Dr. Who

[Rian]

I love the old black and white Dr. Whos. The Dalek Invasion of Earth is a classic. So is The Chase. Tomb of the Cybermen is such a brilliant idea. Doing The Curse of the Mummy as pure sci fi - that's genius. And it is one of Matt Smith's favourite serials. I reckon people who don't get Matt Smith as the Doctor have never seen Patrick Troughton all the gentleness and apparent bumbling come from there (and the bow-tie).

I liked the little I've seen of Troughton, but am still not wild about Smith. I guess if you start on Tennant, it's hard to beat! Do you like Tennant's Doctor?

[mitchellmckain]

Have you watched all of Eccleston's and Tennant's yet, or are you just starting on Smith's?

No I haven't watched any of Eccleston yet. Its the first season I know. But I get mine from the library and so I tend to grab whatever is there at the time.

[Moonwood the Hare]

I liked the little I've seen of Troughton, but am still not wild about Smith. I guess if you start on Tennant, it's hard to beat! Do you like Tennant's Doctor?

Yes, I liked Tennant, and Christopher Eccleston but there is no Doctor I dislike. I watched an old Silvester McCoy series with my daughter recently, one where the Doctor in his personal future turns out to have been Merlin, they all had something even number six and the audio stuff of number 8 is good as well.

[Rian]

Mitch -I'm glad you've been able to watch some!

I'm grateful for Netflix - it lets me catch up with the oldies, although there is no comparison to having seen them when they first came out ... kind of like my kids watching the original "Star Trek" now. I haven't seen all the Doctors yet, but I'm making progress.

I was in Fry's Electronics the other day (it's the mecca for techies - a HUGE store, with every electronic and computer component you can think of, along with TVs, stereos, etc etc etc) and was walking thru the video section, and they had a very large selection of Dr Who, including many, MANY of the old ones, all the way back to Dr #1. Nice to see

This forum reminds me of one of the funniest Tennant lines - someone asked him something like "Do you know what Christmas is?" and he answered something like "Yes - I got the last room!" (i.e., at the inn, so there was no room for Mary and Joseph ... )

[Moonwood the Hare]

I'm grateful for Netflix - it lets me catch up with the oldies, although there is no comparison to having seen them when they first came out ... kind of like my kids watching the original "Star Trek" now. I haven't seen all the Doctors yet, but I'm making progress.

Star Trek stand up much better; the sets sort of work. Old Doctor Who suffers badly from tacky sets but when you watched those things back in the sixties or seventies you did not see that. There's a thing Neil Gamen wrote about the books you read when you were a kid and you remember this breathless moonlit chase and the whole image is there in you head and you re-read the book and it says something like, 'hurry up Binky!' he shouted as they ran through the darkness'.' and that's it. You did the rest. It was the same with old TV. You picked up those hints and supplied the colour and the scale. I used to dream of daleks in colour. Mind you that was partly the influence of the comics Mind you my daughter used to enjoy the old black and white ones when she was little.

I was in Fry's Electronics the other day (it's the mecca for techies - a HUGE store, with every electronic and computer component you can think of, along with TVs, stereos, etc etc etc) and was walking thru the video section, and they had a very large selection of Dr Who, including many, MANY of the old ones, all the way back to Dr #1. Nice to see

try the very first episode. It still works.

This forum reminds me of one of the funniest Tennant lines - someone asked him something like "Do you know what Christmas is?" and he answered something like "Yes - I got the last room!" (i.e., at the inn, so there was no room for Mary and Joseph ... )

He also claimed to be there at the first Easter 'Between you and me, what really happened was . . . '
But his best Christmas line was saying to the guy who was like Scrooge but had held back from beating a child . . . 'Christmas is very you, half way out of the dark . . . '

[Rian]

Yes, there are some very good lines in DW.

New season starting soon! And there's going to be a new companion, I do believe ...

(good, I'm kinda tired of Amy)

[Rian]

Just saw the season opener ... wow, what a ripping good story! By far one of the best of the Matt Smith years.

But how sad ...

[Rian]

And now I saw the Christmas special - loved it!!!! There is actually hope for Matt Smith's Doctor years!

And just for reference, I'm copying the recommended "old series" doctor watching list from another thread...

1. The Dalek Invasion of Earth - 1st Doctor - There is a plot device to stop them just going back to the Tardis but a classic moment when the Doctor decides to oppose the Daleks
2. Tomb of the Cybermen - 2nd Doctor - Tutankhamen in space
3. The Daemons - 3rd Doctor - Dennis Wheatley meets Quatermas - with a touch of the Wicker Man
4. City of Death - 4th Doctor - written in a weekend by Douglas Adams and utterly mad.
5. The Caves of Androzani - 5th Doctor - never saw this one but as Spectrox rates it highly and as it won the all tine Best a few years ago in Dr Who Magazine I'd give it a shot. I had intermittent access to TV in the late seventies early eighties and missed a lot.
6. The Two Doctors - 6th Doctor - also 2nd Doctor, a script by Robert Holmes and Sontarans
7. Remembrance - or Battlefield where we learn that in a future regeneration the Doctor is Merlin in an alternate reality. Ace is ace and it was nitro nine in her bag. RTD has revealed that if The Sarah Jane Adventures had continued Ace would have come back - not Teagan or any of that poxy crew.
Baker is the definitive Doctor but I still say the eighties had its moments.

Best Dr Who stories IMO (2 for each Doctor)

1. Hartnell - An Unearthly Child or The Daleks
2. Troughton - Evil of the Daleks ep.2 (only surviving episode) / Tomb of the Cybermen
3. Pertwee - Ambassadors of Death or The Time Warrior
4. Tom Baker - Genesis of the Daleks or Deadly Assassin
5. Davison - Caves of Androzani (obviously) / Kinda
6. Colin Baker - Revelation of the Daleks (can't think of a 2nd)
7. McCoy - Greatest Show in the Galaxy is ok I suppose
8. Dr Who the Movie - derided by fans but I really enjoyed it
9. Ecclestone - The Empty Child and Father's Day
10. Tennant - Blink and The Satan Pit
11. Smith - The Impossible Astronaut and his first story (forgotten the title - shame on me)

[Kiwi]

Checking in on the new season. I know we'll be a bit behind down this corner of the world as usual; we've only just had episode 3 (with the ice warrior on the submarine.)
First episode was great, the second was pretty awful, the third a little bit better but still kind of ordinary.
So I have not particularly enjoyed the non-Moffat episodes thus far!

[Rian]

Checking in on the new season. I know we'll be a bit behind down this corner of the world as usual; we've only just had episode 3 (with the ice warrior on the submarine.)
First episode was great, the second was pretty awful, the third a little bit better but still kind of ordinary.
So I have not particularly enjoyed the non-Moffat episodes thus far!

Non-Moffat? Has he stepped down?

I agree with you as far as the first three. I'm two ahead of you - I loved the fourth, but the fifth (which was called a continuation but I don't see how) was hot and cold, and totally unconnected with the fourth, which left an unresolved storyline

[Kiwi]

He hasn't stepped down, just wasn't the writer behind seond and third episodes.

At least we're not a whole month behind you like we were last time ...