I’ve long since stopped browsing most social media for Doctor Who news, so I really can’t even say for sure how many crumbs the production team has put out there to keep fans interested. Given the fact that almost nothing has filtered down to my corner of the internet, though, there can’t have been anything really big. Sadly, that makes it super hard for me to stay engaged with the franchise.

You see, one of the side effects of the initial COVID lockdown in our household was that we realized, one by one, that we are all ADHD here. Half of us have formal diagnoses, and the other half don’t (including me), but there are enough clues to be certain. For example, I’m led to understand that neurotypical people don’t simply forget to eat sometimes. (Sounds fake to me, but apparently it’s real.)

One thing about being ADHD is that without constant stimulation, I lose focus. I start to care less, even about things that once interested me deeply. Unless something is some combination of interesting, challenging, novel, or urgent, it’s unlikely to keep my attention. So when Doctor Who goes off the air for :checks calendar: thirteen months, it’s only natural that my brains skips off into the sunset to follow other pursuits. (That helps to explain why it’s been increasingly more difficult to maintain the blog, too.)

In an attempt to boost my interest in Who by finding the novelty again, I’ll be re-watching Series Four for my reviews here over the next five months. I’ll start in just a couple of weeks for my June review post and go through October. That way, when the 60th anniversary rolls around in November, I’ll be all set to appreciate the Fourteenth Tenth Doctor and Donna again.

As I mentioned a couple of months ago, I recall precious little of that series, which was my first realtime viewing. (It seems impossible that it’s already been 15 years since I started watching this show, but the numbers don’t lie.) I’m really looking forward to rediscovering the delights of the buddy relationship Donna had with the Doctor, and seeing whether my fondness for this series can hold up under the lens of the intervening years.

I’m cautiously optimistic that I’ll come out the other side still loving this TARDIS team (though I’m dreading having to watch Donna’s problematic departure). If nothing else, Donna gave us a different Doctor/Companion dynamic than the preceding modern-era Companions had, and that is something worth celebrating. I’m going to hang onto that with all my might.

Having put this plan in place, I believe the old-is-new-again approach should allow me to glide smoothly through the end of the year and into a new era of this ever-changing show. At least, I really hope that’s the case. It’s the only thing keeping this ADHD brain going.