So I want to learn of this Doctor...

[Mordar]

Hello all -

For fear of losing my nerd credentials, I feel it necessary to learn of Doctor Who. I have a very passing knowledge, having seen a handful of episodes from the Baker years (at or near the time of actual first airing), but always felt sufficiently lost that I couldn't "jump in".

I'd rather not receive a spoiler-laden synopsis (ala Wiki reading), but would prefer a more holistic experience. It seems unlikely that I would be able to watch the original series' (if for no other reason than so many episodes are lost), and the collection of book adaptations would be prohibitively expensive even if I could run them all down.

So, I ask...what am I to do?

Is there an engaging, authoritative source of learning that presents more as a serial, or am I stuck? Are there compendia that might present me with the working knowledge in a literary format as opposed to a historical perspective?

What might your recommendations be?

Thanks!

- M

[Dienekes]

Quite honestly, the new series started about 7 years ago and does a pretty good job of re-establishing the character and the universe he's in. Once you get a handle on the character you can basically cherry pick the best of the old episodes, quickly look up who the companion is and what their deal may be and just jump in. It's what I've done and it seems to work rather well.

[KillianHawkeye]

And actually, a lot of the classic Doctor Who episodes are available online. I've been going back and watching them starting from the first season. There are episodes missing, yes, but most of them still exist and at least some of the "missing" episodes are merely incomplete or only have the audio track or something.

[Weezer]

Just watch starting withe the reboot, it does a good job at introducing new people to Doctor Who.

[Hopeless]

Hello all -

For fear of losing my nerd credentials, I feel it necessary to learn of Doctor Who. I have a very passing knowledge, having seen a handful of episodes from the Baker years (at or near the time of actual first airing), but always felt sufficiently lost that I couldn't "jump in".

I'd rather not receive a spoiler-laden synopsis (ala Wiki reading), but would prefer a more holistic experience. It seems unlikely that I would be able to watch the original series' (if for no other reason than so many episodes are lost), and the collection of book adaptations would be prohibitively expensive even if I could run them all down.

So, I ask...what am I to do?

Is there an engaging, authoritative source of learning that presents more as a serial, or am I stuck? Are there compendia that might present me with the working knowledge in a literary format as opposed to a historical perspective?
What might your recommendations be?
Thanks!- M

Depends on your personal preference;

William Hartnell (First) this was the most historical based excluding the Dalek introductions

Peter Cushing (also First) the movie version comes in two episodes both Dalek orientated the first has Roy Castle the second has Bernard Cribbins and is completely divorced from the tv series canon unless you want to believe this doctor is the other but enough about that headache!

Patrick Troughton (Second) still black and white episodes introduces the Yeti and had the Cybermen who were introduced in Hartnell's last serial.

Jon Pertwee (Third) Think Timelord meets James Bond but more adventure less romance actually as close as they got until the new series actually.

Tom Baker (Fourth) usually the favourite of the classic series and before Tennant the longest serving, Genesis of the Daleks was part of his era.

Peter Davison (Fifth) when i first started watching the Five Doctors is well worth watching and picking up if you liked it.

Colin Baker (Sixth) when the classic series was being closed down, has some interesting episodes this is where the egomaniac side was first demonstrated before Tennant as far as I was concerned

Sylvester McCoy (Seventh) when it got mysterious and the agenda for the doctor being the other came into a bit more detail this is when the series was ended.

Paul McGann (Eighth) the movie updated version

Christopher Eccleston (Ninth) the nu series and the one that brought the series back to life a good starting point if you just want to pick up with the newest series.

David Tennant (Tenth) a favourite of many he literally tried to outdo Tom Baker but kept it straight well worth watching,

Matt Smith (Eleventh) the latest and tomorrow he'll be in another xmas episode if you're interested is getting better but far from terrible that some might have said at the beginning. Until I saw the clip from Vampires of Venice I was in that camp but listened to the boards especially gallifrey base and they were right...

Hope that helped!

[JCarter426]

I recently got a friend into Doctor Who. His plan is to watch tomorrow's special, then catch up with the rest of Matt Smith's episode (Series 5 onwards).

[Dr.Epic]

Oh man! I thought this thread would be about me.

[HamHam]

SF Debris has a series of videos going over the lost episodes that are pretty good.

[Scowling Dragon]

Well, Doctor who is VERY soft Scfi-Fi at best. Expect dues ex machina to be the norm.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

Definitely start with Nine. It's a great, easy place to jump in, the only continuity callbacks they make exist for nostalgia's sake (i.e. if something needs to be explained, they re-explain it), and Eccleston is fantastic.

Well, Doctor who is VERY soft Scfi-Fi at best. Expect dues ex machina to be the norm.

Good sum-up of the show, by Neil Gaiman (who wrote what is possibly one of the best tributes to the Doctor Who mythos ever): "Doctor Who has never pretended to be hard science fiction … At best Doctor Who is a fairytale, with fairytale logic about this wonderful man in this big blue box who at the beginning of every story lands somewhere where there is a problem."

It's only a deus ex machina if you expect the story to be about the heroes trying to solve the problem. Rather, the story is about the viewers discovering something about humanity/the universe/whatnot. But that digresses a bit from the main topic.

[Scowling Dragon]

I actualy suggest to watch the old series. The new one has this "Made by fans" vibe.

Like its Glorifying him, instead of just treating him like a character.

[Calemyr]

The timing of the old series tends to get a bit tedious, though. Cliff hangers every twenty minutes and REALLY bad special effects are the norm, it can get really pathetic. Still, I think Hartnell is my favorite Doctor, just from what little I've seen of him and read about him.

There's a lot of idolism in the new series, especially in Ten's era, where everyone unabashedly reveres him as a god. That said Nine is a wonderfully flawed character and Eleven dances manically on the fence between the joyful fascination of a four year old at a zoo and an angry, bitter old man.

[Brother Oni]

Like its Glorifying him, instead of just treating him like a character.

As Calemyr said, this is actually a plot point, which comes to a head in The Waters of Mars, where Ten tries to be the God of All Time, only for Time to say 'NO'.

It also comes up with Eleven where he has come too prominent, resulting in the whole overall arc of his second series and the loss of the Ponds. It takes until the most recent Christmas special for him to snap out of it.

[Hopeless]

In case you want to watch the latest xmas special and don't want spoilers well don't read the below!

Spoiler

Show

He has a Sontaran Butler...
He's also a Nurse...
He's a Sontaran, how the heck did he pull that off!

Songtaran christmas rhymes.... needs to be seen to be believed!

In case of queries I figure this as good as any reason to encourage watching the show starting with the Xmas special and the youtube video's yes I said Youtube apparently there's been some problems picking up the extras over in the US, don't know about anywhere else mind you but note the spelling hidden by the spoiler!

[Scowling Dragon]

As Calemyr said, this is actually a plot point.

Thats not what I meant. Its simply the framing and the presentation. Im not saying that the characters are usualy self loving (Which they are), but more importantly the FRAMING and writing is almost licking the Doctors toes in devotion.

[ManuelSacha]

I started watching Dr Who last month.

First, I watched the 1996 movie (8th Doctor). I loathed it.
It reminded me of the Buffy movie.
Which is why I kept going, hoping it would lead to an equally good series.
It kinda did.

Next, I watched the new, 2005 ---> series. It's enjoyable enough.
I'm currently at the 10th Doctor, and I must say every single actor chosen for the part is EXTREMELY charismatic, which is nice.

As for the old series, I never felt the need to watch them to understand plot points and such. It's explained quite clearly who the Dalek are, an old companion is introduced with ease, etc...