Five plus years ago, when I decided to start this blog, it seemed to me that most of the opinions I was reading online about Doctor Who were being offered up by “old school” fans—the ones whose formative years included watching Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, or Peter Davison and who really seemed to know their shit. I’d been searching for a way to talk to more people about what I thought of the show, and figured writing a blog that came at it from the POV of a newb (I’d been a fan for only about two-and-a-half years at that point) could be my niche.

Since then, of course, fandom has continued to grow. Being “new to Who” is hardly uncommon these days—there’s even a Twitter hashtag about it. Further, as time marches on I have moved gradually toward that Old Guard territory, especially as I include the entirety of the pre-Hiatus/Classic run in my personal brand of fandom. I feel like some sort of weird hybrid (no Series Nine capital letter there, though) between those drawn in by the modern revival and those forever faithful to whichever flavor of the original run they grew up with.

At my core, though, I know I am still a neowhovian. Much as I adore the serial format and other hallmarks of the pre-Hiatus years (not least the various Doctors), I still view those stories through a lens of history rather than one of nostalgia. For me, nostalgia comes firmly in the form of the Ninth Doctor and Rose. Every time I hear the synthesizer sting screaming into those brass-heavy bars and the frenzy of the strings’ “Chase,” a sense of rightness and anticipation washes over me. To my brain, nothing will ever be so quintessentially Doctor Who as Series One.

With a brand new series nearly upon us, teaser trailers, images, and episode titles for Series Nine are everywhere. If one spends any time at all online, they’re easy to find, and difficult-to-impossible to avoid. I’m not a complete spoiler-phobe (which is good, because I wouldn’t be able to use the Internet if I were), but I do like to maintain a certain level of surprise going into a new season. It makes me feel like a stick in the mud, but with all the publicity on social media (which is where most of my Internet experience happens), I’ve gotten to the stage where I pretty much stick my fingers in my ears and shout, “LA LA LA!” to keep from learning things ahead of time.

I do watch trailers put out by the production team—that’s part of the show, in my opinion—and there is some news that I could only miss if I were oblivious to other fans online (e.g., return or casting of certain characters/actors). For the most part, though, I ignore the hype: I don’t go look at the behind-the-scenes, on-set photos that the BBC spams out; I’ve only watched two trailers once each (I don’t even know if that’s all of them or if there are more); and I have not read the titles of any of the episodes beyond the first two (which were plastered all over the prologue video), though I mistakenly glanced at a couple that I didn’t scroll past fast enough in my Twitter feed. (By the way, I’d like to offer hearty thanks to the others in the FB groups of which I am a member for only linking to the list, rather than posting it outright.)

Although I recognize that there are those out there who like to skip to the last page first to find out whodunnit when they’re reading a mystery, or who need to read the ending of their book after the first chapter or two to learn whether or not their favorite character survived the slaughter, I do not actually understand such people—not at a gut level. I’ll to do the whole “live and let live” schtick with someone who wants to know everything possible ahead of time, but the idea that it’s fun to learn every twist before even knowing the story just baffles me.

I’m going a bit off the beaten path from my usual approach with my confession this week. What I have to say probably counts as an Unpopular Opinion, and it may shock some of you, so ready your burning brands and pitchforks. Despite what I’ve implied plenty of times before, Doctor Who isn’t for everyone.

You heard me. Some people simply shouldn’t be brought into the fold—shouldn’t even try. “What?” I hear you say. “That’s ridiculous! Our Show has something for everyone!” Well, yes; there’s an awful lot of variety in the ~250 televised stories, never mind the vast additional oeuvre of books, audios, comics, and so on. But I argue that there are still some people for whom even this extensive selection is not enough in which to find a truly enjoyable story.

Heresy, I know.

Yet Doctor Who works best for those of us willing to overlook—or better yet, embrace—the silly or way-out-there-unbelievable to find something deeper inside. It may be a personal lesson we embrace, teaching us about tolerance or personal responsibility or the value of vulnerability. Perhaps it’s a vision of how life on Earth could be, good or bad (usually, but not always, based on how some alien culture works). Or maybe it’s just a thrilling adventure that lights a spark of joy and wonder.

Someone asked me recently whether or not I thought Jenna Coleman would stay through the end of Series Nine. The question surprised me, since I’m doing my damnedest to avoid any hints, clues, or photos-from-the-set that might tell me anything about upcoming episodes, but some of that is unavoidable (like the return of certain characters), and I hadn’t heard any rumors that suggested Clara might leave.

If recent years have taught us anything, it’s that keeping a secret from Doctor Who fans is nigh impossible these days. Whether it’s a BBC insider accidentally leaving a file server open to the public or someone inside the production team letting something slip at an inappropriate time or place, nothing big has managed to stay under wraps lately. I would thus be super surprised if we’re getting a Companion switch this series, as that’s the kind of news that even I wouldn’t be able to avoid.

Having said that, I think it would be cool to be proven wrong.