Running through time
I remember. I remember the television room (yes, one room in the whole university) late at night. We flipped through channels, turning the nob because there were not remote controls or cable television even. On a good night, with a few clouds hanging in the dark sky, we would find the PBS station located in the large city miles and miles away. And if we were lucky - very lucky - we would find The Doctor (and sorry - it’s The Doctor like it’s The Batman).
After I was married and we bought our first VCR, my husband and I would search my mother’s TV Guide for any listings of Doctor Who. We refined the art of scheduling recordings onto tape and captured episodes that could be watched and rewatched until the tape wore out. For years, we carried the trunk of precious recordings from one apartment to another. We never lost it.
Next came along the Internet, file-sharing and the ability to burn episodes to DVD discs. We could never wear them out.
When the show relaunched and a new cable channel blipped onto the radar, we were DVRing the episodes to watch and watch again, over-dosing like kids with Saturday morning cartoons and sugary cereal. And now, in a simulcast broadcast around the world, I will watch the 50th Anniversary special of the show I’ve been chasing over half my life: Doctor Who.
Doctor Who. I can’t wait.
After I was married and we bought our first VCR, my husband and I would search my mother’s TV Guide for any listings of Doctor Who. We refined the art of scheduling recordings onto tape and captured episodes that could be watched and rewatched until the tape wore out. For years, we carried the trunk of precious recordings from one apartment to another. We never lost it.
Next came along the Internet, file-sharing and the ability to burn episodes to DVD discs. We could never wear them out.
When the show relaunched and a new cable channel blipped onto the radar, we were DVRing the episodes to watch and watch again, over-dosing like kids with Saturday morning cartoons and sugary cereal. And now, in a simulcast broadcast around the world, I will watch the 50th Anniversary special of the show I’ve been chasing over half my life: Doctor Who.
Doctor Who. I can’t wait.