Two weeks ago was the anniversary of Doctor Who. As we celebrate it, it's hard to ignore the immense impact this show has had on world culture and the public, bringing together millions of people around the world, being originally a purely British series with no claim to global fame.

We could talk about why the series is still alive today for hours, but since I've reached the microphone, I'm not gonna miss the chance to reflect on it a bit, given that I could talk about Doctor Who forever. Consider this a loveletter to my favourite series, although it's impossible to express all my feelings in one post -- I hope the game itself will do that well.

Firstly, as one essayist put it,

Working on Doctor Who has one important advantage: absolute freedom of imagination.

Whoever says what, but the Doctor's world is quite flexible for implementing new ideas that are seemingly absurd. For example, who would ever think of putting a time machine in a random box on the street? Or to make the scariest and most iconic assassins in sci-fi history out of cans, whisk and plunger? Time paradoxes? A race of warrior potatoes? A robot yeti??? What???

When you talk about these things without context, people are more likely to look at you and give you an incredulous "alriiiight" (believe me, I've experienced it). All you can do is answer them "It's Doctor Who", and that explains so much until the person decides to leap into this world where everything is possible.

And the second reason is the stories themselves and their ideas. As in any good work (not only in fiction), the author takes an idea and reveals it from the most unusual side, resulting in a special story that can hook the viewer both by its realisation and the message itself. From reflections on identity, the ability of the worst person to change given the chance (and wait, this one from Undertale...) and questions of space and time, the series' most exemplary stories were born. What to say if the Doctor themself became more than just a fictional character for me, and I think for others too. Steven Moffat once wrote in his novelisations of "The Day of the Doctor" (the previous anniversary episode),

If you didn't exist we would have to dream you.

Because the Doctor is the one through whom we should hope for the best, remember humanity even when things are bad.

So if you ask me why the series is alive after 60 years, I'd say it's for these two reasons -- the flexibility of the setting and the ability to explore deep themes through sci-fi spectacles. Though let's admit it's just fun to watch. Whether you're a long-time fan or a newcomer to the series, there's no denying the joy and excitement of watching the Doctor travel through time and space. Anyone can be his companion in this grand adventure -- after all, because of him I met my most important friends and went to a fan convention for the first time, realising I wasn't the only one.

And now, the last thing to do. I've been preparing for this day for quite some time, and although a lot of things have had time to come off (the end of the year, after all), I hope I still released this post on time. And since we, whovians, are running out of holiday time, I couldn't leave you guys without a surprise. That's why I̷͓͘'̴̨͆m̸̨̛ ̶̦͂p̵͍̉r̶̗̓e̶͓̓s̴͈̐ė̴͓ǹ̸̝t̸͇̀i̸̠̅n̴̨͠g̴̭͝ ̷͂ͅy̸̧̾ô̷̳u̵̲̓-̴̥́-̷̛̦

Oh, wait. What's ț̵͋h̸͓͌a̷̬͐ț̴̈́? This is n̶o̵t̵ ̸h̴o̸w̵ i̶͙͠ẗ̷̛̞́ ̸̪̔͊s̷̮̿̏ȕ̶͓p̶̱̈͜p̴͉̋͝ō̶̢̪s̷̹͔̻̀̊é̶̳̾͝d̷̤̻̉̐͝ ̴̤̝̈́ṯ̵̾͛ö̶̳͚́̂͊-̶͓̩̝̒͐̂-̷̝̠̔̌̂ͅ

Ḣ̶͍̥͘e̷̘͋y̷̡̙͋̉!̵̢͙͌ ̷̠͖̓Ṡ̶̡̻t̷̗̯͝ợ̷̎p̵̢̦̓ ̵̘͗̈í̶̱t̸͔̂̚!̴̯̏!̷̤͒ ̷̰̖͛̚Ḯ̶̠͝t̶͉̓'̶̧̛̱͋s̴̬̔̽ ̷̯̃n̴̳̣̓̏ŏ̷̻̎ṯ̶͂ ̶̟̒͂j̷̖̳̇̓u̶̱̯͐̄s̶͈̔͌ṭ̵͕̐ ̴̡́y̶̪͎̕ẽ̷̢͇t̴͕̑!̸͕̚͝!̵͖͂̓ ̵̝͓̈́̑Ŷ̷̥o̴̝̙͑u̵͍̲̒ ̴̺̉̆c̷̱̜̉̈a̷͚̕n̸͉̱̈́̓n̶̛͖͎̍͘ò̷͓͉̥̾͝ơ̵̰̤͉̈́͋̒͘o̷͉͖͓̹͑͘͝ͅo̷̗̱̰̭͐̌̄̌́̍̌̏̕o̸̦̹̪̼̘͕̬͉͗̓̅̽̿̀͂—̸̝̐̋

.̷̧̨̡̛̬̱̣̲̳̟̄͑̄̽͆͘͝.̵̡̳͔̈́̀̏̓̕.̵̼̼̜̄̉̋̄͑̾̽̈́̽̊̾

[COMMUNICATION INTERRUPTED BY AN INCOMING SIGNAL.]

[SIGNAL INTERCEPTED. INITIATING EMERGENCY BROADCAST PROGRAMME.]

[YOU HAVE 1 NEW MESSAGE:]

[«𝟏𝟑 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔.»]

Tim DN

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