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Dr. Who
rocketshipready
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I want to watch Dr. Who. This seems like an easy enough task, but I'm just curious on where I should start/what I shouldn't watch. I've seen a few episodes, from when Christopher Eccleston had the lead role, and absolutely HATED it. Just could not stand any episode at all. I guess the new guys are pretty good, though? What about the older series? Any Doctor you particularly love? Thanks for any help!
Crap, thought I was in H/A. Delete/move, plz?
Crap, thought I was in H/A. Delete/move, plz?
rocketshipready on
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That said, if you absolutely don't want to start with him, then The Eleventh Hour with Matt Smith from last season was set up as another starting point for new viewers, and would be the second best place to start. Once you get used to the way the show works though, I'd strongly suggest going back and giving Eccleston another try.
No real reason to go over to H/A. We have a whole thread devoted to Who is over here.
I'm going to cross post this but to answer your primary question Smith's run started in the beginning of season 5 along with a new main writer. Tennet started at the beginning of season 2. I love Smith's run and enjoyed most of Tennet's but the end got bad for me.
That is not the guy he hates. Blink is in David Tennants run.
I am currently watching Dr. Who and have only a few episodes to go in Season 3. You should really give Eccleston another try, I think he is fantastic.
Other than that I guess you can also start with season 2, where David Tennant starts.
I liked Eccleston, and his one series is vital because it introduces Rose and Captain Jack. But pretending that Tennants run was anything less than superb is just mind-boggling.
@Ceres; Wish I could say that every episode of Doctor Who was as good as Blink, but truth be told that episode is widely considered one of the all time best. So while I think it's a great series in general, I have to deflate your hopes just a tad.
If you're starting through Netflix, make sure you get a grasp on all the non-season material so you can watch it in sequence (the D&D thread is a good resource for this). IIRC watching out of order is generally cool but do not skip to season 5 without finding the goods between s4 & s5.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyPIe5w2xY4
Start from Matt Smith's first episode, as Tennant's episodes are similar enough to Eccleston's that you probably won't like them.
If you can't stand them either, you probably need to go old school. The episodes when Tom Baker was the Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith the companion are always good. Check out "Genesis of the Daleks" or "Pyramids of Mars." There is little continuing plot, so you can watch old Doctor Who in any order.
I think part of the reason I found that episode so creepy is that
Which is why anyone who loves those episodes should watch Sherlock and, if they like sex comedies, Coupling.
As for older Doctors, definitely Tom Baker. Definitely.
From the older series, Tom Baker was my favorite (the Doctor with the absurdly long scarf), but I also liked, uh, I don't know his name, but the Doctor with the celery stalk on his lapel.
The 3rd Doctor, Jon Pertwee, had a lot of episodes heavily involving the Brigadier, who was awesome. So awesome. "Just once I'd like to meet an alien species that isn't immune to bullets."
Peter Davison was the celery stalk Doctor, and luckily enough, he comes right after Tom Baker.
This is what I was getting at. Tennant is absolutely worth watching, but there's a decent amount of important plot he'll be missing if he starts there.
Like I said, start with Smith to get hooked on the show, and then go back and watch Eccleston and Tennant.
I liked Eccleston's series, but I have to say, I didn't think he was right for the Doctor's role... I can't put my finger on why, but he didn't quite fit. I think he felt it, which is why he left after that one season.
Then David Tannant took over, and it's like he was born for that role. He left before jumping the shark (and the last few TV movies kinda made that a major point.) He had just the right élan.
I liked Matt Smith in his first series (although his style seems a little too similar to Tannant's -- like he's not differentiating himself enough) although the main story arc kind of annoyed me instead of exciting me like some of Tannant's run's story arcs. This latest season is getting kinda darker, though, and I'm not sure if I like that direction.
But to get back to the OP's question: I started at the beginning of Eccleston's run, and that made a lot of sense. The producers knew they were bringing back a show that had been off the air for about a decade, so they had to introduce the Doctor to a new generation of viewers. This is probably the most logical point of entry, apart from starting at the very beginning, with the first doctor.
If you start at the beginning of Tannant's run, you'll be missing some important bits about Rose and Captain Jack (and a few other things.) If you start at the beginning of Smith's run, you'll be missing a whole bunch about River Song, and many other things, too.
Then again, I plan on going back to see if the older series are also good. Here are some of the reasons:
This is also pretty cool, and it uses some pre-revival content:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt3qZYUPi2Y
And also, this video of all the different themes and intros has contributed to my wanting to watch all the older series:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J_3rsEwYVE
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Try watching the two-part episode "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances". It's one of my favorite Doctor Who stories, and it introduces Captain Jack, a character who pops up again from time to time.
If that doesn't hook you, try again with the next Doctor, David Tennant, in "The Girl in the Fireplace" from series 2. It's another fantastic episode with a lot of emphasis on the Doctor.
And if that doesn't hook you, try one last time with the first episode of series 5, "The Eleventh Hour", with Matt Smith.
I think those are all pretty good jumping on points, one of them ought to hook you if you're going to get into Who at all.
I can. He's not particularly charismatic and he doesn't even seem that into the role. It's like he's mucking about in the shallow end of the pool and refuses to dive in. His performance is missing something.
It's actually rather spot-on for the character.
Except you really don't find that out till Tennant so unless you watched the older stuff he is just being all dark and gloomy about his mysterious past that he won't talk about when you want someone to bring the lols.
I'm just curious what the OP didn't like about the first series. It's quite possible that Dr. Who just isn't for him.
Dalek: You would make a good Dalek.
Chills.
He just never convinced me he was the Doctor.
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As far as getting into Who, if you didn't like Eccleston (and I didn't care for him, myself), either go back to Baker (my personal favorite) or start with Series 2 (is it two?) of the new series.
I used to watch the Baker and beyond episodes on PBS when I was considerably younger, and it was formative to say the least. Sometimes I'll go back and catch up on earlier series, but Who has always started there for me. It's part of the beauty of the series concept; you can jump in almost anywhere and catch up.
That's probably Eccleston's best episode in my opinion.
Maybe though you just don't like doctor who, that's ok. It is quite campy and silly and that's not for everyone.
Satans..... hints.....
Blink is a great way to convince someone to give the show a shot, but isn't a starting point.
Don't feel poorly about disliking the Eccleston Doctor. Many people have issues with the portrayal. I'm a huge fan of the show (so much so that I'm slowly making my way through all 26 seasons of classic), but there are a few episodes in that first season that I still haven't seen because they were just not as good as the later ones.
If you're having issues with the first season, jump to the second. It doesn't really tip from campy to a bit more serious until the end of the second season, and then gets better from there.
Really, I'd suggest watching some of the better first season episodes (Doctor Dances 2-parter, Dalek, first season finale) and then getting into it more consistently with the second season. Sometimes it's easier to watch those first season episodes once you're invested, not before.
I just have been through all 3 episodes. Holy. Fuck. Especially Blink.
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However, -he- went snooping around Netflix to find the older episodes with Tom Baker and now he prefers the campier/older episodes.
Why?? Because they do not take place in London. If you had a time machine that could travel to any world why would yolu always end up in London? Why is London always attacked? Ugh.
However, as to where to start... I would start at the reboot. I think it is important in order to fully understand the Doctor's companion. She was the first companion really fleshed out so I think it is worth it to watch from the beginning of the reboot.
It's worth noting that this same writer also wrote The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances in series 1 and Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead in series 4. That second two parter introduces River Song, a character who becomes increasingly important in series 5 and 6 (and, as far has been indicated, future series as well).
I'll jump on what everyone else has said: start at series 1 or series 5 (last year's series). Series 5 was designed to be a jumping-off point for new fans, to the point where the BBC marketing guys were proposing labelling it as a new series 1.
It's more than that, though. There is a definite story arc which ties together series 1 through series 4 (plus its specials) and the Ninth and Tenth Doctors. There are a couple, actually - the main one goes from backstory to basis for stories, and the other is a character-based and emotional arc. There's also a big story arc that's tying together series 5 and 6 at the moment. (The series has long had story arcs, though.)
If you try the older series, you have a lot of choice in terms of style. The new series, for example, has had two 'eras' resulting from the switch over of production teams and head writers at the start of last year, and if you go through the classic series, you'll see this, too. (More on the different eras in the spoiler because it is long and potentially boring.)
The stories from 1970 to 1973 was similarly formulaic, with lots of aliens invading Earth while the Doctor was exiled there. The stories from about 1974 through 1977 are often considered part of a golden age with a fuck awesome production team and a generally darker tone. '78 and '79 were increasingly humourous (Douglas Adams as script editor, so what else, right?).
The early '80s had a 'straighter' and more hard sci-fi aim to the stories. Over the decade, the series become more self-referential, with increasing references to continuity. For so, so many reasons, the show went on hiatus in 1985 and returned with the Doctor on trial (as the series itself was at the time).
1987 introduced the Seventh Doctor in possibly the worst manner possible, but circumstances were terrible, and 1988 and 1989 made up for it by introducing more mystery into the Doctor's true identity and turning him into probably the most cunning and manipulative character in the entire series. He talked the Supreme Dalek, leader of one faction of the most feared creatures in the Universe, into killing itself. He manipulated the Emperor, the leader of the other faction, into destroying the Daleks' home star system.
Christopher Eccleston is the best doctor, ever! He's even better than Tom Baker (met him!), who was the best ever Doctor til Christopher Eccleston.
Don't watch any that have Sylvester McCoy in them, he should have his finger and toenails pulled out one by one for what he did to the doctor.
Try some of the older series, as well. I get confused when you all talk about series 1, 2 or 3, then realise you mean the new series, not the original ones. I remember hiding behind the sofa when i was 5, being terrified by the Daleks, and the Cybermen killed Adric on my birthday
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ks8BA5psNM
Quite right.