Over the past year, I’ve become a Whovian, care of my daughter, who loves Doctor Who. We’ve been watching the latest series on Netflix, and we’ve recently started Season Five.
So, imagine my happiness and my surprise when I got the following email from my daughter this morning:
Oh my GOD, Mom, look what I just stumbled upon on Tumblr!
http://jeyradan.com/dw-autism.html
Here’s an article about it:
http://www.combom.co.uk/2011/03/important-questionnaire-about-doctor.html
Michaela Schubert, an Aspie and a PhD student at the Pennsylvania State University of Medicine, is writing a book about Doctor Who and the autism spectrum, and she has a questionnaire she’d like people to fill out. Here is what she has to say:
“I am desperately trying to get as many people as possible to tell me a little about their own experiences with the show. The absolute most important part of a project like this is to get as many different viewpoints as possible.
You don’t have to have seen a lot of it, you don’t have to be familiar with the classic series, you don’t have to have a particular spectrum condition (or any diagnosis at all). Any input at all is welcomed and greatly appreciated.”
So if you’ve watched the show, please consider filling out her questionnaire. And, if you feel so inclined, please post information about it on your blogs and other social media.
It looks like she’ll be writing a fascinating book.
© 2011 by Rachel Cohen-Rottenberg
That’s too neat! I’m always amazed at how things come full circle…the book will be even more fascinating with your daughter’s input!
Speaking of things coming full circle… A few months ago, my daughter told me about a show that she and her friends liked to watch, with a theme song she just loved. She started playing the theme song for me, and I said, “That’s ‘Carry On, Wayward Son’! I listened to that over and over my freshman year of college — on an 8-track! It was my favorite song.”
So we both started singing it at the top of our voices.
Maybe I’m lost here. I used to be a fervent fan of Dr. Who when I was in college and law school (a million years ago). I attended a Dr. Who convention and met the 3rd doctor (I don’t even remember his name now). It seems eons ago. I have not watched nor heard about Dr. Who in 20 years… What in the world have I been missing? I checked your links but still am left wondering. (Btw, Rachel – ordered the book yesterday – very excited to read it!!)
Hi Karen,
If you have NetFlix, take a look on there. They have all the episodes from seasons 1-5; season 6 has just started. I’ve never seen any of the earlier iterations of Dr. Who, so I don’t know how they compare, but I absolutely love the current series.
ROFL! Hubby is a huge Dr Who fan! I’ll try and persuade him to fill this out. Not that he’s on the spectrum. (Hmm…!)
Karen, since Dr Who re-started about 6 years ago it’s become mega-huge in the UK. I’m not a huge sci-fi fan but check out David Tennant… very easy on the eye, if you get my meaning
Hi bbsmum, you don’t have to be on the spectrum to fill out the questionnaire, so encourage your Whovian husband to go for it!
And yes, I agree, David Tennant is very easy on the eye. He’s my favorite of the Doctors in the new series. I’m currently watching season 5, in which Matt Smith plays the Doctor. He’s also quite good looking, but he’s so young that he makes me feel old, and that kind of wrecks the enjoyment of looking at someone that gorgeous.
Lol! All the Dr. Who regenerations had their charms! I must start it up again.
Absolutely! It’s an amazing series. I’m not a big sci-fi fan in general, but I’m hooked.
I emailed for a plain-text version of survey, and filled in what I could (and gave credit to this blog for alerting me to it).
It’s been 20 years since I’ve watched the show, and the newer versions just don’t appeal to me the way the ones I grew up on did/do (they were reruns at the time, but new to me).
The ones I liked were #3 Jon Pertwee, #4, Tom Baker (he of the foofy hair & ginormously long scarf), and #5, Peter Davison (who I’d enjoyed on “All Creatures Great & Small)-and I admit, part of my interest was finding these particular actors visually (and auditorily) pleasing.
While not a big “sci-fi” fan myself, I seek out “idiosyncratic underestimated fish-out-of-water main character confronts a mystery/solves a problem” series, such as “Doc Martin” (recent) or “Quantum Leap” & “Columbo” (long ago). I appreciated Dr. Who’s lack of concern for others’ opinions paired with pacifism.
Broadly (oversimplified explanation) I would venture that “outsiders” (as they perceive themselves, feeling “in the minority” & like one “doesn’t belong anywhere”) tend to seek out others of that ilk, hence the attraction to sci-fi (exploring how life might be, if our world/reality were different, if I occupied a valued niche/place in society, etc.).
I hadn’t realized the similarity between Doc Martin and The Doctor, but you’re absolutely right. I love shows with off-beat, idiosyncratic characters, and my daughter does as well.
I love Sci Fi, and Dr. Who and all things British. I think the Brits are more tolerant of “eccentrics”, though that may be a cultural stereotype.
Another Dr. Who fan! I had no idea there were so many of us on this blog.
I ended up working my way backward into Doctor Who. I stumbled on Torchwood on Netflix and watched all the episodes I could find of that, and then started watching the new Doctor Who series. I can only find seasons 1-4 on Netflix though, ending with the introduction of Matt Smith. I’m not sure why I can’t find it on Netflix if you have been watching it there.
I haven’t decided about watching the older series yet, but what I’ve seen has been a lot of fun! I just read about David Tennant on Wikipedia, and it was fascinating to see that this was a lifelong dream of his. Very cool!
I just looked again and found it – I had been watching the others in the instant queue and season 5 is apparently disc only. So now I have ordered the discs and just need to send back the movies I have here right away!
Yay! You’re going to love Season 5. Ash and I just finished it last night, so now we get to watch the new season, already in progress.