A new Doctor Who fan's thoughts on watching classic Who

Cafe Society
1

I have some vague memories of seeing bits of classic Who on PBS as a child, the only serial I could identify from memory was Robots Of Death.

Big fan of the revival so I thought I’d check out classic Who and since I often see it rated as a very hit or miss whether a fan of the revival will like it here are my thoughts. Note I am a big fan of classic sci fi in general and have a large tolerance for slow pacing and primitive special effects. :slight_smile:

Its very uneven, some serials are ace and some are just dung which is still the case with the revival really. I sometimes found myself irritated even in a serial I was enjoying because some episodes nothing would happen or it just felt like they were stalling for time.

I absolutely LOVE Tom Baker, he nails the Doctor’s character perfectly. This is especially noticeable when compared with Matt Smith, Baker beats him handily. Baker manages to play the Doctor as eccentric without seeming like a man child(Smith’s Doctor being baffled that humans have sex?!?) and he manages to not have sexual chemistry with his female companions BUT again he still seems like an adult, Smith again comes off more immature and odd instead of an eccentric old man who isn’t interested in sex.

I love the more varied companions, the Brigadier and Leela bringing very unique viewpoints to bounce off the Doctor. The Doctor usually feels more like a outsider rebel instead of a bleeding heart do the right thing kind of guy. I loved that most serials take place off of earth, even if they are obviously running around the English countryside :stuck_out_tongue:

The serials that managed to keep my attention:

Ark In Space
Robots Of Death
Pyramids Of Mars
The Evil Planet
The Genesis Of The Daleks
Revenge Of The Cybermen

Would I reccomend it to a new Who fan to check out? I would if you enjoy sci fi from the 70s-80s and can understand the limitations the show had in place. Be prepared for much less clever banter between the Doctor and his companions.

2

Have you seen Horror of Fang Rock? I think this was Leela’s finest hour and of course Tom is top notch as well.

3

Leela was better in “The Talons of Weng-Chiang.”

And be sure to see “City of Death.” Poor title, great episode.

4

Thanks for the recs, anyone notice how the Doctor no longer has male friends or relates to men well?:confused: Older Doctors seemed to relate to men better, even older men.

This seems to have started with 9, everytime a man enters the TARDIS its either temporary or he quickly does something to get scolded and evicted. 11 seemed to be getting on ok with Rory but there was always a undercurrent of sexual jealousy for Amy which I hated.

5

I think Adric and Turlough put him off male companions for a while.