I don't like change. In fact, the older I get the less I like any kind of upset to my normal routine. The further I am from my comfort zone, the more uncomfortable I feel.
I know that some things require change. You have to change your underwear and socks on a regular basis. It's important to change your sheets and towels. But beyond the requirements of basic hygiene, I despise change in almost all its forms.
I don't like it when the menu changes at my favourite restaurant. If they change the layout of the supermarket, I'm at my wit's end every time I visit for months. If one of my friends gets a new phone number, I stop calling them.
But the things I most dislike changes to are my favourite TV programmes. I don't like it when somebody leaves the cast. I don't like it when the show moves from 7 pm to 7:30. And I really don't like it when one of the main characters in the show is recast from one actor to another.
This last one is actually exceedingly strange, considering the fact that my favourite TV show of all time is Doctor Who — a show that has changed its lead character no less than 12 times during its history. That means that during the 50-year run of the programme, the lead character, the Doctor, has been played by 12 different actors (or 13, depending on who you ask).
I've really never had a problem with these changes, after all it's one of the biggest aspects of the show. But recently, the lead actor has changed once again, and I'm having some trouble dealing with it.
I like the new guy well enough, but he's so very different to the last actor — whom I adored — that getting used to him is going to take some getting used to. Not only that, the producers of the show have made a whole bunch of other changes, too.
The main set of the Doctor's time machine has been redesigned again. The title sequence is new and garish. Even the theme tune has been re-arranged.
Frankly, it's all just a little more than I can bear right now.
But I'm going to tough it out. I'm sure it will continue to be my favourite show. It's just going to take me a while to adjust to all the changes.
And I'm sure once I do, everything will change again.
Sean Vale
Editor
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