It’s not often I’m wrong (only four times a day), so when I am I come out and admit it.

I was wrong about Dr. Who.

I made the mistake of watching some of the older episodes long ago (late 80’s?) and my initial reaction was “Campy”. I didn’t watch any more episodes after, and when the series was rebooted I stayed well clear. I couldn’t imagine how much worse it could get, since the mid-2000’s were not the best for TV shows. I was afraid of how bad the writing could be, the effects, pretty much everything.

However, when I saw that they were having Sylvester McCoy (the 7th Doctor) at Mysticon as the Media Guest of Honor this year, my resistance started to buckle. Then he had to back out due to a filming conflict and they announced that Peter Davison was replacing him (the 5th Doctor). Then my friends started badgering me about rewatching the show, and I finally cracked. This past week I started watching the rebooted Dr. Who, and I’ve found a new TV show I’ll watch religiously.

To be fair, it started off a little bumpy. I really like Christopher Eccleston as the 9th Doctor, and when he was replaced by David Tennant in the second season, I almost stopped watching it. Tennant and Billie Piper (companion Rose Tyler) seemed to have little to no chemistry, and it grew painful to watch. I almost gave up, but (again) friends told me to tough it out, because it gets a lot better.

Three episodes into season 3, and I finally see just how good Tennant is.

I think part of the allure of watching Dr. Who is seeing how he interacts with his companion(s). Tennant, for example, had great chemistry with Elisabeth Sladen (companion Sarah Jane, who also traveled with the 4th Doctor, Tom Baker), while Freema Agyeman (Martha), and Catherine Tate (Donna) are amazing. I’m still working my way through the series, though, so I don’t know how the current Doctor (Matt Smith) is.

Also… there nothing like watching a throw-down between Daleks and Cybermen (“This is not war. This is pest control!”). Who knew that Daleks could talk so much trash?

Anyway, I apologize for not giving the writers their due. I was going on old memories of the show and I let that color my judgment. Of course, I still prefer Christopher Eccleston to David Tennant, but both of them are fantastic Doctors, and it’s a personal preference.

Also: I really think they need the Doctor to be a ginger. He’s asking for it.