"This is my timey-wimey detector. It goes ding when there's stuff."

In honor of the upcoming premiere of Doctor Who‘s fifth season (Saturday, April 17 @ 9PM on BBC America), I thought I’d up the nerd quotient on this blog with my first Arts & Culture post. I’m a fairly new fan of the show, and I must admit, I haven’t seen a single episode of the classic series, which ran from 1963 to 1989. What I’ve seen from the new series, however, is unlike any TV show we have in America.

The story follows the Doctor, who is the only survivor of a race called the Time Lords. He travels through time and space in his TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimension in Space, if you’re wondering), which looks like a blue police box from the 1960s on the outside and is actually much bigger on the inside. He almost always travels with a Companion, and they fly around saving the world, chasing danger, and being witty. This also usually involves robots, aliens, or various combinations of robots and aliens.

What I love about this show is that, on the surface, it’s campy and fun and doesn’t take itself too seriously. But when you look a little closer, for a show that’s generally suitable for children to watch, it’s surprisingly dark, and creepy, and intensely emotional. The Doctor is a character who lives with the fact that he was unable to save his race from destruction; he has been alive for 900+ years and inevitably loses everyone he cares about because they’re human and he’s not. He saves the world, but sometimes horrible things happen simply because he stumbled onto the scene and danger follows him everywhere. It’s a very lonely existence.

Take, for example, one of my favorite episodes: season 2’s “Doomsday.” Spoilers will follow, so you may want to skip this paragraph if you’ve never seen it. In an episode that features a showdown between the Daleks and the Cybermen, the Doctor running around wearing 3-D glasses, and use of the phrase “void stuff” to explain the science behind the Doctor’s plan, we also get the loss of the Doctor’s companion, Rose (Billie Piper). Now, I’ll have you know that it’s not easy to make me cry, and I shed many tears at the end of this episode. After getting stuck in a parallel universe, Rose travels hundreds of miles because she hears the Doctor calling her in a dream, and they stand on a beach to say goodbye. They can’t even touch each other because he’s just a projection; he’s burning up a sun to get the power to send this transmission to her. Rose stands there, weeping, and tells the Doctor that she loves him. He’s just about to say it back, and the transmission cuts out; he’s gone from the beach, back on the TARDIS, and even he’s crying now. Honestly, I defy you to watch this episode and not fall in love with this show. If you can do it, YOU HAVE A HEART OF STONE.

The acting on this series is generally brilliant, and David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor is consistently wonderful to watch. It’s also worth starting from the beginning of the new series to catch Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor. The fifth season ushers in the Eleventh Doctor, played by Matt Smith, and I’ve heard good things so far. I’ll most likely be doing weekly recaps for the new season, so check back next week for discussion of the first episode, “The Eleventh Hour.”

If I’ve convinced you to watch and you want to catch up before the new season, here’s a list of my favorite episodes. I’d also recommend the recaps over at The House Next Door.

Season 1

Rose – The introduction of the Ninth Doctor and Rose Tyler.

Father’s Day – Rose goes back in time and tries to save her father’s life. Chaos ensues. Be warned: this is another tearjerker.

The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances – A two-part episode that features a creepy child wearing a gas mask, relentlessly asking, “Are you my Mummy?” Also, as the title implies, some dancing from the doctor.

Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways – The two-part season finale. We finally learn what Bad Wolf means, a phrase that pops up all throughout this season.

Season 2

The Christmas Invasion – The introduction of David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor. He saves the world while wearing pajamas.

The Girl in the Fireplace – Time windows on an abandoned spacecraft allow androids to stalk Madame de Pompadour in 18th century France. The Doctor tries to figure out why, and he falls in love with her in the process.

The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit – The Doctor & Rose are stranded on a planet orbiting a black hole, and the Devil lurks below them. Check out the scene when the Doctor is about to drop into the pit; it’s beautifully shot and very well-acted by Tennant.

Army of Ghosts/Doomsday – The two-part season finale. Bring tissues.

Season 3

The Shakespeare Code – The Doctor & Martha Jones meet Shakespeare while he’s writing the missing play, Love’s Labour’s Won, and fight the witch-like Carrionites. A fun episode, and interesting to see the Doctor’s attitude towards Martha.

Human Nature/The Family of Blood – The Doctors transforms himself into a human living in 1913 England in order to hide from the alien Family. His Time Lord memories are stored in a watch, and it’s up to Martha to convince him to open it and and turn back into the Doctor.

Blink – Possibly my favorite episode of the entire series. It stars Carey Mulligan as Sally Sparrow, who receives strange messages from the Doctor, stuck in 1969. You will likely be creeped out by statues after this one.

Season 4

This season leads to David Tennant’s final episode as Ten, so they’re all worth watching if you can.