Detective Thorn

Description from BBC America:

2013 is the 50th Anniversary of 'Doctor Who,' so each month BBC America will take the TARDIS back in time with brand-new specials on all Eleven Doctors. Don't miss the First Doctor special followed by 'The Aztecs' on Sun. January 27 at 9pm/8c!

Jay G.

I watched the special, it was pretty interesting.

I wonder how they're going to a fill a special dedicated to the Eighth Doctor, when he was only in one TV movie (not counting the novels and audio adventures).

Lastdaysofrain

They'll probably cover the novels and the audio adventures I'd imagine.

DRG

Pretty cool idea. I love that they're showing episodes to go along with it. I've always wanted a 'sampler platter' of past Doctors, so to speak, since I started with the 2005 series and the DVDs are too pricey to sample on a whim.

Groucho

If you have Netflix, tons of classic Who to stream there.

Jay G.

I didn't watch the serial yet, but I did watch the introduction Steven Moffat gives for it, which helps place it in context of the show's history and importance.

Both Netflix and Amazon Prime offer some of the "Classic Who" for streaming:
http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/70231692
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I5R53C/

Of course, Netflix also rents the DVDs.

DRG

Thanks for the tip. I've seen the recent ones on there but somehow missed they had the classics.

Timber

From the very little I caught of the first Doctor seemed to do quite a bit of sitting and hiding. I was really bored and couldn't finish it.

Tom Banjo

I wish BBCA had showed "An Unearthly Child" instead, or at least something that's not already available on Amazon Prime.

Jay G.

I assume you mean the serial The Aztecs?

A few years ago I started a perhaps foolhardy attempt to watch the Classic show chronologically. I didn't get far. From what I saw though, the early show definitely did move at a much smaller pace than the current show. Spacing a story out over multiple episodes seemed to have allowed for a lot of filler (although this was perhaps due to budgetary reasons as well).

The best First Doctor stories I saw were the 2-episode "The Edge of Destruction" and "Marco Polo" which, due to no video surviving, was a condensed 30-minute reconstruction using telesnaps and the original audio.

It may actually be a licensing thing; maybe the BBC only allows certain classic Who episodes to be either streamed or broadcast, which is why it was one of the serials already available for streaming.

Meglos

Patience is the key here. Back then British television was like watching a televised theatrical production. Also, the early seasons (especially the Hartnell ones) were waaaaay longer than shows of today. Season 1 - for example - was 42 episodes, meaning the show was on all but 10 weeks out of the year, so they had to pad things out out of necessity.

Other Hartnells I'd recommend: An Unearthly Child, The Daleks, The Rescue, The Romans, The Time Meddler, maybe The War Machines

Definitely ones to avoid if your a newb: The Keys of Marinus, The Sensorites, The Web Planet

diditagain

I thought this was well done, a concise overview of the First Doctor's tenure, and I'm looking forward to seeing the other 10 retrospectives. Also, it was nice to see people directly connected to Doctor Who (rather than the US "personalities" who appeared in the BBC America specials from last year), including two of the First Doctor's companions, discussing the show.

And I suppose I'll predict that the 11 25-minute retrospectives will appear as bonus materials on the DVD of the 50th anniversary special, since it seems like the perfect place for them:

Disc 1 - 50th anniversary special, plus maybe deleted scenes and behind the scenes featurettes
Disc 2 - Doctors Revisited 1-6
Disc 3 - Doctors Revisited 7-11

I only watched a bit of The Aztecs, but it was annoying that BBC America felt the need to have "YOU ARE WATCHING A CLASSIC EPISODE OF DOCTOR WHO" in the bottom left of the screen the whole time (reminded me of when they used to put the title of the show currently airing in that location -- thank goodness they stopped doing that). Also, like repeats of Star Trek: TNG, The Aztecs aired 14:9 on the HD channel, not 4:3.

Groucho

The classics are broken out by story, unfortunately, so you can't browse through season by season like most TV shows (including New Who).

Josh-da-man

Fuck. I missed this.

Anyone know if the Revisited special will be replayed? I couldn't find it on my DirecTV schedule or on-demand.

Jay G.

It's not on the schedule currently, but BBCA apparently only shows the schedule for 2 weeks out:
http://www.bbcamerica.com/doctor-who/schedule/

I'm guessing they're replay this special right before the one for the 2nd Doctor (maybe Feb 24th?). There's also a chance they'll run the specials before the Series 7 Part 2 premiere on March 30th.

Lokimok

to BBC America. I missed most of the doc, but saw the majority of the show. This was my first time seeing Hartnell. I liked him. 3 episodes in a row was a bit much, but I wanted more when it was over. This is the type of thing I've been wanting them to air at 2 or 3 in the morning for a long time.

Detective Thorn

The Second Doctor special airs tonight at 8:00 along with 'The Tomb of the Cybermen'. It will be replayed at 11:00, followed by the First Doctor special at 2:00 am.

Jay G.

The 3rd special will be on March 31, 8:00pm EDT, followed by the serial Spearhead from Space.

http://press.bbcamerica.com/program.jsp?id=102366

Groucho

Will Spearhead use the new HD master, I wonder?

Josh-da-man

I would have rather they went with on the Master stories from the Petwee era, though Spearhead isn't a bad choice.

I was sort of disappointed that the ran "The Aztecs" for the Hartnell episode, but they were sort of limited in what they could play. "The Daleks" would have been a good one, but it's a six-parter.

"Tomb of the Cybermen" was perfect for the Troughton ep, though. Granted, they didn't have much to choose from with only six complete Troughton stories.

Wonder what the others will be... "Brain of Morbius" for Tom Baker? "Caves of Androzoni" for Peter Davison? "Revelation of the Daleks" for Colin Baker? "Curse of Fenric" for Sylvester McCoy?

Super X

While I enjoy "Spearhead from Space", I'd have preferred an episode with a more seasoned Pertwee. "Day of the Daleks" would have been a good choice, IMO. Unless, of course, they're holding off on the Daleks for Tom Baker, for whom "Genesis of the Daleks" would be an excellent choice.

Meglos

I'd have to think City of Death for Tom Baker.

Josh-da-man

"Genesis of the Daleks" is a six-parter. I suspect they'll go with the shorter, four-parters, for this series. Genesis is a great Baker story, though.

Jay G.

So, according to their schedule, here's what's airing on the 31st:

7:00PM DOCTOR WHO: THE DOCTORS REVISITED - THE FIRST DOCTOR
7:30PM DOCTOR WHO: THE DOCTORS REVISITED - THE SECOND DOCTOR
8:00PM DOCTOR WHO: THE DOCTORS REVISITED - THE THIRD DOCTOR - NEW
11:00PM DOCTOR WHO: THE DOCTORS REVISITED - THE THIRD DOCTOR

The first and second doctor are just the specials, while the third doctor is the special and the serial.

DoctorWhosScarf

Thanks for the info. I missed The Second Doctor when it first aired so I'll catch up with that and then watch The Third Doctor.