Old school Dr. Who fans, your opinion of the new series?
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David Tennant is my favorite Doctor. Fun show.
I think it’s a worthy entry to the franchise.
I have been a fan of Dr. Who since Tom Baker used to show up on PBS. I always thought the FX were a bit cheesy, but the stories were well crafted and the “cliff-hanger” aspect was a lot of fun.
I think the present “incarnation” builds well on the story of the Time Lords and the Master, the Daleks, as well as adding new villains and heroines to the story of “The Doctor”. I think the present series makes good use of “state of the art” CG effects.
I liked the reboot, as well, but two things bugged a bit: I have always pegged Rose as a Mary Sue version of Russell T. Davies, which I didn’t like, and the companions falling for the Doctor all the time was just getting ridiculous. I’m glad they stopped that with Donna. The other is that the Doctor’s become more of an all-purpose hero, when he wasn’t before.
I hope when Moffatt takes over, there’ll be more of a return to the old style of suspense and sci-fi, like with the Blink story, but I’ve had the thought since Matt Smith was cast that it’s going to turn into Time Travel Twilight Doctor Who, the new kids are so young and pretty.
I can’t lie, though. Love David Tennant.
I am a new fan. I just watched all four seasons of the new series via Netflix, and because I like it so much, have started watching a few stories from the previous incarnations of The Doctor. It’s all very cool, in my opinion.
I’ve seen a few episodes. They’re entertaining, but for me, no one will ever be The Doctor except Tom Baker. I got The Key to Time episodes on DVD a few years ago. Sure, the SFX were hokey, but with writers like Douglas Adams and Baker’s performances, what could compare?
David Tennant makes a very good Doctor Who, and some of the episodes were quite good (e.g. Blink). However I prefer the old format and pacing to the new format and pacing. I like the old format where the length of an adventure was unpredictable and generally multiple hours long, with some long plot threads, plenty of gratuitous random time-wasting on exploring, vacationing, malfunctions, fighting, chasing, horsing around, mystery, investigation and exploration. The new format squishes everything down to one-hour adventures jammed with too much special effects, action and drama and so little variety in pacing, and little sense of proportion, especially in the end-of-season episodes that seem to want to up the stakes, as if messing up the timeline or destroying a city or a planet or a race weren’t enough – oh no, it’s gotta be the whole universe or time itself, or undoing everything the Doctor has ever done, or whatever. Having him be “the last time lord” for no good reason is kinda like that too – oh boy, more drama and higher stakes, at the expense of less context and no other timelords, no visits to Galefrey, etc. Oh, and the new episodes also way overuse the sonic screwdriver, making it into some kind of magic ray gun that can do all sorts of things instantly, so problems are often solved by magically zapping something with the screwdriver in a couple of seconds, instead of having to think about it, say some mumbo jumbo, open panels and play with wires, etc. ;-)
Great point about the old ‘feature’ format @Zaku
I don’t see how zapping something with the sonic screwdriver is worse than opening some panels and muttering technobabble. They’re both magic, and the first way is less boring. I’m an old school fan and I love how the new show is faster paced and more full of emotion and spectacle.
@morphail: Well it may be mainly a matter of taste. Personally I find watching a show where a situation is solved by someone pressing a button on a screwdriver more boring than watching someone pretend to have figured out a brilliant technical solution that involves ripping open panels and quickly fiddling with wires.
But I was being partly facetious. Really any conflict resolution is in the hands of the author, and the wires and panels type of solution was one of the least satisfying of the old series.
I really like the new series, but I also like the old series.
They’re definitely different “flavors” of tv show.
I agree with everyone who said David Tennant is the best: I think he’s my favorite, even if Eccles is also great.
I think pretty much everything Moffat’s written has been great: The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances (notable for “Are you my mummy?” and the introduction of the completely awesome Captain Jack); The Girl in the Fireplace; Blink; and Silence in the Library and Forest of the Dead. Whereas RTD has written some real clunkers: Tooth & Claw, Love and Monsters: I’m looking at you.
I never watched the old show.
I love the modern Dr. Who.
I just hope whats-his-name the new Doctor doesn’t fuck up the kingdom that David Tennant built.
I don’t make a distinction between an “old” and “new” series. I see RTD as the latest in a long line of producers. (granted, RTD also brought the series back from the dead. if he hadn’t done it, though, someone would have, though we can’t say whether or not it would have worked.) Stephen Moffat will bring something different to it that will surprise newer fans because they wouldn’t have experienced the changeover in the series’ house style.
as far as the change of format, I think of a number of stories have felt a little perfunctory and crowded because the stories usually have only a 45 minute run time. I would have 50 or even 60 minute. in the old days, they would allow you to get to know the guest characters and villains a little better.
@Zaku: I would a middle ground between the old, often overlong, format and the new, often overly brief, format. of course, the new format still has padding. instead of padding out individual stories, you pad out the season with stories they shouldn’t’ve made.
@Ria777 Yeah. The older episodes were sometimes long for no good reason, but I thought that was a fairly unique characteristic of them (and amusing and endearing, to me).
There are quite a few two-episode sets in the New Doctor, as well as one three-episode set (Utopia, Sound of Drums, Last of the Time Lords).
And there were the Specials, like the Kylie Minogue christmas special, and Planet of the Dead.
That said, I’d love longer (or more, or both) episodes.
Yes! I would love more episodes.
Also, there needed to be another episode between Planet of the Dead (at EASTER!!!) and The Waters of Mars (middle of November).
(We’re going to get an episode in November, and December, and January.)
Because Torchwood just doesn’t cut it, much as I loved Torchwood.
I think we need a Halloween special, y/y?
So, here’s a question.
So I miss much/any story by not watching the older series? Daleks, cybermen, Time War, Doctor’s origin, etc.
@Sarcasm, I’m not sure what your question is.
If I’m understanding you correctly, however, it depends on you. Do you need to see the episode where Daleks were created and Davros is introduced? and similar questions in this vein…‘cuz if not, well, the new series is designed so you don’t have to watch the older series.
What I meant to ask is what you answered at the end.
Some shows you miss out a lot if you start watching a few seasons in, without watching the earlier episodes.
With Doctor Who since there was that huge period (30 years?) without any episodes, I wasn’t really sure what to think.
I may end up watching all of the old series since I’ve got not much else better to do
Well (and I fully admit to having to look this up), the “old” series ended in ‘89, then there was that tv movie in ‘96, then Eccles had his Doctor-shoes on in ‘05.
I would suggest going to listen to what the Tin Dog (podcast, short and brilliant) has to say about classic episodes. He tends to review them as they come out on DVD (re-released?) and is very honest about whether they’re good, bad or completely awesome.
I would say many people’s favorite doctor is Tom Baker (and many say that Tennant is a lot like him—makes sense, Tennant grew up on Baker), so that would be where I would start, if I hadn’t already. (Also, afaik, there’s no missing eps from Baker’s era.)
Yeah, the old series is quite different, with several different styles that evolved over the years from doctor to doctor and crew to crew. The Pertwee and Baker series are my favorites, and the good ones from those IMO offer things not found in the new series.
The 1975 series where the Doctor has the chance from the beginning to eliminate the Daleks is really very good. Lots of deep themes. Yes, shot in the same old quarry they always used. And the episode that introduces Baker as the Doctor is excellent. Peter Hinchcliffe was a dem fine showrunner, he really was.
The Pertwee ones were too “James Bond” and gadgety for my taste and I regret that Auntie wiped most of the Troughton ones. He was an excellent Doctor from the few I’ve seen. Hartnell was way too crotchety. Not that I’m so old, but I’ve seen episodes with every Doctor thus far. Tom’s my fave. That voice of his. Damn. David is a close second and Troughton third.
I was not a fan of the subsequent ones after Tom, and Colin Baker was just, IMO, the worst. I can’t blame him so much as the writers and producers of his era, but still. Yuck. Eccles started out a bit too dour for me, but I warmed up to him after a while. I was surprised he’d done it in the first place, him being such a big film actor and all, but I guess British actors don’t have such a sharp TV/film/theatre hierarchy as Americans actors do.
@aprilsimnel , I pretty much gave up after that twit Peter Davison lost the sonic screwdriver. And that celery stalk???? You mean there was somebody worse than him?
I give up and loose interest at some point during the Davison episodes too, though I think there are a few decent ones in there.
Same for me. I discovered girls shortly after Davidson took the helm.
He didn’t stand a chance.
@Noel_S_Leitmotiv , too bad you’re not older. Jo, Sarah Jane, and both Romanas were worth tuning in for, no matter who was playing Doctor.
@IchtheosaurusRex – Yes. There was indeed someone worse than Davison. Sylvester McCoy gave it a fair go after Colin Baker, but by then, it was like the producers were getting writers from the bottom of a rubbish tip. Almost everyone from the Tom era was long gone.
And don’t get me started about the mess that was the 1996 Fox-BBC co-production of the TV movie. Paul McGann (who is fantastic! in Withnail & I) was utterly wasted and the film was definitely written by committee. It’s horrible. I try not to think of it.
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