Anyone that is familiar with BBC programs aired frequently by local Public Broadcasting Service stations will know that Doctor Who is one of the strangest and most interesting programs produced by that network. It was originally created in the early 1960s as a childrens show, one of their first forays into science fiction for children.
It quickly became more popular and more unusual, and has had episodes in nearly every genre possible except maybe for musical comedy. People that start watching Doctor Who episodes frequently start to list it as one of their favorite television series. Episodes of this show are available in audio book form in MP3 format. Doctor Who is on the radio, and also in a series of full-length novels. Fans of the television show can make their drive to work much quirkier by listening to audio book episodes of the show.
One of many enjoyments of the Doctor Who series is the origin of the name Doctor Who. The title of the story was intended to produce some mystery around the main character, and he was intended to be left unnamed. The main character introduces himself in every single story by the phrase The Doctor, and this is the name that many other characters in the audio book story use for him.
He also has a few aliases in several episodes, but the name Doctor Who was only used in one episode, and was actually an error by the writers of the program. Listen to the audio book episodes to find the different ways that the doctor is referred to. Some references into his past on other planets have such fascinating names as Theta Sigma that remind the audio book listener of other science fiction shows of the 1960s and 1970s. One favorite joke is the not unexpected word play: "Sir the Doctor is here to see you." "Doctor? Doctor Who? The series gets a great deal of mileage out of his name, or rather, lack of a name.
Listening to a few of the audio book episodes will yield the history of the doctor, but generally in little bits and pieces. In brief, the doctor is a time lord of the planet Gallifrey, and can travel through time and space to observe other societies. These time lords generally just observe rather than intervene, unless when absolutely necessary. The episodes on audio book seem to indicate that this is almost a form of amusement, since life on Gallifrey is indicated to be a rather dull and tedious affair.
This simple summary of the history of Doctor Who does not indicate the inventiveness and unusual minds of the writers of the series. Please consider finding a few of the programs on audio books in MP3 format and listen to them, in order to get a flavor of the unusual writing on the show. One example of the creativity of the writers is from a situation that arose on the television show a few years after it started.
The main character decided to leave the program, and so the writers needed a plot line to explain the replacement of the older actor by a significantly younger one. The writers created a new ability for the alien, the ability to regenerate and have a body renewal. It is this type of inventiveness of the Doctor Who writers that is found in nearly every episode of the series. Listen to a few episodes on an audio book, and you too may become a fan of the show.
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