What classic Who should new fans avoid like the plague?

[Shazam!]

The problem with The Web Planet is that no sane script editor should ever have commissioned it, because the technology to make it just didn't fucking exist... And if it had, it would have cost ten times the season's budget to do right...

Dude, that's why classic Who rules. It was always about the idea and a 'fuck it' attitude when someone says it "can't be done".

 

[BlastHardcheese]

Here's my list of the most awful(imo) Dr Who serials in chronological order:

An Unearthly Child (starting at 100,000 BC, not the pilot)
The Aztecs
The Enemy of the World
The Ambassadors of Death
The Sea Devils
Robot
The Masque of Mandragora
The Talons of Weng-Chiang
The Invasion of Time
Time and the Rani
Paradise Towers
Delta and the Bannermen
The Happiness Patrol
Silver Nemesis
Ghost Light
The Curse of Fenric
Survival

Aliens of London
The Idiot's Lantern
Love & Monsters
Fear Her
Gridlock
42
Planet of the Ood
The Doctor's Daughter
Planet of the Dead
The Time of Angels
Flesh and Stone
Cold Blood

 

[Bones2]

^
I'd disagree strongly about Talons and Fenric. They're two that I probably would choose to introduce someone to the classic show.

I can't understand why people crucify Bone for having an intelligent, informed and accurate opinion...

That's so nice of you, I may just put it in my sig

Except it turned the Daleks into mindless robots for all subsequent stories (with the exception of maybe Remembrance), hence my dislike for it.

I don't think that's true of Resurrection either. And Revelation was more about Davros anyway. They were certainly mindless robots in Destiny though. After all, they're supposedly locked in a logical stalemate with the android Movellans, and no side is getting an advantage because they both think like machines. It's like Terry Nation forgot what his own creations were, though I've also heard Doug Adams may have done most of the writing.

Personally, I liked the Twin Dilemma, but that's just me. I'm a huge Sixth Doctor Fan, so I know I'm in the minority, LOL.

There's a few of us about. He's my favourite Doctor, and I'm fairly sure he's OmahaStar's as well. As for The Twin Dilemma, I don't think it's that bad at all. It is very silly, but it's quite pacy for old Who (which, in appealing to new Who only fans, is fairly crucial). There'd been at least half a dozen worse Davison stories in the preceding years.

I think if you can put up with some of the crap nuWho has offered, watching classic Who would be welcome relief.

This is true enough, except the audience to which new Who appeals probably wouldn't have much time for the old show. At its best, the old show was clever and about ideas, even if the budget was limited. I gave Doctor Who and the Silurians a recent rewatch, and I rate it among the very best. But new Who too often relies on spectacle and pace rather than being clever or thought-provoking. And that seems to be what most people are more concerned with these days. They'd probably get bored of Doctor Who and the Silurians within 10 minutes and switch over to whatever rubbish they put on ITV these days. Something with Vernon Kay probably.

 

[Starkers]

I can see both sides of the pacing argument, and many episodes of nuWho really could have used more time to breathe, by the same token there are plenty of classic serials that could have been done in far less time and with much less padding.

At the end of the day I'm a Blakes 7 fan so I have no issue with a languid pace, but even so I've heard people on B7 commentaries etc talk about how they had to slow the pace down to fill the 50 minute slot. One of the reasons B7 has such wicked dialogue was again to fill time.

Television in general is more about pace and spectacle these days, and in part that's cos there are now 906 channels to compete with. If you don't catch people's attention and hold it they will change channels (be it to Vernon Kay or something else). It was much easier to keep people as a captive audience when the only alternative was One Man and his Dog on BBC2 and Rising Damp on ITV

I've never subscribed to the argument that modern Who is so much cleverer than the classic variety. Even so Who is clearly one of the better tv shows around.

 

[JoeZhang]

If anyone (in the UK) is wondering about The Web Planet

http://video.uk.msn.com/watch/video/doctor-who-the-web-planet-episode-01/12gqpn2oy

 

[OmahaStar]

Personally, I liked the Twin Dilemma, but that's just me. I'm a huge Sixth Doctor Fan, so I know I'm in the minority, LOL.

There's a few of us about. He's my favourite Doctor, and I'm fairly sure he's OmahaStar's as well.

Well that's because the Sixth Doctor is the best of the lot. If I have to evacuate because the zombie apocalypse has happened, it's his dvds I'd take with me.

 

[Starkers]

Oh dear lord what a terrifying thought (not the zombie apocalypse)

 

[The Sonic Mole]

Genesis of the Daleks.

You're joking, right?!

 

[The Sonic Mole]

Twin Dilemma
Horns Of Nimon
The Monster Of Peladon
Time-Flight

 

[Orcus]

Although I'm quite a fan of the old Trout, I'd add his The Dominators and The Krotons to the "avoid!" list...

 

[Joel_Kirk]

Although I'm quite a fan of the old Trout, I'd add his The Dominators and The Krotons to the "avoid!" list...

Actually I like The Krotons (particularly because of Zoe and her outfit)...