50 years ago today, while the US was reeling from the assassination of President Kennedy, a new science fiction show debuted on the BBC in Great Britain.  Today, Doctor Who is bigger than ever, both in the UK and here in the US.

Up until last year, Doctor Who was one of the holes in my nerdom.  Growing up, I had never watched the classic episodes when they would air on PBS, nor did I catch on to the new series when it came over to the states in 2006.  Over the years, though, the show slowly started to pull me to it, thanks to the boys on the Nerdist podcast and the parody version of Inspector Spacetime in Community.  Last September, while I was in Belfast, I finally took the plunge and watched my first episode, on the BBC no less.

Back at home, I ended up watching the next 2 episodes on BBC America, leading up to the end of the first half of season 7 and the death of the Ponds.  Just about a year ago, during the week of Thanksgiving, I decided to start at the beginning, at least of the current series, and worked through the 7 seasons, finally catching up early this year in time for the second half of season 7.  Tonight brings the 50th anniversary special, picking up from the season 7 finale and featuring the first team-up between David Tennant’s 10th Doctor and Matt Smith’s 11th.  This will then lead in to the Christmas special, where Smith will hang up his sonic screwdriver and turn the role over to Peter Capaldi.