The childish one

There’s no point in being grown up if you can’t be childish sometimes.
– Tom Baker as The Doctor

I’m being a bit childish today while watching classic episodes of Doctor Who. The Tom Baker era was my favorite incarnation of The Doctor, and my favorite companions were Leela and Romana II. Leela stood out because she had a real arc. She hailed from a savage tribe that wore short leather skirts, and at first she went around casually murdering people. But over time The Doctor finally convinced her to stop stabbing people with her knife.

The show often split a story into four episodes, and it was fantastic at letting that story simmer. Most of the time it follows the kishotenketsu four act structure very well: introduce the setting, deepen the story, jump into a twist in the third act, and then synthesize the plot lines at the end.

As a kid I would watch episodes of the show on public broadcasting. The show had good science fiction stories, real stakes, and a bit of horror. I can remember being terrified as one man slowly transformed into a slug-like creature, but now I look at it and his hand is just covered in bubble wrap painted green. It was more terrifying in my memories, but it’s still fun to watch it over again.