I have been remiss about keeping up with the new season of Doctor Who - I have the episodes recorded but haven't had a chance to watch yet, so no spoilers, sweeties! - but this has not in any way tarnished my love for the show. But love has different levels, different strengths. While I do very much enjoy the show and think about it a lot as any geek does, I don't think I would say I worship it. Still, I had to smile as I watched this video by Mike Rugnetta at the PBS Idea Channel, where he asks: is Doctor Who a religion?

[embed width="610"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Csjr8bXvPw[/embed]

It's a funny idea, and he certainly brings a lot of evidence to the table! If I were taking the question seriously, I'd say it's not a religion unless people actually believe the show is real

. Otherwise, it's more of a philosophy. But then, of course, there's this

. Hmmm:

Thinking on this more, though, I suspect that if I had to start a church of Who, it wouldn't have the Doctor as the central figure. Clearly, if you watch this, you'll see it's Karen Gillan who possesses supernatural powers.

[embed width="610"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQfvLpfXe2U[/embed]

Of course, my choice of Ms. Gillan here has nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that when I attended the Doctor Who panel at Comic Con

this year and went up to take this photo, she looked right at me:

Sigh. My heart may belong to River Song, but what can I say? Unlike the Doctor, I'm only human.

Tip o' the sonic to Nerdist.

Related Posts: - Comic Con 2012 - Time and Relative Dimensions IN ROCK (also I Am the Piano Doctor Man) - Dragon*Con 2011 - My Nerdist episode is online - My Late Late Show segment is now online