When Lalla Ward (Romana II) left, I was a little more braced for what I was watching. K-9? Need I say more? I was destroyed when Leela left, and with Romanadveratrelunder's arrival I just sat back and went for the ride. When she stormed into the tardis, I knew I was watching a show I could not begin to predict.

The Gallifrean adventure was followed up with the introduction of Leela, the jungle girl. Gallifrey? What was Gallifrey? He has to go back and get Sarah. Then Elizabeth Sladen left and I had no idea what to expect. I missed Harry's departure and thought the actor must have just quit the show, but he did show up later.

I knew nothing about Time Lords, Gallifrey or what a Tardis was, let alone a walk-in police call box, something not found in America. LIttle did I realize there was nearly twenty years history to what I was watching. Now the stumper was Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart's non-chalant reaction to the vanishing box. At the end of his first adventure, 'Robot', he, Harry and Sarah enter this blue cabinet, the strangest noise in the world is heard, and the cabinet disappears. Harry and Sarah must be his Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen, I thought. But before that happens, the Doctor will go through an identity crisis that will bring back a familiar face.I first found Doctor Who on the PBS network in the early eighties, with Tom Baker. Jodie Whittaker, the previous Doctor, will leave the series soon, making way for Gatwa to establish his own version of the classic British icon. The protagonist's people have the ability to regenerate their bodies when they die, explaining why the show has a different protagonist every couple of years, even if the character remains the same. The Doctor comes from an alien community denominated as the Time Lords, a very intelligent society that has discovered how to travel through time and space. Nevertheless, there are some pretty basic rules regarding the Doctor Who universe that have been established in previous years, giving context to Gatwa's introduction to the role. Given the fan base's passion for the record-breaking program, even the smallest details could allow them to come up with accurate theories regarding where the plot might be heading next. As always, the plot for the upcoming episodes of Doctor Who is safely kept within the Time Vortex, as most of the character's adventures tend to peak with surprise comebacks or the resolution to a complex mystery.

Doctor Who by Jonathan Blum