Watching RTD talking on Unleashed about how he was influenced by Doctor Who as a child, and that books like “The Making of Doctor Who” were instrumental in setting him on the path to working in television (let alone eventually being showrunner) made me smile. This show seems to have an inordinately positive impact on so many people, often influencing them. My oldest son’s partner, for example, was similarly influenced by watching “Confidential” when she was little. It inspired in her a love of art, modelling and set design and set her off on her own career trajectory.
Myself? It took me in a completely different direction. As a boy growing up in the 1970s, I was spellbound by this character who was so different to all the other heroic characters on TV or in the movies. I loved how he solved problems through his seemingly boundless knowledge rather than down the barrel of a gun. In particular, I became obsessed with the multitude of weird and imaginative life forms that we saw on the show from week to week. No matter what alien, creature or monster the Doctor faced, he always knew something about them or was able to apply his scientific knowledge to figure out how to deal with them. My love of zoology and ecology was born of Doctor Who. I wanted to know about the weird and the wonderful. Ultimately, this set me on the path that led me to where I am today. It thrills me that, as a conservation biologist and professor of biodiversity, I get to study and champion some of the oddest and least loved species on this planet. To quote 15 in Space Babies, “There’s no such thing as monsters; just creatures we haven’t met yet.” I know that Space Babies isn’t that highly regarded and I can see it for its faults, but there are messages in there that are dear to me. Got to admit (and I’m not ashamed to do so) that I’m really rather fond of that story.
Anyway, back to the reason for me starting this post. I’m genuinely fascinated to see how many other people feel that Doctor Who has impacted positively on their lives. Whether it be in terms of career, daily outlook or anything else I don’t care. Just curious I guess. 
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For me Doctor Who has been where I have found most of my bestest friends - both in real life and online. There are people I’m friends with who, in almost every other aspect of our lives we are completely opposite but Doctor Who bonds us and our lives are richer for knowing each other.
And watching/reading/listening to Doctor Who just makes me happy.
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It’s funny, I’ve not had any friends into Doctor Who since I was a small boy (except online). I do wonder what I miss out on, not being part of an active fan community in the real world.
I absolutely echo what you say about watching/reading/listening to Doctor Who. Completely. Even to the point of just enjoying letting the ambient music wash over me. My wife doesn’t mind Murray Gold’s soundtracks, but she draws the line at “those noises” as she puts it when I’m listening to stuff from 60s-80s. Some people have no taste, huh? 
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Oh, and thanks for the reply. Wasn’t sure if this was a topic that anyone would be interested in. Cheers!
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Weirdly, I wouldn’t call us a fan community simply because although Doctor Who was how we connected, we’ve been through much more together in our lives that Doctor Who is just a small part of our friendship (and sometimes doesn’t even get mentioned as two or three of them really struggled with the Chibnall era). Nowadays we’re more or less family.
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I met one of my best friends when I was watching The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone on my phone in high school during lunch break (and mobile phones are not allowed in my school though I always bring mine anyway lol)
Months later when New Year came, we greeted each other with quotes like “I bet you’re going to have a really great year” “Run you clever girl and remember me”(that was before I came out as a trans guy to him so…)
I’d say my senior year in high school would be a LOT worse if I hadn’t met him… I only survived those long days before Gao Kao because of this brilliant guy and that was all because I broke the rules and decided to watch that ep during lunch break 
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I hadn’t really thought of friendships and the like. It’s lovely to see the ways that Doctor Who brings people together. Genuinely rewarding! Thanks for the reply! 
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Doctor Who was instrumental in my love of music (no pun intended), namely with the nursery rhyme in Night Terrors and The Long Song in The Rings of Akhaten. I used to sing those all the time when I was younger. I didn’t learn to sing until years later, but some of my earliest songs were about Doctor Who. They aren’t very good for the most part but I keep them for documentation and nostalgia, and every once in a while I read through them and find a hidden gem.
I also used to draw TARDISes on everything during primary and middle school, and the fantasy that the Doctor will one day come and sweep me away is a major reason I’m still alive today. It helped me through some dark times.
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I mentioned my eldest son’s partner and her love of props/set design (so much so that she’s just graduated in set design). Here are two pics of a rather lovely sculpture she did for me, combining my love of Doctor Who with my academic interest in spiders. She’s happy for me to share these pics with you all.
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Doctor Who has been so integral to my life for such a long time - it’s made me friends, it’s kept me company, it’s given me hope. The biggest material impact probably was the fact that I met my best friend because of a shared love of Gallifrey and now I’ve moved to the US and live with them 
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It’s funny how many different ways it has impacted on us. As a neuro-atypical person, I have also found Doctor Who grounds me (it is a constant, a source of comfort and a lodestone for my life). It has also helped me to deal with change (something I never find easy, but I embrace within the show itself).
The one thing it has never done for me, an exception it would appear from the comments, is make me friends. Since my childhood friends moved on from Doctor Who, I have kept it to myself. My little world. My escape. My private solace when times are tough. My delight in every week. Wasn’t quite expecting this to be so introspective. Oops. My apologies everybody! But, yes, I see such joy in the living world and that came from the Doctor’s boundless knowledge and joy in the lifeforms of the universe. I am performative in life (aren’t we all to some degree?). Put me in front of an audience and I’m fine. 50 people. 500. Even 5000 faces in a crowd do not worry me for I am in control when my persona is “on”. I can lecture, I can “perform” and yet… put me in a room with actual humans who I have to make small talk with and I shrivel up and die inside.
I prefer to watch DW on my own, headphones on. My immersive world. That said, I do get a joy from watching with my wife (she hasn’t really engaged with Who since Matt Smith but is firmly back on board since the 60th specials - much to her surprise, I think!)… but it’s a different kind of joy.
Now, I shall snap out of it. My apologies for that indulgence.
Wow! This show means a lot to me.
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I totally get what you’re saying. I often prefer watching Doctor Who on my own and most of my BF listening is a solo affair. I might chat a bit about the audios with one friend and we occasionally have first or last episode parties but generally it’s just me and a DVD, when it isn’t a brand new episode.
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My Big Finish listens are exclusively solo. Typically in my car, driving to work, back home or out on a field excursion (data collection in the field is a regular feature of my job so I’m often travelling, which is great for Big Finish audios or soundtracks).
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No need to apologise for your inadvertant pun. It was, if you’ll forgive me, worthy of note. 
I’ve never come acriss anyone inspired to be musical because of Doctor Who, but I absolutely get it. From Ron Grainer’s iconic theme to Delia Derbyshire’s electronic wizardry, the soind of Doctor Who has always been special.
Murray Gold is the modern iteration of that. I loved Segun Akinola’s music, but hadn’t realised how much I’d missed Gold’s influence until he came back.
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Murray Gold is an absolutely fantastic composer. I find myself commenting on the soundtrack every time I watch it with friends, to the point of annoyance. It’s a good sign when I can hum every leitmotif from memory.
While I love watching Who with friends and I have definitely made friends through it (mostly through Torchwood), it is almost private to me. It’s the show I grew up watching with my brother, it’s the show I meet up with my mum to watch together. It’s one I keep coming back to, no matter how many years have passed or whatever else I’m into at the moment. I don’t need to talk to people about this show the way I do with other things I’m interested in. I’m glad I can, though, and this forum is fantastic for that! But I don’t have to, which I feel is important.
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Gold is extremely good, isn’t he? I know some feel he is a little too grandiose at times but, wow, he knows how to put a tune together! The way that final sequence in “The Legend of Ruby Sunday” borrowed from the soundtrack for the Master’s triumphant return in “Utopia” and elements from “The Satan Pit” yet was also new. It added so much more… weight to an already doom laden episode climax.
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I don’t personally hear the Master connection there. It’s a fairly simple progression using the same instruments he uses for most villain reveals. He reused Owen’s leitmotif in Last Christmas, but while that could have been a reference to keeping someone alive past death it was most likely just a nice little melody he forgot he came up with before (which is to be expected for someone with his portfolio after not using that leitmotif in nearly a decade). I like catching leitmotifs as much as the next person, but without the iconic four-beat drums I don’t think we should draw conclusions.
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I’ll happily defer to your superior musical knowledge. I’m not musical myself (though I wish I was moreso). That said, I’m really referring to the way he musically supported the dramatic build of the Master’s reveal in “Utopia”. I do see similarities there, but I may be picking up on something different to you. Either way, 'twas bloody brilliant!
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Doctor Who made me love writing although I’ve been writing a year before I actually started watching it. It allowed me to find a hobby that I enjoy and find great communities.
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Besides just being company and endless entertainment? I suppose it made me actually get good at english lol. I knew enough from school to have some kind of a base. When Series 10 of revival came out and I couldn’t wait for a dub, I just decided to watch it in english, which ultimately forced me to get better at it, to the point where now, I think i know it better than my native lang ;p
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