Considering watching some Dr Who

[Cubone13]

Hi everyone. I am considering checking out some Dr Who. My question is where should I begin in watching?

[atgxtg]

Tough call. A good deal of it depends of what type of stuff you like, as the series went through differenet peroids as different people came on board or left the show-especially the actors playing the lead role.

 

Here are some of my suggestions of good episodes to start with:

 

1) An Unearthly Child (Story 1): This is the first episode of the show, ever, and so is worth seeing as a introduction. As the episode is over 40 years old it is somewhat dated, and all of the orignal cast left the show 4 decades ago.

 

 

2) The War Games (Story 50): The last episode of the Second Doctor. Good because it reveals more background information and sets up the situation for the Third Doctor. Note that this is the last of the B&W episodes.

 

 

3) Spearhead from Space (Story 51) This is the first epsiode of the Third Doctor, as well as the first episode in colo(u)r. The Third Doctor"s adventures re a good place to start, as the change in the format for the series led to a bit more information iven that makes it easier for someone to figure out about the show.

 

 

4) Robot (Story 75); This is the first story of the 4th Doctor, who lasted the longest and is one of the most popular. The first our years of the Fourth Doctor"s reign had the higest ratings of the series, and many very good episodes.

 

 

5) Rose (New Series); This is a good place to start as it is the most receent series, and has to explain a few things as the show hadn"t been on the air for 15 years. The speccial effects are much better than the old series too.

 

Note that there are many good stories thoughtout the series, and stuff with the 5th, 6th, and 7th Doctors is worth seeing. In fact, some episodes are classics. It is just that these 5 spots are some of the better places to jump in. The era of the Third and Fourth Doctors are considered by man to be the "golden age" of the series.

 

[karimw786]

Hi everyone. I am considering checking out some Dr Who. My question is where should I begin in watching?

 

Hi,

 

I had never even heard of Doctor Who until recently when the new series started in 2005. I grew up in America, and so British television never reached me. So, I started watching the new 2005 series, and I must say it is excellent! I'd recommend starting with the new series; I can speak from personal experience that you won't regret it! Plus, since there have been only 6 episodes so far, it won't take too long to catch up.

[karimw786]

I forgot to mention that now I'm in Canada and also that I have high speed internet. So the world of international television is open to me as it has never been before.

;)

[d23]

As a Dr. Who fan of many, many years (as it was a staple of American public TV throughout the 80s and 90s), I concur with the jump-in points that have been posted, but I want to add one and give one definite don't.

 

First, I think the 7th Doctor stories (except maybe the first one, Time and the Rani... Rani stories aren't my favorite) are pretty good, too, and they stand as pretty good starting points. There are a lot of people that really liked the McCoy Doctor and Ace, of course, is one of the most beloved companions. The look and feel was getting really good towards the end, too...

 

Second, DO NOT use the 8th Doctor movie as a jump in point. McGann was great as the Doctor, but the writing on it, in retrospect, left a lot to be desired and contradicted a lot of Who mythology. Watch it when you know more about the history of the series so you can take the "mistakes" with a grain of salt.

 

"Rose," as it has been said already, is one of the best starting points because the new series is very well crafted to appeal to both new fans and those that know the old series. You don't have to know anything about Who to enjoy the new series, but it does enhance the experience in many cool and unexpected ways.

 

Dr. Who is really one of the amazing Sci Fi TV Series of all time. Every person who has played the Doctor has brought something good to it in his own way, even Colin Baker. You need to put the jadedness that CGI has given us in the last 10 years, but it's worth it because series' usual storytelling is really great.

 

--dcl

[d23]

I forgot to mention that now I'm in Canada and also that I have high speed internet. So the world of international television is open to me as it has never been before.

;)

 

Sorry for the double post... but I have to give a huge thumbs up to this. I'm also a huge Red Dwarf fan, and I remember the wait of YEARS for new episodes to come to the US in tape form. Now we get to see the new stuff in 12 hours or less. Since the U.S. so-called Television industry almost completely refuses to air original british TV these days and only makes crappy remakes ala the U.S. version of "Coupling," the B.T. revolution has been the best thing to ever happen to American fans of great British TV....

[Cubone13]

Thanks for the info guys. I am currently snatching the first story to go from there. I'll be doing quite a bit of the skipping ahead as it would take me forever to watch it all. But I hope to get into some really good story driven sci fi.

[WreckGar]

Lotsa good suggestions in here.

 

ROSE, to me, is the weakest episode of the new series, but it DOES serve as a decent introduction into the world of Dr. Who. If that and END OF THE WORLD were one movie, though, I'd be much happier on that one.

 

AN UNEARTHLY CHILD is a good one.

 

THE EVIL OF THE DALEKS (Audio) is a fave of mine.

 

THE WAR GAMES shows the Doctor's first trial and does more to explain his originals than most of the run of the series. Followed up with SPEARHEAD and THE THREE DOCTORS and you've got a big chunk of old continuity.

 

ROBOT kicks off the ever-popular Tom Baker years, and serves as a decent starting point, but things don't REALLY get going until the story after it, THE ARK IN SPACE.

 

Another good starting point is the KEEPER OF TRAKEN/LOGOPOLIS/CASTROVALVA trilogy.

 

 

[atgxtg]

I"d avoid stuff like THE THREE DOCTORS or KEEPER OF TRAKEN/LOGOPOSIS/CASTROVALVA episodes for starting points. Any of the epsiodes with mulitple Doctors are pretty worthless and confusing unless you know "Who is Who(m)" before hand. Then they become a great romp.

 

 

The LOGOPOLIS trilogy isn"t a good starting point, IMO, just becuase it throws too much (end of the Baker era, the Master, lots of compnaions, a regeneration sequence, not to mention a follow up story with the Doctor fairly debilitated from his regeneration) for a newbie to get much out of it.

 

ARK is a better story than ROBOT., but ROBOT like SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE, is set up in a more introductary manner. I think GENEIS OF THE DALEKS is even better as an intro, but I think that GENEIS isn"t an enjoyable until you know more about the Daleks, so as to better understand the story"s significance.

[WreckGar]

I"d avoid stuff like THE THREE DOCTORS or KEEPER OF TRAKEN/LOGOPOSIS/CASTROVALVA episodes for starting points. Any of the epsiodes with mulitple Doctors are pretty worthless and confusing unless you know "Who is Who(m)" before hand. Then they become a great romp.

 

 

The LOGOPOLIS trilogy isn"t a good starting point, IMO, just becuase it throws too much (end of the Baker era, the Master, lots of compnaions, a regeneration sequence, not to mention a follow up story with the Doctor fairly debilitated from his regeneration) for a newbie to get much out of it.

 

ARK is a better story than ROBOT., but ROBOT like SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE, is set up in a more introductary manner. I think GENEIS OF THE DALEKS is even better as an intro, but I think that GENEIS isn"t an enjoyable until you know more about the Daleks, so as to better understand the story"s significance.

 

Although there's no TARDIS in it, GENESIS is a good one to throw at people who haven't seen the show at ALL before.

[Pella]

I would watch one story from every Doctor and that way you could can build up a good picture of Doctor Who.

 

1st: Unearthly child - the simplicity of the story, the introduction of the Doctor and the first explanation of the TARDIS.

 

2nd: The Wargames - an excellent story which is a great introduction to the Time Lords and regeneration (it's a pity that the tenth planet doesn't exist in full, then I would have picked a different Troughton story)

 

3rd: I was going to pick Carnival of Monsters as it shows a combination of pure sci-fi and time travel in one story but on reflection a UNIT story as this gives us an introduction to the Master and the Doctor's affinity to earth, so probably The Daemons.

 

4th: Tough choice here: Genesis of the Daleks, Horror of Fang rock, Talons of Weng Chiang, City of Death - bugger it, watch 'em all!!! In fact watch every Tom Baker story - even the ones i don't like are always worth it for sheer Tom value.

 

5th: Earthshock for psuedo-history, the the death of a companion and the Cybermen

 

6th: Vengenace on Varos, a brilliant story based on the morals of watching television violence.

 

7th: Curse of Fenric or Ghostlight. In both of these stories the partnership of McCoy and Ace really matured and both are excellent examples of the paternal side of the Doctor.

 

8th: We only have one televised story sadlyand it isn't that good, so I'd skip that and listen to all of Mcgann's Big Finish audios instead. In order. They make for a breath taking story arc.

 

2nd thoughts: Forward the movie to regeneration scene with Frankenstein playing in the background and then skip through to the scene with the Doctor and Grace are in the park It was a warm Gallifreyian night... Then skip through to the final confrontation with the Master - that's all you really need to see. Then listen to all the audios.

 

9th: Dalek and the End of the world. Both have wonderful tender moments and fun moments and sheer creepy moments all in one.