Why I don't want you to start watching Doctor Who

If you're among those who heard that after 50 plus years and a baker's dozen of Doctors, that the part was going to be played by a woman and said, "I'm going to start watching that show," I have a bit of advice for you.  Don't.  

Why? I'll be watching, but I've been watching for 30 plus years. If nothing you've heard about the show over the past few decades made it sound like something you'd like to watch, I don't think that anything about it's doing to appeal to you now. 

Doctor Who is Doctor Who. Doctors come and go, but at its heart it's still a story about a daft old man who stole a blue box and went on a joyride with his granddaughter. 

And despite some folks having a panic attack over the old gent taking a spin as a lady, I don't think the show is going to change very much. Time Lords and Ladies sometimes swap genders. From we've seen so far, it appears not to happen often, it seems to be one of those things like naturally conceiving triplets. It happens, but not often enough that the person it happens to wouldn't be a bit surprised.

Don't expect The Doctor to change too drastically because his/her appearance has. The Doctor's best frenemy The Master  swapped genders and stayed her same bat-shit crazy with twinges of self-awareness self. 

If time traveling police call boxes that are bigger on the inside and Daleks and Cybermen have never interested you before, I have grave doubts that this program, no matter the lead, will interest you now. If they do interest you, I'd suggest starting with the more recent series (the last decade or so) to get a foundation as to just what in Rassilon's name is going on here.

Strong women are nothing new to Doctor Who. Yes, everyone falls into step behind The Doctor, but that's because The Doctor is well... the Doctor.

I'd suggest watching an episode called Blink.  That's usually a good barometer of interest. Or even better,  start fifty-four years ago at the beginning. You don't have to watch them all, but you could catch some selected highlights.

My faves. Mind you this is my personal preference:

An Unearthly Child
Tomb of the Cybermen
Day of the Daleks
Genesis of the Daleks
The Talons of Weng Chiang
The Invasion of Time
Castrovalva
City of Death
The Empty Child
The Doctor Dances
The Family of Blood
Blink
The Sound of Drums
Silence in the Library
The Stolen Earth
The Eleventh Hour
The Pandorica Opens
The Big Bang
A Good Man Goes to War
The Wedding of River Song
The Angels Take Manhattan
The Name of the Doctor
Deep Breath
The Magician's Apprentice
The Girl Who Died
The Woman Who Lived
The Husbands of River Song
The Pilot
The Doctor Falls

My point is, Star Trek is Star Trek, no matter who is sitting in the captain's chair. Star Wars is Star Wars, no matter who is holding the light saber. If it doesn't float your boat to hear an eccentric, bossy, male busybody should "run" as you flee angry robots, a eccentric bossy female busybody running from robots probably won't do it for you either.  If a TV show that requires a bit of homework doesn't sound good, this may not be the place for you. I mean you could just watch it without getting involved in the mythology... wait, no! You can't, dammit. That's just not how we Who at all.