[net.startrek] STIV In Search Of...Dr. Who

lesley@garfield.UUCP (Lt. Suvak) (08/09/84)

 Beam me up,Scotty,it's millertime!!


    No the Enterprise cannot be brought back!! And yes this topic has 
    been attacked,mangled,chewed and thrown out to the denevian slime
    worms. Like it was said before,asking for the Enterprise to be
    brought back is like asking to bring back David Marcus(no thank-U)
    or the Reliant. It just can't be done (and please don't ask me why)!

	And if were going to get into the Dr. Who bit again can someone
	please explain this guy a little further (all the more to confuse
	me!) I'd like to hear more about his adventures.
		I mean what does he do in time??
		Is he a crime-fighter like T.J. Hooker??
		Does he set time straight like the Voyageurs??
		Forgive me if I sound naive but I never heard of the
		fellow until a few weeks ago!

					Lt. Suvak

	Beam me up,Scotty,I'm getting some strange looks here!!

bsa@ncoast.UUCP (The WITNESS) (08/16/84)

[This is his sister, the family Who-natic, speaking...]

> From: lesley@garfield.UUCP (Lt. Suvak)

> 
> 	And if were going to get into the Dr. Who bit again can someone
> 	please explain this guy a little further (all the more to confuse
> 	me!) I'd like to hear more about his adventures.
> 		I mean what does he do in time??
> 		Is he a crime-fighter like T.J. Hooker??
> 		Does he set time straight like the Voyageurs??
> 		Forgive me if I sound naive but I never heard of the
> 		fellow until a few weeks ago!

dr. who is a slightly mixed up time lord, who seems to have a knack for 
getting himself into trouble. Like the Voyagers, he seems to specialize
in the troubles of fair(and not so fair) maidens. However, unlike the 
Voyagers, he is a brilliant man, a mathematical genius. He is also a
convicted criminal on his home planet of Gallifrey (he spoke against the
ways of the presidents and high council of Gallifrey). If you try to com-
pare him to T.J. Hooker, it's impossible. He and Hooker have nothing in
common, except that they fight criminals and are basic do-gooders. Who 
doesn't like weapons or violence. He'd rather dream up some scheme and
outwit his enemies. Cute, but kinda funny-looking!

		Melissa Allbery
-- 
      Brandon Allbery: decvax!cwruecmp{!atvax}!bsa: R0176@CSUOHIO.BITNET
					       ^ Note name change!
	 6504 Chestnut Road, Independence, OH 44131 <> (216) 524-1416

"The more they overthink the plumbin', the easier 'tis tae stop up the drain."

ron@wjvax.UUCP (Ron Christian) (08/18/84)

The doctor's name isn't "Who".  The series is called that
because the doctor's real name is not pronouncable by humans.
His assistant on many of the shows, another Time Lord,
had the name Romanadvoratrelundar (Romana to her friends),
so you can imagine what the Doctor's name must be like.
The doctor is simply 'The Doctor'.  This leads to the occasional
inside joke in the series where someone introduces him as
'The Doctor' and someone else askes 'Doctor who?'

The doctor is not human.  He has two hearts, a pulse rate
of 170, body temperature of 60 degrees and slightly greater
strength than human (which he rarely takes advantage of,
being non-violent).  He is also, as someone else pointed
out, a mathmatical genius.  He is approximately 800 years
old and along the way has picked up a remarkable collection
of skills.  Although of immense intelligance, he has no
scientific dicipline, preferring to trust to his intuition
and talent for improvising.  This trait makes his character
exactly the opposite of Spock's.

The doctor's race, the Gallifreyans, are able to assume the
appearance of other races, and conventionally assume the
appearance of the most prolific race in the galaxy, Homo-Sap.
They have perfected time travel, and the 'Council of Time Lords'
keep watch on time in a non-interferance way.  The Doctor
is a renegade for several reasons, not the least of which
is that he interferes.  (A parallel with Kirk always
breaking the Prime Directive, or whatever it's called.)
He loves to travel, and finds himself often in sticky
situations where he's required to solve a problem for
someone else to get free.  His time-space machine, the
TARDIS, is a old model in for repairs that the Doctor
stole to escape from Gallefrey.  After 20+ years of
ownership by the Doctor, the poor thing is a mass of
temporary repairs and improvisations, and never quite
takes the Doctor where he wants to go.  Worse, the Council
of Time Lords occasionally takes control remotely to
force the Doctor into a position where he solves a problem
for them.

The Time Lords are not immortal, but great physical stress
such as a mortal wound, triggers 'regeneration' where they
undergo a drastic personality and appearance change.  Time
Lords can usually only manage 12 regenerations, after which
they die, just like us.  The Doctor is presently on his fifth
regeneration.  (Six actors have played the doctor.)

There is a LOT more.  Doctor Who has been going strong for
20 years, and along the way has aquired an extremly rich
historical background.  The show is made up of segments
divided up into 2 to 7 20 minute episodes, and shown twice a
week in England.  Here in America, it's shown on the PBS
channels either one episode a day, or an entire segment
once a week.  (Channel 54 in the San Francisco area does
both.)  The show didn't impress me at first, but after
a couple of episodes I was a raving fan.  Try it, you'll
like it.
-- 

	"Trivia is important."		Ron Christian
					Watkins-Johnson Co.
					San Jose, Calif.
					(...ios!wjvax!ron)

guest@duke.UUCP (John Q. Public) (08/24/84)

In the message mentioned in the title of this article, 
It said that Doctor Who Stories were 2-7 episodes.
CORRECTION: 1-12!!!!!
				The SHADOW