Doctor Who 50th anniversary special brings together Whovians around the world
Written by Sierra Schedin, Former Student on Friday, November 22, 2013
It all started on November 23, 1963. That was the day that Doctor Who, a science fiction show created by Britain-based television network BBC, aired for the first time.
It was originally supposed to be an educational show. The mysterious alien (though human in appearance) called The Doctor, traveling through time and space in his bigger-on-the-inside, police box-shaped space ship called the TARDIS, brought his granddaughter and two schoolteachers along with him on his adventures, informing adult and children viewers alike of events throughout history.
The show didn’t pick up much popularity, however, until the Daleks were introduced. The Doctor’s iconic arch nemeses -- bulky, robotic aliens who spoke in electronic screeches and shot fatal laser beams -- were nothing like the villains on any other TV show at the time. The series took a more dramatic turn, continuing to create more interesting and unique alien races for the Doctor to encounter, and soon Doctor Who was drawing in up to 12 million viewers at a time.
Unfortunately, the Doctor’s actor, William Hartnell, began to decline in health. Not wishing to end the show, the producers came up with an ingenious plan to keep the story going, but also inconspicuously replace Hartnell with a new actor. The Doctor was revealed to have a special ability, unique to his race, called “regeneration”. If he were to be fatally injured or pushed beyond his limits, the Time Lord could rewrite his entire genetic makeup and heal himself in the process. Viewers must have been shocked to watch their beloved Doctor seemingly die, only to morph into a completely new person!
The method of regeneration is what has kept the show alive for so long. Despite declining popularity in the eighties, Doctor Who has endured. In 2005, the series was revitalized after a nearly nine-year hiatus with the Ninth Doctor, played by Christopher Eccleston. Popularity only grew as the Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) stepped in, and has peaked with the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith). According to Stephen Moffat, current lead writer, Doctor Who is receiving an average of 77 million viewers internationally. That’s not counting the people without BBC One as a channel on their cable networks, who must wait for companies such as Netflix to offer the recent seasons to watch.
The Guinness World Records organization labels Doctor Who as the "most successful" science fiction series ever, based on ratings, sales, and iTunes traffic.
The fans of Doctor Who, also known as “Whovians”, are a dedicated and diverse bunch, considering the show has been on for so long and has been aired in more than 80 countries over the years. They are located all around the world and range in age from toddlers to seniors, poor to rich. Queen Elizabeth II, the 87-year-old monarch of England, is a self-proclaimed fan. Many of the actors and writers of the show are Whovians – and have been since children – as well.
Although Doctor Who has always had smatterings of fans in America, the country’s Whovian population has recently been rapidly growing, especially amongst the younger generation. According to BBC America, the recent season seven premiere (aired in September 2012) drew 1.6 million viewers from the United States. Stores such as Hot Topic carry Doctor Who merchandise, ranging from lunch boxes to socks. Many members of the Anime Club at SHS are Whovians, proudly wearing their TARDIS-themed shirts and waving their sonic screwdrivers.
This year in particular is a very special time for Doctor Who. Saturday, November 23, 2013 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the show, making the Guinness World Records recognize it as the longest-running science fiction television series in history. The producers have a special episode, called The Day of the Doctor, planned for the day, and it has been revealed that actors from past episodes, specifically fan-favorites David Tennant and Billie Piper, are returning to play a part in the story. The episode will also be playing in select IMAX theaters across the United States on the night of Monday, November 25.
In addition, the fan organization New York SciFi & Fantasy started a petition on change.org on September 24, 2013 in an attempt to have the Empire State Building light up “TARDIS blue” on November 23 in honor of the anniversary. Having lit up in special colors to celebrate pop culture events such as the Super Bowl and the fifteenth anniversary of the Lion King, it didn’t seem like such a far-fetched request, but apparently the Whovians have been denied their wish despite collecting more than a thousand signatures over their original goal of 35,000. The goal was raised to 50,000 and the petition is still open, however (as of November 14 there are 36,383 signatures), and can be reached by this link: http://www.change.org/petitions/petition-to-light-up-the-empire-state-building-tardis-blue-on-november-23rd-to-celebrate-the-50th-anniversary-of-doctor-who
