DAYS TO DOCTOR WHO IN THE US: 5

At long last, The Doctor is making his way across the Atlantic in the premiere of the Fifth Series of Doctor Who, coming to BBC America this Saturday the 17th at 9PM EST! I know that our British readers are already two episodes into the new series, and I know that many of our American readers are, too, though I don’t know how they can enjoy the show whilst wearing eye patches and letting parrots rest on their shoulders. I, however, have not yet seen the series, so NO SPOILERS IN THE COMMENTS PLEASE! The way I see it, I’ve waited this long for new Who, I can wait until two weeks after the UK gets it.

Now, new Who is finally almost upon us, and so I’ll be counting down to "The Eleventh Doctor" all this week! Here’s what you’ll have to look forward to:

TUESDAY — the final Moffat’s Women column devoted to River Song and the other women of Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead

WEDNESDAY – coverage of the Doctor Who event at the Apple Store in SoHo, NYC, as well as Part One of an interview with writer PAUL CORNELL

THURSDAY – coverage of the Doctor Who event at the Village East Cinema in NYC, as well as Part Two of the PAUL CORNELL interview

FRIDAY – interview with current Doctor Who showrunner, STEVEN MOFFAT

But right now, check out my review of Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the Women Who Love It, the recently-released anthology edited by Lynne M. Thomas and Tara O’Shea.

I was introduced to Doctor Who by a female friend. And whereas most of my geeky interests were introduced to me by male relatives or friends (my brother introduced me to Star Trek; my friend Adam introduced me to comics), Doctor Who was the first thing I’ve ever gotten to introduce to male friends. In the United States - unlike the UK, where Who fandom is still male-dominated – Doctor Who fandom is and always has been mostly female, which makes Chicks Dig Time Lords a long overdue volume.

It’s also a great read!

The best thing about Chicks Dig Time Lords is the fact that no matter what the essays contained within it discuss—there are essays that address the positive and the negative in Doctor Who—they are all written from a place of intense love of and enthusiasm for the show. Or, as I like to put it, it’s a book that is entirely devoted to *squee*! The cover alone made me giddy.

The essays come from fans and Doctor Who professionals alike. Aside from great behind-the-scenes fandom essays by Thomas and O’Shea, there’s a wonderful essay on a mother introducing her daughter to Who fandom by Amy Fritsch. Kathryn Sullivan’s “The Fanzine Factor” is an interesting look at a writer’s rise through the ranks of Who fandom, Christa Dickson’s “In Defense of Smut” is a valuable look at the importance of sex in Doctor Who fan-fiction, and Catherynne M. Valente’s “Regeneration X” is a beautifully written description of how Doctor Who grows and changes along with its fans. And then there’s Tammy Garrison and Katy Shuttleworth’s “Behind the Scenes,” an adorable essay in comic form about how they created their online comic, Torchwood Babiez.

There are a couple of essays that I think missed the mark. Shoshana Magnet and Robert Smith’s “Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: Have We Really Come That Far?” seems to be working really hard to make the show fit neatly into their thesis, and I don’t think K. Tempest Bradford watched the same Martha Jones I watched based on her essay, “Martha Jones: Fangirl Blues.” However, even these essays are worthwhile in that they address important issues of sexuality, gender, and race that desperately need discussing, and often!

This book is a well-organized, fun, intelligent read that both female and male fans of Doctor Who will love!

Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the Women Who Love It is available now, and can be purchased directly from the Mad Norwegian Press website.

Teresa Jusino was born on the same day that Skylab fell. Coincidence? She doesn’t think so. She is a contributor to PinkRaygun.com, a webzine examining geekery from a feminine perspective. Her work has also been seen on PopMatters.com, on the sadly-defunct literary site CentralBooking.com, edited by Kevin Smokler, and in the Elmont Life community newspaper. She is currently writing a web series for Pareidolia Films called The Pack, which is set to debut Fall 2010! Get Twitterpated with Teresa, Follow The Pack or visit her at The Teresa Jusino Experience.