Dr. Who is the best science fiction television show of all time - past, present, and future.
With his sharp mind, vast knowledge and experience, mind boggling technology, fearless sense of adventure, strong moral compass, and quick wit, he immediately sizes up a situation, explains everything to everyone, and takes appropriate action.
Cosmic scale and logic defying science are standard operating procedure. Story arcs, subplots, and reoccurring characters are maximized. Banter is snappy and cleaver. Drama is wrenchingly personal. Cast members fling themselves into their roles. Nearly every scene is bursting with entertainment. Creative quality is consistent. Many episodes, particularly the two parters, are Hollywood level. Several episodes have won Hugo and Nebula awards and nominations.
One aspect of “Dr. Who” that provides realistic depth is the faceoffs between the Doctor and other characters. The people he opposes and often even the people he helps express stern disapproval of his actions and/or justification for their own actions - and they usually make a compelling case. Dr. Who is a hero with plenty of the right attributes, but he also has plenty of dark secrets, deep fears, and forceful critics.
There's certainly never been anything like Dr. Who and there probably never will be.
This is a hard one for me to answer. Too many shows and some I will have forgotten.
Dr Who is a good one.
But I like most Star Trek, to a lesser extent Firefly plus Above and Beyond.
The original Battlestar wasn't bad--I never saw the remake so can't say about that one.
And I already forgot one I had decided to include.
Working on turning Lead into Gold.
Four HMs From WotF
The latest was Q1'12
HM-quarter 4 Volume 32
One HM for another contest
published in Strange New Worlds Ten.
Another HM http://onthepremises.com/minis/mini_18.html
The re-imagined BATTLESTAR GALACTICA is utterly amazing in concept, story arc, characters, drama and theme ... it's just wonderful sci-fi, imo. Binge upon it and delight.
But when discussing Best SF Tv ... "future" ... who can forget the March 16th, 2042 episode of COSMOS v.3 ... during which the series second episode's 3-D VirtReal broadcast was interrupted by the alien announcement to please stop hacking their own reality with 'your primitive monkey-species' infantile prattlings of dark ages physics, astronomy, and that cell phone commercial staring their future Goddess and Mother of Hybrids ..." ???
Alternately, who can remember that episode? The alien ethical construct seems to demand announcements of blistering truth and revelation, immediately followed by post-hypnotic memory-wipes, so ... yeah ... what was I saying? oh yeah I like BATTLESTAR GALACTICA!
'The only tyrant we accept in this world is the still voice within.' -Gandhi IOTF:Winner Q1 vol.27 (3x Finalist); WOTF: HM x2
I'd probably choose The 100. It had some flaws. I really enjoyed how the characters changed and grew. The story also kept changing in ways. Not many science fiction shows kept me interested, for long as The 100 did.
Twilight Zone is probably my go-to. Many deep topics are presented for consideration, and being able to use science fiction as the vehicle for discussing topics that were sometimes sensitive was pretty powerful.
Writers of the Future stats:
2026 V43: Q1 - HM, Q2 - RWC, Q3 - In-Progress
Stories published in:
Raconteur Press Anthology - Pogue, Too
Raconteur Press Anthology - Crashed Landings
Definitely the Clangers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYjhdJM_hx0
"...your motivations for wanting to write are probably complex. You may have a few great passions, you may want to be rich and famous, and you may need therapy."
- Dave Farland, Million Dollar Outlines
"...I also miss almost 100% of the shots I do take."
- Gideon Smith
Writers of the Future:
2026 Q1: R Q2: HM Q3: P Q4: P
2025 Q1: HM Q2: SHM Q3: HM Q4: HM (resub of 2024 HM)
2024 Q1: F Q2: HM Q3:SHM Q4: SHM
2023 Q1: RWC Q2: SHM Q3: SHM Q4: R
2022 Q4: R
Submissions to other markets:
2026: 37 submitted 2 acceptances
2025: 163 submitted 10 acceptances
2024: 53 submitted 8 acceptances
2023: 74 submitted 13 acceptances
2022: 22 submitted 1 acceptance
2026 goals: a. 2025 Novel submitted to agents/publishers b. Draft 0 of a new novel c. Speak at a con on panels d. Write 3 serious shorts NOT for WOTF e. Submit something, somewhere, every month
that was definitely a joke btw - though the notion of a childrens program about mice living on some asteroid eating blue string and green nisque supplied by the Soup Dragon was pretty cool....
"...your motivations for wanting to write are probably complex. You may have a few great passions, you may want to be rich and famous, and you may need therapy."
- Dave Farland, Million Dollar Outlines
"...I also miss almost 100% of the shots I do take."
- Gideon Smith
Writers of the Future:
2026 Q1: R Q2: HM Q3: P Q4: P
2025 Q1: HM Q2: SHM Q3: HM Q4: HM (resub of 2024 HM)
2024 Q1: F Q2: HM Q3:SHM Q4: SHM
2023 Q1: RWC Q2: SHM Q3: SHM Q4: R
2022 Q4: R
Submissions to other markets:
2026: 37 submitted 2 acceptances
2025: 163 submitted 10 acceptances
2024: 53 submitted 8 acceptances
2023: 74 submitted 13 acceptances
2022: 22 submitted 1 acceptance
2026 goals: a. 2025 Novel submitted to agents/publishers b. Draft 0 of a new novel c. Speak at a con on panels d. Write 3 serious shorts NOT for WOTF e. Submit something, somewhere, every month
I'd have to go with Firefly. Nathan Fillion's character of Mal Reynolds is so multi-faceted, and putting all those dynamic characters together in close quarters on the ship resulted in a ton of humor, drama, action and just pure story. The movie they made, Serenity, will always be in my top 10 favorites.
"There are three rules to writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are."
— W. Somerset Maugham
Drop me a line at https://morganbroadhead.com
SFx1
HMx6
R/RWCx6
