The Doctor and the Good Girl Geek

I don’t like science fiction very much. If you mention robots or spaceships or machines that…..zzzzzz. See? I’m already asleep.

So imagine my surprise when, at my age, I finally fell in love with Doctor Who.

BBC and I have always been good friends. The Pallisers, The First Churchills, Upstairs, Downstairs, Brideshead Revisited, Lord Peter Wimsey, Inspector Lynley—love, love love. I’ve had a date with BBC every Sunday night for decades.

But when Doctor Who ruled the counterculture airwaves back in the 60s, 70s and 80s, I was almost entirely unaware of its existence. Frankly, I wasn’t cool enough. I’m definitely a geek. A book geek, a word geek, a grammar geek. Good girl geek I have down pat. But geek chic? Never even came close.

Then, a couple of years ago, my daughter got hooked on The Doctor. Slowly, casually, at first. Not enough to make a dent in my anti-sci-fi resistance. Gradually, though, it grew into a passion, and I noticed.

She and I share a lot of interests. We tend to like many of the same movies, TV shows, actors, and books. So when she’s hooked, I can’t help wondering… Plus, she’s a bit of a zealot, and tends to try to convert everyone around her.

A few months ago, I succumbed. We started with the Christopher Eccleston season. For the first few episodes, I was lukewarm. Okay, I thought. It’s fun, kind of silly, kind of sweet…but not completely enthralling. I don’t have much free time, so it took forever to get very far.

But somewhere along the way, I fell in love. It snuck up on me, the way love sometimes does. And when that season came to an end, and Christopher Eccleston made way for David Tennant, I cried like a fool.

I still don’t really understand myself. So…if I have any Doctor-Loving readers out there, I’d love to know what you think. Why did the series finally capture this Good Girl Geek? It’s creative, with good acting and sharp writing, and a pinch of romantic tension that plays well. But couldn’t that be said for lots of science fiction shows?

But please remember….geeks are a little uptight about spoilers!

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