The BBC has committed to not one, but two more 13-episode series of the new Doctor Who. This is brilliant news, most definitely! Oh yes, and they are also producing two Christmas specials.

It’s hard to really put my love of Doctor Who into words. I have a tremendous affection for both the character and the core concepts of the show. Often, in my dorky fanboy fantasies, I think up what I would write if I got a chance to work on one of my favorite science fiction properties. Doctor Who, while a huge influence on my ongoing comic book project, is something I would never want to write. I just love it too much.

At its core Doctor Who is a celebration of the best in people, a validation of the little guy and the importance of ordinary lives. The Doctor, a nearly immortal alien who regenerates into a new person whenever he dies, is committed to that age old science fiction concept of saving the world, but he does it for his love of regular people. In many ways, it’s nearly the perfect concept — a ship (the TARDIS) that allows the Doctor and his companions to travel through time in space, meaning Doctor Who can be set not only anywhere in the universe, but also any time in history. Star Trek was always coming up with technobabble reasons for time travel, but it’s a core part of what Doctor Who is about.

Having watched all but the season finale of the new show (which I will write about in more depth in a later post), I have to say that this is the greatest revival of a classic scifi concept since Star Trek: The Next Generation — perhaps greater. It’s a huge phenomenon in England, topping Saturday night ratings, and clobbering the competition. And unlike modern American scifi it’s a family show — though I’m not sure how some of its themes would play to a U.S. audience.

Now, this isn’t to say that I’m not a big fan of Battlestar: Galactica — I most certainly am. It’s the best American genre show on television. But Doctor Who is bigger than BSG — it’s an enduring classic. This is not to say that BSG won’t be an enduring classic, just that Doctor Who has a special quality that transcends even Ronald Moore’s excellent remake.

In any event, I’m thrilled by the news. The new Doctor Who is definitely in the same league as Buffy and Farscape, two recent additions to the science fiction canon. More later.