The problem with trying to explain the premise of Doctor Who is that you have to leave so much out. It's all very well to say that it's a sci-fi series about an alien who travels across time and space with the human friends he picks up along the way -- but that doesn't really get at the heart of what Doctor Who truly is.
We can try to get a bit closer, sure. We can, for instance, look at the history of the show. Doctor Who first premiered in Britain in November 1963 on the BBC. It proceeded to run for the next 26 years -- an impressive record -- and after a few decades' absence (and one failed TV movie attempt), it was brought back and revamped to television screens in 2005. Celebrating its 50th anniversary this November, this wholly-unique British family program has only seen its fan base increase -- on both sides of the pond.
The Doctor as played by Matt Smith -- the eleventh (and latest) incarnation
We can talk about the Doctor himself -- although in some ways, there isn't much to say, because we really never find out much about him. A native of the planet Gallifrey, the Doctor is a member of a race known as the Time Lords. The "blue box" for which he's so famous -- an old-school-style 1950s British police box -- is actually the Doctor's TARDIS, a spaceship with the ability to travel through time as well as space. What's more, the TARDIS is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside, meaning there's plenty of room for the Doctor to take along a few friends on his adventures.
The Doctor may look human, but he is most assuredly alien. ("You look human!" cried a disbelieving Lady Christina in Planet of the Dead, to which the Doctor replied, "You look Time Lord.") The Doctor has two hearts, instead of the more traditional one ("How do you people cope?" he demands of Martha Jones in The Shakespeare Code, when a run-in with a dangerous alien leaves him with only one heart beating). As a Time Lord, he has the ability to regenerate: whenever the Doctor is seriously injured, he is able to transform into a new physical form -- wounds healed, illnesses defeated, and with a new actor standing in his place. This device allowed the show to continue for fifty years with new actors cycling into the part of the Doctor -- but, unlike James Bond, the Doctor's new physical appearance every few years is part of the story and the character himself.
Tom Baker's Doctor, with fan-beloved Companion Sarah Jane Smith
Despite now being the last of the Time Lords, the Doctor rarely travels alone. Instead, he picks up "Companions" on his travels -- people (almost always human) who he encounters while on his adventures and then invites to travel through space and time alongside him. No one stays with the Doctor forever -- Time Lords outlive humans by quite a lot, after all -- but nonetheless, it's given the Doctor the opportunity to build a little "family" for himself in his travelings.
As for who the Doctor really is -- the Gallifreyian family he once had, what first inspired him to start "running" across space and time, and even what his real name is -- his Companions never really get all the answers, and neither does the audience. But that's alright; the Doctor's mystery only adds to the charm of the show.
None of this, however, goes so far as to explain what makes Doctor Who so uniquely special, what's made the show last fifty years (and 33 seasons) and still counting. What's the secret? What's the appeal?
I can't answer, of course. I don't know what it is that makes the Doctor and his adventures so special, so iconic, for so many people. All I can tell you is what makes the show so special for me.
The Doctor as played by David Tennant -- "My" Doctor
The first episode of Doctor Who that I ever saw was "Rose," the premiere episode of the 2005 return of the series. It was an episode designed for people like me, people who had never seen the show and had no idea what a TARDIS was or who the Time Lords were. In fact, the episode began from the perspective of a nineteen-year-old girl named Rose Tyler, who lived in London with her mother, Jackie, and who worked as a shop clerk in a clothing store.
When Rose encounters the Doctor for the first time, she's the last employee at work after a long day. She's just closing up shop for the night when the Doctor bursts in to save her from an alien attack, one that's invaded the shop itself. In an instant, Rose's ordinary day becomes an extraordinary one -- while for the Doctor, everything is just business as usual.
But that's the thing about the Doctor. Yes, he travels to far-flung galaxies and long-dead planets. He's been to the year 200100, the 15th century, the moon, and Mars. He's met Shakespeare, Queen Victoria, Agatha Christie, and the Loch Ness Monster. He's seen the creation of the earth and the end of the universe. The Doctor has traveled across the very depths of all of space and time.
And yet, his best moments are those when his adventures take him to the far more everyday. Riding a double-decker bus, substitute-teaching a classroom of middle schoolers, waiting in line at the ATM, sitting in a cafe with an old friend: the Doctor's epic battles with the monsters and aliens often take him to the most ordinary of places. But it's the Doctor's very respect for the worth of everyday life that makes those ordinary places part of the adventure.
Peter Davison, the fifth incarnation of the Doctor
Maybe David Tennant, the tenth actor to play the Doctor, said it best. He was a fan of the Doctor long before landing the starring role in Doctor Who; in fact, Tennant credits his childhood love of the show for making him want to become an actor:
"I was there too. Every Saturday night in front of the telly, gripped, enraptured, and enthused by this odd, unquantifiable TV show. There is something about the type of imagination that powers Doctor Who that sweeps up viewers and inspires them in unexpected ways. Something about its mix of the fantastic and the mundane, the far-flung with the domestic, that is unlike anything else.
New Adventures of Doctor Who:
Classic Doctor Who:
It's difficult to explain the Doctor, really. Just watch for yourself -- and enjoy!
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