WHY should I watch Dr. Who? (I never have)

IndyFanChuck

I've NEVER seen Dr. Who. Not once. Not the classic. Not the new series. Nothing. I know NOTHING about the show. Nothing. I know there is something like a traveling phone booth and something called a Tardis. (Tard? Really?)


I LOVE Star Trek. I LOVE Sci-fi. I love Ricky Gervais, who made fun of Dr. Who in the series Extras. So, I guess what I'm asking is.....


SHOULD I GIVE Dr. Who a chance? And if so, why?


Okay fans, convince me. HOW can this show be so good?




-----Chuck

the_batdemon

Companions! Karen Gillan being my favorite.

Oh, the writing and FX are good. I never was into the original runs, but got into it with the new millennium seasons.

familyman

karen gillian and daleks.





no serioulsy, the newer dr whos are great some funny, some creepy, some light hearted, a bit of everything. try it.

TheCollector

I just started with the classic. It's actually not bad. I'm about 5 episodes in and I like it so far. though the classics are parted episodes so I'm technically on Episode 2 part 2 next. I'll make it to the new series someday but I've got years to go

Luke Skyvader

Rose Tyler - Super Cute.
Martha Jones - Very Very Cute
Amy Pond - Cute from head to toe

My Favorite episodes The Parting of the Ways, Journeys End & Planet of the Dead. I have to say these are my favorites strictly because of the companions storyline.


I'd start with the new series that started in 2005. It's fun, clever stories, good production values, cute companions.

To ask "why?" is kind of silly.I mean is it that big of a deal to watch a couple of episodes? In the time it takes for you to wait a few hours wading through responses and then countering them you could watch the first two episodes.

Rent a disk a week try it out. If you don't like it it's no big deal. It's not like buying a car.

Here watch this...Piper goodness

YouTube - Doctor Who - Toxic (Rose/Doctor)

YouTube - Doctor Who-You Spin Me Right Round

Zombie_61

I agree with Luke Skyvader--if you're going to start watching them now, start with the Christopher Eccleston/Billie Piper incarnation from 2005; otherwise you'll be "thrown in the middle" and have to get caught up.

Why should you watch it? Nobody can answer that question but you. Like any other television series, you'll either like it or you won't.

PirateDude

Its awesome!!! Plain & simple.Just started watching it a month ago & its one of the best shows ever. It has litterally got evey kind of episode possible,sad ones,serious ones,funny ones,& heartfelt ones.

Watch it or the Darleks & The Cybermen will get you.(kidding)or am I?

Nwerke

Just a note, it's Karen Gillan. Not "Gillian". Gill-an. Don't know why that bugged me in particular!

I'm a 40-year Who fan and even so I'd also say start with the 2005 series. Production values are MUCH higher, and if you can't cope with 60s-80s BBC cardboard sets, it'd be a bit of a jolt to watch the older stuff.

However, once you have the vibe of the show, I can't recommend the Tom Baker series enough. The newer series are better *shows*, but he'll always be the best *Doctor* ever.

gizmo

3 reasons for me. Tom Baker,the companions, and the daleks.

the_batdemon

OOPS! Google and it's auto correct strike again. I hate it when Google gives me what I want but doesn't teach me a lesson.

I agree with Luke Skyvader. Start with the 2005 series.

Angelus Lupus

Why? It's amazing, that's why. It's long running, yet always managed to re-invent itself. Only Bond comes close in terms of successfully having new actors play the same role with their own interpretations and still be fresh yet familiar.
It's seeped it's way into British culture, property programs describing a house that's bigger than you expect inside will use the word Tardis without even thinking about it. 99.9% of peoples reaction to a Police Box has nothing to do with law enforcement.
Generations have grown up being terrified by Daleks or other monsters and yet loved every moment (for me it was always the Cybermen)

But, yeah, Karen Gillan is easy on the eyes

Colin Droidmilk

My GF had never watched Dr. Who either. I started her off on the 1973 'Green Death' about industrial pollution creating a plague of hideous maggots. She loved it. What's great about the old shows is that the acting and (on the whole) the writing are generally so good, you believe it all, cardboard sets and terrible fx notwithstanding ( the maggots were great, though). In the end, the low budget visuals actually became an endearing feature. You knew the BBC had no money but you rooted for them anyway as they tried to tell these great stories using only sellotape and papier mache. Yet that isn't to say there weren't some pretty striking make-up and costume effects for the monsters, some of which were so effective they entered the popular consciousness (The Daleks).

I've still not seen any of the new stuff, because I am slightly put off by the high production values and the pretty boy doctors, but I'm willing to give it a shot. The most successful original Drs were never pretty, they were either eccentric grandfather types (Pertwee), or freaks (Baker).

A theatre director friend of mine is a Who nut, and he loves all the new series, but his favourite of all time? 'The Green Death'.

Oblivion

Just don't watch any Colin Baker episodes He's dire, well IMO of course

exoray

I have been a Who fan my entire life, and I will suggest for the newbie the new 2005 series can easily be jumped into by just about anyone... As said start from series 1 of the new reboot as it's all excellent and will give you an entire story, jumping into the current season will likely confuse you...

If you enjoy it then you can try to watch some of the classics, I find every incarnation to have it's appeal, many will recommend the Tom Baker years as that was what most of us grew up with and was a big success series, but that isn't to say the other years before and after don't have a charm to themselves...

The new series appeals to a much broader audience, has a budget and is polished and refined you will find it appeals to many across the board not only scifi or at least it's 'watchable' even to those that hate scifi... The older runs are almost always a love/hate you either love 'b-grade' scifi with cardboard sets/props horrible costumes and corny effects or you hate it... I personally love it...

Solo4114

Hmm...WHY should you watch Doctor Who?


Well, in my opinion, because it's terrific science fiction, and the new series has some terrific acting as well. I mean, really top-notch stuff. And the new series especially touches on some very HUMAN elements. To my way of thinking, the best science fiction tells stories about the human condition, but filtered through the lens of the fantastical so as to HIGHLIGHT the mundane rather than avoid it altogether. You take these fantastical elements, and it's through those elements that the underlying common experience becomes even more apparent.

The new series does that particularly well. Watch the episode Father's Day and tell me you don't get a bit misty-eyed.


The 2005 series is definitely a good place to start. There's a wealth of great tales with good production values (certainly better than the old days).


More than that, though, Doctor Who is very DIFFERENT science fiction from what you're probably used to. It has a different tone. It can be whimsical, scary, exciting, etc., but the way the characters act is...well...just different from what we get here stateside. You'd have to watch it to really get what I'm talking about, but it's well worth it to see something that's just a bit of a change of pace.



Now, as for the older series.

I love the older series, even as far back as the First Doctor. After I'd watched all of the 2005 first season (and before the 2006 one was on DVD), I went back to the very first Who episode (An Unearthly Child) and started watching all the DVDs I could find in order.

They're tough to get through at times. An Unearthly Child itself is VERY slow paced, albeit believable in its setting. The pacing of the show is at a snail's pace by comparison to the newer series, although it speeds up gradually. It's also fascinating to watch how the characters develop over time, and the stories really ARE very good in spite of the limited budgets and such. Plus, you get to see things like the origin of the Daleks (well...one of them anyway...). And you'll be well equipped for the inevitable "Who's your favorite Doctor?" polls.


I'll spare you the breakdown of the different Doctors' eras, although I'll give my thoughts if you ask for 'em. Suffice to say that I think it's well worth watching everything out there, as long as you're willing to say "Ok, look, I get that it's not all whiz-bang special f/x, but I'm game anyway." If you can handle the cheesiness of Star Trek TOS, you can handle the cheesiness of Doctor Who. Just bear in mind they had LESS of a budget than TOS, and that the show started three years earlier on said shoestring budget.

teecrooz

Two months ago I started with the new series. I've made it through season 1 and am halfway through season 2. Some of the story lines are a little odd, but I'm loving the show.

Nwerke

Well said Solo. In a word, it's a bit...pantomime. Not that that's a meaningful description for most Statesiders, I guess.

Tell me, do you like Quatermass?

Nwerke

No, yerright, he's just dire.

Solo4114

Yeah, we don't quite get "pantomime," but I think I get what you're referring to. It's not just that, though. The show's "different" in terms of how the Doctor and his companions operate and deal with threats. There's plenty of action, and violence, but the Doctor is hardly an action hero. It's a rare occurrence when he actually picks up a weapon. That changes somewhat in the later years, but certainly early-on, the Doctor is far more of a manipulator than he is a warrior. He gets himself out of scrapes using guile, luck, and knowledge, rather than blasting his way out.

Even on Star Trek TOS, you'd get Kirk in a bout of fisticuffs or the "Set phasers to full" line or "Arm photon torpedoes" or whathaveyou. None of which is to say that Doctor Who is lacking in violence. Far from it. Death follows the Doctor everywhere (and if there's a Time Lord equivalent of an "Ambulance Chaser", I'm sure he's hot on The Doctor's heels as well...), but it's just...I dunno...less about the Doctor SOLVING problems through violence. The violence may be part of the equation, but it isn't central to the solution.

It's not him solely, though. The 6th Doctor era, to me, showcases the worst elements of John Nathan-Turner's influence on the show. It also doesn't help that the writers never really got past the whole bickering schtick. I gather that there was some sort of original plan to have the Doctor start off as this obnoxious, brash, annoying figure who mellowed over time and became more somber. You only START to get a glimpse of that with the whole Trial of a Time Lord story arc, and then...he's gone.

I also gather that Baker himself never wanted the technicolor nightmare coat he had, and had proposed black velvet instead. One of the DVD specials did a modified version of his outfit from The Twin Dilemma and came up with this:



Which I think looks terrific. If the writers and JNT had been more on the ball, I think we would've gotten a better 6th Doctor.


I will, however, say that while he could be annoying, the 6th Doctor era still had some good stories to it. Even at its worst, the show is still quite entertaining.


--EDIT--

As for Quatermass, I haven't been able to find DVD copies of the old show itself. The closest I've come is the Quatermass and the Pit Hammer film from the late 60s. I liked that, though. I gather there's a new Quatermass series, as well?


Much of Commonwealth TV is quite different from U.S. TV. Police procedurals, for example, are often a lot less action-oriented. There's almost NEVER a scene where the cops go into a dangerous felon's apartment and draw firearms. I was watching a Touch of Frost episode the other night (an early one) where a guy in an interrogation room physically assaults Frost, bolts from the room, and then spends the next three minutes running around knocking down policemen (including one bringing tea or coffee in on a tray), until he's finally mobbed by about 15 cops in the stairwell. And nobody drew a gun (yes, I know, because there aren't any to draw).

On a show like Law & Order, that plot point would've been followed by an Internal Affairs investigation into the shooting-death-in-custody of the guy, who would've made it maybe...oh, 15 seconds before being plugged. Same goes for shows like Da Vinci's Inquest (Canadian police procedural). It's all just got a very different feel to it. I really enjoy it, though. Not to say I don't enjoy U.S. shows, mind you, just that I appreciate the difference at times.

Colin Droidmilk

Yeah, Colin Baker was definitely undermined by his coat. I actually preferred him to Peter Davidson, though. Davidson lacked gravitas.

Larry Young

I'm just stoked people are spelling "Quatermass" correctly.

E-Wan

Check out Matt Smith - he's both grandfatherly and a freak, despite being the youngest doctor cast.

cboath

I once had the same question.

Then in 2005 the new series was starting and I thought i'd give it shot, surely all those people on the board can't be wrong.

They weren't.

I've been hooked and haven't missed an episode since

If you want the question answered, just watch.

Oblivion

Hands off the 11th Doctor, he's absolutely brilliant, the best ever ! Well IMO of course

E-Wan

Don't worry, I'm a big fan!