Doctor Who Taught Me to Dream–Then Life Taught Me to Let Go

Meeting David Tennant and grieving dead dreams

BBC Doctor Who opening title card

Once Upon a Time in 2005 . . .

I came into my childhood living room where my dad was watching some new show. Except, it wasn’t a new show, but the return of an old one from his childhood, he explained: Doctor Who. A somewhat-obscure sci-fi adventure series about a “Time Lord,” who just calls himself “the Doctor.” He travels through space and time in his T.A.R.D.I.S., a spaceship that looks like an old blue police box. He explores, gets into trouble, and solves problems.

My younger brother soon joined us. We could not understand why the Doctor, played at the time by the magnificent Christopher Eccleston, did not have a gun to solve the episode’s crisis. Instantly, we knew he and his TV show were different, unlike anything we had seen before. We were hooked.

Source: BBC | Christopher Eccleston as the ninth Doctor

The last glorious days of my youth, before the Recession and high school came along, were spent waiting for the weekend to arrive with the latest episodes of Doctor Who. We brothers were highly influenced by the show, as the series is more than just…