How to Cope with a Doctor Who Hiatus

So you’ve watched all of the current Doctor Who episodes from the 2005 series reboot. Maybe you’ve even watched some of the older episodes from the 1960s through the 1980s. Now you’re fraught with anxiety, waiting for the next season premiere or yearly Christmas special, and you’ve bored your friends and family members to death with your constant chattering about the Doctor, the Doctor’s companions, and the TARDIS. What’s a Whovian to do? Fortunately, there are some very simple methods you can use to incorporate the world of Doctor Who into your daily life while you wait -- just in case you’re worried you might lose your edge during the season hiatus. Steps 1Watch some of your old favorite episodes again just because you can. *.BBC America is your best bet if you have access to it, but PBS occasionally shows reruns as well. *.Netflix also has seasons one through six available to stream. *.You can even buy boxed DVD sets of entire seasons in case you don’t want to watch anything else but Doctor Who DVDs, which is perfectly acceptable. *.Bonus points are given in this step if your favorite episodes are also the ones to make you cry, because you need to express the sadness that your long wait for a new season brings. It’s okay to sob mercilessly over “Doomsday” or “The Angels Take Manhattan” for the thousandth time, knowing that Rose or Amy is never coming back to the show. Eat lots of chocolate. It’ll be okay eventually. 2Invest in at least one Doctor Who T-shirt.If you’re feeling indulgent, invest in several. This is probably the best way for members of fandoms (groups of people that like a specific book, movie, or TV show) to spot each other and instigate conversation. *.Doctor Who T-shirts are available in many online stores. The BBC online store (or the BBC America online store for non-Brits) is the best source for licensed material, but ThinkGeek, Redbubble, and Etsy are also great for more artistic tees. *.TeeFury hosts a brand-new shirt design every day that’s only available for purchase within a 24-hour time span, and many of their shirts are designed with Whovians in mind. 3Once you have your T-shirt, wear it a lot.Wear it until the threads are fraying and it begins to get bunched out of shape. Display it with as much pride as your fandom warrants. Make sure that any potentially passing Whovians can see it and appreciate it for what it is. *.If you purchased more than one T-shirt in step two, rotate them frequently so people can see the full glory of your Doctor Who wardrobe. The eventual goal at this stage is to become known as “that geek who wears nothing but Doctor Who shirts.” That’s when you’ll know you’ve made it. 4Don’t think your wardrobe is complete with T-shirts alone!There is a ton of available Doctor Who merchandise to match any budget size. Almost anything you can think of can be marketed and sold to Whovians. There are necklaces and bracelets available with Gallifreyan symbols on them. You can also buy pendants in the 5Be bold and cosplay.Cosplaying is a term for dressing up and acting like your favorite character from the show. Because Doctor Who has been around for so long, there are more characters to cosplay than you’ll have the time or budget for, so pick one and go to town. *.Many forums and blogs offer advice to amateur and serious cosplayers alike and can provide scene-by-scene references so Who enthusiasts can match their character’s costumes down to the stitch. *.Cosplay is generally worn to Doctor Who conventions, or to broader fandom conventions like the yearly Comic-Con in San Diego, California. But if you’re feeling adventurous, why not stroll into work as the Doctor or River Song one day? 6Anything and everything can be made into a Doctor Who reference, so use that to your advantage. *.You’re at a formal event and someone’s wearing a bow tie? Don’t hesitate to point out to them that, in fact, bow ties are cool. *.Someone’s annoying you by talking too loudly while you’re trying to read, study, or watch TV? Command their obedience by saying, “Silence will fall.” *.If you’re feeling particularly villainous, run at them while yelling, “EX-TER-MIN-ATE!” *.Regretfully inform your roommate that you’d unlock the door with your sonic screwdriver if you could, but unfortunately it doesn’t work on wood. *.Take note of all recurring catchphrases from the Doctor’s incarnations over the years and make it a competition to see how many of them you can use in a single day--examples to get you started are “Geronimo!” and “Allons-y!” 7Find other Doctor Who fans and interact with them!Your classmate or coworker could be a quiet fan and you might never know it. During a lull in your day, start up a conversation and see who takes you up on it. *.If you can’t fi