Lyon Living: Entering their world....through the TARDIS

My husband and kids freely admit that they are sci-fi nerds. They enjoy watching movies based on superhero comic books, and one of Lindsey's dreams is to attend Comic Con. I'm a nerd in other ways (I enjoy logic puzzles, for example) but I don't get into sci-fi or fantasy fiction. However, to build communication with my teens, I try to "enter their world" from time to time and at least feign interest in the things that they are passionate about. So when they choose a superhero movie for our weekly "pizza/movie" night, I try to stay awake and not roll my eyes too much. Greg shares the nerd gene (I'm sure he's the one that passed it on to the girls), therefore he happily joins them on the couch to watch re-runs of Doctor Who. I admit, I had felt a little left out during conversations centered around Daleks and Regenerations, so I decided to check out this classic TV show for myself.

Before watching my first episode, I got a primer from the girls. In a nutshell, the show is about a "Time Lord" known only as The Doctor, who is able to travel through space and time in a machine called the "TARDIS" (which stands for something, but I can't remember what). The TARDIS looks like a blue police call-box on the outside, but is much bigger once you're inside. Doctor Who has been around on an on-again-off-again schedule since the 1960s, and over time there have been 12 actors who have played The Doctor. Every time a new actor takes over, the Doctor "regenerates" into his new form. He takes human companions (usually beautiful girls) with him on his time-and-space journeys, and together they fight battles against space monsters, solve intergalactic crimes, right injustices, and have fun traveling all over the universe. For those of you who are "non-nerds" like me, sitting through one of these shows probably sounds like hell. Admittedly, some of the episodes are pretty bad. The villains known as Daleks look like they were made with someone's spare kitchen utensils, and they probably were, because I'll bet that the original series had a tiny special-effects budget.

However (this is so hard to admit), I've come to really enjoy many of the modern-era Doctor Who stories. The writing is often brilliant, the actors are witty and likable, and the emotional tugging-at-heartstrings factor is high. If you want to give Doctor Who a try, here are three episodes I recommend:

Midnight - Doctor #10 (played by David Tennant) gets trapped with strangers in an enclosed vehicle during a sightseeing excursion in this stand-alone episode. The script is tense and tight, and it plays on the universal fear of being stranded. It's a great commentary on interpersonal dynamics during a stressful situation. Fans of Twilight Zone will like this one.

Blink - Another David Tennant episode, this is also one that works well as a stand-alone show. Your head will spin trying to figure out the overlapping "timey-wimey, wibbly-wobbly" time streams, but it's a lot of fun when the Doctor speaks to complete strangers through a video, reading from a script the listeners created in the future....nevermind. You just have to see it. This episode easily deserves the 9.8 earned on IMDB's viewer ratings due to the way it builds up tension and fear. You'll never look at an angel statue the same way again.

Vincent and the Doctor - Matt Smith plays the 11th Doctor, and his quirky sense of humor and tender heart makes him my favorite. In this show, the Doctor and his companion, Amy, travel to Arles, France to meet Vincent Van Gogh. This episode is mixed for me. The plot involves a silly monster that is supposed to be scary but looks like a giant chicken. But the sweetness of the friendship formed between Amy, the Doctor, and Vincent is more than enough to make up for it. At one point they're laying in the grass looking at the stars, and you enter into Vincent's imaginative inspiration for Starry Starry Night. At the end, Vincent gets a glimpse of the legacy he's left behind. Just try to keep a dry eye.