10 Categoric Reasons Why Doctor Who Is The Best Show Ever

7. Its Humour And Self Awareness

Because when you're the longest running sci-fi show of all known time, you don't really have a choice. Although Doctor Who became more obviously funny during Tom Baker's run, there was humour to be found before the jelly babies (which, by the way, were first offered by Patrick Troughton during The Three Doctors). Rarely did Doctor Who feel like an overwhelming drama. Actually, it's the modern episodes that feel more emotional and can indeed instill a void in the viewer's psyche. The truth is that every Doctor has played for laughs at least a few times. For all the criticism he's getting, even Peter Capaldi manages to really be hilarious in his more misanthropic take on the titular character. The joke about "the horror movie called Alien" (featured in Last Christmas) is probably one of the top 5 funny lines ever written for the show. After all, this is a brilliant alien who loves humans more than his own race, so there's bound to be large deposits of wit in that massive intelligence of his. As for being self aware, that has always been part of good humour. Let's face it, only idiots take themselves too seriously. There will be the occasional modernist winks to the viewers, such as Patrick Troughton's The Mind Robber in which the TARDIS crew is in danger in "becoming fiction". Echoes of that classic episode can be found in the more recent Robot of Sherwood where there is a vague debate on the nature of both truth and fiction and how much those matter within the Whoniverse. Other than such standouts, you'll always find appreciative nods to the past, as each Doctor has the unwritten duty of acknowledging his predecessors. That is not only respectful, but a great way to encourage young viewers to explore the show's history.