Catching up on the new Doctor Who...

ricdude · May 11, 2011, 08:08:54 PM

Ok. It's taken me a while to get over my fear of "What have they done to my classic childhood show???!??!!" I mean, I've been a huge fan since the late 70's, when Tom Baker was the contemporary Doctor and ABC (Australian Broadcasting Company) filled in the gaps between the new seasons with Jon Pertwee era reruns (Death To The Daleks FTW!).

So, you might understand my hesitation in jumping in full force into the new series... Now, thanks to the miracles of Netflix, and new episodes being available there, I've thrown caution to the wind, and have started to "catch up" to one of my favourite shows from my childhood.

In a nutshell: Wow. Amazing. *Very* well done, indeed. I can't believe I've waited this long to catch up. What was I thinking?

To elaborate a little: I have an amazing amount of respect for the new team involved with the production of this show. I think it would have been very easy to "reboot" the series (a la Battlestar Galactica), instead of continuing where the original series (and movie) left off. The motif of using Rose to explore the ways in which time travel could mess with your head is very well executed. The concept of The Time War between the Daleks and the Time Lords (and who knows what else), and the Doctor's role in bringing about its conclusion will obviously provide much fodder for a long time to come. Some great new adversaries have turned up, and undoubtedly more are on the way.

Well, this classic series fan is totally into the new series, too. It is awesome. Even better, I've talked my wife into letting me introduce it to the kids (5 and 9, may have to skip some of the spookier episodes, we'll see). To ease them into it, we watched some of the Tom Baker serials on Netflix - City of Death and Ark In Space. And the first season of the Sarah Jane Adventures (might have to pick up the rest of them, they're a little lighter on the fright factor).

Anyway, just another junkie looking to share his addiction with like-minded folks... Possibly provide a little more analysis or just gush over the new bits.

P.S. if there's a more appropriate thread to dump this into, I'll be happy to carry on over there instead of starting a whole new one to ramble on in...

ori-STUDFARM · May 12, 2011, 11:01:11 AM

The thing with current Doctor Who is, that it has been brought back by people who are genuinely massive fans of the original series. And I think it shows.

Most sceptical fans of the old series have been won over. And I'm sure the old series has had many new viewings because of young fans into the current stuff. It really has been great for the franchise.

I loved the Tom Baker stuff as a kid, but the new series has really got me hooked and I'm part way through one of my many quests to see every episode of a long running series. Along with all of Trek, Smallville and countless others....

ricdude · June 30, 2011, 10:37:46 PM

So, the kids seem to have survived The Unquiet Dead. This episode was made even creepier when our emergency rechargeable battery "candles" decided to light up for no reason whatsoever. Audience participation FTW?

I think this is the episode that clearly showed a break from the "good guys win with the occasional grand personal sacrifice" trend. With the Doctor proclaiming [spoiler]Gwyneth dead five minutes ago[/spoiler], the series definitely took a turn for the darker.

Will be interesting to see what the kids think of the meaner, sinister Slitheen. They've only seen the Sarah Jane incarnations so far... Check back in a few more episodes!

Rico · July 01, 2011, 06:42:08 AM

Not sure it's been mentioned anywhere, but Matt Smith and Karen Gillan will both be at Comic Con later this month!

Hal2001 · August 03, 2011, 07:38:45 AM

Love the recent series reincarnation. I thought David Tenant was a good doctor, however I'm liking Matt Smith even more. The writing and story scripts are fantastic for this series. I agree, it seems this series is done by people with a real passion for Dr. Who.

I've not watched earlier Dr. Who episodes. There are many episodes. What episodes should I watch, with out starting from the beginning.

Meds · August 03, 2011, 08:26:21 AM

Hal2001 I'll write you a seek out list and post it here later on. :)

ricdude · August 03, 2011, 08:50:37 AM

My list:

if you're...
a romantic at heart: Girl in the Fireplace
action adventure fan: 42
horror: Blink
character drama: Midnight

All of these stand well on their own, without requiring any ongoing story arc knowledge.

spaltor · August 03, 2011, 10:31:03 AM

I've never watched any Dr. Who, but I promised Kasey I would. :) So, now that I've finished Lost, I'm going to start that up this week or next, thanks to Netflix. We're even going to cover one of the earlier episodes on Anomaly Supplemental this fall. A couple of the staff are long time Who-fans, and I'll be coming at it with the perspective of a n00b. I'm very excited to get into this show...

Dangelus · August 03, 2011, 11:04:01 AM

Quote from: Hal2001 on August 03, 2011, 07:38:45 AM
Love the recent series reincarnation. I thought David Tenant was a good doctor, however I'm liking Matt Smith even more. The writing and story scripts are fantastic for this series. I agree, it seems this series is done by people with a real passion for Dr. Who.

I've not watched earlier Dr. Who episodes. There are many episodes. What episodes should I watch, with out starting from the beginning.

When you say "earlier" episodes do you mean the classic series? If so then yes there are a few! ;) I wouldn't discount watching the classic series as there are some great stories there. To be fair each Doctor has some great episodes so hard to narrow it down.

Hal2001 · August 03, 2011, 12:18:52 PM

Sorry, I meant Dr. who before Christopher Eccleston. The episodes listed by HawkeyeMeds are indeed great episodes. I liked the episode Vincent as well. I guess that falls under Romantic? I hope more Syfy (er I meant SciFi) fans tune in to this show.

Dangelus · August 03, 2011, 12:28:09 PM

Quote from: Hal2001 on August 03, 2011, 12:18:52 PM
Sorry, I meant Dr. who before Christopher Eccleston. The episodes listed by HawkeyeMeds are indeed great episodes. I liked the episode Vincent as well. I guess that falls under Romantic? I hope more Syfy (er I meant SciFi) fans tune in to this show.

I thought that's what you meant. Meds hasn't posted his list yet but he will cone up with some goodies for you. I recently went back and watched most of the old episodes. Some fantastic stories indeed.

Feathers · August 03, 2011, 02:15:45 PM

'Robots of Death' and 'City of Death' are two Tom Baker stories I have always loved, but there are plenty of others.

Meds · August 03, 2011, 02:18:32 PM

Ok here is my list of 'Classic' Dr Who Episodes to watch. Now with the forst and second doctor i have picked episodes that you can get as some have been wiped.

1st Doctor William Hartnell.
An Unearthly Child. Its the first ever episode and has to be watched this conissts of 4 episodes.
The Daleks. First time we get to see the Daleks
The War Machines.

2nd Doctor Patrick Troughton
The Tomb of the Cybermen. Not the first time we see the cybermen but as the first time has been wiped this is the next vest thing unless you buy the lost in time box set which has clips of the lost episodes, dont do that yet lol
The Mind Robber
The Seeds of Death
The War Games

3rd Doctor Jon Pertwee
Spearhead from Space
Inferno
Colony in Space
The Daemons
The Sea Devils
The Three Doctors
Carnival of Monsters a great director and writer
Planet of the Spiders

4th Doctor Tom Baker
Robot
Genesis of the Daleks
The Hand of Fear
The Deadly Assasin
Robots of Death
The Talons of Weng-Chiang
Horror of Fang Rock
City of Death
The Leisure Hive
The Keeper of Traken
Logopolos

5th Doctor Peter Davison
Castrovalva
Earthshock
The Five Doctors
Resurrection of The
The Caves of Androzani

6th Doctor Colin Baker
The Two Doctors
Timelash

7th Doctor. Sylvestor McCoy
Curse of Fenric
Survival

8th Doctor. Paul McGann
The TV Movie

Its important to remember that a lot of these episodes may look a bit cheap in production compared to todays standard but if you can try and watch these in this order. These are just my picks though.

Dangelus · August 03, 2011, 07:40:42 PM

Nice list, seen them all :)

I'm sure done if The Tenth Planet still exists doesn't it? I'm sure I've seen it.

ricdude · August 03, 2011, 08:19:04 PM

Under Pertwee, I'd add the serial "Death to the Daleks". I loved the City from that one.

My favourite Tom Baker serials were "Image of the Fendahl", "Masque of Mandragora", and at least *something* from the Key To Time Series.

Beware, though, you're getting recommendations from the 10 year old incarnation of me. Enjoyability for adults may be debatable...

Couldn't agree more with Pertwee's "The Three Doctors" and "Planet of the Spiders". Also, a hearty concurrence with Tom Baker's "Robots of Death", "Genesis of the Daleks", and 'City of Death" (gotta love John Cleese discussing the TARDIS as Art, and I think Douglas Adams makes a brief cameo appearance as well). "The Deadly Assassin" is always how I remember The Master, and is an excellent "whodunnit" serial.

Enjoy, folks!