The gift of giving

Over the Christmas holiday’s I downloaded the 2007 Christmas special of Doctor Who – Voyage of the Damned. It only aired in the UK and will not be shown in Australia probably until mid year 2008. I watched it and it was enjoyable, but I have never been a huge Doctor Who fan. The episode was ok, and I was curious to see guest star Kylie Minogue act and see what she would be prancing around in - a maid’s uniform. :)

In early December, Lauren’s work had a Christmas party for staff and family at the Fairfield Boathouse. Lauren and I both took out a boy and girl on the water. Lauren had a row boat and I had canoe. Initially I was with a boy named Thomas in a canoe. Then half way, we switched partners and I had a 12 year old girl named Kako. When she was talking to Lauren, she mentioned she was a Doctor Who fan and even had a Doctor Who party with friends. Lauren mentioned it to me as Kako and I headed off. The past year I have been watching the new Doctor Who series and the last series was quite good and entertaining. Kako also agreed and thought that it was very good. She also mentioned she has watched all the Doctor Who series, back to the Tom Baker years. I remember vaguely watching it back in the mid 80’s when I was 6-8 years old.

So back to the end of December and after watching the Christmas special of Doctor Who, I was reminded of Kako and her devotion to the Doctor. I decided to create a DVD of this episode and give it to her. But I did it anonymously; I wrapped the DVD in gift paper and put a gift tag on it. In the gift tag it simply stated:

To: Kako

Happy Holidays

From: The Doctor

I dropped it in her mailbox the weekend before the New Year. I was anxious to hear if she received it or if the DVD worked. But could not know for sure and I eventually forgot about it.

Fast forward to the evening of January 9th; Lauren and I are in the kitchen preparing dinner. Lauren bursts out she has something to tell me. She then proceeds to tell me about Jackie; Kako’s mother and the DVD of Doctor Who, Kako received. She received it on New Years day, from her father who had retrieved it from the mailbox. They have watched it numerous times with other families coming around to watch it. Jackie has been asking around who did it, without any response. Kako triumphantly said its The Doctor.

I was glad to hear this and that other families and children are getting enjoyment as well. It’s great a show like Doctor Who with is sci-fi/fantasy stories, exploration of new worlds; people and the drama/adventure in Doctor Who can bring families together and experience enjoyment together. It reminds me when I used to watch shows like Star Trek: The Next Generation or Quantum Leap with my family, when I was younger.