June 2006, I couldn’t sleep and doing what most children do when they can’t sleep, I went to my parents. They were downstairs and watching a show I’d never seen before. There was an eccentric man running around the screen, talking fast and saying words that I didn’t quite understand. There was more than that, terrifying monsters, an epic fight and a happy ending. That is my first memory of Doctor Who and the beginning of my love for the show.
Everyone has their own first memories of Doctor Who, the moment that the show began to change their life.
@CompanionsOfWho – Definitely watching Dalek. My first episode of doctor who.
BadwolfArchives – My earliest memory of Doctor Who is watching ‘Rose’ in 2005. The Ninth Doctor introduces himself to Rose before saying “Run for your life!” and that will always stay with me.
Universeofwho – Human Nature! I watched it a few years after it first aired. I fell in love with it instantly even though the Doctor wasn’t even the doctor.
TardisTeam63 – My earliest memory of Doctor Who is watching ‘the Eleventh Hour’ with my family when I was about 5 or 6.
Ben Tedds – My earliest memory of Doctor Who is one of my earliest memories full stop. I saw Sylvester McCoy play King Rat in Dick Whittington when I was 4 years old, and he captured the damsel in distress by luring her into a disappearing police box. My Dad explained it to me afterwards, and my first full episode was Army of Ghosts the following year.
lheneghan_liam – Me and my family were flicking through the channels looking for something to watch. We managed to catch the last 15 minutes of “Rose” and somehow, even though I’d missed most of the episode, I was engrossed. I tuned in the following Saturday and I haven’t missed an episode since.
Doctor Who has been on our telly for 57 years, yet it is still exciting each series brings a new element to the show and each Doctor brings something new to the character. It is ingrained into British culture and at its heart is a family show. On 26 March 2020 (three days after lockdown was announced in the UK) I saw a tweet from Emily Cook promoting a global watch-along of “Rose”. It was perfect timing; we are living through a crisis that no-one could have ever imagined. We all needed an escape and it was amazing to see the community come together. To everyone’s delight, the watch-alongs continued growing in popularity with previous casts and showrunners getting involved.
The watch-alongs bring hope and an escape for everyone.
CompanionsofWho– Seeing the fans together and enjoying what they love most about the show. Nostalgia plays a good factor in these rewatches. I’ve loved Moffat and RTD coming to twitter and tweeting about the show and it’s so interesting to see how each series/episode was planned.
BadWolfArchives – My favourite aspect of the watch-alongs has been the guest stars that join in. Having Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat on Twitter is an absolute joy, not to mention briefly having David Tennant, Catherine Tate, Matt Smith and the like. What feels most wholesome about it is that members of the Whoniverse, both writers and cast AND fans, have joined together, simply to enjoy our favourite show. I love that it’s free, easily accessible and inclusive. It acts as a wonderful distraction from all that’s going on.
WhoFanSite – I love how the tweetalongs bring Whovians together. They have been popular because they are a fun way to re-watch Doctor Who.
UniverseofWho – They bring the fanbase together in dark times and remind us why we love this show.
Electerald – Being able to share my thoughts on a story as I’m watching it and communicating with others about the story. I They’ve been popular because it’s brought the fandom together, we can watch and talk about our favourite show together, there’s nothing better than that really.
WhoUniverity1 – Nostalgic episodes.
Pheebs – I enjoy them because it allows me to revisit some lesser-known episodes, and interact with the rest of the fandom. They’re popular because, with the lockdown, people are struggling to fill their days at the moment and therefore are happy to join in with the fun of the rewatches.
lheneghan_liam – Nostalgia plays a big part. With a worldwide pandemic, everyone finds comfort in watching something from their youth, when times were simpler. It’s great to reminisce and interact with the fandom, previous showrunners and even previous Doctors! What a blast.
Ben Tedds – My favourite part of the tweetalongs is the breaking down of the divide between fan and creators. It gives us access to the minds of those brilliant enough to work on the show and kind enough to join us and give their insightful and entertaining commentaries whilst we sing their praises and ask them all the questions we can think of.
Together in isolation; Doctor Who fans across the world have been united through their love not just for the show, but for what it represents – hope. Doctor Who reminds us that there are infinite possibilities and ways that our life can change. It reminds us that we should be kind and fight for what we believe in and never give up (and never eat pears!).
(With thanks to @CompanionsOfWho , @BadWolfArchives , @WhoFanSite , UniverseofWho, @Electerald , @TardisTeam63, @Whoniversity1, @Iheneghan_liam, @pheebs_18 and @BenTedds42)
Orla McAndrew
Featured image courtesy of Dante Candal on Unsplash. This image has in no way been altered. Image license is available here.
Orla McAndrew
Orla McAndrew is a co-founder of Empoword Journalism and also a features and Instagram editor. As a freelance writer she has written for Stylist Magazine, The Yorkshire Evening Post, The Indiependent, The Hysteria Collective and SmallScreen. Currently she is an intern at Screen Yorkshire, and in September she was be starting her English Literature degree at the University of York.