… but limited use elsewhere
I love sci-fi programmes and watched many growing up.
One of my favourites is Doctor Who, and I’m eagerly awaiting the new series this autumn (although I’m not sure a few episodes and a Christmas special is a series 😕)
I particularly like the doctor’s ability to change into someone else, regeneration, thereby solving one of the biggest problems in television: naming the programme after the lead character.
If an actor or actress in a title role decides to move on or they die, that’s the end. The alternative, which often just doesn’t work, is the supporting cast carrying on, ignoring the elephant in the room – Taggart, the Scottish detective series comes to mind 😂.
The need to come up with a plausible way to change the actor arose in Doctor Who when the first doctor, William Hartnell, suffered poor health 3 years into his tenure.
This ability to swap in new people has allowed Doctor Who to be on our screens for 70 years, with 13 actors taking the title role. The latest, Nculti Gatwa will be unveiled later this year as the 15th doctor, after the first woman to play the role, Jodie Whittaker, bowed out in 2022.
This is one of many benefits of sci-fi, as anything is possible. Having the ability to pause or stop time could come in useful, although I have no ambition to live forever!
We live in the real world and have to deal with the trials and tribulations that come along, without a sonic screwdriver.
So we need to rely on the help and support of our family, friends and colleagues to find an earthly answer to the challenges that life and business throw up.