Please recommend a good Doctor Who episode guide

Cafe Society
1

I have watched the first three David Tennant episodes and I’m a little disappointed. His Doctor is kinda squirrelly and the episodes feel too short and too fantastic, too down-the-rabbit-hole weird. And the Doctor just knows everything and can do anything in the nick of time. He saves the universe every day of his life, and just in time for tea. If that isn’t insane, I don’t know what is. He veers between agonizing over – what’s the expression I want? He keeps missing the forest for the trees, philosophically. He keeps losing the big picture, and then he’s laughing and teasing Rose by the end of the episode, all his troubles forgotten. Ye gods! Can it be I have outgrown Doctor Who??

Tennant’s face… I dunno. He’s not quite attractive. His face has all these foxy sharp angles and big staring brown eyes. He still looks a little mad to me. He still looks like a Death Eater. He probably smells like cigarettes and BO.

Anyway. I was asking for an episode guide. Which one do you use?

2

All the Doctors I’ve seen have that kind of manic “know everything but managed to forget something important until the last minute” thing going on. And then kind of get all squirrelly and crazy about it when they figure it out. Maybe Eccleston didn’t do it as much as Smith and Tennant. I haven’t watched enough of the others, Tom Baker was probably a bit calmer but if he ran around too much he’d step on that darn scarf and strangle himself and maybe those Jelly babies were made with Valium.

I think Tennant’s very cute and I think he probably smells like tea and shortbread. But if you’re not crazy about him try some Eccleston first. Or just watch “Blink”, Tennant’s hardly in it.

3

From where I stand, that adds up to quite attractive.

4

Eh, I just looked at what the first 3 Tennant episodes were - Christmas Invasion, New Earth, Tooth and Claw, yeeeeaaah, those were not that good. It took a few episodes to settle the character down a bit I think. The second season scripts as a whole were weak, with a couple of bright spots. School Reunion had a nice callback to classic Who. Girl in the Fireplace is one of the best episodes of Tennant’s run. Other than that, the two-part episodes were by far the better parts of the season.

BTW, I’m simply going by Wikipedia’s page for the second season.

Series 3, with Martha as companion, is better, and series 4 with Donna is better yet. I mostly wish Steven Moffat had been producer during Tennant’s Doctor, 'cause the scripts and storylines of series 5 and 6 so far have been way more successes than duds.

5

Yeah, try the third series (i.e. new season) first. It’s where I started, and it really got me in. Or go back to Season 1 and watch Eccleston.

Or watch this video guide on where to start. I think the author could be a doper himself–even if he is “libertarian.”

6

I get a weird “disloyal” feeling when Tennant stepped in. It definitely took me a few episodes but once I got comfortable with him, I fell in love. Give it a few. Hopefully you will love him too.

7

BigT – Thank You for that Doctor Who 101 link! :cool:

8

It’s weird. Before a few weeks ago I had never seen an episode of Doctor Who. As a geek I was familiar with the broad strokes mostly through osmosis, (British sci-fi, time traveling space alien who looks strangely human, the TARDIS and the sonic screwdriver, human companions who he can explain things to, the daleks, multiple actors playing the lead, Tom Baker and his ridiculous scarves), but I had never actually sat down and watched any of it. On a whim a few weeks ago I sat down with a glass of rum and watched the first couple of episodes from the 2005 series, streaming through Netflix.

I was instantly fascinated, and kind of baffled. This was both really good… and really bad at the same time. I had never quite encountered that before. I half considered starting a “watch along with the newbie” thread as someone else had done with Buffy last year, but rejected the idea as I wasn’t sure I’d have the fortitude to stick with it honestly. (I’m a very infrequent poster TBH.)

I pretty much instantly developed a heterosexual mancrush on Chris Eccleston. I loved… LOVED the character he created. The (scripted) brilliance, the manic personality, the excitement, the barely concealed contempt he had for others, “Mickey the Idiot”, his hatred and despair upon finding a living dalek. This seemed like a man who had seen the darkness the universe had to offer, and it took it’s toll on him, but he had never given up on his lust for adventure and life. I found that immensely appealing. And I really liked Billie Piper as Rose, a complex intriguing character to serve as the audience’s guide…

And then I got to Tennant…

Now, i knew going in that one of the show’s basic conceits was it’s rotating lead of the Doctor, but I have to confess I’m having some serious issues adjusting to a different actor at this point. Tennant seems, as previously mentioned, a bit more “squirelly”. He seems more scattershot, and not as “straightforward” as Eccleston was. I’m having issues with seeing him as the same character. But that may be my own failing, I admit…

I’m a little over halfway through the second series now, Spoilers for some episodes from the second series on as I imagine we have people like myself who are still new to the show…

[Spoiler] I just watched the two parter where the Doctor encountered “Satan” on a distant planet, and I’m still not quite sure what I thought about it. The episode was well executed I thought, but I wasn’t thrilled with the basic concept.

Tennant’s growing on me. I liked him in the episode with Queen’s coronation in the 1950’s.

I know a lot of people count Tennant among their favorites so I’m still very much willing to give him a chance at this point. I’ve pretty much relegated myself to continuing through “Blink”, from series 3, at least as consensus seems to be that it’s brilliant and a standout from the current show. I really want to see that episode, but I’m determined to see it in context, so I’m soldiering on.[/Spoiler]

9

Please start with Eccelston’s series. You are missing out on most of the set up with Rose and some amazing Who episodes if you don’t (The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances are possibly the best Who episodes of the new run). Tennant takes most of his first series before they figure out how to really write for him, but it does bet better. Stick with it.

10

Maggenkid highly recommends:

http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Doctor_Who_Wiki

There are episode guides and discussion pages and a message board. It’s where she goes for all her Whovian needs.

11

Jihi and a35362 I would highly recommend sticking it out through Season 3. Besides the fact that I thought Martha Jones was a better companion that Rose, eventually you’ll reach the two-part Human Nature/The Family of Blood immediately followed by the absolutely wonderful Blink. While Blink may be the single best episode of “Doctor Who”, the preceding two-parter should dispel any and all doubts you might have about Tennant’s acting ability. There are some truly heart-wrenching, tear-inducing moments in those episodes.

12

Oh, I fully intend to stick it out. I see far more good than bad in this show, and I can see how it’s developed such a devoted following over the years.

I don’t hate Tennant. I actually really liked him in two episodes… looks up episode names… “The Girl In The Fireplace”, and “The Idiot’s Lantern.” Two excellent shows, with well done storytelling.

It’s just that at this point, he’s still underwhelming me compared to Ecceleston. I’m sure that will change. :slight_smile:

(Looking forward to Blink…)

Dumb newbie question… Where does Torchwood fit into all this? I know it was a spinoff, (available for streaming incidentally), but I’m not sure if I’m supposed to be alternating it with Doctor Who, or how it works.

13

Torchwood doesn’t “fit” very well, although there’s some character crossover. It’s supposedly more “adult” but is sometimes rather silly. For the first two seasons; the third is very short & very, very different.

Perhaps you could catch a few episodes between seasons of Who. When it’s good it’s pretty good; when it isn’t–well, it’s just part of the stream…

14

Heh. Never seen that before. As someone who mis-spent way too many hours as a teenager watching Tom Baker and Peter Davidson playing this part, I couldn’t stop laughing at:

15

Where should I fit the movies in? Do they stand alone or fit into the continuity and refer back to them - IOW, will I miss out on plot/character points if I haven’t seen them?

ETA - if this is on the video guide let me know. I just can’t open flash on this phone. Dammit.

16

Movies? Do you mean the one with the 8th Doctor?

17

I can’t speak for ShelliBean, but I think I might know what she’s talking about.

Perusing Netflix’s series order, (I’ve been using Netflix to stream the show), there appears to be a gap between the end of season 4, which ended in 2008 with Tennant, and the beginning of season 5 with Matt Smith in 2010. A number of standalone movies appear to bridge the gap in 2009 starring Tennant’s Doctor.

Looking at Wiki, they’re listed separately under “specials” after season 4, but aren’t included in the series proper run. I was wondering myself how these fit in, but figured I would cross that bridge when I got to it. Not knowing how season 4 ends I’ve been avoiding spoilers so far while trying to unravel the shows viewing order at that point.

I’m still new to show so I might be wrong on some points.

18

If that is what she is referring to, then yes, those are required viewing. Well, The End of Time is the only one that’s really “required,” the rest are more stand alone long episodes (although there is a bit of continuity among them).

Netflix Instant Watch is horribly confusing when it comes to the Specials. All the earlier Christmas Specials up to The Next Doctor are part of the series, Waters of Mars and End of Time are separate titles, and Planet of the Dead isn’t even available.

19

Ah, I see. They’re no longer than regular episodes (well I think The End of Time Part 2 was 75 minutes), so I’ve never heard those referred to as movies.

Yes, they are absolutely required. There have been Christmas Specials between every series so far, the only difference here is that instead of having Tennant for a full fifth series of the show (13 episodes), 2009 instead aired four specials (really 5 episodes, as The End of Time is a two-parter) for Christmas, Easter, Autumn and then Christmas/New Year’s 2010.

After you finish watching series 4, the order of the specials are The Next Doctor, Planet of the Dead, The Waters of Mars, The End of Time Part 1, The End of Time Part 2.

20

Possibly she means the two movies with Peter Cushing in the title role.

Those are re-makes of TV episodes, and are outside the normal continuity. They are fun to watch, in some ways better than the original episodes, but not essential viewing. And they are remakes of very early episodes. You can watch the current series without needing to see them.