Sunday, 9PM EST on BBC America
This is part of the 50 year Dr. Who Celebration. Each month they will have a special focusing on each of the 11 doctors leading up to the anniversary in November.
Here’s an article but I’m sure there’s more on the BBC web site.
My wife notified me of this last night and threatened unspeakable horrors if I forgot to set the DVR.
Thanks for the reminder. Setting the DVR.
I hadn’t heard about this. I’ll make a point to watch.
I wonder if they’ll start with the first Doctor and go in sequence each month? I’m only familiar with Pertwee and Tom’ Baker’s Doctors. A lot of stuff in these specials will be entirely new to younger fans.
I’ve only watched a few Doctor Who episode (the Weeping Angels) so I was told by Mrs Cad that after I watch the special I will watch all of the episodes starting with Eccleston. Is there any value of watching earlier episodes? If not for all of the missing episodes I would be more than happy to start with Hartnell.
It’s not essential. I started with the Fourth Doctor and was perfectly fine. Sometimes the show will reference its history, so an aquaintance with earlier episodes adds a little added filip to the Who experience.
As for missing episodes, some of those do have novelizations, but they may be difficult to come across these days. I’m not sure. I’ve been out of the Whoniverse for awhile.
Thanks for the heads-up! I just discovered Doctor Who last week (after various friends have been trying to get me to watch it for ages) and I’ve been ODing on David Tennant episodes on Netflix and am now thoroughly addicted. DVR set!
The reboot is self-contained. They reference material from Old Who, (images and voices of past Doctors show up once in a while in computer files or moments of high stress for the Doctor) but all you really need to know is always explained within the NuWho body of work.
Also note that after Season 5, the dope stopped doing individual threads for episodes, so if you want to read those discussions, beginning with Matt Smith, it becomes difficult to stay unspoiled. (And the first part of Season Six has no numeral in the title so finding it via search is a little tricky.)
I figured I’d give Doctor Who a chance (it’s on Netflix Streaming), but before I had the chance to start with the modern, well I guess its not exactly a reboot, I noticed there was a bunch of Old Doctor Who eps available for streaming all collected by Netflix, so I started there. I figured if I’m going to get into this, may as well watch from the beginning if I can (there are so many missing eps, that gives a taste of each Doctor it seems).
That way, also, I can say, well that Doctor was pretty good, but he’s no match for the 2nd Doctor (or something similar) ;).
Yeah, I watched Tom Baker as a kid, quit watching when they changed doctors in '81, and got sucked in just before David Tennant ended his run. I started from S1 of the reboot and am caught up through last season (whatever’s on NetFlix).
You may want to go back and watch some earlier episodes, although I doubt you’ll want to watch them all. But it’s absolutely not needed to enjoy the current show.
I would recommend watching all of the new ones, just because they’re really good, and they do occasionally refer back to things. But as long as you’re not bothered by the occasional ?huh? moment, even that’s not necessary.
Welcome aboard! Once you step into the TARDIS your life will never be the same. You will always have a special fondness for your first Doctor (mine was Tom Baker) but don’t let the regenerations get you down. The next one (Matt Smith) is quite good.
I always share this with new converts to the show. It’s Craig Ferguson’s (host of CBS’ Late Late Show) ‘lost’ Doctor Who musical tribute to Doctor Who which I think neatly (and humorously) encapsulates the show’s philosophy. Craig is obviously a huge fan.
The production values are MUCH lower, but if you accept them for what they are, there are a lot of fun moments.
I’d recommend starting with either 3 or 4. Jon Pertwee is charming as the Third Doctor and the plots are very James Bond-y. (Don’t be put off by the ruffled shirts, the Third Doctor is a Man of Action.) Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor is lovably eccentric. His adventures are more science fiction-y than Three’s.
1 and 2 are trickier. While the First Doctor has his prickly charms, the first few seasons look really dated. And most of the Second Doctor’s adventures are missing – they were erased by the BBC in the early 70’s.
5, 6 and 7 are also worthwhile, but they represent the long, slow decline of the classic series. While individual episodes may stand out, the series as a whole never really recaptures the magic of 3 and early 4.
If you’re really a glutton for punishment, watch 8’s made-for-TV movie in the 90’s. They were hoping it would lead to a series reboot, but it was so God-awful nothing came of it. There’s nothing wrong with Paul McGann, who does a great job as the Eighth Doctor, but the entire story is ludicrous.
I’ve followed the new series since the beginning but I’m a a total noob on the original. So a couple of summers ago, I tracked down every extant episode I could find and was very upset to find that episodes from the early seasons had been lost or destroyed. I don’t remember how many, but it was really disheartening.
It may be ludicrous, but it’s also a ton of fun. When first I saw it, I’d only seen a few episodes of the new series, and I loved it. I later found out that a lot of stuff didn’t make sense in the broader mythos, but the same can be said about RTD’s run, with the same type of retcon being done as in Series 5, with time itself being out of whack (in Eight’s case, he’s in three different timelines).
I mean, I’d definitely prefer to watch it than most of the slower classic episodes which I always feel would be much more tolerable if they were condensed into just an hour or two.
If I remember correctly, the bbc used to have this practice of destroying the originals of old tv shows, a habit they eventually stopped in the 1970’s. But sometimes they find some old doctor who episodes from all around the world, a copy of the original film.
I personally can’t get into the new doctor who series. I find it too flashy, fast paced and expensive. I would rather watch a seven part adventure from the 1970’s with cheap sets and poor special effects.
But isn’t that where the famous antagonists like the Dlaeks and Cybermen are introduced?
We saw the first four DW episodes last night at the Alamo Drafthouse - it struck me that Susan has Barbara Streisand’s nose.
This aztec series that they’re showing now is not as interesting as last nights, imho.
The special on BBC America is pretty good. I have some trouble getting into the Hartnell episode. Some of the acting is pretty bad. Especially the guy playing the evil Aztec high priest. All hunched over and his acting is way over the top. Much like the villains in the 1930’s serials. The actress playing the older Aztec lady (love interest for the Doctor) was really good.
I stuck with it and the Aztec story is pretty interesting. Very slow paced but good. I’m not sure I could watch very many Hartnell episodes. I liked Pertwee a lot better.
I’m watching it now. They picked the Aztec episode? Blah. I would have picked the Dalek episode. OK, it was part of a series, so maybe that’s way, but still - DALEKS!!!