A helpful resource for the boyfriends of English nerds

The A.V. Club has a regular feature called “Primer,” which they describe as their “ongoing series of beginners’ guides to pop culture’s most notable subjects.” In practice, I’m not a hundred percent sure what distinguishes it from “Gateways to Geekery,” a similar A.V. Club series. But they’re both worth a read now and then, and the primer on Doctor Who that they published on Thursday was definitely no exception.

Kate’s a giant fan of the series. I like it too, but not with the same rabid devotion that stems in no small part from a giddy crush on David Tennant. It’s a show with a lengthy history and a rich canon, and it can be tough to keep up with a die-hard fan if you’re armed with only the new episodes and your vague memories of the serials they used to air on PBS in the eighties.

Admittedly, I’ve got a bit of an edge because I own a copy of that record the KLF put out in 1988 – on vinyl, no less, and I guess that’s just another symptom of my own nerdy tendencies. But it’s not as if that record’s full of useful information on the show’s history.

At any rate, I thought it was a useful primer. I learned a lot about the character and the history of the show. I can’t wait to impress my girlfriend with my new-found knowledge of the Second Doctor being sentenced to regeneration and exile by the Time Lords as punishment for violating their laws of non-interference. Plus, I guess I ought to take a moment to be grateful that I ever managed to attract a woman who thinks that sort of thing is cool in the first place, because lord knows I won’t be scoring any touchdowns in the near future.

Hey, what do you all think of the new guy, by the way? Pretty good so far, right?

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