A geek question

[badseed1980]

I was reminded today that I want to start getting into Doctor Who. Granted, it was the intriguing suggestion of Jack Harkness/Doctor slash fic that reminded me of that fact, but that's beside the point. Ahem.

My entire experience of Doctor Who includes the following:

1. Watching one episode from last season
2. Seeing the Dalek Song video
3. Seeing various Doctor scarves and knit daleks
4. Hearing the KLF song, "Doctorin' the TARDIS"

Now, there is a LOT of Doctor Who out there. I'm unsure how the series works. Do I have to start at the beginning to appreciate it? That is, are the episodes typically part of a larger story arc (as with Babylon 5), or do they typically stand alone (as with Law and Order), or is it a mixture of both, where there are some episodes that stand alone but there is also an important story arc that you can't get by watching random episodes (as with The X-Files)?

The practical upshot of that question is, if I want to get into the show, should I go to the library and see about renting the first season (or borrow it from someone), or should I just watch the next episode that's on TV and pick up reruns or whatever as I go along? Are there movies I need to watch? Are there swaths of the show that I should just ignore as sucky or irrelevant? Are there things I MUST NOT MISS?

Tell me, O Geektastic Friends List!

Comments

[madamruppy.livejournal.com]

No you do not need to start at the beginning. My first Doctor was Tom Baker and he is still my favorite. I think any of his would be a good place to start. You can also just start with the Christopher Eccleston (second favorite) ones from a couple years ago. Since he was the first Doctor in a long time they did a small amount of world building there for new people.

Exposure to previous incarnations is helpful to a point as he does meet the same people again from time to time.

[madamruppy.livejournal.com]

FWIW - I have not seen all the Dr. Who episodes. I'm particularly deficient in the early Doctors and I do just fine.

[vanguardcdk.livejournal.com]

Starting with the new series (the last three seasons that have been on Scifi and BBCA) works fine. They expected new fans and worked in enough backstory to catch people up.

After that you may want to take a peek at the wikipedia Dr. Who entry. It will give you a history of the original series, storylines and an overview of all the previous doctors.

The old Dr. Who series usually used short 'serial' style stories: one story over 3-4 episodes. These stories are being released individually on DVD, usually with gobs of extras. They're a little pricey but would be good Netflix grabs.
I found the old stories easy to jump into even if you don't quite know who all the characters are.

Have fun!

[greendalek.livejournal.com]

I have a Top Ten list from the original series:
http://www.amazon.com/A-Top-Ten-quot-Classic-quot-Doctor-Who-listing/lm/R349ZY4FX5YTPI/ref=cm_lm_byauthor_title_full

After that, I think you'd be good-to-go with just starting from the first Christopher Eccelston episode (i.e., the first season of the new series) and watching 'em all in sequence from there.

uhm...

[erik-j-meyer.livejournal.com]

Ok, my suggestion for starting would be doing the 1965 movie for Dalek references, the 1996 movie for a modern setting, the last three seasons to catch up to what is going on now and then going back to the older Doctors to get all those other fun references, like Cybermen, the scarf and K-9.

[roaming.livejournal.com]

I have no opinions -- though I'm sure Lensman will if/when he has time to see this post -- except to say we have the series from the last Who (Eccleston, whom I like a bit more than Tennant), and so can lend them to you when we see you Friday. If you need lending.

I'm now dreaming of a Dr. Seuss Doctor Who series for the kids of the fans of the series. I've always suspected "The Doctor's" first name was Horton. :-)

[ex-lark-asc.livejournal.com]

Watching some old Who is a good start, but yeah, watching the whole lot would take you years. I'm no serious Who fan but any number of forums will recommend you a few classic seasons to munch through as preparation for the new Who. Personally, I rate Ecclestone's doctor the best ever, which apparently makes me fairly unusual - of the two new doctors, the only real Do Not Miss jobs are Steven Moffat's blindingly brilliant ones, 'The Empty Child' and its concluding part whose title I forget, and 'Blink'. 'Love and Monsters' is possibly the worst Who story *ever* made, although the geekier among the fans worship it, and 'The Satan Pit' is a cack-handed attempt at dealing with Big Religious Themes in a show that can't handle them.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

You're the only person I know who watches Torchwood, I think. If/when it makes it to the US, is it worthwhile?

[unferth.livejournal.com]

They're showing the second season of Torchwood on BBC America currently; they already finished the first one. It's not very good, unfortunately - they seem to have decided that their license to include adult material meant they didn't need actual writing.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Ah, I didn't realize it was over here yet.

[hippie1025.livejournal.com]

I watch Torchwood, and I like it quite a bit. :) Apparently though, even though they are showing it on BBCA, they are still cutting bits out, though not as much as they would were it on Sci-Fi.

[roaming.livejournal.com]

We love Torchwood. Gwen's character makes me want to snog women, and I'm not bi. Yet. She's working on it. :-)

[ex-lark-asc.livejournal.com]

Watch*ed*. I quit after season 1; it was execrable. By all accounts season 2 is not as bad, but I remain skeptical.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

pierceheart has the whole series on DVD too. We watched it when he came home from Iraq. :)

[unferth.livejournal.com]

The show has been going on for so long, and has changed concepts and staff so many times, I could honestly answer both "yes" and "no" to most of your questions. Episodes mostly stand alone - except for the years where the directors decided to run a story arc. There are stretches where it's not as good, except that they usually have gems in the middle of the stretches. A lot of episodes have references to earlier events, but if it's to anything much older than earlier in the year there's usually a little recap.

One up side of all of the sheer amount of history is that the old stuff is never strictly followed. Half the time it's discarded when they want to use part of an old idea in a new episode - just for instance, Daleks were initially powered by static electricity and couldn't leave the metal floors of their city. That didn't stay true very long. It's somewhat like comic book continuity that way. It's certainly nothing like as tightly plotted as B5.

There are movies, but you'll want to avoid them. They were mediocre retellings of episodes of the show, but with the characters and universe all changed. They're not just irrelevent, they actively contradict the TV show.

I'd agree with the top 10 list greendalek posted as a decent overview, although I'd try to work in at least one William Hartnell story - maybe "The Daleks" in place of "Battlefield", which is mostly fun for its references for the old fans. Or, if that one's not available, "The Dalek Invasion of Earth" is good too. I have a copy of Remembrance of the Daleks, #8 on the list, which I could loan out if and when you get to that point.

The new seasons have a gentle story arc each time - season 1 B5 might be a good comparison, where there are recurring minor characters and events that turn out to be more significant than they'd appear at first glance, but most of the stories are standalone or at worst two-parters. You'll have to accept that you'll be missing a lot of throwaway references they put in for us long-time watchers, but there's no way around that without spending a lot of time catching up.

You should be warned that most people imprint on the first Doctor they watch as their favorite, and that this produces stupid arguments.

[terse-scribe.livejournal.com]

I agree with the others. Just start with the 2005 series - season 1 of the newly revived Doctor. That's where lindalee started. We've been watching it too. I would suggest that if you like what you see, you might try to watch a little bit of the Tom Baker Doctor before season 2 of the new stuff (though it's not necessary) and a little bit of the 3rd Doctor (Jon Pertwee) before season 3 of the new stuff - though that's also not necessary. lindalee and I have been working our way through the classic series over the past several months and have done about 6 seasons with a couple highlights from earlier Doctors. I could loan you some on old VHS tape, though I think tigira is supposed to have dibs on the episode with the Morris dancers.

Torchwood -- your mileage may vary. It could be written better. It's kitchy. But it can grow on you.

[lensman.livejournal.com]

Okay there are many way to watch Dr Who, but first a bit about how the series works (as it is currently the longest running TV series in the world).

As a series it is predicated on the fact that the actor playing the main character will change (and there is a loose sci-fi reason for this, as "time lords cheat death, by regenerating their bodies after great injury". There was originally supposed to be some sort of limit to this, but that got tossed out the window years ago)

The second fact it was predicated on was that the BBC who makes the shows, has typically had much lower production costs than comparable US shows, so so of the effects/costumes/props are fairly flimsy (Blakes 7 is much more oblivious in this regard) :-) But it's why the Dr's time capsule is stuck looking like an early 60's Police Call box...

The various Dr's over the years have had differing personalities, although most tend to be somewhat whimsical in their approach to danger/tense situations.

The series was pulled from the air for a few years in the 90's and was brought back in 2005. Capt Jack, was spun off to make Torchwood from that first renewed season, and has had a couple of cross over episodes from the latest season on air here.

Briony and I have all three seasons of the newer Dr Who on DVD, and the first released season of Torchwood. (Although we just lent it out to some friends we got hooked, and we spent an evening getting Erik and Dee Cee hooked on Torchwood as well.) I'm thinking if B is up for it maybe well have people over for a Dr Who marathon since this is a long weekend (although I know some people will be at Boskone)...

[unferth.livejournal.com]

There was originally supposed to be some sort of limit to this, but that got tossed out the window years ago)

Really? I can't think of anything that contradicted the regeneration limit, unless you're thinking of the mystery faces in The Brain of Morbius. I'm sure they'll find a way to throw it out if it ever becomes inconvenient, but for now I think it's still canon.

The limit was only established in, what, The Deadly Assassin anyway, a long time after the first regeneration.

[lensman.livejournal.com]

If I remember correctly the limit was something like 13 regenerations, and I believe they've had the master pass that limit but I can't cite the cannon source for that, it's been a while... Off the top of my head I think it was brought up in the 9th Dr movie. (Along with the Master being executed by the Dalek's)....

[unferth.livejournal.com]

Hmm, well, the Master did reach his limit (12 regenerations, for 13 bodies total) back in the Tom Baker years, but then getting another cycle of regenerations was his goal for a long time. I don't want to get too much into spoilers here, even for the Tom Baker episodes, but I think he probably achieved it using some methods the Doctor wouldn't use.

Anyway. They've got three Doctors left after Tennant, so if the show is still doing well at that point I'm sure they'll come up with something.

[pauljtaylor.livejournal.com]

Without giving too much away spoiler-wise, in the Sixth Doctor serial Trial of a Time Lord, a future version of the Doctor is encountered who is described as the regeneration "between the Twelfth and the final."  That seems to indicate at least fourteen total, with some extras over the 12 picked up somewhere along the way, possibly from that business with the Key To Time back in the Fourth Doctor days.

[etainwilson.livejournal.com]

Ask Cameron. He is a DW Freak.