I finally know why The Doctor is so popular

neoprime said:

I can't believe what I've been missing. I decided to see what the fuss was and watch an episode, now I'm hooked.

I haven't seen any of the older stuff but the 2005 series is fun. Now I just have to catch up on all the previous seasons, but man I'm enjoying this show. Karen Gillan isn't so bad either.

So where do I get myself a sonic screwdriver and a tardis?

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Yeah Smith is my Doctor too, I found it cuz i went to my friends house and He's all DOCTOR FTW, and I was all WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT? THIS IS STUUUUUUUUPIIIIIIIIIIIID.......................................LY AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
it took me to the first .5 min. of "The Eleventh Hour" to be obbsessed.. that week was also when I learned about Torrents...hehe

I'm very curious to see what fans whose first exposure to the show is the "new" series make of the vintage Who episodes. I'm fortunate enough (read OLD) to have started with Tom Baker on PBS back in 1979-80 in Revenge of the Cybermen. I imagine it would be pretty hard to get into the original episodes as they are as much a product of their time as the new episodes are.

I watched the new Christmas special last night and thought it was brilliant!! The concept and execution of the fish alone is one of the most inventive and amazing things I've seen probably in years and the story was one of the best they've done. It was a very clever twist on the Dickens story, it was emotionally satisfying--nice tear-jerker ending, explored interesting concepts in an interesting way, it was funny, it had wonderful guest stars--all handled in a way that could never have been done on the vintage Who. (Though they did manage to conveniently ignore the Blinovitch Limitation Effect)

That said while I love the new series I don't LOVE it like I do the vintage Who for a number of reasons--though it's probably mostly nostalgia. I think my principle criticism (apart from Russell T Davies writing) is the break-neck speed at which they rip through each story as they desperately cram as much as they can in before the clock runs out. It's like the Doctor burst out of the door, told Rose to run for her life, and the show hasn't stopped running.

The stories are certainly exciting but the plots aren't aloud to breathe or really develop the way they did with the cliff-hanger format. I was watching the Pertwee Silurians episode a few months ago and marveled that the Doctor spent the better part of a 25 minute episode in a laboratory running tests--finding the solution in a deliberate, scientific manner. I can't imagine one of the new Doctors being allowed to stand still for more than 30 seconds let alone spend more than 10 seconds coming up with a solution to whatever it is they're fighting then throwing it against the wall to see if it will stick. You'd think they could find a decent balance but it probably has as much to do with the way shows are produced these days.

The other thing they seem determined to do in almost every episode which drives me up the wall is to have the Doctor stop at some point and deliver a soliloquy to the bad guy about how he has fought every bad-guy ever known anywhere and ground them into the dirt and as bad guys go you're not so much so you better watch out because I'M THE DOCTOR.

Well, we know the Doctor is awesome because he's the protagonist and his actions should demonstrate this on a weekly basis. We don't need to be told he's awesome by anyone least of all by the Doctor himself--that's just lame. Can you imagine James Bond or Sherlock Holmes walking around saying to everyone in all seriousness "aren't I amazing"? The producers/writers must have noticed this at some point themselves because there was a terrifically funny moment when they had Matt Smith make "the speech" in one episode and then had it backfire on him.

Criticism aside I'm so glad to have the show back on the air and very happy that it has been so successful. Eccleston, Tennant and Smith have all been outstanding Doctor's (I'm particularly impressed with Matt Smith who looked like he was going to be the biggest mistake in the world). I keep hoping they'll get Nicholas Courtney on for a cameo.

I also strongly urge anyone who hasn't heard them to explore the Big Finish audio adventures. Like the TV show there are good stories and sucky stories and a few outstanding ones. They also allow us old timers to enjoy new material with old friends. They've really captured the "vibe" of the show and in my opinion the writing is just as good--sometimes better--than on the new series. And like all good audio drama the settings and concepts are not constrained by the visuals.

My 2 Grotzits.

Dave

Having been born and raised in southern California, I don't recall ever seeing Doctor Who on any of our local stations. That said, my first Doctor was Eccleston in the 2005 "new" Doctor Who series, and he's still my favorite. Tennant is very good and I like him a lot, but Eccleston brought a kind of melancholy to the role that IMO a 900+-year-old being would likely possess, as though he had the weight of the universe on his shoulders. I don't know if this "fits in" with previous incarnations of The Doctor, but I thought it was an appropriate personality trait for the character. Conversely, there was also a certain joie de vivre in Eccleston's performances; I was hooked when he said, "Nice to meet you Rose; run for your life!" in the first episode.

So far Matt Smith hasn't impressed me at all. For me he's simply too "goofy"; I don't really know how else to describe it. He has an exuberance of youth, but doesn't bring any sense of maturity to the role. In all fairness to Smith, I've only seen a handful of episodes with him as The Doctor, so maybe he'll grow on me...but I doubt it.

As for the companions, Rose Tyler (Billie Piper) is still my favorite. However, I'm still catching up, so I've only seen a few episodes with Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman) and only one with Donna Noble (Catherine Tate).

It's not hard to see why Doctor Who has been so popular for so long. Given the premise, they can tell any story, from any time, taking place anywhere in the universe. Brilliant! And the various writers over the years have managed to avoid nearly every sci-fi conundrum that has ever existed. Fancy ship? Nah, it's a phone booth. Bigger on the inside? Time Lord technology. Weapons? Nope; sonic screwdriver. Identification? Psychic paper. Cast changes? Time Lords regenerate and take on a new body with new personality traits; companions come and go. Villains? All of time and space; an unlimited supply. Very clever!

I'd always heard about Doctor Who as a kid but it wasn't on PBS anymore or if it was it was past my bed time. My dad's favorite doctor is still Tom Baker. Back in 1997 when i was in college i only get 2 stations at my apartment and one was PBS in Pittsburgh.

They started showing Dr who again on saturday nights with Pertwee's doctor and worked their way through the years. It was an hour or two of the doctor and then red dwarf and a few other britcoms. I watched it when Tennant and Eccleston were on but Tennant had a more oddball feel that reminded me of the Baker years. I haven't seen much of the new guy. I am always a bit amazed that he's as much a part of pop culture in the US as he is in England.

dcarty said:

I'm very curious to see what fans whose first exposure to the show is the "new" series make of the vintage Who episodes.

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The missus absolutely loves nuWho so between Tennant's last and the specials he did I got The Face of Evil to show why I loved Baker and all, and she couldn't even finish it. It wasn't that she was opposed, or hated it or anything; it was just enough for her to know the Doctor had eight previous incarnations of adventures before she hopped on.

That said, when we first met, she didn't want to hear about previous girlfriends or much of what I'd done, content that "All the stuff you've done before we met has made you the guy I like and that's enough for me" so I'm sure that's a bit how she feels about the Doctor. She understands why I freaked out when the Sontarans showed up, she just doesn't care that much.

I was chuffed to point out to her that she was very excited when the statues from "Blink" showed up again, and conveyed to her it's the same thing.

I did love this shot from A CHRISTMAS CAROL.

Tom Baker was my first Doctor and I always considered him the best. Then Tennant came along and now both share 1st place for me.

The new Doctor just hasn't done it for me yet but given time, I am sure he'll grow on me.

Still haven't seen Matt Smith's Doctor, but I plan to pretty soon here.

I do agree that the new series has a VERY different feel from the old one, but because I started with the new (but was familiar with the old at the same time), I didn't mind it. I still don't. The show even changed from era to era with each of the different Doctors, and I enjoy the differences across all of them. Yes, even Colin Baker's era (GOD what a shame the writers couldn't figure out his Doctor...).


I think Tennant's run benefited most from having time to really develop his version of the Doctor and have him change over time. You got to see him gradually fall in love with Rose, then lose her, deal with the fallout, be COMPLETELY clueless about Martha digging him (actually....I don't think clueless. I think he knew...and kind of needed it at the time...), get to become good friends with Donna, and then lose EVERYTHING (including his mind) only to finally pull it together at the end and save both the universe and himself one last time, thereby finding a kind of redemption and peace.

And then came Matt. Who, as I said, I still haven't seen.


I don't think the other Doctors enjoyed quite that level of coordinated writing, and as a result, their eras explore their characters gradually, and often only in bits and pieces. Heck, during Hartnell's era, the Doctor was a TOTAL mystery. We don't realize it, but they knew NOTHING about his background during that time. It wasn't even 100% clear if he was human or an alien, let alone any mention of what the Time Lords were. It isn't really until the finale of The War Games that a lot of the lore starts to develop, and then I don't think we even see Gallifrey until Tom Baker's era. Now, of course, we have this whole lore that's developed around the Doctor, but it wasn't always that way because, I suspect, they didn't often know where they were going with the character. In fact, I gather that it wasn't until Sylvester McCoy's era that the concept of some overarching mythology to drive the Doctor was established, as if it'd eventually be revealed. (Setting aside the whole Key to Time and Black Guardian seasons for the 4th and 5th Doctors.) And, of course, it never WAS really clearly revealed, so we never found out, for example, that the Doctor was actually one of the founders of Gallifreyan society.

Ah well.


Anyway, I dig all the eras, albeit some more than others (I FAR prefer "brown" 4th Doctor to "maroon" 4th Doctor, and am less of a fan of the JNT years than other years).

The end of War Games takes place on the Doctor's home world, although it wasn't yet called Gallifrey (nor were they called Time Lords).

Jeez, I'm glad I started watching after they had all of that sorted out.

Treadwell said:

The end of War Games takes place on the Doctor's home world, although it wasn't yet called Gallifrey (nor were they called Time Lords).

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Wait...it does? I thought it took place somewhere else.

As I recall. Could be wrong, it's happened at least once.

I don't think it was specified but those final trial scenes in part 10 of the War Games sure semed implied to me to be taking plac eon the Doctor's Home World aka gallifrey. Even if you discount that there's some Gallifrey Scenes of Time Lords Plotting where to send the exiled Doctor next in stories like Colony in Space and The Three Doctors.

Ok, well, still, lots of details took a LONG time to be revealed, and the Doctor's background was slow to develop.

A good friend of mine who has been a huge fan since his youth got me into Who a few years ago and I totally fell in love with it. He loaned me all his earlier series dvds to explore from Hartnell to the present. Interestingly, my two young boys really developed a love for those episodes, even though they've been raised on totally modern-day series and films, I didn't think they would like it at all. Baker is probably my favorite because of his wonderful comedic timing and dramatic skills but I love them all for different reasons. I would have loved to have seen more from McGann. I've also gotten to listen to a fair number of the radio dramas with McGann, Colin Baker and Peter Davison and found that oftentimes they're better than the TV version simply because they can do stories that aren't confined within budget constraints, they can do anything simply because you can use your imagination. Dr. Who was always an idea that was FAR too large for the BBC to execute as well as it should have been which is why the earlier series production values sometimes hinder it. But honestly, no studio anywhere could have done it complete justice. It's background is the whole of space and time which is an endless canvas. Only now has technology finally caught up with it.

As long as we're talking about War Games, I don't think Troughton -> Pertwee should be counted as one of the 12 regenerations, and not just because they didn't call them that yet. The Troughton body wasn't injured, ill or "worn thin", and the not-called-that-yet-Time Lords referred to it as a change in appearance. Also, since the change was induced by an outside force, and not initiated by the subject itself, it was arguably a different transformational process than a regular regeneration. If there's something about a Time Lord's body that keeps count, I don't think this one would register.

(Next: the pre-Hartnell Doctors seen in Brain of Morbius! )

Been a fan since summer of 1981. First ep of the Sunmakers (4th Doctor) on Florida PBS. Been hooked ever since.

Treadwell said:

As long as we're talking about War Games, I don't think Troughton -> Pertwee should be counted as one of the 12 regenerations, and not just because they didn't call them that yet. The Troughton body wasn't injured, ill or "worn thin", and the not-called-that-yet-Time Lords referred to it as a change in appearance. Also, since the change was induced by an outside force, and not initiated by the subject itself, it was arguably a different transformational process than a regular regeneration. If there's something about a Time Lord's body that keeps count, I don't think this one would register.

(Next: the pre-Hartnell Doctors seen in Brain of Morbius! )

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Looking forward to see how you explain away a particular character from the 6th Doctor era (which I won't name, to avoid spoilers).

Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey.

There, all 'splained. I always told Teagan I'd explain it later.

Solo4114 said:

Looking forward to see how you explain away a particular character from the 6th Doctor era (which I won't name, to avoid spoilers).

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Been over 20 years since I saw those...get back to ya when I've come 'round the bend again. (Up to 1976 in my current run through...)