Where to Start with Doctor Who?

[Herschel]

At the beginning, he was... well, the Doctor. By the end, he was this utterly ridiculous godlike being who couldn't be realistically challenged by anything, and was all too aware of it. God could he be a git when his ego got going, which by then, was most of the time. The only thing left to do with the character was to somehow make his own ever-inflating ego bite him in the ass, a direction in which they tentatively groped at the end of The Waters of Mars... only to just drop that promising thread in favour of concluding his run with the most ridiculously over-the-top, utterly stupid, story of the entire new series.

I think Davies got caught a little in trying to have these poignant themes while still keeping it fun and as he ratcheted up the drama he also upped the sillyness for his idea of balance. I found the finale of Series 3 to be the worst of the sillyness. I think his parts for The Master were written too over-the-top but in Series 4 with the prophecy at the end of "Planet of the Ood" I thought he started to pull it back some. The Doctor was then caught between knowing his end was coming and should he try to 'burn like the sun' while he could. "Turn Left" was brilliant and the finale was where victory was basically pure, dumb luck.

The Specials were actually well done even though I thought "The End Of Time" was where Davies really added some sillyness to offset the depth. The Master had some good bits dealing with his psychosis and The Doctor dealing with his own demise had some nice moments. This is especially true in the cafe scene with he and Wilf. That was brilliant. The jumping out of the ship and the "rescue" by the aliens was pure goofyiness for the kids. Davies is by no means as deft as Charles Schulz was at balancing depth and sadness in stories also aimed at kids but he had some good moments, including the end of "Doomsday" but I think he felt the series ended a little "heavy" there, at least from the extras bits on the DVDs.

 

[Sutekh]

While Im a dyed in the wool Dr Who fan, if I was a new viewer, Id echo the sentiments of many people above me by recommending one start with 'Rose' and the Ecclestone era. Someone above me said that the older 'original' Dr Who catered more to kids and in another Doctor Who thread we talked about how the shows creator saw Dr Who as exactly that, a show to tell kids about past events and get them 'excited' about History.

That didnt last long at all because after Terry Nations intervention re the Daleks the show took over on an adventure that fundementally changed after the first season. There was huge gaps where the Past rarely got a mention.

I'd actually say that the new series is more aimed at kids. Luckily we lack a Mary Winehouse nowadays (google her with Doctor Who and you will find out why).

If after watching the Ecclestone/Tennant/Smith stories you want more, definetly look into the 'original' stories.

 

[jeffh]

I'd actually say that the new series is more aimed at kids. Luckily we lack a Mary Winehouse nowadays (google her with Doctor Who and you will find out why).

Mary Whitehouse, you mean. Google usually works best if you get the name of the person you're searching for right.

 

[Sutekh]

My apologies. I must of been thinking the singer when I was writing that. You are correct sir it was Mary Whitehouse.

Matt