A woman who claims her boyfriend’s insistence on watching vintage Doctor Who is ruining their relationship has been advised to “run for the hills”.
In a Reddit post filed under “relationship advice” the woman explains how when she and her boyfriend first got together, he insisted she watched “all the classic Doctor Who episodes in order, starting with the original doctor, William Hartnell”.
She writes: “It gets exhausting. My mind wanders, but I'm supposed to ‘pay attention’.”
Despite going along with his wish, he has now said he wants her to watch them all again because “the more I watch them, the more I’ll like them” and “it’s hard to understand some episodes the first time through, they need multiple, repeat watchings to truly know what's going on”.
She adds: “Please God no.”
In an effort to pacify him, she suggested watching some of the new series on Netflix.
“Blasphemy,” she writes. “You would've thought I suggested we dye the dog's fur purple.”
Now, for “his only birthday wish”, he has requested she watches all episodes of Doctor Who again, starting from the very beginning.
“He's taken to grinning like a madman at me when I roll over first thing in the morning and saying, ‘Doctor Who time? Is it Doctor Who time today? Ugh.”
“Absolutely terrifying and embarrassing all at once,” wrote one Twitter user. “She needs to be free of this.”
“God's truth. Sharing culture that means a lot to you with your partner can be one of the most rewarding parts of a relationship, but it has to be done in the spirit of having fun together, not you setting them homework and punishing them for not keeping up,” wrote another, while a third accused the Reddit user’s boyfriend of being “abusive.”
“All I ask for my birthday is about 350 hours of your time,” wrote another, while one wrote: “I grew up obsessed with Doctor Who and even I can’t make it through a lot of the classic stuff anymore. Give this woman an award and a more aware boyfriend.”
While the quandary might initially seem amusing, charities warn that applying pressure on someone in relation to how they spend their time could fall under the definition of coercive control.
According to Women’s Aid, coercive control can include a person monitoring your time, taking control over aspects of your everyday life, such as where you can go, who you can see, what you can wear and when you can sleep, and repeatedly putting you down.
Making someone do something they don’t want to do may also fall into the category of emotional blackmail, commenters added.
“If a man's ONE birthday wish is to f***ing torture you, just run, don't look back, keep running,” a Twitter user said.
Anyone who requires help or support can contact the National Domestic Abuse Helpline which is open 24/7 365 days per year on 0808 2000 247 or via their website, nationaldahelpline.org.uk
