Been thinking its time to try Doctor Who
- Thread starter Dick Whitman
- Start date
I missed some too, there's the Doctor the Widow and the Wardrobe (or whatever it's title was!) as well
Well it was only nominally set in the past, Britain WWII. It took place more on another planet.
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I start casuals with The Eleventh Hour as Rose seems too childish and amateurish to a lot of my friends.
I'd suggest starting with The Eleventh Hour if somebody had to start with New Who. If not, do it right and start with An Unearthly Child.
I agree, Rose is a poor episode and The Eleventh Hour does at least have time travel in it.
^Perhaps. But "Rose" was written to re-indroduce the show. "The Eleventh Hour" Not so much.
Besides if you want a strongish episode to start with why not go for "Dalek" or "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances"?
And truthfully as "Rose" acts like a pilot how many pilot episodes represent the best episode that a particualr show has to offer.
Besides if you want a strongish episode to start with why not go for "Dalek" or "The Empty Child"/"The Doctor Dances"?
And truthfully as "Rose" acts like a pilot how many pilot episodes represent the best episode that a particualr show has to offer.
Rose was one of the best episodes of Series 1 when I was a kid. Spooky mystery with the promise of adventure and creative villains. Didn't get the emotion porn of the next two episodes at all back then, and the following two-parter is dull. It doesn't have the tragedy nor the complexity a lot of the show has but it's a great episode.
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Sure...For you and me, but, there's a lot of young people today who can't get into Black and White or the pace of the older serials. Heck, look at Kirk55555's reaction to the Silent Movie that won an award, for many of today's youth, black and white and the slower pace of the serials of that era are no easier to get beyond then. Although I have no problem with Black and White or the pacing, I too have an aversion to Silent Movies and Subtitled movies (mostly because I don't typically just sit in front of the TV, I am generally doing other things while watching, which isn't really possible if you need to watch the screen every second to read dialogue)
Of all the 'introductory episodes' Rose, Smith and Jones, and The Eleventh Hour, Rose is the weakest by far, however it is clearly the best one to use to introduce someone to the concept of the show.
Say what you like about RTD (and anyone whose been on this forum a long time knows I wasn't always his biggest fan and is, at heart, more of a Team Moffat kind of guy) but the way he brought the show back is a masterclass in how to bring a huge franchise with a ton of history back without completely rebooting it. He stripped Doctor Who back to its bare essentials (alien in a time travelling box that's bigger on the inside), hooked a whole generation of kids (and probably a lot of their parents who may not have seen the original show) and then slowly drip fed the wider history/mythos of the show as the years progressed.
Star with Rose, just make it clear the show gets a lot better
Say what you like about RTD (and anyone whose been on this forum a long time knows I wasn't always his biggest fan and is, at heart, more of a Team Moffat kind of guy) but the way he brought the show back is a masterclass in how to bring a huge franchise with a ton of history back without completely rebooting it. He stripped Doctor Who back to its bare essentials (alien in a time travelling box that's bigger on the inside), hooked a whole generation of kids (and probably a lot of their parents who may not have seen the original show) and then slowly drip fed the wider history/mythos of the show as the years progressed.
Star with Rose, just make it clear the show gets a lot better
Of all the 'introductory episodes' Rose, Smith and Jones, and The Eleventh Hour, Rose is the weakest by far, however it is clearly the best one to use to introduce someone to the concept of the show.
Say what you like about RTD (and anyone whose been on this forum a long time knows I wasn't always his biggest fan and is, at heart, more of a Team Moffat kind of guy) but the way he brought the show back is a masterclass in how to bring a huge franchise with a ton of history back without completely rebooting it. He stripped Doctor Who back to its bare essentials (alien in a time travelling box that's bigger on the inside), hooked a whole generation of kids (and probably a lot of their parents who may not have seen the original show) and then slowly drip fed the wider history/mythos of the show as the years progressed.
Star with Rose, just make it clear the show gets a lot better
Agreed, but I'd like to know a little about the OP's tastes and sensibilities. My preferred recommendation is always to start with An Unearthly Child; oddly enough, the best "introductory" episode to Doctor Who.
Emotion porn?
In any case, 'Rose' isn't a great episode, but it has great moments and sets up the modern series nicely. The whole 'anti-plastic' bit was pure gold and, along with The Doctor's speech about the Earth spinning, sold me on the show and the character of The Doctor.
I'd start there.
Thanks for the replies and suggestions. I have been busy and forgot about this thread. I have some days off next week and will have time to check out some of these.
I have no problem with Black & White. I love old movies and tv shows. I think it will be hard for me to see them without buying though. I think I can see most of the recent shows through the library. Hard for me to justify buying something I have never seen before. Are any of the older shows online?
I have no problem with Black & White. I love old movies and tv shows. I think it will be hard for me to see them without buying though. I think I can see most of the recent shows through the library. Hard for me to justify buying something I have never seen before. Are any of the older shows online?
I find that fascinating but weird too. With that much change what is the common elements that is constant thats makes him feel like the same character?
The trappings and the format, mostly.
His Time Travel vehicle (His TARDIS) is consistent, he travels in Time and Space and has adventures with his Companion(s). There is Continuity, in that if he has met someone or been somewhere as The First Doctor, and sees that person or place as the 3rd Doctor, it's made mention of, and when one actor is finished and another takes over, he Regenerates into that new actor playing the part. Although one actor may play the part differently, than the next, there is typically something reminiscent, not always easy to put your finger on what it is though, just a familiarity
All of the Doctors have a quirky, eccentric charm to them, although the amount varies from Doctor to Doctor. They all kind of say that it's okay to be different from everyone else, IMO.
An interesting question that's been debated in fandom and in various reference books (Doctor Who and Philosophy for example) for years. Essentially, there are certain core character traits - his wit, intelligence, compassion, eccentricity, morality, anti-authoritarian stance and fondness for Earth and its people - that remain consistent, but each actor puts his own stamp on the part while paying homage to his predecessors (so you can recognise bits of Tom Baker's Doctor in David Tennant's characterisation, and elements of Patrick Troughton's Doctor in Matt Smith's and so forth). It's a bit like James Bond, but with an in-universe explanation. Within the fiction, the process of regeneration rearranges the Doctor's brain cells and, each time, his memories are jumbled up, resulting in different elements of his personality being brought to the fore.
Each time this happens (1. Hartnell-Troughton 2. Troughton-Pertwee (not actually seen) 3. Pertwee-T. Baker 4. T. Baker-Davison 5. Davison-C. Baker 6. C. Baker-McCoy 7. McCoy-McGann 8. Unseen 9. Eccleston-Tennant 10. Tennant Smith), the Doctor goes through a period of (often painful) adjustment, usually involving a period of amnesia or erratic behaviour before he "beds in" to his new persona. It's part of the tradition of the series to follow him getting to grips with his new appearance and personality, getting to know himself all over again, seeing his new reflection for the first time, choosing his new outfit, etc.
There have been multi-Doctor stories, usually for a milestone anniversary, with various incarnations meeting up through the means of time travel; The Three Doctors (1972 - the first three Doctors), The Five Doctors (1983 - the first five Doctors, with Richard Hurndall filling in for William Hartnell, who had passed away by then), The Two Doctors (1985 - the second and sixth Doctors) and Time Crash (2007 - the fifth and tenth), with another on the way (at least the tenth and eleventh Doctors) in November for the 50th. These usually serve to highlight the differences between the Doctor's incarnations rather than the similarities, and the interactions between the Doctors are often fractious and played for laughs, despite them being different aspects of the same person; it's like you or me meeting ourselves from 20 years ago and being embarrassed and unable to relate to the people we once were.
The conceptual nature of the Doctor's "change of appearance" was kept vague the first couple of times it happened, until Buddhist Producer Barry Letts coined the term "regeneration" in Jon Pertwee's final story, Planet of the Spiders, and introduced to the idea an element similar to the Buddhist concept of rebirth, which has endured.
The sole Ninth Doctor season is easily the best way to introduce Doctor Who to a newbie. From the mystery of this "immortal" time-traveller, right down to his regeneration to the Tenth Doctor, this season shows all the beats of what Doctor Who, and what the Doctor is all about. For a new fan, its the perfect place to start.
And I say that as one such, who got into Doctor Who just a month ago, and never looked back. Finished the Tennant years, and scouted throughout the Troughton and Baker years. Its a long ride, but I had to start somewhere, and "Rose" was that place - and I didn't even know what I was missing.
So, yeah, start with "Rose", see the Eccleston-Tennant episodes/RTD's era, and go from there.
And I say that as one such, who got into Doctor Who just a month ago, and never looked back. Finished the Tennant years, and scouted throughout the Troughton and Baker years. Its a long ride, but I had to start somewhere, and "Rose" was that place - and I didn't even know what I was missing.
So, yeah, start with "Rose", see the Eccleston-Tennant episodes/RTD's era, and go from there.
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