Doctor Who - TV-PG

Slightly silly time travel show is fine for kids.

TV Rating: TV-PG Network: BBC America, SciFi Cast: Christopher Eccleston, Billie Piper, David Tennant Genre: Science Fiction
Available on: DVDDownload

Common Sense Note

Parents need to know that this show can seem lighthearted, but underneath The Doctor's always-cool exterior and his jovial approach to even the direst circumstances are some important moral messages. Selfishness, evil, and the urge to dominate the galaxy are all frowned upon, while honesty, loyalty, and integrity will eventually win out no matter what the odds.

Families can discuss the basic concepts of right and wrong. Do The Doctor's actions ever fall into a gray area? Do the ends ever justify the means, even if the future of the entire world is at stake? On a more fantastical note, where (and when) would you go if you had The Doctor's abilities?

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Will Wade

When a mysterious stranger rescues Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) from a creature that clearly has no business on planet Earth, she's faced with the choice of going home or setting off on a series of madcap journeys across time and space. She decides to join The Doctor (Christopher Eccleston in the first season; David Tennant later), as he calls himself, and quickly discovers that there's far more to the galaxy than the everyday slice of London that she previously called home.

Many actors have played the good doctor over the years (just as many actresses have played his sidekicks), and the show -- in some incarnation or another -- has been on and off the small screen since the early 1960s. But the basic concept still works well: An unflappable adventurer goes where he's needed to prevent an ever-changing rogues' gallery of interplanetary villains from pursuing their evil agendas.

The Doctor, as it turns out, is the last of the Time Lords, a race that mastered time travel and then mysteriously died off, leaving only The Doctor to carry on their important work. Sort of an anti-action-hero, The Doctor uses charm and quick thinking to disarm his foes, rather than guns or fists. This makes his character appealing and ensures that the show is fun for all ages.

That said, although many of the plots hint at complicated concepts -- especially when you consider the inter-dimensional capabilities of The Doctor's time machine, the TARDIS (that's Time and Relative Dimensions in Space, if you must know) -- the stories are generally rather simplistic. The interactions between The Doctor and his assistant are fun, but sometimes it seems like the female sidekick's main purpose is to give The Doctor a reason to explain the crisis of the day and then to get in trouble, which provides him with extra motivation to solve said crisis.

Hard-core sci-fi fans might not be satisfied, but anyone looking for a basic adventure show with a cosmic theme won't be disappointed.

Fans might also like fellow space drama Battlestar Galactica or Invasion, which features mysterious creatures bent on taking over the planet.

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Content		CS	adults	kids
Content
Sexual Content Despite his outward appearance, The Doctor is not human and seems to have little interest in romance. His sidekick, Rose, is human, but their adventures have them skipping from place to place so quickly that there's little time for love.
Violence The Doctor uses his wits, not his fists, to battle his foes, though he often employs some really cool space-age tools. Some episodes feature creepy creatures.
Language Despite their often-perilous adventures, The Doctor and his plucky comrades generally refrain from foul language.
Message
	Social Behavior As the last of his kind, The Doctor is a true individualist, dedicated to defeating evil, whether in the form of authoritarian robots bent on galactic domination or corrupt time-traveling con artists. He's often painted as the only character who understands the true nature of the villain-of-the-week, which means he typically must subvert the well-intentioned but misguided plans of authority figures -- who usually come to realize that his plan is the best plan.
	Commercialism Characters can end up on any planet in the galaxy at any point in the past present, or future, so there's little opportunity for commercial tie-ins.
	Drug/Alcohol/Tobacco None of the characters smoke or take drugs. There are some scenes involving social drinking, but not always involving cocktails made with any liquor known on this planet.