news

In my opinion there were two elements of Doctor Who that distinguished the series from a plethora of sci-fi shows.

The first was the Doctor's regeneration. I don't know if this was invented through necessity or if it was a brainwave of the show's writers, but I bet every other TV producer in London who had lost their star kicked a random assistant in the back seat for not thinking of this genius way of flipping a series's potential extinction event into something for which the show's fans actually clamoured. And with each regeneration a new Doctor emerged from his cocoon of light full of new quirks for the next generation to adore. This show can potentially run forever.

The second thing that has helped the show to survive and thrive is the Doctor's companion. Because the companion is usually an Earthling, he/she represents humanity in space. The companion could be any one of us, or as I thought reading by torchlight in a sleeping bag that long ago August: the companion could be me. Of course Kylie was in an episode. Which didn't hurt.

Read the full article on The Guardian website

The e-short A Big Hand for the Doctor by Eoin Colfer is published on 23 January at £1.99

Preorder from the UK