True Tennant's run wasn't free of some crap but I think he had many brilliant episodes, Blink, Midnight and Waters of Mars probably being my favourites.thaluikhain said:
I can't think of any Smith episodes that stand out (for being good anyway)
An unenlightened Yank needs Doctor Who help...
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I can't think of any Smith episodes that stand out (for being good anyway)
Tragically, all of Matt Smith's run so far have been of a broadly similar level. Nothing bad but nothing outstanding, feels a little like the show's treading water. I really want a stand-out to just blow me away.
For the OP, start with Eccleston's Doctor, with the 2005 series.
You can't go wrong there, he played a damaged and slightly deranged character desperate for redemption and covering his sadness with humour.
For the OP, start with Eccleston's Doctor, with the 2005 series.
You can't go wrong there, he played a damaged and slightly deranged character desperate for redemption and covering his sadness with humour.
The continuity is the same. Sure, the writers have taken it in a new direction, but that's not a reboot.UltraPic said:
You could start with Eccleston, but i'm not really a Billie Piper fan, or a Catherine Tate, or any of the companions until Karen Gillan shows up.
I'd say start with one of the specials, they're one off's for Christmas or Easter or something. No continuity to worry about, they're more like low budget films/high budget episodes so you can see if you like the feel of the program when it's at its best. Planet of the Dead sticks with me the most, so i'd say start with that, if you like it, go with Eccleston and carry on, and if you don't like him, go to Tennant, and if not him go to Smith, and if not him, the show doesn't seem to be for you.
You really can pick and choose with Doctor Who, there is always a new/one off character who the Doctor has to go 'They're Cyber Men/Daleks/what ever, they're hella evil/misunderstood/whatever.' So you wont be too lost.
Be warned, the BBC does like to take its time between series. It's definitely not as regimented as US television, they pick and choose when a series starts and ends.
Let us know how you get on!
I'd say start with one of the specials, they're one off's for Christmas or Easter or something. No continuity to worry about, they're more like low budget films/high budget episodes so you can see if you like the feel of the program when it's at its best. Planet of the Dead sticks with me the most, so i'd say start with that, if you like it, go with Eccleston and carry on, and if you don't like him, go to Tennant, and if not him go to Smith, and if not him, the show doesn't seem to be for you.
You really can pick and choose with Doctor Who, there is always a new/one off character who the Doctor has to go 'They're Cyber Men/Daleks/what ever, they're hella evil/misunderstood/whatever.' So you wont be too lost.
Be warned, the BBC does like to take its time between series. It's definitely not as regimented as US television, they pick and choose when a series starts and ends.
Let us know how you get on!
I think that it has something to do with the writing, Matt Smith is a great Doctor, he's pretty unique, and I think the best way to describe him is "child-like", the way he displays his emotions, his short attention span, the whimsy, it's all very much like a 10 year old transposed into the body of a god-like being. And it's fantastic.chinangel said:
Unfortunetly, the writing has seriously gone downhill, and because Smith is the face of it, he gets the hate, when really it's not his fault at all that the scripts are naff. Obviously Tennant is a very tough act to follow, but he doesn't even attempt to, they're totally different and equally good Doctors but for vastly different reasons. I think my favourite Smith Episodes have to be "Vincent and the Doctor" and the "Rebel Flesh" 2 parter, though "Angels Take Manhattan" was pretty sweet too, but it feels like on average the /stories/ are "meh". I would've loved to have seen Ecclestone have another series though, that would've been great.
But personally, I want to see Benedict Cumberbatch be the next Doctor, he'd be totally ace, I think he's a great actor, he'd be a no shit, serious doctor to utterly juxtapose Smiths silliness and who knows, they could somehow work the transition of the Valeyard in there somehow(if you've not seen the old stuff he was the dark manifestation of the Doctor who was set to appear in-between his 12th an 13th regenerations), for which Cumberbatch would be great.
I'll bring up the classic line and say start with Blink. It's an excellent example of all the things that make the show great.
Then, once you know how good it can be, go to the very beginning of the Eccleston run and suffer through the first few rather terrible episodes. It gets much, much better as soon as you get to the 2 parter with the gas mask kid.
As for the old show, you have to be the right type of person to enjoy it. If you can get into old things, you'll probably love it. Otherwise, you won't be able to stand it.
A word of warning: Try not to become a fanboy of any one Doctor. You'll look like a huge douche and you won't want to watch the show after YOUR Doctor leaves. Understand that every Doctor is a completely different animal with extremely different characteristic. Also don't get mad if a side character stops making appearances.
Then, once you know how good it can be, go to the very beginning of the Eccleston run and suffer through the first few rather terrible episodes. It gets much, much better as soon as you get to the 2 parter with the gas mask kid.
As for the old show, you have to be the right type of person to enjoy it. If you can get into old things, you'll probably love it. Otherwise, you won't be able to stand it.
A word of warning: Try not to become a fanboy of any one Doctor. You'll look like a huge douche and you won't want to watch the show after YOUR Doctor leaves. Understand that every Doctor is a completely different animal with extremely different characteristic. Also don't get mad if a side character stops making appearances.
I'll post a link for a video where SFDebris answers your question. He gives multiple answers, but reasons why you would choose the ones you do. Which one you pick depends on what kind of hipsters you hang out with.
http://sfdebris.com/videos/doctorwho/101.asp
http://sfdebris.com/videos/doctorwho/101.asp
Mmmmm Billie Piper. A shame I thought she was a lovely woman and I would LOVE to have her as a 'companion'.Commerford said:
Unfortunately growing up I have very little if not extremely terrible memory of the original Doctor Who. The only thing I remembered of the show was the opening theme.
But only recently I started to watch it again. I wanted to watch the originals first. But from what I was told, and I am not sure if it still applies now, but the episodes way back have a few missing due to well... stuff that happened with their production back then.
So to save the trouble of missing episodes I jumped into the 2005 Doctor Who with the 11th Doctor.
I am enjoying it emensely so far. I do not have much knowledge of the past Doctor Who's but the thing is, with the 2005 return, you really don't need it.
Sure you'll have a few questions on who the Doctor is and a few other things that I will not mention due to 'Spoilers'. But so far I love the episodes. A few weren't the best but still entertaining overall.
What I tend to love about the show so far is the knack of finding eastereggs in the episodes that pay tribute to the past episodes or Doctors.
I'm not sure if this is the fault of David Tennant or the writers during his tenure, but I grew tired of Tennant once I realized one thing:
He played an interstellar time-traveling Steve Irwin with a deus ex machina grossly misnamed a "sonic screwdriver" that was able to do ANYTHING except apparently screw or unscrew things.
"Hey look, it's certain death! IMMA GO POKE IT WITH A STICK!" is how I would describe Tennant's portrayal of the Doctor in most dangerous situations. Which is not to say that he didn't do a good job, or that it was even his fault...it just got old.
I preferred Eccleston's "You would not BELIEVE the s*&^ I've been through" portrayal of the Doctor as a darker character haunted by the nightmare he survived and the terrible choices he was forced to make by his own people.
I would certainly hope that if they had it to do over again, they would do a much better job of it.
I never was that big a fan of Billie Piper's character, and could not understand the foaming-at-the-mouth fanatics demanding she return. She didn't have much purpose in life, no dreams goals or aspirations, and the Doctor didn't even change her to give her any outside of being with him. Such an empty shell of a character.
I like Matt Smith's portrayal as the guy who does NOT know f*&^all about every bloody thing, and finds much more joy in new experiences. I also enjoy his quirky mannerisms and the fact that the character doesn't take himself seriously or act serious unless he absolutely has to. Given that past doctors quite frankly abandoned their companions on alien planets in alien times, often without their consent, I value the current Doctor's loyalty to his friends. I think Tennant's goodbye scene at his end was part of that connection where he realized their importance in his life, both old (Lethbridge-stewart and Sarah Jane) and new (sarah jane's adopted son and Rose and others) and decided he was not willing to lose anyone else again. That was why when (spoiler removed) happened to (spoiler removed), he took it quite badly. He'd decided that would never happen again, gave it EVERYTHING he could to prevent it, and was unable in the end to stop it.
Anyway, kind of a tangent there. Basically, watch it whenever, don't take it too seriously, and just enjoy whatever parts of it strike your fancy. Everyone's different so everyone has parts they like or dislike. For an example, I thought Midnight was boring, and the only important part of the whole episode in relation to the overall story was when the professor's assistant mentioned they were doing research on the lost moon of Poosh.
But whatever you enjoy, you're entitled to and I refuse to call anyone out on their opinion, because that's what it is. If a particular Doctor/Actor/writer/companion/story touched you in a particular way due to your personality or things in your life that made it click particularly with you, who am I to judge?
He played an interstellar time-traveling Steve Irwin with a deus ex machina grossly misnamed a "sonic screwdriver" that was able to do ANYTHING except apparently screw or unscrew things.
"Hey look, it's certain death! IMMA GO POKE IT WITH A STICK!" is how I would describe Tennant's portrayal of the Doctor in most dangerous situations. Which is not to say that he didn't do a good job, or that it was even his fault...it just got old.
I preferred Eccleston's "You would not BELIEVE the s*&^ I've been through" portrayal of the Doctor as a darker character haunted by the nightmare he survived and the terrible choices he was forced to make by his own people.
I would certainly hope that if they had it to do over again, they would do a much better job of it.
I never was that big a fan of Billie Piper's character, and could not understand the foaming-at-the-mouth fanatics demanding she return. She didn't have much purpose in life, no dreams goals or aspirations, and the Doctor didn't even change her to give her any outside of being with him. Such an empty shell of a character.
I like Matt Smith's portrayal as the guy who does NOT know f*&^all about every bloody thing, and finds much more joy in new experiences. I also enjoy his quirky mannerisms and the fact that the character doesn't take himself seriously or act serious unless he absolutely has to. Given that past doctors quite frankly abandoned their companions on alien planets in alien times, often without their consent, I value the current Doctor's loyalty to his friends. I think Tennant's goodbye scene at his end was part of that connection where he realized their importance in his life, both old (Lethbridge-stewart and Sarah Jane) and new (sarah jane's adopted son and Rose and others) and decided he was not willing to lose anyone else again. That was why when (spoiler removed) happened to (spoiler removed), he took it quite badly. He'd decided that would never happen again, gave it EVERYTHING he could to prevent it, and was unable in the end to stop it.
Anyway, kind of a tangent there. Basically, watch it whenever, don't take it too seriously, and just enjoy whatever parts of it strike your fancy. Everyone's different so everyone has parts they like or dislike. For an example, I thought Midnight was boring, and the only important part of the whole episode in relation to the overall story was when the professor's assistant mentioned they were doing research on the lost moon of Poosh.
But whatever you enjoy, you're entitled to and I refuse to call anyone out on their opinion, because that's what it is. If a particular Doctor/Actor/writer/companion/story touched you in a particular way due to your personality or things in your life that made it click particularly with you, who am I to judge?
Vincent and the Doctor, The Doctors Wife, Lets Kill Hitler and lots of people like the silence episodes. I think Tennant slightly edges out on the number and quality of the better episodes, but Smith's time has had a better consistency with only a handful (that pirate one for example) being genuinely awful (and even then, they're just boring or too samey=, whereas Tennant had to sit through quite a few really bad ones(the one with the manpigs)Ilikemilkshake said:
I'm slowly getting into both the classic and modern Doctor Who. I watched some episodes of the 2005 series but when Matt Smith took over, it was a perfect jumping on point for me. I have watched some of the classic episodes and, so far, I tend to find Tom Baker and Jon Pertwee to be my personal favorites but I'm still working my way through the classics. I'm glad BBC America has shown The Doctors Revisited specials for the 50th anniversary. They're specials focusing on each doctor with completed episodes of certain stories. They just showed the 4th Doctor (The Pyramids of Mars) and the 5th should be coming soon.
Doctor Who Fun Fact:
Amelia Pond was the best companion.
As an enlightened Yank, I have to agree with the majority. Start with the modern Who(2005), watch those 7 seasons, then go back and try to watch the older Doctors. I personally don't like the older versions.
Amelia Pond was the best companion.
As an enlightened Yank, I have to agree with the majority. Start with the modern Who(2005), watch those 7 seasons, then go back and try to watch the older Doctors. I personally don't like the older versions.
Watch from the Christopher Eccleston series through to the series where they find out who River Song is (I think that's the second or third Matt Smith series). After that they've been getting progressively worse and it's breaking my heart.
Netflix my friend, they have both the current series and that classic ones streaming at this moment
Again, it's nothing personal. Peter's a great guy, without a doubt, but somebody had to fill the bottom row. It's just that he had the disadvantage to follow Tom as lead character, and became maybe a bit too serious-minded as a character. Even still, this does not make him bad. I like all of the Doctors, really. There were indeed some great episodes on David too. His last one was great, as was Earthshock, The Five Doctors, and so on. But...it was not until I grew up a little that I appreciated the darker nature of his episodes.chozo_hybrid said:
Thank you so much everyone for your help! I've decided to start with the 2005 incarnation and see what happens. I have a feeling that I should like the old ones just fine, I'm a big fan of The Twilight Zone and some of my favorite movies are from the 50's and 60's. Any aged special effects shouldn't be a big deal. I'll report back what I feel about it, if there's "whovians" it's got to be good, right? Thanks again.
I have been into Doctor Who for as long as I could remember, as my dad had the 3rd Doctor/ Jon Pertwee adventures on VHS and I loved watching them any chance I could get, the first adventure I ever watched was Spearhead from space which was Jon Pertwee's debut as the Doctor, and instantly fell in love with Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (as you can see from my avatar) the autons/ nestenes which also made their debut in this story, were completely frightening and I was convinced that mannequins were going to come alive and kill everyone in sight. I personally don't like the newer ones, none of the actors playing the Doctor held me the same way as Pertwee did with his dashing dandyish Doctor, and no-one can top Lethbridge-Stewart as the Doctors ally, but most people (including my brother) find the newer ones more accessible. It's all about personal preference really.