Doctor Who

[Keithy]

So I've been catching up on my Doctor Who (Currently on Season 4 or the new run, Finished Torchwood Series 2 and Sarah Jane series 1). I thought I really needed to watch some older serials. I've seen a few but nothing I really felt was defining. So I've been looking up and checking netflix and making a list, checking it twice and finding out which ones are naughty or nice. So here's my list so far (in order to be watched). I try to keep anything of the Master or Dalek related in here, but obviously the Daleks are a lot more common and some might get cut. Cybermen I'm not too concerned about.

The Beginning
The Dalek Invasion of Earth
Time Meddler
The War Machine
Here SHOULD be the Tenth Planet. However I can't find it on Netflix. If anyone has more info, please share. Apparently episode 4 has been lost though. Last episode of the first Doctor though.
The Invasion
The War Games
Spearhead from Space (last of the 2nd Doctor)
Again, a missing one, Terror of the Autons is missing, which is sad since it introduces the Master. Due to missing serials I skip about 3 years of episodes.
The Three Doctors.
Frontier in Space
Planet of the Daleks.
Time Warrior (Sarah Jane)
Robot (Tom Baker)
Genesis of the Daleks (Davros)

That's all I have so far. Only up to season 12 of the list. Still working on the rest of the list. Obviously a LOT of Tom Baker stuff is considered essential. Which makes it hard to cut it down, since you get serials that interlink into trilogies and the introduction of episodes written by Douglas Adams.
And of course all the new episodes I know are awesome since I watch them all across all 3 series (Doctor Who, Torchwood, Sarah Jane Adventures).

And of course, if you haven't seen the new Doctor Who, you definately should. None of these are needed to get into the series. Torchwood and Sarah Jane are reintroduced into Doctor Who before they start in the timeline.

 

[morment]

I haven't watched any of the old Doctor Who series, but I recently watched all five seasons of the reboot, I love it.

I'm currently watching Torchwood, almost done with season 2. I might have to try the Sarah Jane series too, but it could be hard to get a hold of.

 

[Jebbaz]

my land lady is British and talks about the Doctor all the time, but I've never had the luxury or being able to watch the show.

 

[LilyPink]

Oh I love Doctor Who, the recent ones. Mostly because I want to fuck David Tennant, Matt Smith isn't too bad either. The only series I haven't got is the Matt Smith one because I stopped talking to my ex so he stopped burning it to disc for me.

I'd suggest watching all the new ones Keithy, but not all a once because then you might start believing it.

 

[morment]

Not quite the same as believing it, but I made the mistake of watching the episode 'Blink', the one with the stone angels, right before I went to sleep and it freaked me out so much that I had to watch something completely different to get it off my mind.

 

[LilyPink]

Oh, they came back recently! They're scary.

Have you seen the wasp one? I'm too scared of wasps to watch it. Are there many wasps involved?

 

[Keithy]

Yeah, as I said I'm watching Season 4 right now, that's what got me interested in finding more about Davros and The Master and everything. that's why I started compiling this list here and on Netflix. Just about done watching the final episode of Season 4 now, before the serials.

And it's not a reboot. It's a continuation like everything else.

Torchwood Season 2 should be watched before Season 4 of Doctor Who optimally as season 4 has spoilers for Torchwood.

Sarah Jane Adventures is the same Sarah Jane as before. Where Torchwood is a bit more adult, Sarah Jane goes the other way and is aimed at a younger audience. Still fun and still part of the whole universe.

 

[LilyPink]

I never bothered with Torchwood or The Sarah Jane Adventures. Perhaps I need to.

 

[pyrite1965]

I never bothered with Torchwood or The Sarah Jane Adventures. Perhaps I need to.

Torchwood is GREAT! Really liked how they put it together.

Sarah Jane on the other hand was too much of a kids show for me to really like it.

 

[Keithy]

I never bothered with Torchwood or The Sarah Jane Adventures. Perhaps I need to.

If you've seen the end of season 4, you've seen Sarah Jane and the crew of Torchwood. Jack Harkness actually plays a pretty good role throughout Doctor Who.
Torchwood runs around with guns, people die, etc. Dramatic, lots of talk about sex and romance.
Sarah Jane runs around with children and saves the day.
"Lots of running, always running."

 

[morment]

Oh, they came back recently! They're scary.

Have you seen the wasp one? I'm too scared of wasps to watch it. Are there many wasps involved?

Yea, that episode bothered me too, but it was earlier in the day when I saw it so it wasn't as bad.

Are you talking about the one with Agatha Christie? If so, there's only one wasp in it, but it is a giant wasp, so it could be as bad as a bunch of smaller ones I don't know.

 

[morment]

And it's not a reboot. It's a continuation like everything else.

That was a poor word choice on my part, I just wanted to differentiate between the shows from the '60s and the more recent ones.

 

[LilyPink]

Oh, they came back recently! They're scary.

Have you seen the wasp one? I'm too scared of wasps to watch it. Are there many wasps involved?

Yea, that episode bothered me too, but it was earlier in the day when I saw it so it wasn't as bad.

Are you talking about the one with Agatha Christie? If so, there's only one wasp in it, but it is a giant wasp, so it could be as bad as a bunch of smaller ones I don't know.

Hmm not sure if it was that one. Guess I should try to watch it and find out

Who saw the Van Gogh one with the recent Doctor and Amy Pond? My favourite by far

 

[morment]

Hmm not sure if it was that one. Guess I should try to watch it and find out

Who saw the Van Gogh one with the recent Doctor and Amy Pond? My favourite by far

I didn't think about you not knowing who all was in the episode if you hadn't seen it yet until after I posted, but didn't feel like going back in and editing it. I think that's the only episode with wasps in it, could be wrong though.

I liked that a lot, I felt bad for Van Gogh though.

Who's your favorite recent Doctor?

 

[LilyPink]

Yeah! He was fucked up!! My fave Doctor will always be David Tennant, although Matt Smith is a good replacement. Who's your favourite?

 

[morment]

David Tenant, I haven't come around on Matt Smith yet, I like the chick who plays Amy Pond enough to make up for it.

 

[LilyPink]

Oh yes, she's a bit of alright!!

I do get confused with Doctor Who sometimes, I'm not really sure what the history is with the Master etc.. I should make use of Keithy's list. One thing I've always wondered.. how do the other characters, who've seen him at various stages in their lives recognise the Doctor and remember him when he changes all the time?? It's probably just one of those things that can be explained by the Doctor rambling on and saying things we don't understand, but thought I'd mention it.

 

[morment]

yea she is.

I'm not sure how some of the characters do it, it could be as simple as the writers not wanting to have to waste time with a slew of, "it's the Doctor, he regenerated again," conversations :lol:

 

[Keithy]

They don't always recognize him.
Sarah Jane, who was with at least two Doctor regenerations (third and fourth) met the tenth Doctor and didn't recognize him. It was when he gave the name "John Smith" she began to have suspicions (he uses that name a lot).
Jack Harkness iirc has a sort of connection with him and will recognize him no matter what.
One person from season four can see him from his eyes, but she knows a lot about him.

So I just watched Season 3 of Torchwood. Not a fan. It was very well written and made, but the screen time of the Torchwood crew is very little. Plus, to me at least, it destroys Earth in the whoniverse. Then learning that Torchwood is being partially financed by Starz for season 4 makes me concerned. The only thing it's got going for it is the writing cast and the main characters.


+++++++++Spoilers for Children of the Earth+++++++++++++++++++++
Highlight to read.
Jack and Gwen are the only survivors, so they get some "golden child" from Harvard to join the Torchwood team. Despite having a few people from season 3 that could easily be new members. Honestly, I don't really care as the three players in this serial are ineffective and barely present all around. I think I would have been happier with Torchwood being disbanded at the end of season 2 and that being it.

 

[RedJay30]

Re: Doctor Who - DOCTOR WHO new season TONIGHT!

DOCTOR WHO tonight!
Is anyone else excited?
I loved Matt Smith's first season as The Doctor and cannot wait to see where he and Stephen Moffat take his character, Amy and Rory!

"Doctor WHO is about the 'Triumph of intellect and romance over brute force and cynicism' " - Craig Ferguson...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9P4SxtphJ4

 

[LilyPink]

This episode was annoying!
It was just full of leads for the rest of the series. It lacked in action and was just a mishmash of beginning of stories.

 

[RedJay30]

This episode was annoying!
It was just full of leads for the rest of the series. It lacked in action and was just a mishmash of beginning of stories.

Haven't had a chance to see it yet myself--but it IS the beginning afterall!

You have to do all the setup for everything to get started!

 

[LilyPink]

Yeah that's true but I wanted ACTION. Meh, stuff does happen during it though. I'm being fussy and ungrateful :lol:

 

[RedJay30]

Well, Doctor Who is not exactly an ACTION show. Sometimes there is some action--but it's more about the Smart Guys overcoming the Mean Guys.
That said, there might be more action in Episode 2 next week!

Jay

 

[morment]

I enjoyed it quite a bit.

On a side note, I can't help but think of the actor who played Canton as Badger from Firefly, it amuses me every time I see him somewhere else.

 

[Sevrin]

Sarah Jane has passed on.

 

[RedJay30]

I enjoyed it quite a bit.

On a side note, I can't help but think of the actor who played Canton as Badger from Firefly, it amuses me every time I see him somewhere else.

That's Mark Sheppard - and the older version of Canton is his father, Morgan Sheppard. Very nice men, and great actors to boot!

 

[Dazza235]

Having browsed this forum for a couple of days, this was the post that compelled me to register lol (it would have happened anyway, but Dr Who is a love that pre-dates even women. Also, I know more about this than about the webcam-world so it seemed like a safer place to start).

I know this is a late reply, hope it still helps Keithy (I stripped down your post and added some notes and suggestions)...

"...obviously the Daleks are a lot more common and some might get cut."
(very hard to find a bad Dalek story until the Davison era, I'd recommend everything Dalek up to at least Destiny of (the last Tom Baker one))
"Cybermen I'm not too concerned about."
(Revenge Of The Cybermen is the last one I'd recommend until this century's.

"The Beginning"
(assuming you mean the first story - dated horribly but kind of important. It leads into the first Dalek story though and that's well worth it)
"The Dalek Invasion of Earth"
(I'd actually recommend the Peter Cushing movie version of this one over the series, bigger budget, same plot & you get to see Donna's grandfather(Bernard Cribbins) from the new series back in the '60s as a comic-relief companion)
"Time Meddler"
(probably better to read about than actually watch, I remember being disappointed when I saw it as an uncritical 12-year-old - we had a great Dr Who fan club here back in the 80s)
"The War Machine"
(meh, overrated. Also, with it's 1960s-imagined super-advanced computer controlling the world, pretty damn dated too).
"Here SHOULD be the Tenth Planet. However I can't find it on Netflix. If anyone has more info, please share. Apparently episode 4 has been lost though. Last episode of the first Doctor though."
(Dead right, ep 4 gone apart from the actual regeneration scene which is probably on youtube, all 30 secs of it)
"The Invasion"
(yup, great but I'd recommend Tomb Of The Cybermen before this one. Also, two episodes of this are missing but have been restored with original audio and new animation - haven't seen those 2, but eps 2,3 & 5-8 are a good memory)
"The War Games"
(too long at times, but one of the best Troughton(#2)stories - also his last adventure and the introduction of the idea of Time Lords)

(There's very little else still around from the '60s that isn't already on your list that I could honestly recommend to anyone under 40 so I'd save any others up for when you can suffer through the now almost 50-year-old low-budget fx).

"Spearhead from Space (last of the 2nd Doctor)"
(sorry to nitpick, but this was actually the first of the 3rd Doctor Jon Pertwee, but another stand-out - first time the Autons appeared and they were much spookier back then than they were in the new series)
"Again, a missing one, Terror of the Autons is missing, which is sad since it introduces the Master. Due to missing serials I skip about 3 years of episodes."
(it might be missing on Netflix, but I think that's because ep.1 only exists in b&w these days - pretty sure there's a dvd out there somewhere but I've seen all of it, it's real. Also, being the first Master makes it worth tracking down).
(The story immediately after, Claws of Axos has probably dated really badly but has some great concepts.)
When it comes to other notable Master stories, The Daemons was top-notch & Sea Devils should also be on your list).
The Three Doctors.
(excellent choice. William Hartnell (Dr#1) only appears on a tv screen due to ill-health but seeing Troughton (#2) & Pertwee(#3) run around and play off each other was great).
Frontier in Space
(meh, ok but one of the more drawn-out stories, bit slow,not sure I'd bother)
Planet of the Daleks.
(has great moments but again pretty long.)
Time Warrior (Sarah Jane)
(essential, first Sarah Jane, first Sontaran and great medieval story).
(Death to the Daleks is here, apparently most people think it's the worst old Dalek story but it was the first Who I saw back when I was about 5 so I'll always love it.)
(the only other Pertwee ones I'd recommend off the top of my head are the two Peladon ones (Curse & Monster) if only for two really cool aliens).
Robot (Tom Baker)
(often winning best story ever poll, it's the first Tom Baker and from here on for the next few seasons, it's really hard to think of any that aren't worth watching - first 4 or 5 seasons of Tom Baker was the golden age of Who).
Genesis of the Daleks (Davros)
(imho, THIS is close to the best original series Who ever - not only do we get the origin of the Daleks, but Davros and some excellent moments)

The '70s (with Jon Pertwee & Tom Baker as Dr's 3 & 4) has probably had the greatest influence on the current series and I tried to mention both ones that are interesting for the comparison and also the ones that were flat-out cool).
I was trying to think of any Tom Baker not worth bothering about, but even the dodgy ones (Horns of Nimon, Underworld) are cool if you know your greek myths. First 3 or 4 seasons of Tom Baker hardly missed a beat.
(btw, did you know that Douglas Adams was the script editor on 2 seasons? You can see his touch here and there through the whole Key to Time season (16 or 17) and the following one).
Most of the Peter Davison (#5) stories were pretty good, but the wheels started falling off and things began getting silly (or sillier, depending on your perspective).
For me, the next few seasons were close to a total write-off. Watch a bit of Colin Baker & Sylvester McCoy for completism's sake, but don't waste your time - somewhere in there is a monster made of licorice and candy called the Lollipop Man - I wish I was joking. I also wish that was the worst thing I remember from then but it'd barely make a top 5.

Doctor Who is very well covered on Wikipedia btw, that should help you decide what makes the cut and what gets, er, cut.

I was going to reply to some of the later posts about the new series, but think this post has gone too long already.

 

[Rose]

looooove doctor who! but i would not be able to retell you any of the story line or explain what's going on after i finished watching it. i get it while i'm watching it, but once it's off i totally forget all the smart stuff i watched. XD my only issue with the show, the voices of the daaleks drive me batshit! their voices make me cringe, i'm so glad they haven't popped up since they stuck the doctor in the pandora. (is it pandora or pandorum??)

 

[Dazza235]

It was the Pandorica Rose - just remembering that episode has given me goosebumps lol.

And Lily, I hope you're enjoying the new season a bit more. That first episode must show the difference between newer and older fans since I thought it was fantastic and still feel a palpable sense of dread when I remember the opening bit on the beach. Also, I have a lot of faith in Stephen Moffett, the current showrunner (he's the guy that wrote Blink (the stone-angels one) and roughly half of the other standout high-quality new series episodes.

Along those lines of new/old fan, what did y'all think of The Doctor's Wife episode from a couple of weeks back? That one seemed to me to be an episode that an old fan would be guaranteed to love but that might have left newer fans cold. Very curious to hear newbie thoughts...

(ps for Lily, the wasp one might freak you out if you really hate wasps, but it was a pretty good period piece and the character of Agatha Christie was spot-on. From memory, the wasp is only in about 3 scenes so perhaps you could just close your eyes)