How to get up to speed about Doctor Who in time for this weekend’s mid-season finale If you are a Doctor Who fan, you are no doubt excited about the much-anticipated June 4 mid-season finale of Doctor Who. It will be the first of two parts and will form this year’s mid-season finale. The official synopsis reads: Amy Pond has been kidnapped and the Doctor is raising an army to rescue her as the drama continues. But as he and Rory race across galaxies, calling in long-held debts and solemnly given promises, his enemies are laying a carefully concealed trap. In her cell in Stormcage, River Song sadly acknowledges that the time has come at last – today will mark the Battle of Demons Run and the Doctor’s darkest hour. Both sides will make their sacrifices and River Song must finally reveal her most closely guarded secret to the Doctor. Sound exciting? It is, but not if you haven’t been following along all these years. So while there’s still time to get onboard the time-hopping telephone booth, doing so is not always the easiest thing—Doctor Who is history’s longest running sci-fi show and even a cursory explanation of its involved mythology requires silly-sounding words like “T.A.R.D.I.S.” and “Dalek.” That’s why we’ve put together this handy “Doctor Who In-Doctor-Ination Kit,” a collection of episodes guaranteed to make anyone want to jump into the Whoniverse.
Blink Arguably the greatest Doctor Who episode of all time doesn’t actually feature much of the Doctor. Which is perfect for a newbie. You get a tense sci-fi story full of time-traveling trickery, a taste of current Doctor David Tenant, plus you aren’t walloped with too much mythology.
The Empty Child & The Doctor Dances The modern era of Doctor Who kicked off in 2005 with Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor. This creepy two-part story about WWII London and gas-masked wearing zombies was his best, and a good way to soak up more mythology.
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City of Death The best introduction to old school Who is this four-part 1979 storyline starring the iconic Tom Baker as the Doctor. You get scripts penned by Hitchhiker’s Guide To the Galaxy scribe Douglas Adams, a cameo from John Cleese and an amusing romp involving aliens, time travel and multiple Mona Lisas. If you decide you like these episodes—good news! There are about 200 more to explore!