I am Terribly Excited about Doctor Who.

I wish her well.

Emma Sachsse
Sep 9, 2018 · 4 min read

I have never written about my love of Dr Who before. Although I have always identified myself as falling on the nerdier side of the scales and have proudly called myself a geek since before it was cool, I have never felt comfortable writing about my love of sci-fi or fantasy in public because although I love them, really love them, I am not an expert. I have not obsessed over the minute details or watched them many millions of times. I haven’t learnt the specs for the Enterprise, nor can I quote swathes of lines from Star Wars. Instead, I just get excited and happy when I know the next Terry Pratchett is going to be adapted for TV or there is a new Star Trek Movie. However, I won’t line up at midnight or go three times. It doesn’t mean I don’t have a connection. I am just not an expert in the way some of my friends are experts about the nerdy things they love.

I was invited to a Harry Potter Quiz night, but I just couldn’t go because I know that I would never have the necessary minutiae at the ready, despite numerous readings of the books, despite the fact I have a passion for the movies and the actors and the artwork(How amazing is the art direction in those movies?). I know I am not nerd enough to match with the truly obsessed.
I have been a fan of Doctor Who since John Pertwee first terrified me in Planet of the Spiders with the spooky Tibetan chanting and a mysterious blue crystal. I haven’t seen this episode since I was a child but I remember being scared and exhilarated and heartbroken.
Then the Doctor changed, and although this was scary, Tom Baker was my next Doctor. He was wonderful. As much as I respected and loved John Pertwee as my first, Tom truly stole my heart with his mischevious smile, his melancholy, his madness and his pocket full of jelly babies. He was quite simply, wonderful.
But please don’t ask me to list the episodes or who directed or wrote them. I don’t know. I have a particular fondness for Lalla Ward as Romana and yes I know she and Tom were married for a time, but I didn’t search that knowledge out it just fascinated me when I came across it and stayed in my head. Just as the fact that David Tennant married the woman who played his daughter in The Doctors Daughter and she is actually Peter Davidson’s daughter, so she really is the Doctor’s Daughter. The Doctor is actually( but not really) married to his daughter. A silly fact that has stayed in my head for no reason. Oh my goodness I just googled to check the title of the Episode (see, I should know this stuff to be a proper geek) and found out that not only is Georgia Moffet Peter Davison’s daughter she is also Trillian’s(Sandra Dickinson from the TV series of Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy) daughter, cool. Doctor Who is a passion of mine, not an obsession is what I guess I am trying to say.
When I had aspirations to be an actress I always wished that I could play the Doctor. Not be a companion, but be the actual Doctor. Not a realistic dream on any level. Then The Curse of the Fatal Death came out, and the Doctor regenerated into Joanna Lumley, it was perfect. Sure it was just a joke, but it made me very happy. By this stage, I knew I was never going to be an actress or play the doctor, but I was still pleased.

The first time I saw Captain Janeway I was thrilled, here was a captain that I could relate to. Yes, I will always love and admire Picard, who wouldn’t? But here was a strong, aspirational woman. Again, no, I understand that I will never be in charge of a spaceship, but she was strong, independent, intelligent, giving orders and drinking coffee. She was magnificent.

So we come to the fact that the new doctor is actually a female, no joke this time. Every time I watched the reveal, which may have been heading into obsessive territory because it was more than four, I was moved to tears. My childhood hero and my fantasy role as an actress was finally a woman. I felt the possibilities to inspire young girls everywhere had become infinite and the teaching of young boys everywhere, well everywhere in Britain at least, that women can be in charge, clever, terrific and their hero is a wonderful opportunity.

The next iteration of the Doctor carries the weight of so many expectations on her shoulders. She and Chris Chibnall have a legacy to continue and countless obsessive fans, who can list every episode in order, will be sitting there ready to pounce the moment they misstep.

I will be there with love in my heart. I will be excited and joyful, and I will not be looking for faults but looking for fun and inspiration and adventure. Because I am not a hardcore geek. I just really enjoy sci-fi and fantasy, and I am thrilled when it is done well. I am not angry when it is not perfect.

So dear Jodie Whittaker, I wish you and Chris all the best. I hope you are amazing and blow everyone out of the water. But even if you are just good and enjoyable, I will still be over the moon.

Update: I have seen her debut performance and it was fantastic.

Emma Sachsse

Written by

Humorist with serious intentions. Writing a diary about writing. ‘Fuck, A Love Story’, the tales of my slightly erratic love life are now available here.

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