Where do I start?

[Australis]

Been ages since I saw that, still gives me shivers.

[DWF]

Sindatur wrote:

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Not so chaotic? That's a tough one, Eccelston (First Doctor Actor in the Revival Series) is one of the least chaotic of all the portrayals of the Doctor in Classic or NuWho

I wouldn't call the ninth Doctor one of the least chaotic, he as certainly conflicted and that came to the fore in Dalek.

[Sindatur]

DWF wrote:

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I wouldn't call the ninth Doctor one of the least chaotic, he as certainly conflicted and that came to the fore in Dalek.

Oh, certainly conflicted, but, we're apparently interpreting Chaotic in different ways. Chaotic, brings up images for me of David Tigger...er...Tennant bouncing around or Troughton or Smith (And even Baker) seeming to bumble through his adventures or the convoluted schemes of McCoy. The images of Chaotic seem to me to apply to Davison and Eccelston least, and to some extent Hartnell

[Ar-Pharazon]

^ Maybe a better word is "frenzied"

[MacLeod]

sbk1234 wrote:

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I just finished watching Dalek. I would say the quality is definately improving. Somehow, I'm not too attached to the Doctor, though.I suppose that even though I've never seen it before, I still managed to have my own preconception of how he'd behave. Maybe I was expecting someone not so chaotic. Is that the right word? It will be interesting to see how other incarnations of him will be.

Well the show is in part about a Mad Man who travels time and space in his blue box.

[sbk1234]

Ar-Festivus wrote:

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^ Maybe a better word is "frenzied"

That may be a better word for what I meant.

[DalekJim]

I recommend The Eleventh Hour to those who I indoctrinate to our cause. At least 80% of the RTD era is unwatchable these days and the ones I suggested start with the (superb) Christopher Eccleston series all fall down when they get to Series 2.

[Cutter John]

DalekJim wrote:

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I recommend The Eleventh Hour to those who I indoctrinate to our cause. At least 80% of the RTD era is unwatchable these days and the ones I suggested start with the (superb) Christopher Eccleston series all fall down when they get to Series 2.

Now, now. Lets not go imprinting your values on new fans. Let them watch and make up their own minds.

[DalekJim]

Cutter John wrote:

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Now, now. Lets not go imprinting your values on new fans. Let them watch and make up their own minds.

The whole premise of this thread is to offer my own opinion as to the best jump-on point?

[The Mirrorball Man]

DalekJim wrote:

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The whole premise of this thread is to offer my own opinion as to the best jump-on point?

The premise of this thread is to answer sbk1234's question, and have different people offer their opinions as to the best jump-on point. Trying not to turn him off Doctor Who would be a plus.

[Blamo]

sbk1234 wrote:

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I just finished watching Dalek. I would say the quality is definately improving. Somehow, I'm not too attached to the Doctor, though.I suppose that even though I've never seen it before, I still managed to have my own preconception of how he'd behave. Maybe I was expecting someone not so chaotic. Is that the right word? It will be interesting to see how other incarnations of him will be.

The biggest problem with the Doctor as a character is a) he's an alien and b) his character has become a bit of a two dimensional comic strip hero c) he's a time traveler. All that makes it rather difficult to write drama focused on his character and as such makes it hard for the viewer to become emotionally invested in him. I suspect this is the main reason for the time war and the death of his people, it adds some drama to the character.

To be honest though I wasn't exactly attached to his Doctor either. Tennant and Smiths Doctor on the otherhand I did get attached to.#

As you've started my suggestions are a bit moot, but I'd have recommended either starting at "Rose", "Eleventh Hour" or the recent Christmas special.

Also I suggest watching this, which is a nice sum up (beware, there are spoilers):-
http://blip.tv/sf-debris-opinionated...ho-101-5123833

[Cutter John]

The problem of course is that it was a new production team, and like any new show it hadn't quite found its 'legs' yet. If Eccelston had stuck around another season I'm sure he would have been amazing.

Not that he was a bad Doctor and doesn't deserve his share of fans. We just didn't have enough time to get to know him.



While I'm thinking of it, I'd like to advise to OP to avoid the "Next Time..." trailer at the end of Boom Town (ep 10) at all costs. Some doofus at the BBC decided to completely spoil the surprise at the end of the following story.

[Nick Ryder]

Well Cutter John, how many times did they do that on Star Trek too? Completely spoil whatever 'surprise' there was in the episode right in the trailer?

I kinda wonder if they need to make the 'Next Time' previews shorter, I know when I watch them on Netflix, it feels like if I accidentally skipped the next episode in viewing order, I still 'get' what happened. Which kinda shouldn't be the case. They're supposed to draw a viewer in not give them an almost synopsis of the upcoming episode to the point of spoiling.

I do agree for a new fan Rose is a good starting point - gets into a lot of the backstory and really the seasons aren't that long. I only really got into watching Dr Who and became a fan just within the past month, just before Thanksgiving. When I got a new Tablet and I wanted to watch something new, figured I'd give Dr. Who a try and actually I did try to start with Matt Smith's first, but I dunno something just didn't grab me until I went further back, now Matt Smith makes more 'sense' when looked at as an evolution of Tennant's and Eccleston's Doctors. Especially if you're coming into the series cold. Snowmen was a good story but I dunno if it really did enough to get a new fan brought up to speed enough - especially since it's still months before the new season starts up. Plenty of time really to get caught up. There isn't THAT much before it.

Although I have to admit Wikipedia and the Tardis Index File Wikia really do help A LOT to get up to speed on Dr. Who lore and give a bit more detail as to what happened even in more current episodes. I feel like after spendng time on the Wikis and generally going through entries and doing the whole 'rabbit hole' thing where you keep going deeper and deeper into it. I feel like I know enough about Dr Who and the big characters and races and the universe it inhabits. In a lot of ways Dr. Who is a lot easier to get into than a lot of other long running franchises. While yes there's 50 years of history, you really don't need it to get into what's going on right now in the show. And while more consumption of the past episodes helps a lot as you get into it, it only serves to make the experience richer.

Now I really do see what all the fuss was about. Although I did try watching some of the old Tom Baker episodes and... I dunno just didn't appeal to me in the same way. Might be just the fact that I'm used to a less 'quirky' Doctor or a younger Doctor or just it feels like watching ANY old show from the 70s or 80s and you cringe at the writing, the clothes, the now really dated effects and costuming. Even early TNG can make people cringe at it worse than TOS. Or the original BSG. Not to say it didn't have good writing or wasn't a good show, it's just... it makes you remember when we had big hair and really bad clothes! LOL

[DalekJim]

I would strongly suggest starting with The Eleventh Hour but... I'm not so sure when I think about it.

Imagine having Victory of the Daleks instead of Dalek as your introduction to the Daleks. I'm not sure I could put somebody through that. They'd then meet River Song and the Weeping Angels, not really understanding their significance. They'd also miss out on the Ninth Doctor, the best Doctor of the revived series.

Just start with Hartnell. His first season is better than any of the past 7.

[Nick Ryder]

That's why I think Eccelston's run is the best to really start out with, because they did do a decent enough job of introducing what they needed to as they needed to. The Cybermen are completely different from the Cybermen in the original runs. The Daleks are the same sorta, but they explain enough about them that you don't need to really go back that far to 'get' them.

Although I would be curious if the old and new Cybermen could somehow meet up - could be interestng - or it could be horrible - since the orignals were just guys in silver jumpsuits and silver spray painted Doc Martins with a lot of wires and such.