Regular readers know I'm a massive "Doctor Who" fan... and that I'm thoroughly addicted (as is Sue and the kids) to the "new re-booted" series currently airing on BBC, BBC America, Sci-Fi Channel, and The CBC... That said, I actually DO get e-mail quite often asking to 'splain some of the ins and outs of the time-travelling program.

With this in mind, here's a "Quick-Read Starters Guide" to anyone interested in starting their viewing of the iconic program.

First of all, there's really only one running character as such... his name is "unknown"... but he goes by "The Doctor"... just "The Doctor". As one of his arch-enemies pointed out not too long ago...

The man who makes people better. How sanctimonious is that?

The show (and character) ACTUALLY got started on the BBC in 1963 with an elderly William Hartnell playing the character... and, oddly enough, the current Doctor (played by the rather young-looking David Tennant,) is still the same person... and he's the tenth person to be in the role.

I best explain this...

The character is an alien... from a planet named Gallifrey... which is the home to "The Time Lords" who are SUPPOSED to be an advanced race that wanders about through space and time acting as "witnesses only" to history... 'cept it never works out that way for our character... and "our Doctor" is considered a renegade Time Lord because of his interventions to put things right.

When the show started, William Hartnell didn't really figure on staying in the role too long... so, they devised a way he could leave and another actor who looked and even acted differently could "assume the role"...

The concept is that Time Lords don't live normal life spans as such... but when they are near death, they "cheat death" by regenerating every cell in their body... same memories and thoughts... everything else is different.

Now, you might say, Well, that sucks! I get used to ONE guy and WHAMMO! I've got a new guy!?! Thppt to that! except that literally EVERY actor who's played the Doctor brings a new personality to the part... thus, the show continues anew with the basics kept in place... he's a time traveller going about like a whacky tourist watching quite literally the universe at any time in any place.

Thankfully, our Time Lord has a preference to Earth.

The official idea is he's part human himself... on his mother's side... but they play fast and loose with that bit because they enjoy playing up the "alien" aspect of his persona... which amounts to being very eccentric, a genius, having a higher-than-normal body temperature and two hearts. Other than that... he's just a touch odd and somewhat frantic... "Anarchistic" is one way he's been described.

Either way, the writer add another element to help us viewers along... The Doctor is a lonely traveller... so he "adopts" (invites to travel with him) a "companion"... a human being who's REAL job is to ask all the questions that we, the audience, might ask... in terms of them being a player on the stage though... so when something odd or magical "happens", the companions asks about it in terms of their character understanding the situation et voila! The answer is given to us, the viewer.

The companion's other thing is to usually get into trouble... facilitating the adventures that unfold... and usually mucking about with history... usually with decent reason.

For example, one recent show had The Doctor and a companion stumbling into Shakespeare's time and finding out about the lost play, Love's Labours Won which was a sequel to Love's Labours Lost... and finding out that it was written, by use of "mind control" by an alien race that wrote into the play a "spell" to bring it's race to the Earth to take over the planet... Since that DIDN'T happen in "real history", The Doctor and his companion need to set everything right... with the help of Shakespeare himself... and we have an adventure!

The "time machine" The Doctor uses is called a TARDIS... which is an acronym for "Time And Relative Dimensions In Space"... which is a 1950's London Police Box on the outside.

Okay, another weird thing this...

The REAL story is when they filmed the first series, they needed a "prop" to represent the ship... but didn't have one... so the crafty writers found the police box on another set or in a warehouse... that bits not really known from what I can gather... The thing is a blue box slightly larger than a phone booth used by the police before the invention of long range radios and cell phones with a landline phone built in and a small desk inside and they USED to be a common site on London streets in the 1950's and 60's... so they decided...

The TARDIS has a "chameleon" circuit... that disguises it to "blend in" with it's surroundings... except our Doctor's TARDIS is a little broken... and it's stuck as a police box.

Now, here's the REALLY odd bit...

The TARDIS is larger on the inside than on the outside.

Yeah, wrap your head around THAT ONE!

Somehow, it makes sense... and as viewers, we're kind of in on the joke.

Of course, EVERYTHING about the TARDIS and the time-travelling is all based on fairly sound (and ahead of their time) bits of quantum physics... but since my twelve year-old not only "got it", but likes it, and actually finds the whole idea of parallel universes and the concept of temporal flux and travel rather "matter-of-fact" tells me the show does an outstanding job of explaining pretty heavy concepts to any viewer and making it rather understandable and genuinely fun!

Now, you MIGHT hear people tell you who their Doctor is/was... this is based on when they started watching the show and who was playing the role at the time... for example, my Doctor was an actor named Jon Pertwee (the Third Doctor)... and I can also claim Tom Baker (the Fourth Doctor) as those were the two men who played the character when I got hooked in the 1970's...

Sue and the two youngest see David Tennant as "their Doctor"... but the eldest, who watched the shows from the NEW beginning in 2005, sees Christopher Eccleston (the Ninth Doctor) as her Doctor.

Oh yeah... the "new beginning"...

The show ran from 1963 until 1989... then it was cancelled (after seven Doctors had played the role.)

Early in it's inception, Fox Television considered bringing the show back as an American offering and made a TV movie... hence the eighth Doctor... but it didn't pan out.

Then, in 2005, the BBC re-did the show under the guidance of the brilliant Russell T Davies and it became a SMASH hit in Britain... and has been steadily and scarily growing in North America and Australia.

Okay...

Another popular bit of the show is The Doctor's style... he tends to solve problems without violence... and always gives his opponents a "choice" between giving up their "evil plans"... or facing his wrath... which is usually winning the day by literally out-thinking them.

Instead of a "ray gun" or gun of any sort, The Doctor's trusted "weapon" is a screwdriver... called a "sonic screwdriver" which is about the size of a large pen and emits a blue light and sound... it's capable of opening MOST doors and doing a wide range of "clever" things... and is a popular toy/prop for us efficinados.

Now, the show does suffer from one thing... and that is explained in the NEW series... which is all the aliens speak English and usually with a British accent. The new show 'splains that this is because the TARDIS is translating for us... and since The Doctor has a Brit accent... and his companions are British... the aliens sound like Brits!

Hey? Didn't you always wonder why the aliens on the original Star Trek all spoke English with usually an American accent?

...anyway...

This brief (HAHAHAHAHAHA!) starter guide sounds far more boring than the show really is... and it IS a family show despite, oddly enough, being steeped with death and scary creatures. (Many folks do tend to pass on around The Doctor... not because of him, but because of the things he tends to be involved with.)

...but if you read this... even if you didn't understand it... it would make sense if you watched an episode of the show... and I guarantee, DESPITE this lengthy thing, you will enjoy it if you give it a chance.

NEXT WEEK, I'll tell you why he's now the LAST of the Time Lords, what a Dalek is, who Davros is... and maybe a bit about scarves.