March 25, 2025
20 years since the debut of ‘Rose’, guest writer Beth Axford explores the side of the Doctor Who fandom that grew up with the show’s revival – and how it shaped their futures.
Beth Axford (@0hmyst4rs) is a freelance author, editor and journalist. Her recent work includes editing Puffin’s Doctor Who book range, penning a short story for the Ninth Doctor and writing regular contributions for Doctor Who Magazine. She is also the author of the unofficial ‘Doctor Who Quiz Book’. Beth has been a Doctor Who fan since 2006, and her favourite stories are Love & Monsters, Vincent and the Doctor and The Sensorites.
Twenty years ago, on a fateful Saturday in March, Doctor Who returned to British television screens after a sixteen-year hiatus. And it changed the lives of an entire generation of people.
I wasn’t there to watch Rose as it aired, though that episode may as well be part of my DNA - I can’t eat a pizza without chanting ‘Pizza! P-p-p-pizza!’ and every time I walk past the London Eye… Well, yeah. You get the idea.
It was later, through occasional Saturday night channel flicking, that I learnt of the Doctor. Of monsters and adventures and time and space. And of Rose Tyler, a character who would always stay with me. I didn’t catch the whole 2005 series, but by 2006’s School Reunion, I was completely hooked on the Whoniverse. I was eight when I first saw that police box, and it changed my life forever. I have been constantly guided by the TARDIS ever since.
I fell in love with the Doctor’s world, and from then on, my childhood revolved around immersing myself in it. I often felt like I had been plopped down onto the Earth like an alien from some other planet. Just like him. The Doctor was odd, alone and a bit weird. But he was also brilliant and loved and lived a life full of meaning. His weirdness was adored, and even when he wasn’t perfect, he was celebrated. The Ninth and Tenth Doctors were perfect companions for me during my childhood.
Content creator and cosplayer Dominic Martin agrees that the revival of Doctor Who was a vital part of his childhood and teenage years. "I was homeschooled as a kid, and I was very isolated. When the show came back, it became a rapid hyperfixation and the escapism that I so needed."
Dom grew up with the show and began cosplaying his favourite Doctors, which brought him community and friendship that he hadn’t found elsewhere. Becoming involved in fandom from his love of New Who has given him boundless opportunities, and has even brought him to meeting his girlfriend. "The new series of Doctor Who is a constant in many of our lives, and it gives me comfort. It’s a remarkable show that I have come to treasure, no matter the era. I have a LOT to thank Doctor Who for."
Looking back, I can’t tell who I related to more - the Doctor or Rose Tyler. Like Rose, I grew up in a council house, had a single mother named Jackie and had no education beyond secondary school. The Time Lord took ordinary girls like me away from council estates and showed them how beautiful the universe could be. Showed them that they could have more. And I got to go with them.
Just like me, graphic designer Georgie O'Boy was inspired by seeing working-class characters on screen. "It wasn’t so much a fantasy show, but a show about my everyday world. Which suddenly opened me up to a new escape, adventures and joy."
Georgie was diagnosed on the autistic spectrum at the age of fifteen, and she related to the Doctor. "They might well be an outsider, but the Doctor is still kind, observant and clever. Being different is their strength, which is inspiring."
For a while, lunch breaks at school consisted of playing Doctor Who, talking about Doctor Who, or trading Doctor Who cards. It seemed all of us were hooked. But despite its popularity, I felt like it was my thing. I wasn’t a gatekeeper, but everybody else had other things. Doctor Who was truly mine. As others grew up and out of the show, I fell deeper in love with it.
I am hardly the only person to have been bullied growing up, but all the same, I spent years of my life struggling with different types of it; my appearance was wrong, my interests were wrong, and my background was wrong. It was made clear that I was wrong, and Doctor Who was the only thing that made me feel less alone. The Doctor was my friend, and they and their companions helped me navigate the world.
Rose taught me that even though I had no A levels, I could do anything I set my mind to. Martha Jones taught me the strength to carry on, even through the darkest of days. Donna Noble showed me that the world could deem you unimportant, but that didn’t mean you were. That first, shining era of the show - brought to us by Russell T Davies, Jane Tranter and Julie Gardner - opened up my universe and showed me that growing up lower class, not having a father or being the odd one out didn’t mean that my life couldn’t be beautiful and wondrous.
Filmmaker and script supervisor Molly Baldwin feels that her creative life has been constantly influenced by growing up alongside New Who. From making her own stories and adventures as a child, to chasing a career in TV and becoming a script supervisor on the very show that inspired her. Molly was a fan of the Doctor before the show returned, but it was New Who that changed everything for her. "In New Who, my ten-year-old self found an outlet for creativity, my teenage self found community and my adult self discovered the motivation to pursue a career in TV and film. New Who has been with me in every formative moment."
The show has followed many of us through each formative moment of our lives. I hit my teens when Matt Smith became the Eleventh Doctor, and he held my hand through a world that I barely understood. Amy Pond grew up obsessed with the Time Lord - just like me - and I tried to embody her passion and ferocity. As I hit sixteen, Clara Oswald became like a big sister or friend who I loved dearly, at a time when I found friendships confusing and difficult. I was constantly inspired by her style, confidence and bravery.
When I lost one of the most important people in my life, the Twelfth Doctor simultaneously said goodbye to Clara. I clung to his adventures and journey through grief as a source of support when I had nowhere else to turn. Towards the end of his era, I started writing about the show, and it made me realise how much I had to say. That maybe I was worth something more, could do something more. It was Doctor Who that taught me that.
And when I became a young woman attempting to navigate a world that isn’t always kind to young women, the Thirteenth Doctor showed me that there is a place for us everywhere. I wrote more and more. I felt angry that being female seemed to hold me back, but I kept returning to her. I kept returning to the amazing women who have been in front of and behind the Doctor Who cameras. Because if New Who has shown me anything, it's that there is always hope. And everyone is important.
In 2020, Molly had more time to think about her future and decided to pivot her career to work in the television and film industry. She was also motivated by Jodie Whittaker’s debut as the first female Doctor, who she feels showed her that she could live the life she’d always wanted. And it wouldn’t have happened without the 2005 reboot. "If it hadn’t been for Doctor Who's revival, I don’t know if I would have had enough of a reason to lay everything on the line to pursue my dreams. If it wasn’t for those Saturday nights of watching a silly man fly around in a little blue box, I might never have discovered the career and lifestyle that I love so much."
Ncuti Gatwa is now the Doctor, and I’m now a fully grown adult. Doctor Who has touched every aspect of my life. My closest friendships and chosen family are all people I’ve met through our mutual love of the show. I live in London because growing up, I saw the TARDIS so often land in this beautiful city - being here feels like a comfort, a connection to the thing that was always there for me. And now, sometimes, I get to write about and for Doctor Who, creating new adventures and celebrating the ones that have shaped me. I get to do this alongside the Fifteenth Doctor, Ruby Sunday, and soon, Belinda Chandra - who will surely be inspiring a whole new generation. I am immersed in the Whoniverse every day, and although it might seem mad from the outside, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Drawing Daleks and spaceships as a child has led Georgie to her dream life, too. She recently worked as the graphic designer on Doctor Who spin-off The War Between the Land and the Sea, as well as contributing creations to Ncuti Gatwa’s upcoming second season. And Georgie’s life-changing job coincided with her gender transition. ‘I could finally become myself in the safety of the Whoniverse, here in Cardiff. Knowing Jinkx Monsoon [Maestro] and Yasmin Finney [Rose Noble] were welcomed and celebrated on set gave me the courage I needed to embrace my identity openly - in the building, and then beyond.’
New Who is still being discovered by fresh viewers all the time, and it’s not just fans in the UK who have had their lives impacted by the reboot. LA-born Vincent Goldmine began watching in 2019 and credits the show with helping them realise they were transgender. "I started watching from Rose when I was 18. It was right when I was questioning everything. The Doctor being an alien - an alien character [who changes gender] - made me realise I was trans, because I felt like an ‘other’ - just like them."
The Doctor’s style played a big part in Vincent’s realisation of their gender identity. ‘The Doctor choosing their outfit is such an important part of who they are. I really connected with the Doctor on that, and it was part of making me realise my transness.’
The show has even gone on to inspire their drag artistry. ‘It just made me feel so creative all the time. The first big show that I did, I built a TARDIS out of cardboard and did a Fourteenth Doctor performance. Doctor Who just always makes me want to create things. And be more queer!’
An entire life of hope and joy and adventure. All because twenty years ago, the Ninth Doctor grabbed Rose Tyler’s hand and told her to run.
But it wasn’t just her hand that he grabbed all those years ago. He brought endless people along for the trip of a lifetime, changing futures forever. And we’ve been running with the Doctor ever since.
