Haven't seen a single episode of Doctor Who..

Spiritoftheseventies

RTD?

Hedman

Russel T Davies, the previous head writer/producer.

Spiritoftheseventies

Oh I see. I only saw a bit of Ecclestone but I dont think he was really suited to role. Tried a bit too hard I thought. Lacked Tennants charm

BaconZombie

Ok, first off I did not read any of the other replys excepts Doom's.

I never got into Dr Who until the 2nd session of the reboot with David Tennant as the Doctor, and then started to watch evening episode of it and then the spinoff Torchwood.

IIRC there are a few story arcs that link the two since there are both set in the same universe.

Basq

Have watched the first three.. all were very enjoyable in their own way!

I'm not really warming to Eccleston as The Doctor to be honest... and Rose's boyfriend Mickey is quite possibly one of the worst actors I've ever seen.

But I'm currently half-way through 'Aliens of London' (with it's farting aliens) and it's a bit of a stinker (no pun intended).

Spiritoftheseventies

basquille wrote: »

Have watched the first three.. all were very enjoyable in their own way!

I'm not really warming to Eccleston as The Doctor to be honest... and Rose's boyfriend Mickey is quite possibly one of the worst actors I've ever seen.

But I'm currently half-way through 'Aliens of London' (with it's farting aliens) and it's a bit of a stinker (no pun intended).

There is so much you missed out on. Saturdays weren't the same without the doctor for me. Rose and Tennant very good together.

monkeyfudge

basquille wrote: »

Have watched the first three.. all were very enjoyable in their own way!

I'm not really warming to Eccleston as The Doctor to be honest... and Rose's boyfriend Mickey is quite possibly one of the worst actors I've ever seen.

But I'm currently half-way through 'Aliens of London' (with it's farting aliens) and it's a bit of a stinker (no pun intended).

Mickey does actually sort of improve as the series goes on, believe it or not. But yep... he was pretty woeful in the beginning.

Also you've got the episode Dalek coming up after that two parter. That's a great episode.

Basq

monkeyfudge wrote: »

Also you've got the episode Dalek coming up after that two parter. That's a great episode.

The second part 'World War III' is a bit more fun.. but yeah, I'm looking forward to 'Dalek' though that'll probably be for tomorrow night.

Doctor DooM

basquille wrote: »

The second part 'World War III' is a bit more fun.. but yeah, I'm looking forward to 'Dalek' though that'll probably be for tomorrow night.

Yeah that two parter was foreshaowing for the bad side of new who...

But Dalek foreshadows teh awesome.

Moffats 2 parter still to come, too!

Spiritoftheseventies

Some very good cameos as well. Alex Kingston formerly of ER makes an appearance as does Kylie Mingoue and Dearbhla Kirwan.

mewso

It should be noted if you are a completist that a lot of the old stuff is very hard to get and some of it is lost completely. There seem to be two kinds of Doctor Who fans, those who watched the old show growing up and the new series converts.

As someone who grew up with it I would of course recommend Tom Baker and Peter Davidson as I started watching towards the end of one and the beginning of the other but I think it's important to realise that they might not have the same impact to a modern audience. As has been said though worth a look if you take to the modern version.

I kind of shunned the new stuff for quite a while but last year I finally sat down and watched all of it and overall it's great entertainment. It's a materclass in crossover tv (entertaining young and old) really.

Basq

Finished the 1st season last night.

'The Empty Child' and 'The Doctor Dances' were absolutely superb.. creepy, engaging, humourous and just did I mention creepy?

In fact, the latter half of the season (from 'Father's Day' to 'The Parting Of The Ways') were all pretty damn fine episodes bar one damp squib - 'Boom Town'.

Will start season 2 this weekend.

Doctor DooM

basquille wrote: »

Finished the 1st season last night.

'The Empty Child' and 'The Doctor Dances' were absolutely superb.. creepy, engaging, humourous and just did I mention creepy?

In fact, the latter half of the season (from 'Father's Day' to 'The Parting Of The Ways') were all pretty damn fine episodes bar one damp squib - 'Boom Town'.

Will start season 2 this weekend.

The man who wrote those episodes is now in charge of Doctor Who. The latest series is quite mature and creepy as a result!

Before you watch season 2, have a look at this (the first little anomoly I suggested )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY1kERSmLXs

Basq

Cheers DD!

Was gonna go looking for this actually as I use EpGuides to get my episode listings and I did see mention of it:

• Season 1

1 1-01 101 26/Mar/05 Rose
2 1-02 102 02/Apr/05 The End of the World
3 1-03 103 09/Apr/05 The Unquiet Dead
4 1-04 104 16/Apr/05 Aliens of London (1)
5 1-05 105 23/Apr/05 World War Three (2)
6 1-06 106 30/Apr/05 Dalek
7 1-07 107 07/May/05 The Long Game
8 1-08 108 14/May/05 Father's Day
9 1-09 109 21/May/05 The Empty Child (1)
10 1-10 110 28/May/05 The Doctor Dances (2)
11 1-11 111 04/Jun/05 Boom Town
12 1-12 112 11/Jun/05 Bad Wolf (1)
13 1-13 113 18/Jun/05 The Parting of the Ways (2)
14 1-14 N/A 18/Nov/05 Born Again : Children in Need
15 1-15 114 25/Dec/05 The Christmas Invasion

Basq

Having just watched 'The Christmas Invasion' and 'New World', Tennant has already won me over.

I'm a big Christopher Eccleston fan and I enjoyed him as The Doctor - but Tennant just oozes charisma, charm, likeability, humour and unlike Eccleston, he doesn't just sit around grinning in every second shot.

Girlfriend's away this weekend, so hoping to finish the second season of both this and 'The Shield' and catch up with some 'Red Dead Redemption'

Doctor DooM

basquille wrote: »

Having just watched 'The Christmas Invasion' and 'New World', Tennant has already won me over.

I'm a big Christopher Eccleston fan and I enjoyed him as The Doctor - but Tennant just oozes charisma, charm, likeability, humour and unlike Eccleston, he doesn't just sit around grinning in every second shot.

Girlfriend's away this weekend, so hoping to finish the second season of both this and 'The Shield' and catch up with some 'Red Dead Redemption'

If your nerd level is high, the season finale of season 2 hasn't really been topped, imo. And conversely, shouldn't ever be.


Girl in the fireplace is usually considered the height of season 2. Everything about it oozes quality, typical scary little concepts here and there and I love the bad guys.

Season three the quality is highly choppy imo though, it's got huge highs and lows.

Basq

Season 2 has been pretty damn superb.. but holy christ, 'Love & Monsters' is fecking dreadful. And I say that as a massive Peter Kay fan.. even the clips of ELO's "My Blue Sky" doesn't save it!

And it's a shame that it follows the superb "The Satan Pit" - just a sheer epic episode. Stunning stuff!

monkeyfudge

Yeah. I think it's the worst episode.

Even worse than Fear Her if you ask me... Also watch out for that episode... eek...

Basq

monkeyfudge wrote: »

Yeah. I think it's the worst episode.

Even worse than Fear Her if you ask me... Also watch out for that episode... eek...

Hmmmm...

** looks at my episode guide **

Awwww.. that's the next episode.. BALLS!

monkeyfudge

Basq

On the plus side, the much-anticipated season finale will be after that.

How is it that 'Love & Monsters' is so poor? Always enjoy performances from Marc Warren, Peter Kay and Shirley Henderson. I think it's that it strays too far away from The Doctor / Rose and has too many silly slapstick throwaway moments (the silly Benny Hill type scene with Rose and The Doctor fleeing from the Hoix.. yes, I'd to look that up). Just dreadful!

Getting too used to Billie Piper in the role as Rose that I don't know how I'll take her leaving it shortly (*). I'll be even worse when Tennant leaves (but I have enjoyed what I've seen of Matt Smith).

That's the worse thing about Doctor Who.. departures and cast changes are so well publicized that it's impossible to avoid spoilers.

* And I really think I'm gonna react badly when Catherine Tate takes it up... I've always absolutely loathed her, and can't see her as a companion. I always thought she was only a companion for a Christmas special or something.. not an entire season for fecks sake!

Also Starring LeVar Burton

basquille wrote: »

That's the worse thing about Doctor Who.. departures and cast changes are so well publicized that it's impossible to avoid spoilers.

* And I really think I'm gonna react badly when Catherine Tate takes it up... I've always absolutely loathed her, and can't see her as a companion. I always thought she was only a companion for a Christmas special or something.. not an entire season for fecks sake!

Knowing about cast changes matters very little - you'll come to see that soon enough... And as for Catherine Tate - pretty sure we all felt the same as you when that casting decision was announced, but she actually grows on you and does well in the role...
You're lucky - you've got 'Blink' to look forward to in season 3... I wish I could watch that episode for the first time again... but you only get one first time...

Doctor DooM

basquille wrote: »

How is it that 'Love & Monsters' is so poor?

From the Tardis wiki:

Love and Monsters

Writer: Russell T Davies

Doctor DooM

basquille wrote: »

* And I really think I'm gonna react badly when Catherine Tate takes it up... I've always absolutely loathed her, and can't see her as a companion. I always thought she was only a companion for a Christmas special or something.. not an entire season for fecks sake!

You'll change your mind when you see her in season 4 (but not the christmas special). She's extremely likeable, much to my initial shock.

Basq

Doctor DooM wrote: »

From the Tardis wiki:

Love and Monsters

Writer: Russell T Davies

Yeah.. this is the odd thing!

I remember hearing about Doctor Who and Russell T Davies (or 'RTD' as he's more commonly known), and I was under the illusion he was a reputable and well-respected writer. But he has wrote some of the poorest episodes so far (e.g The Long Game, Boom Town, New Earth, Love & Monsters).

Whereas Steven Moffatt has wrote The Empty Child, The Doctor Dances and The Girl in the Fireplace (not to mention the aforementioned Blink, which I'm looking forward to). I know Steven Moffatt is now head-writer so I'm definitely behind this decision as so far, he's done 24 carat-gold in my eyes!

Anyways.. onto "Fear Her" and here's hoping I stay awake for it!

Doctor DooM wrote: »

You'll change your mind when you see her in season 4 (but not the christmas special). She's extremely likeable, much to my initial shock.

Hmmm... I'll reserve judgement so. Although I'm gonna find it difficult to warm to her.

Doctor DooM

basquille wrote: »

Yeah.. this is the odd thing!

I remember hearing about Doctor Who and Russell T Davies (or 'RTD' as he's more commonly known), and I was under the illusion he was a reputable and well-respected writer. But he has wrote some of the poorest episodes so far (e.g The Long Game, Boom Town, New Earth, Love & Monsters).

Whereas Steven Moffatt has wrote The Empty Child, The Doctor Dances and The Girl in the Fireplace (not to mention the aforementioned Blink, which I'm looking forward to). I know Steven Moffatt is now head-writer so I'm definitely behind this decision as so far, he's done 24 carat-gold in my eyes!

Anyways.. onto "Fear Her" and here's hoping I stay awake for it!


Hmmm... I'll reserve judgement so. Although I'm gonna find it difficult to warm to her.

RTD has some gold as well, don't get me wrong.

the first 2 part of the series 3 finale are damn good, as are midnight and Turn Left from series 4, as is Torchwood: Children of Earth.

It seems to me that RTD is at his best when he reins himself in. We can have a proper discussion on why he's not the fan fave once you get beyond his era as it'd spoil alot for you.

Lets just say he has a propensity to suspension of disbelief destroying absurdity, a reliance on sci fi stereotypes, and if it wasn't for his occasionally great dialogue and pacing he'd be not well regarded at all in Dr. Who circles

whereas Moffat uses sci fi conciets to drive a story and tends to put twists on the normal and every day. They're like chalk and cheese.

Oh and Catherine Tate is prob the new series best companion, she brings a humanity, warmth, and lack of fancying Doctorness which was very fresh at the time.

mewso

Yeah was never a Catherine Tate fan but I thought she was excellent in DW.

K-9

basquille wrote: »

Hmmmm...

** looks at my episode guide **

Awwww.. that's the next episode.. BALLS!

I actually quite liked Fear Her. Loved the idea.

Basq

Can't say I was impressed with 'Fear Her'..

The one thing that really irritated me strangely was when the crowds re-appeared in the Olympic stadium, the commentators said something along the lines of "the massive crowd who disappeared from the stadium just re-appeared a few moments ago. What an bizarre turn of events" - that's not what they said mind, but they used a word like "bizarre" or "strange" to describe a mass amount of people disappeared and re-appearing. Seriously? No panic.. nothing! I would have preferred if the crowd simply re-appeared and they left it at that.

And of course, the foreboding of Rose saying:

Rose: "We'll always be together, won't we Doctor?"
Doctor: "A storm is coming..."

Doomsday tonight.. and might start on Season 3.

Don't think I'll be caught up before the current season ends as I'm on holiday in sunny Miami from Sunday.

VicNoir

I'll add to the comments regarding Catherine Tate in this by saying that I have never liked Tate in anything with the exception of Doctor Who, in which I loved her.

While it's too late for recommending at this point, I'll just give my two cents. I'm a relative newcomer, having started watching last November. I was shown Blink (arguably the best episode of the revived series - though most of its competitors are other Stephen Moffat episodes).

I've yet to meet someone who wasn't creeped out by it.

Incidently, with regard to not really liking Eccelston, I think he was a necessary starting point for the series, to bring in new fans (as the old fans would likely watch anyway). He was quite a normal-seeming character (if excitable), even down to dressing much as any number of other TV heroes might. With Tennant, they got a bit quirkier and even more so with Smith.