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THE fiftieth anniversary of Doctor Who coincides with another anniversary, besides the obvious one of the Kennedy assassination. It also marks 50 years of Doctor Who scepticism.
The show puzzles many. These people look at the program and see lousy special effects, monsters made out of foam and bubble wrap, and acting that verges on pantomime. No sleek spaceship interiors for Doctor Who, or zappy laser battles; this is a program built on quirk, its main character a pacificist who bounces around space and time in a blue box.
Those who don't appreciate the show see it as childish, in that most childlike of genres, science fiction. This can leave fans feeling sheepish about their devotion, as Nick Griffiths described in his very funny 2007 memoir, Dalek I Loved You.
"You certainly don't introduce yourself as a Doctor Who fan to anyone, or they are likely to start jogging to Latvia," he wrote. And while the 50th anniversary celebrations are revealing astonishing depths to Doctor Who fandom - spurred on by the BBC merchandise department - the institution that begot the show has not always held it in such high esteem.
Indeed, for much of the program's history, the BBC has viewed Doctor Who as a problem child - and that attitude has sometimes come straight from the top.
The show puzzles many. These people look at the program and see lousy special effects, monsters made out of foam and bubble wrap, and acting that verges on pantomime. No sleek spaceship interiors for Doctor Who, or zappy laser battles; this is a program built on quirk, its main character a pacificist who bounces around space and time in a blue box.
Those who don't appreciate the show see it as childish, in that most childlike of genres, science fiction. This can leave fans feeling sheepish about their devotion, as Nick Griffiths described in his very funny 2007 memoir, Dalek I Loved You.
"You certainly don't introduce yourself as a Doctor Who fan to anyone, or they are likely to start jogging to Latvia," he wrote. And while the 50th anniversary celebrations are revealing astonishing depths to Doctor Who fandom - spurred on by the BBC merchandise department - the institution that begot the show has not always held it in such high esteem.
Indeed, for much of the program's history, the BBC has viewed Doctor Who as a problem child - and that attitude has sometimes come straight from the top.
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