Doctor Who Thread!

[LoveTurnA]

I'm a bit of a newb where Doctor Who is concerned. I've only seen a handful of episodes from the new Doctor Who series and that was due to a friend of mine who is a huge fan of the show making me watch them. They were good, but my stance on getting into Doctor Who has always been, "Someday maybe, I've got so many other shows and books and stuff to get through first." So while I didn't dislike the show or anything I figured I'd always have something else I'm watching or reading that would come first and I'd probably never get around to watching it and it probably would have remained that way if I hadn't just recently been making my way through episodes of Chaos Theater.

I suppose I'm a bit weird in that if I decide I'm going to watch something and get into it I'm going to start from the beginning. Like with Gundam, I started with Mobile Suit Gundam and watched everything right up to AGE (excluding Unicorn, because I'm waiting for it to end). Which with Doctor Who means something like 30 seasons worth of show. That's a lot of TV to watch. I never thought I'd actually start watching it. Except for Chaos Theater.

On the Doctor Who episode of Chaos Theater they had a guest who had been watching the original episodes from the beginning. What grabbed my attention for some reason was when he talked about there being missing episodes and reconstructions of these lost episodes. I don't what it is about it that fascinated me so much. It just piqued my curiosity and I had to find out more.

So I took the plunge and started watching Doctor Who. From the beginning...

I'm well into season two now and I have to say that I'm enjoying it quite a bit. William Hartnell is wonderful as the Doctor and most of his companions have been great. The first two seasons don't have too many lost episodes but the reconstructions of the ones that are missing have been pretty good.

It's not a show you can just marathon your way through though. It's not paced for that. You'll burn yourself out if you try and watch too much of it at once.

So yeah, I'm probably going to be watching classic Doctor Who for a very long time but so far I'm enjoying it and am looking forward to watching more.

[Wellman]

Stronger man then me. I remember watching a Doctor Who episode in my childhood on tv, although I didn't understand it. The memory of it did draw me to watch the Doctor Who TV movie from the 90s but it wasn't until the new series that I got hooked.

I occasionally dip into watching the old episodes online but I couldn't commit to watching stuff from the beginning.

[LoveTurnA]

I definitely don't think it's for everyone. They are very old episodes shot on a very low budget. I think that most people wouldn't care for it at all and I can see why.

I give it a lot of leeway because it's old and they definitely didn't have the money or space to do a sci-fi tv series properly. I think you have to.

That said I'm enjoying it a great deal. I think mostly because the Doctor is played brilliantly by Hartnell. He's like this clever and arrogant little anarchist. It's fun to watch how he gets himself and others out of trouble.

[padre]

Five or six years ago a couple of friends and I watched through all of classic Who. Took the better part of year, but we all enjoyed it a lot.

[LoveTurnA]

That's awesome!

I just started season 3, which is almost all reconstructed episodes.

I have to say I love the show so far. Hartnell is awesome as the Doctor. I just wish the show had had a much bigger budget.

[Wellman]

Finally saw the New Series 7 finale... the wrap up of the main season mystery was somewhat underwhelming (better then the previous season though) but the last minute bomb they dropped was massive.

Hopefully the 50th anniversary lives up to it.

[Sume Gai]

I'm in the process of watching Classic Who ATM as well. I'm in the middle of season 14 ATM (The Deadly Assassin) Sometimes these stories feel rather overdrawn I'll admit but most of them are pretty interesting. Favorites so far include: (spoilers are light)

Power of the Daleks:

Spoiler

a sadly lost serial which seems to have been in part inspiration for Victory of the Daleks, As both the first time the Daleks showed both cunning and power, and the introduction to the more energetic Troughton, it easily stands as my favorite Dalek episode.

The Chase:

Spoiler

One of the first stories to feature a large amount of time travel within the narrative structure. Somewhat silly at times but ultimately one of my favorite Hartnell serials because of this.

Day of the Daleks:

Spoiler

One of the first times we See Daleks in 'modern day' England, with a wonderful twist.

Genesis of the Daleks: (last Dalek story I promise!)

Spoiler

The long over due origin story of the Daleks, despite retconning the original Dalek origin it deserves every ounce of credit especially from the performance of Darvos and the depiction of a racial war.

The Three Doctors:

Spoiler

the first crossover in which the second and third doctors play off each other so well. A great villain and some history on the Time Lords didn't hurt either. Too bad Hartnell's final Performance was so limited or this special might be perfect.

Tomb of the Cybermen:

Spoiler

After a huge improvement to the costumes the Cybermen's return does a good job highlighting their cunning and effectiveness as villains.

Terror of the Autons:

Spoiler

The second Auton serial, beyond introducing the Master showed some truly wonderful ideas for future Auton stories, anything Plastic could be a weapon unfortunately few stories have managed to really capitalize on this since.

The Sea Devils:

Spoiler

Introducing variants of the Silurians and one of the best Master Serials IMO.

There's likely a good deal more (especially first and second doctor stories as I took a long hiatus after Terror of the Autons for no good reason) but my list is long enough already.

Moving on to more modern matters this past season of Who I'd call generally good, more consistent than last season but I think the Finale should have either been set-up for a grand fiftieth anniversary story or at least a two parter. Though if a moderately underwhelming (though still well done IMO) finale is the price for an excellent fiftieth anniversary I'm all for it. I hope Sir Steven Moffat can make something as excellent as we saw in series 5.

[LoveTurnA]

I am about to finish season 3. Almost to the second Doctor. Which means watching a lot of reconstructions.

It's very slow going. Especially considering my 2 month old daughter taking up all my free time. Still I'm chugging along at a decent pace.