LONDON - He's an alien time traveler who hates burnt toast and battles evil armed with little else besides a "sonic screwdriver" and some outsize charm: He is the Doctor in Doctor Who. A special commemorative 75-minute episode, broadcast worldwide on Saturday, will mark the TV show's 50th year.
In Britain, where the show first appeared on Nov. 23, 1963, a range of Doctor Who-related celebratory activities will take place up and down the country from special movie-house viewings to costume workshops to themed private parties.
Ahead of that, on Friday, three days of panel discussions, workshops and star appearances began at a London conference center.
Outfitted in a onesie version of the show's TARDIS time machine, Guinevere Palmer, 36, of Exeter, grasped a sonic screwdriver as she anxiously waited to meet her favorite Doctor Who actor, Sylvester McCoy. McCoy played the seventh "Doctor" in the series that has attracted an international fan base.
Palmer was accompanied by her brother, Duke, 32, who said: 'It's great to have something so British carry such wide appeal." His children - aged four and five - wore matching Doctor Who costumes.
Millions of Doctor Who fans have watched 11 actors across six decades play the titular role since the BBC series first aired; a twelfth, Peter Capaldi, will assume the role from current star Matt Smith later this year. DOCTOR WHO: As he exits 'Doctor Who,' the world knows who Matt Smith is DOCTOR WHO: The Doctor is still in, 50 years later
The Doctor - he's always called the Doctor; the "Who" of the title is an existential question - has had dozens of traveling companions and saved the world countless times. He has visited ancient Rome and the Stone Age, distant galaxies and the end of time.
"It's a show that is really capable of capturing people's imaginations and tapping into modern social and cultural concerns in a very abstract way," said University of Manchester lecturer Andrew Crome, who uses the show in classes as a lens to explain religion. "It's been very good at using the major concerns of the day in an entertaining way but also in way that allows viewers to think through those concerns."
However, as festivities around Britain gathered pace, the show's global appeal was evident in U.S. college student Raina Callahan, 20, of Chicago, who decided to study abroad in England this semester specifically to be closer to the series' birthplace.
"The comradery of all the fans together is something you don't get anywhere else," Callahan said, dressed in a "Keep Calm and Wear a Bow tie" shirt, referencing the Doctor's costume. "People I wouldn't have otherwise talked to are now some of my closest friends because of our love for this show."
Claudia Edwards, 19, of Australia, was first introduced to the show by her British mother. It has captured her attention since. Edwards planned a trip to London so that it would coincide with the anniversary. Edwards described the show as "amazing" and said it was unlike anything else she'd seen before.
But outside London's ExCel conference center on Friday there were plenty of home-grown fans as well. DOODLE: Google pays tribute to 'Doctor Who' with logo Contributing: Associated Press
Decked out in a TARDIS hat and dress, Royal Holloway University student Lauren Edwards, 22, said she was excited to see in person the actors whom she'll watch on the commemorative episode on Saturday. Edwards plans to watch it in 3D in the cinema. Along with her friends Sean Wright, 21, and Kate Orman, 21, she will bake a Dalek-shaped cake - Daleks are a mutant species in the program - to eat on the day of the 50th anniversary program, dubbed the "Day of the Doctor."
"It makes us sad that we weren't children when the original show first aired," Orman said.
No comments:
Post a Comment