We've Become Spoiled

One thing I love about having a blog is that I can turn the hose on my fellow raging fans now and then and spray them down without getting bitten in return. Sure, very few people actually read it, but at least it makes me feel better when I rant about the amazing boneheadedness of my fellow Who fans. I'd say that we, as a group, are probably the worst when it comes to shooting ourselves in the foot, but then that would exclude my fellow MMORPG players out there. And if you don't believe they're worse, pull the plug on their game's server for...30 minutes. Watch them go nuts and start calling for heads to roll. We Who fans can't even hold a candle to that level of insanity.

Anyway, like I said in the title, we have become spoiled. Doctor Who's only been back for 4 years and already we've become spoiled. You'd think after being off the air for over a decade, we'd be a bit more appreciative of even *having* the show. However, we (and I say we because I don't want it to seem like I feel superior to anyone. For good or ill, I'm part of the fanbase) can never seem to be completely happy.

Every few years, the Doctor Who fans engage in a ritual known as "Crucifying the New Guy". This time around, the poor fellow going through the gauntlet not only is going through "Who's he??", "He's too young!" and "Ew, he looks emo!", but now he's got to deal with, "Oh my god, he can't be the Doctor because he's not a fan of the show!"

I hate to break it to you guys, but...most of the actors who've played the Doctor weren't fans. From what I've read, Tom Baker himself has said he didn't really watch before and he hasn't watched since. And most of you guys revere the man. Christopher Eccleston said on multiple occasions that he really didn't watch the show as a kid, beyond getting into the excitement of the regeneration events, and he was very good. Not my favorite, but one of them. I know she just played a companion, but Catherine Tate knew nothing about Doctor Who before she played Donna, and still she was brilliant.

We just happened to get very, very lucky these last three years and had a man who was as much of a raging fanboy as the rest of us. And still, even with David going, we're still going to have a head writer who's so much of a fan that he could probably recite every episode of Doctor Who backwards...in his sleep. Trust me, soon enough, Matt will know all he ever needs to know about Doctor Who. The Moff will make sure of that.

Trust me, speaking from personal experience, as someone who wasn't extremely familiar with Classic Who before New Who came out, Matt has plenty of time to get to know every detail of the show. Especially considering he's been hired to play the Eleventh Doctor, he'll have lots of access to old episodes, books, audio adventures, magazines, etc. If I can do it in a short amount of time, so can he.