# From Doctor Who to Doctor...Who? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 5, 2017, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557 "2017-07-05T19:13:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/262 "2017-07-18T20:36:46Z")
> [@Helena330](#): > > Thank you for your suggestions, everyone! I do have Amazon Prime and it looks like it starts with Christopher Eccleston’s Doctor in 2005, so that’s where _I_ will start. It was very helpful to know that each Doctor is a different era of the show and that maybe I wouldn’t be completely lost if I started watching by picking one from when they started. Actually, there’s a top-level era for the show is split into two parts - there’s OldWho that ran from the start of the show until it was cancelled (1963-1989) that covers Doctors 1-7 and NewWho when it was revived in modern times (2005- ) with Doctors 9-13. There was an attempt at a revival in 1996 with a single special of the 8th doctor, but most people lump that into the old series for simplicity. Starting with Nine (Eccleston) means you’re starting with the first part of NewWho, which is what I recommended. > [@](#): > > I remember watching a few episodes in the eighties and thinking they were ridiculous so I didn’t have a good impression, but the last few years I’ve been thinking I _really_ need to try again. The genre is certainly my taste. This is why I mentioned the major eras - OldWho had the BBC special effects tech of that era which was… less than spectacular. There are a lot of obvious models blowing up and monsters made by spray painting scrap material. They have a certain charm, and they really were doing the best with what they had, but the effects are simply ridiculous, as are the sets and costumes that weren’t borrowed from historical dramas. Where you’re starting you’ll have modern special effects, and while some of the early CGI looks dated today, you aren’t going to have the doctor struggling with spray-painted bubble wrap. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/263 "2017-07-18T20:56:09Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > I just want to chime in to say I’ve noticed a curious variation on one of those choices. In all the boards I’ve seen with threads concerning the new, female Doctor, I have yet to see anyone chime in that “I’m a woman and I’m not OK with this.” On the other hand, I’ve seen several posts stating some variation of “While I’m a guy, my wife (or gf) is a fan and says she doesn’t like it…” I’ve yet to see any posts by any of those wives/girlfriends. > > Just something I’ve noticed. I’ve seen a couple. Just a couple. I have seen many more men who are very happy - most happy are men like Colin Baker (6th Doctor) and my brother (not a Doctor) who are fans and have daughters, and are very excited to see what a female Doctor can do for their daughters. I think my brother desperately wants his girls to become as big a fan as he is, and this is a great way to lure their Disney-princess-addled minds over to something different. And another vote for \*\*Helena330 \*\*starting with the 2005 Who and going forward. You can enjoy that all day and not know a stitch about the previous years. But if you poke around for some reviews of the episodes you will have a fun time learning about how they roll some of the old stuff into the new series! That’s my favorite part of watching the new series - is when my brother tells me why stuff is so exciting to original fans 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Helena330](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helena330/32/531_2.png) [@Helena330](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena330)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/264 "2017-07-18T21:25:02Z")
Several of you had mentioned 2005 so I had it in my mind, thanks. I have no problem with bad CGI and I try to give shows quite a few chances before I give up, but I’m glad to hear it gets better. I will try to start watching tonight! Maybe all the people who are having fits about a woman doctor will be replaced by people for whom the uproar got us interested. 😉 Most likely, people will still watch just to look for reasons to complain! ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2017, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/265 "2017-07-18T21:35:25Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > To go along with that, here’s a list of all the times Doctor Who was ruined forever: > [http://doctorwhogeneral.wikia.com/wiki/Times\_Doctor\_Who\_Was\_Ruined\_Forever](http://doctorwhogeneral.wikia.com/wiki/Times_Doctor_Who_Was_Ruined_Forever) That was hilarious. Mind you, they have a point about the whiny boy. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/266 "2017-07-19T02:16:11Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > That was hilarious. Mind you, they have a point about the whiny boy. Which point? That the show was ruined when he joined the cast, or that it was ruined when he was killed off? 😃 **Helena330** , if you dig the new Who, it’s easy to get your hands on the original serials, and a lot of them are a ton of fun. Check out _City of Death_, for example: script by Douglas Adams, and a cameo by John Cleese! ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/267 "2017-07-19T02:28:02Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > [13th Doctor Comments Bingo](https://scontent-jnb1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/20031868_1619250038098598_8621048819738877304_n.jpg?oh=5770f13a24c30821a155bf75abd90304&oe=5A110620), for those who want to play along… Almost complete. It’s missing “feminazi”, “Doctor Whooters”, and “SJW”. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/268 "2017-07-19T02:41:53Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > Actually, there’s a top-level era for the show is split into two parts - there’s OldWho that ran from the start of the show until it was cancelled (1963-1989) that covers Doctors 1-7 and NewWho when it was revived in modern times (2005- ) with Doctors 9-13. There was an attempt at a revival in 1996 with a single special of the 8th doctor, but most people lump that into the old series for simplicity. Starting with Nine (Eccleston) means you’re starting with the first part of NewWho, which is what I recommended. > > This is why I mentioned the major eras - OldWho had the BBC special effects tech of that era which was… less than spectacular. There are a lot of obvious models blowing up and monsters made by spray painting scrap material. They have a certain charm, and they really were doing the best with what they had, but the effects are simply ridiculous, as are the sets and costumes that weren’t borrowed from historical dramas. Where you’re starting you’ll have modern special effects, and while some of the early CGI looks dated today, you aren’t going to have the doctor struggling with spray-painted bubble wrap. It wasn’t just the effects that make OldWho seem dated; the acting styles and direction are, if I remember correctly, much more mannered and (to modern eyes) hammy. When the BBC was running episodes from all the previous Doctors in the buildup to the 50th anniversary show, I remember a shot from the Tom Baker episode where he’s sitting in a cafe in Paris with Romana, and has a Significant Realization. “Perhaps it’s…” ::tight close up on his face, which is in the eyebrows-raised "light bulb just went on! expression:: “…the MCGUFFIN!” I can’t recall the exact dialog, but it’s irrelevant to my point, which was that the scene was much more over-the-top and vaudevillian than any NuWho moment. My completely non-scientific WAG is that this style of acting and direction came from artists who’d cut their teeth in stage productions, which have to be less subtle with expressions, to convey emotion to the punters in the back row. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/269 "2017-07-19T02:47:24Z")
Guys, of course abashed doesn’t get Doctor Who. He admitted he’s not someone who follows the show. Why the fuck he thinks his opinion is valid, I don’t know. My guess is he just was looking for an excuse to decry sexism against men. At least **aceplace** had the excuse of nostalgia and not liking change. **abashed** is acting like someone who attacked that Ghost Busters movie for having women when they’d never even seen the original. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/270 "2017-07-19T02:49:02Z")
I think you can start at 2005, but I do think there are at least some episodes of Classic Who you should see. Unfortunately, I don’t have a list handy. But anything about the Daleks I think helps. As do seeing at least one story about any recurring villain that shows up in the new show. And, yeah, sorry about the bad CGI. If it makes you feel any better, it was bad back then, too. I always assumed they had a similar (adjusted for inflation) budget as the original. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/271 "2017-07-19T03:00:43Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > It wasn’t just the effects that make OldWho seem dated; the acting styles and direction are, if I remember correctly, much more mannered and (to modern eyes) hammy. When the BBC was running episodes from all the previous Doctors in the buildup to the 50th anniversary show, I remember a shot from the Tom Baker episode where he’s sitting in a cafe in Paris with Romana, and has a Significant Realization. “Perhaps it’s…” ::tight close up on his face, which is in the eyebrows-raised "light bulb just went on! expression:: “…the MCGUFFIN!” I can’t recall the exact dialog, but it’s irrelevant to my point, which was that the scene was much more over-the-top and vaudevillian than any NuWho moment. Oh, God, more ham than a pork factory! I think this is the scene you’re talking about, from the aforementioned [City of Death serial.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfPpydx2IQg#t=4m20s) ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/272 "2017-07-19T03:03:36Z")
Well Tom Baker has always been a huge scene chewer. [Here’s his performance as a ship captain in Blackadder](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EfW9znJYjw). ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/273 "2017-07-19T03:27:41Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Oh, God, more ham than a pork factory! I think this is the scene you’re talking about, from the aforementioned [City of Death serial.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfPpydx2IQg#t=4m20s) Yep. That’s exactly the one I had in mind. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/274 "2017-07-19T03:29:22Z")
Have Tom Baker and Brian Blessed ever appeared in the same production in the same scene? Or has the Earth been spared from this Ham Apocalypse? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/275 "2017-07-19T03:33:30Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Have Tom Baker and Brian Blessed ever appeared in the same production in the same scene? Or has the Earth been spared from this Ham Apocalypse? [Ham to Ham Combat](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HamToHamCombat) (TV Tropes) ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/276 "2017-07-19T04:41:40Z")
> [@Chimera](#): > > Have Tom Baker and Brian Blessed ever appeared in the same production in the same scene? Or has the Earth been spared from this Ham Apocalypse? Brian Blessed did face off against Colin Baker in “Mindwarp”, which was pretty spectacular. ---
**Author:** ![Lorne\_Armstrong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@Lorne\_Armstrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lorne_Armstrong)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/277 "2017-07-19T06:59:55Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > I showed my 10-year-old son the announcement clip and he said “Wow, that’s great. It’s been a long time coming.” > > . “I had a discussion with my daughter Amy…” ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/278 "2017-07-19T11:30:14Z")
My only memory of the older Who episodes is very dim recollections of sometimes staying up late enough on Saturday nights to watch it on PBS (just before _The Star Hustler_ and station sign-off) so when I recently saw [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTex2G3ywYw) clip of the first appearance of the cybermen, it struck me just how incredibly horrible the acting was. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/279 "2017-07-19T11:45:54Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > My only memory of the older Who episodes is very dim recollections of sometimes staying up late enough on Saturday nights to watch it on PBS (just before _The Star Hustler_ and station sign-off) so when I recently saw [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTex2G3ywYw) clip of the first appearance of the cybermen, it struck me just how incredibly horrible the acting was. If you think that’s dated badly, I don’t recommend watching old episodes of _The Star Hustler_ either. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/280 "2017-07-19T13:27:16Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Oh, God, more ham than a pork factory! I think this is the scene you’re talking about, from the aforementioned [City of Death serial.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfPpydx2IQg#t=4m20s) Oh yes, that episode was especially over the top even for the time, in part because it was written by Douglas Adams. I really loved Duggan, the detective who solved problems by punching things, and wish they had made him a full companion for a while. I guess they got their ‘violence as the first solution’ quota filled with Leela. The show would go through phases though - the first Doctor was much more serious, the second Doctor used being silly to throw people off, third Doctor was much more of an action hero, and so on. Definitely more over-the-top than NewWho. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2017, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557/281 "2017-07-19T13:32:03Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > If you think that’s dated badly, I don’t recommend watching old episodes of _The Star Hustler_ either. Do not blaspheme [the](http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2010/08/20/jack-horkheimer-1938-2010/#.WW9e2CspXTk) [hork](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkJheh1XcAQ)! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/from-doctor-who-to-doctor-who/790557.md?page=15)