Doc-torrrrrrr!!

My first memories of Doctor Who are of watching it with my dad.

I was a band geek - I know, SHOCKING!! - and I remember coming home from either a football game or a band competition about 10:30 or so and my dad was sitting there watching Doctor Who, eating tacos from Taco Bell.

My dad never just ordered 1 or 2 tacos - he always ordered a dozen or so. Mainly cuz mom and I would sometimes eat 1 or 2 and he also liked them for breakfast.

So I walked in, sat down for a taco and watched the strangest thing I've ever seen in my whole life. Doctor Who in those days was a pretty low budget affair but with amazing writing. I remember watching it, occasionally saying: "what the hell is this?"

I would bitch the whole time we were watching it. Remember I grew up in a post Star Wars world. Where were the special effects? Why were they running down dark halls all they time? And the costumes! Don't even get me started about the silly costumes!

My memory of Doctor Who is of the Tom Baker days - you know, the goofy looking guy with the stupid scarf and dopey wig. I remember seeing kids at school wearing a stupid hat and goofy scarf, but I didn't hang out with them cause I was trying to be cool.

That was my opinion of the series when it started back up in 2005 and I sat down with my husband to watch it. He is an avid Doctor Who fan and was a big fan of the old series. He watched it with his family and friends and appreciated it for it's brilliant writing and somehow overlooked the cheap effects and cardboard scenery.

I watched that first episode with him, purely to pacify him. I had no intention of getting caught up in it or even in enjoying it. But that first episode with Christopher Eccleston, who I had first seen in Elizabeth, was fun and more importantly, well done. And like that, I was hooked.

Since then, Moo and I have watched every episode, we have many favorites, and debate the show with each other and our friends. We have attended and held Doctor Who watch-a-thons (where a whole season is played from beginning to end in one day with friends and snacks). So we're hooked!

Tonight is the finale of the current Doctor, David Tennant - whom we have really enjoyed in the role. But as a enjoy tonight's show, I'll be just as likely to be thinking of my dad and the tacos.

I think he would have liked the show a lot. And it makes it feel like he still here sometimes.