There are a handful of TV show theme songs that just send you right back to a certain point in your life – Match of The Day’s footy anthem reminding you of winter Saturday nights curled up on the sofa, rapping along to the Fresh Prince of Bel Air and being transported straight back to the 90s, and then this one, the instantly nostalgic sound of the Tardis flying through space and time, into the face of another adventure.
We’ve slightly lied on the episode count for this show, only including those of the rebooted seasons which started in 2005 with Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor with Billie Piper as his sidekick, Rose. And we imagine the more mature – we mean this in the nice, fine wine, expensive cheese kind of way – among our readers are likely tutting away, outraged. But they needn’t scoff for too long, as the 26 original seasons, which aired between 1963 and 1989 are ready to be re-watched on BritBox.
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The fact that this show has been on the air for so long is testament to its utter brilliance – various Doctors have come and gone, but the exciting, space crossing adventures have remained as thrilling as ever. And they’re often fairly terrifying. Maybe it’s the memory of watching it as a kid, being quietly horrified as Daleks yelled ‘exterminate’, and Cybermen sucked the souls out of innocent people, but this show really does have its frightening moments. Luckily the Doctor is never far away, now played by the sparky Jodie Whittaker, who, in 2017, became the first woman to step into the role.
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She’s armed (with her sonic screwdriver) and ready to take on the bad guys, as her and her sidekicks – there are three in the latest season, with Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole and Mandip Gill – fly through space and time to protect earth. This is proper, classic family friendly viewing, with heaps of adventure for the younger ones and nostalgia by the Tardis load for us oldies.
The latest run is season 13 and is still on top form. Writing in The Telegraph, Michael Hogan called the latest show a “jam-packed, adrenaline-pumped episode”. Much like the Tardis, this is a series that is deceptively expansive.
First shown March 2005. You can watch the trailer for season 13 by pressing play on the show image.
