With just a few weeks to go until the birth of my first
child, it has got me thinking about some of the ‘firsts’ in science fiction
that I can enjoy with him (if he enjoys them as well of course). And frankly there are a lot!
As a big Dr Who fan, it isn't so much his first episode, but
more his first Doctor. Every Dr Who fan
has their Doctor; this should be the Doctor who was on television just when you
were old enough to understand the storylines and what is going on, whilst still
being young enough to be scared a little by what they were seeing on
television. I was about 8, so it was
Sylvester McCoy for me, and I still have memories of nervously watching ‘The
Curse of Fenwick’ with my mum!
Although I don’t think they are the greatest science fiction
movies that their fans will say, but the Star Wars movies are still a big part
of the genre, helping to make it popular in the late 70’s. Of course it would be chronologically correct
to watch the prequels with him first, but that spoils the great moment I had as
a kid when I saw Empire Strikes Back – when we find out Darth Vader is Lukes
father. I was in hospital having
suffered a concussion after thinking it was big and clever to run on the
playground when it was icy and slipped and banged my head! The nurses on the ward gave us the choice of
what to watch; that or Back to the Future and Empire Strikes back won
through. I was so shocked by finding out
Vader was Lukes father I couldn't wait to tell my mum!
Star Trek was also a big part of my childhood, even getting
to see all the movies after Part III at the cinema (I missed the Star Wars
trilogy by a few years) and reruns of the original TV series as again my mum
was a big fan. Yes, like a lot of
science fiction fans of today, my mum was a big influence! I remember playing as a child at school,
pretending to be Captain Kirk, setting phasers to stun and taking on the Klingons. Obviously I will try to explain to future son
and heir that ‘Voyager’ was just a big mistake!
Finally there is the reboot of Battlestar Galactica, which
is my favourite TV series of all time.
But due to the more adult nature of the series, probably one for when
he’s a little older, when I expect there will have been another reboot as there
are always rumors of this happening. I
watched the original as a kid, so he will be fine with that, but the newer
version has more TV violence in places and adult themes of sex, power,
politics, philosophy and religion that may go over his head.
Of course there is a lot more science fiction from books to
other movies/TV series and of course conventions to enjoy with him. Plus a few more years until he’s old enough
to enjoy these and plenty of time for new and exciting science fiction that we
can both enjoy for the first time together.
