, offering a new entry point for viewers, and removes the weight of continuity. While the current incarnation of the Doctor is in the midst of his third season, this Saturday’s episode, “The Bells of Saint John,” is actually pretty close to a quiet reboot of the series, with a new companion joining the Doctor after the loss of his former time-traveling friends. That said, if you’re relatively unfamiliar with Doctor Who history, here’s what you might want to know before tuning in: At the start of the episode, the Doctor — the last of a near-immortal alien race who travels through time and space in a living time machine called the TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimensions in Space) — is on his own, something that historically goes badly for him due to the resulting loneliness and the absence of a human perspective on his actions. He is looking for a companion to join him in his travels, of course. This time it’s Clara Oswin Oswald, a human woman whom he’s met twice before. The problem is, both of those meetings happened centuries apart on different planets, and both times the two crossed paths, Clara ended up dead. Clara, therefore, is the most attractive of things to the Doctor: not only a fearless, snarky, potential partner-in-crime, but also a mystery waiting to be solved. Is she being constantly reincarnated as herself throughout history — and if so, why? (For the truly comprehensive, the previous episodes Clara appeared in are “Asylum of the Daleks,” the first episode of this season, and “The Snowmen,” the 2012 Christmas special.) But for new viewers, the tone of the show may be even more important than the continuity. At its heart, Who is a show with all-ages appeal, and one that tends toward fairy tale logic in its storytelling, particularly since the fifth season of the reboot when actor Matt Smith took over as the Doctor (and even more importantly, Steven Moffat took over as head writer and showrunner). At its best, this fairy tale quality evokes an epic scale for the stories: Characters wait thousands of years for their true love to return, romances survive death and even the rewriting of history. But it also means that the show has a habit of fudging plot points and details of what’s actually happened in favor of a big narrative flourish meant to evoke grand emotions. Literalists and pedants will likely find themselves driven to distraction by the plotting at times, while others might prefer something more subtle to its sentiment and melodrama. But it’s a show that has a lot going for it, and a lot to differentiate it from its peers. Inventive and amusingly dedicated to unnerving its audience with small-yet-creepy ideas at the heart of its stories, Doctor Who is a series about smart; not only is the Doctor a character who prefers to outwit (or, if needs be, outrun) trouble rather than overpower it, but episodes and entire seasons are increasingly based around mysteries intended to be solved not only by the characters but by the viewer, with clues dropped where you least expect them. As talk-show host, comedian and Who fan Craig Ferguson once put it, Doctor Who is a show about the triumph of intellect and romance over brute force and cynicism. On top of that, it’s simply fun to watch. If you haven’t checked it out, you could do much worse than trying out this Saturday’s new episode. Doctor Who airs on BBC America this Saturday, March 30, at 8 p.m. EST. There is link to the prequel as well.
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