Viking Bastard said:
The whole series is already out.
Not in North America, though, which is what I think he really wanted to know. Different regions, and all that.
Captain Tagon said:
If one was just looking to get into the whole Dr Who thing, what would be the best place to start?
Viking Bastard is correct, there is no place you really MUST jump on. Each Doctor is different, depending on your preferences. Tom Baker, the fourth doctor, is the most famous and did it for the most number of episodes. Many folks (myself included) consider him the best doctor or one of the best. Each Doctor had a different emphasis and feel. The first Doctor, William Hartnell, was the grumpy grandfather: his stories emphasized history, and had little fantastic elemets. The second Doctor, Patrick Troughton, was more whimsical, like your crazy uncle...he was more of a clown...but faced more aliens and supernatural stuff. He introduced the Daleks and the Time Lords.
After him came Jon Pertwee, a younger and more active doctor...and COLOR! He episodes were flashier and more action packed. He also had a consistent earth-bound set of stories, with lots of aliens and the Master, the Doctor's arch-nemesis. Jon Pertwee was the flamboyant dandy. Tom Baker was the charming trickster and had some of the most iconic Doctor Who stories. He was followed by the youngest doctor, Peter Davidson, who had some excellent episodes. He was followed by Colin Baker, who was a fairly unpopular doctor, but had some excellent stories. He eventually found his legs as the character, but the writers tried to make him more disagreeable, and it backfired. He was followed by Sylvester McCoy, who was more like Patrick Troughton, a comedic character actor. He was a wonderful doctor with terrible stories (I mean, REALLY bad). After him there was a hiatus, then Fox made a Doctor Who movie for the US market as a potential series pilot staring the likable Paul McGann. However, the movie was generally very poorly received due to its poorly though out plot and nothing happened until last years new series. This heralded Christopher Ecclestone' Doctor, considered by many to be one of the best. He left at the end of last season, and this new episode was the debut of David Tennant, who has some serious potential, as well.
The trick here is that continuity is relatively relaxed and usually explained when necessary. Most episodes have a "who are you, doctor?" sequence that is good enough to get you moving along.
