Finding Doctor Who
(Hi all. Thank you so much for your well wishes. I’m using a flakey dial-up connection on the one phone line here at slightly after midnight to bring you this guest post written by the wonderful JM of Fiction Scribe and The Book Stacks. I hate to leave this blog stagnant, so I bow to you, JM. I hope to get back to normal posting soon, but the way things are going up here it might be a couple more days still. Enjoy!)
Finding Doctor Who
I watched my first episode of Dr. Who when I came here to Australia last October. Admittedly, I watched the first episode where the Doctor meets Rose…and then didn’t watch any more.
My husband told me about the new season coming, though, and he and I began a tradition of sitting down in front of the television every Saturday night with our Chinese food to enjoy the latest episode.
I got to know the characters and, like Martha, slowly learned who Rose was. I got to know the Tardis and the Doctor, and before I realized it, I was completely addicted. Every Saturday afternoon I would grin at my husband and say, “Dr. Who is on tonight!? Then, at 7.30, we’d turn up the surround sound and enjoy another instalment.
As I watched the final episode and sat with my mouth gaping open about the Face of Bo reveal, I truly appreciated what it must be like to be a writer for Dr. Who. The pure and absolute genius behind all the plot connections, twists, turns, meanings… I was left asking a million questions not about the show, but about the writer.
Did s/he start with an ending, a middle, or a beginning? Was there a rough plot outline first and all the little details then later thrown in, or was it like a gigantic knitting process in which you have a bunch of yarn, two needles, and a lot of hope that it will turn out something similar to the picture you have in your mind?
I can honestly say seeing the most recent season of Dr. Who renewed a part of my passion for writing that I didn’t know had gone to sleep.
As a viewer, I love the show. As a writer, I admire the genius.
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