gglass4269

Where in the hell do I start with this series? I'm confused because there are so many dvds out there. please help me!!!

wvtechs

I was wondering the same thing.

pmreed

Good ol' Doctor Who's been reincarnated 10 times. Stories were neat, but the show had lousy production values up 'til Tom Baker. Most of the older series are of primary interest to Real Dr. Who groupies. I'd recommend starting with Christopher Eccleston, 2005 though David Tennant, the current placeholder. Good stories, good production values and a fun feel. If you find you really like them, go back. My favorite Doctor prior to the modern shows was Tom Baker. With the older shows, you have to remember to watch the story and ignore silly things like plummer's plungers being used as props. And before you ask..........yes they were!!

gglass4269

Is each dvd one episode of the series?

nemein

For the old ones yes, for the most part. Some theme sets have been sold together even though the eps themselves are from different time frames. The new version has been sold as season sets.

gglass4269

Is the show told in linear formant, or if i pick up a random episode will I be able to enjoy it?

Preterite

With the classic series, each DVD is a complete story, consisting of four to six half-hour episodes. (There are a couple of two-parters, Sontaran Experiment and Black Orchid, but they are the exception and not the rule.)

If you're new to Who, I'd strongly recommend renting at first. The new series is pretty expensive for a blind buy, and the old series might be more of an acquired taste. I second the suggestion to start with the new series. If you're wanting to give classic Who a try, I'd rate the following serials as among the best:

Forth Doctor: City of Death, Genesis of the Daleks, Talons of Weng-Chiang
Seventh Doctor: Curse of Fenric, Remembrance of the Daleks
Second Doctor: The Invasion

I love the Third Doctor, but I can't think of a story that would hold up well for a noob (of course, I haven't watched all of my discs yet). The First Doctor serial, The Aztecs, is widely hailed among fans, but keep in mind it's strictly a historical drama with little action and no SF elements apart from the time travel angle. I couldn't recommend any Sixth Doctor stories in good conscience.

Hope this helps!

gglass4269

I was thinking of getting Genesis of the Daleks first. Will I be able to jump right into that story?

Preterite

Thousands of viewers before you did! The classic series was pretty episodic, and did a good job of explaining as it went along. You're pretty safe starting just about anywhere.

That said, Genesis is part of a rare arc. The cast usually arrives on the scene in their own craft, but this time they are snatched out of time and space to perform a vital mission for the mysterious Time Lords. Other than that, I think you'd be fine.

Darkgod

Im new to the who as well.... I jumped in by selecting every Dr. Who to stream on my netflix... and I saw the tom baker ones " City of Death""Pleasire Hive". I also watched the entire first season of the new series. Truthfully I dug both, Tom Baker and Chris Eccleson where both great. The older series, u can honestly pick up and watch any witout being lost. The new series, not so much.

The Antipodean

I would start with Series 1 of the new BBC series before ANY Classic WHO myself. I like the classic stuff, but it will seem corny and dated in many respects and sorry, but a fair chunk of the episodes aren't that great (the pacing will seem very slow in the serials). I think the Chris Eccleston series gives an excellent "introduction" to Who and from there go nuts.

The Valeyard

Check out the first three Posts in this Thread. Hopefully, that'll give you an idea of what you're in for.

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/dvd-talk/43...carnation.html

story

The only Doctor Who for me is Tom Baker, though that's because he was the Doctor when I was a kid and the only way to see him was to stay up super late and watch him on late night Iowa Public Television so it was a real treat. My perception is way skewed by nostalgia and youth perspective.

drmar35mm

I agree with the notion of starting with the Eccleston Doctor in Season 1 of the new series; then following that through the Tennant years. For the old stuff, start off with Tom Baker, the most popular and long-lived of the '60s-'80s Doctor Whos. Then I would try Davison (early to mid-80s), and Tom Baker's immediate predecessors Pertwee and Troughton. I'm not that big a fan of Hartnell, Colin Baker or McCoy. Of course, when you're done with all that, you'll have the Sarah Jane adventures and Torchwood to look forward to. This should keep you busy for a long time.

JamesDFarrow

O.K. here's my short take on the originals:

William Hartnell - 1st Doctor - Good Doctor, some stories were good, others not so. Special affects were really poor (I've seen kids make better costumes out of junk around the house). You have to remember that this actually started off as a children's show so take that into account.

Patrick Troughton - 2nd Doctor - So-So Doctor, some good stories. Affects got a bit better but not by much.

Jon Pertwee - 3rd Doctor - Good Doctor. Loved his car. Started getting better. Good companions.

Tom Baker - 4th Doctor - Best Doctor ever. No comparison. Great companions also. Especially Sarah Jane Smith and K9. Lots of good stories. Doctor Who in it's prime.

Peter Davison - 5th Doctor - Good Doctor. Good stories. Good companions.

Colin Baker - 6th Doctor - So-So Doctor with some good stories and others not so good. Good companions.

Sylverster McCoy - 7th Doctor - Should have changed his name to McTwit. The worst Doctor ever. Real goofy. Watch these episodes and you will know why the show was cancelled.

Just my 2 cents.

James

Groucho

I'm going to guess you never saw McCoy's later episodes.

benedict

I'm glad there's someone else out there who recognised the improvement in the later McCoy eps and was saddened to see his story arc cut off.

moonraker

Okay, I'll chime in and offer my take. For a person completely new to Doctor Who, I would start off with the "new stuff" in the order that follows:

1) Series 1 complete set (Eccleston as The Doctor). Watch these in order, as there is somewhat of a season long story-arc
2) Series 2 complete set (Tennant as The Doctor). Watch these in order, too.
3) Series 4 complete set (Tennant as The Doctor). Watch these in order, too.

Yes, I left out Series 3. I hate this season, the writing was crap on about 80% of the stories. One notable exception: "Blink" is an outstanding episode, but I can't justify suffering through the entire season for just one great episode. "Smith & Jones" and "Gridlock" were decent, but not great, episodes. And everything else was bad. Really bad. Painfully bad. Thank goodness that Series 4 turned things around!

Okay, this will bring you up to date with the recent/current Who stuff (aside from the two post-Series 4 specials that aren't out yet on dvd)...

...Now, for classic Dr. Who I also recommend starting with Tom Baker as The Doctor. However, I would NOT start with Genesis of the Daleks! It's over-rated in my opinion, and drags severely in the middle. In fact, I really think this would have been much better as a 4 part episode than a 6 part episode. Here are the Tom Baker episodes that I would rank among the absolute best in the entire series (listed in chronological order, and in the order which you should view them):

The Ark In Space
The Pyramids of Mars
The Brain of Morbius
The Robots Of Death
The Horror of Fang Rock

Doctor Who just doesn't get much better than the above 5 episodes, IMO. These represent the very best of classic Doctor Who, IMO.

If you like the above, then I would recommend also viewing the following Tom Baker episodes:

City of Death
Destiny of the Daleks
Talons of Wang-Chiang (a 6 parter, so it drags a bit in places but its brilliant in others)
The Invisible Enemy (gets bashed a lot, but its a personal favorite of mine)
The Invasion of Time (same comment as above)
Genesis of the Daleks (good, but over-rated IMO)

As for the other Doctors, I'm not so much a fan. However, I would recommend these episodes:

The Caves of Androzani (Davison as The Doctor)
The Three Doctors (Pertwee as The Doctor)
The Two Doctors (Colin Baker as The Doctor)

I've never seen any Hartnell, Troughton, or McCoy episodes so I can't offer any recommendations there.

Hope this helps.

gglass4269

I picked up the Brain of Morbius last night and absolutely loved it. I also have Robots and Genesis of the Daleks on the way. =)

gglass4269

Highly reccomend The Brain of Morbius as a starting point to any new Doctor Who fan! I recently bought Horror of Fang Rock and The Ark in Space. I'll try to keep this updated for anyone trying to get into Doctor Who!