So I watched this show, for the first time ever. Yea, 40 years late It's cool. Quite so, actually. The Doctor is pretty perfect, if only the other characters were more RED DWARF-ish it'd be astonishing. Just watched the double episode with the aliens in Downing Street 10. 'They can attack us with their massive space weapons within 45 seconds!' Looking forward to more. Are the older series worth it or is that new batch as good as it gets?
Keeping in mind the times and budgets they were made, the onld ones cane be golden. Tom Baker is, of course, everyone's favorite, and was the Doctor from about 1974 thru 81. If you can handle the seriously cheap video chromakey effects, the stories are usually quite a lot of fun, and Baker's dry wit makes his Doctor the most beloved. I'm also a fan of Sylvestor McCoy, the last Doctor before the big cancellation. The rest of them, not so much. Peter Davidson was too straight, and Colin Baker was too much an asshole. I never got the chance to see the older fellas.
Some of the old series is definitely worth watching, other stories are iffy. I say that from an adult standpoint - one of the key features of the new series is that it sweeps me up in the sheer fun of it all and I'm effectively a kid again for 45 minutes. If you want to watch decent old Who eps, I'd recommend Genesis of the Daleks and Pyramids of Mars, both featuring Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor. Patrick Troughton's Second Doctor is also a favourite of mine. I'm in a minority, but I also like the later adventures of Sylvester McCoy's Seventh Doctor (Remembrance of the Daleks and The Curse of Fenric) are reasonable examples of where his character was headed). The Doctor is far less self-aware in these stories though, so don't expect "900 years of travelling through time and space, and I've never been slapped by somebody's mother!". Also don't forget old Who was all multi-part stories, albeit only 25 minutes per episode.
I grew up with Doctor Who. The only doctors I never warmed to were Peter Davidson and Colin Baker. I loved the first four Doctors, especially Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker. However, I have to admit that Tennant is fast becoming the best Doctor of all time! matthunter made some good suggestions for the "old" episodes. I would also highly recommend "Day of the Daleks". It's one of the Doctor's best Dalek adventures, in my opinion.
My favourite Doctor is No. 2, Patrick Troughton. Unfortunately many of his eps are lost. But a restored Tomb of the Cybermen is on DVD and is excellent. My favourite line by far is when he gets the megalomaniac to boast about his plans, and the Doctor rubs his nose and says: "Yeees... now I know you're mad. I just wanted to make sure." Tennant and Eccleston both draw heavily on Troughton, which is great to see. Tom Baker is also awesome.
They just released "The Invasion" on R1 DVD. The two missing episodes are restored thanks to the magic of an original audio recording and some animation.
I love all of them, really. It's kind of fun picking out the traits and mannerisms that carry through and it's a credit to the actors that they do it fairly well. Nine and Ten are my favorites though, probably because I started with Nine, Ten and then started exploring the old episodes as I get hold of them. I think I am getting a bit Who obsessed though. I am such a huge nerdy geek!!
Tennant may be the best Doctor... ever. I can only imagine who'd have the balls to fill his shoes once he gets the "phase shift" notice.
I LOVE Fenric. A little obscure WWII action mixed in with zombie Viking vampires. how could you go wrong? I wish more of McCoy was on DVD, I do recall at least a couple more good ones once he settled in. Oh yeah - remember the old ones are all serialized stories in 1/2 hour shows, some in 4 parts, some with 6. In other words, some of the adventures could be almost 3 hours long.
I know Ghost Light divides fans, but personally I enjoyed it. And it contains one of the Doc's better put-downs of a bad guy: "Subject for catalog... file under 'Imagination, lack of'."
I grew up in the Seventies, so of course my favorite will always be Baker (and Davison). But the old Hartnell (First Doctor) episodes are quite good. A completely different, less loveable (hell, sometimes he isn't even LIKEABLE) and very Alien Doctor.
^ Hartnell was one of the best Drs IMO. One of the things I don't like about the progressive regenerations is that fact that the Doctor seems to get younger each time. I liked Fartnell's doc because he had a sense of experience and wisdom they his appearance helped to convey.
He got older 6th-->7th and 8th-->9th. Hartnell would have appreciated the misspelling of his name in your post, though, given how often he fluffed his own lines: "Kindly stop buggering me!".
Um, no. I suspect that many people's favourite is the Doctor they first saw as an eight year old - Troughton in my case. Before the new series came along, the progression would have been Troughton, Pertwee, Hartnell, Tom Baker. But I'd now put Tennant and Eccleston before Pertwee...
Though sadly this week's ep showed that "Doc" Emmett Brown is only a fictional character in the Whoniverse.
Finished the first season. Quite good, getting the second now. I do agree tho that Eccleston looked good in the role and that new guy who springs up in the last seconds of the last episode looks terribly young. Overall very enjoyable. Guess I'll add it to the very exclusive roster of shows I watch
I think most people would say they prefer Tennant to Eccleston. Eccleston was brilliant, and totaly laid a foundation without which Tennant probably wouldnt have been so good. But Tennant is absolutley excellent Id be interested in your opinion after you've seen a few eps
Trust me, Tennant does a very good job... You can recognize some of the other Doctors in his moods... Especially Pertwee and the 2 Bakers...
I am liking his performance in Series 3 more so far, though. He's toned down some of the more excessive whackiness and gurning. I liked him as the Doc right from the off, though... even that "new teeth!" bit at the end of TPOTW had me grinning, and the Children in Need special cemented him for me. As for The Christmas Invasion, I can watch that last act when the Doc wakes up fully refreshed and ready to take on alien bad guys even though he's not quite sure what he's like in this incarnation time and time again. "You stand as this world's champion?" "Thank you! I've got no idea who I am, but you've just summed me up!"
Can't wait for tomorow's episode... The 3rd and final time he will meet The Face of Boe... What will he say to the Doctor?!?
You might have to if the football goes to extra time... the BBC have said they will move the episode to next week if it goes on too long.
