I Am/Was A Doctor Who Virgin and I Have Some Questions
 

I've never seen an episode of Doctor Who before. None. As in nothing. Oh sure, I've heard the theme, know the basics about TARDIS, seen pictures of the Daleks and saw one of the Doctors brought in as an "esteemed television representative" in the Simpsons episode "Sideshow Bob's Last Gleaming," but that's about it.

But now that I'm slowly (but surely) getting over my phobia of sci-fi TV shows, I decided to watch the good Doctors' adventures. All of them, or at least the ones that are available here in the States on DVD. So yesterday I compiled a list of R1 DVD's, and I'm wondering if any of the Doctor Who fans on DVDTalk can tell me if this is a fairly complete list, because even after using Wikipedia, I'm still kind of confused as to what is available and what isn't:

WILLIAM HARTNELL [1st DOCTOR]
=============================
DOCTOR WHO: THE BEGINNING
- An Unearthly Child (1)
- The Daleks (2)
- The Edge of Destruction (3)

DOCTOR WHO: THE AZTECS
- The Aztecs (6)

DOCTOR WHO: THE WEB PLANET
- The Web Planet (13)

DOCTOR WHO: LOST IN TIME
- The Reign of Terror (8)
- The Crusade (14)
- Galaxy 4 (18)
- The Myth Makers (20)
- The Dalek's Master Plan (21)
- The Celestial Toymaker (24)
- The Smugglers (28)
- The Tenth Planet (29)

PATRICK TROUGHTON [2nd DOCTOR]
==============================
DOCTOR WHO: LOST IN TIME
- The Power of the Daleks (30)
- The Highlanders (31)
- The Underwater Menace (32)
- The Moonbase (33)
- The Macra Terror (34)
- The Faceless Ones (35)
- The Evil of the Daleks (36)
- The Abominable Snowmen (38)
- The Enemy of the World (40)
- The Web of Fear (41)
- Fury From the Deep (42)
- The Wheel in Space (43)
- The Space Pirates (49)

DOCTOR WHO: THE TOMB OF THE CYBERMEN
- The Tomb of the Cybermen (37)

DOCTOR WHO: THE MIND ROBBER
- The Mind Robber (45)

DOCTOR WHO: THE INVASION
- The Invasion (46)

DOCTOR WHO: THE SEEDS OF DEATH
- The Seeds of Death (48)

JON PERTWEE [3rd DOCTOR]
========================
DOCTOR WHO: SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE
- Spearhead From Space (51)

DOCTOR WHO: THE SILURIANS
- Doctor Who and the Silurians (52)

DOCTOR WHO: INFERNO
- Inferno (54)

DOCTOR WHO: THE CLAWS OF AXOS
- The Claws of Axos (57)

DOCTOR WHO: THE THREE DOCTORS
- The Three Doctors (65)

DOCTOR WHO: CARNIVAL OF MONSTERS
- Carnival of Monsters (66)

DOCTOR WHO: THE GREEN DEATH
- The Green Death (69)

TOM BAKER [4th DOCTOR]
======================
DOCTOR WHO: ROBOT
- Robot (75)

DOCTOR WHO: THE ARK IN SPACE
- The Ark in Space (76)

DOCTOR WHO: THE SONTARAN EXPERIMENT
- The Sontaran Experiment (77)

DOCTOR WHO: GENESIS OF THE DALEKS
- Genesis of the Daleks (78)

DOCTOR WHO: PLANET OF EVIL
- Planet of Evil (81)

DOCTOR WHO: PYRAMIDS OF MARS
- Pyramids of Mars (82)

DOCTOR WHO: THE HAND OF FEAR
- The Hand of Fear (87)

DOCTOR WHO: THE ROBOTS OF DEATH
- The Robots of Death (90)

DOCTOR WHO: THE TALONS OF WENG-CHIANG
- The Talons of Weng Chiang (91)

DOCTOR WHO: HORROR OF FANG ROCK
- Horror of Fang Rock (92)

DOCTOR WHO: THE RIBOS OPERATION
- The Ribos Operation (98)

DOCTOR WHO: THE PIRATE PLANET
- The Pirate Planet (99)

DOCTOR WHO: THE STONES OF BLOOD
- The Stones of Blood (100)

DOCTOR WHO: THE ANDROIDS OF TARA
- The Androids of Tara (101)

DOCTOR WHO: THE POWER OF KROLL
- The Power of Kroll (102)

DOCTOR WHO: THE ARMAGEDDON FACTOR
- The Armageddon Factor (103)

DOCTOR WHO: DESTINY OF THE DALEKS
- Destiny of the Daleks (104)

DOCTOR WHO: CITY OF DEATH
- City of Death (105)

DOCTOR WHO: THE LEISURE HIVE
- The Leisure Hive (110)

DOCTOR WHO: THE KEEPER OF TRAKEN
- The Keeper of Traken (115)

DOCTOR WHO: LOGOPOLIS
- Logopolis (116)

PETER DAVISON [5th DOCTOR]
==========================
DOCTOR WHO: CASTROVALVA
- Castrovalva (117)

DOCTOR WHO: THE VISITATION
- The Visitation (120)

DOCTOR WHO: EARTHSHOCK
- Earthshock (122)

DOCTOR WHO: TIME-FLIGHT
- Time-Flight (123)

DOCTOR WHO: ARC OF INFINITY
- Arc of Infinity (124)

DOCTOR WHO: THE FIVE DOCTORS
- The Five Doctors (130)

DOCTOR WHO: WARRIORS OF THE DEEP
- Warriors of the Deep (131)

DOCTOR WHO: RESURRECTION OF THE DALEKS
- Resurrection of the Daleks (134)

DOCTOR WHO: THE CAVES OF ANDROZANI
- The Caves of Androzani (136)

COLIN BAKER [6th DOCTOR]
========================
DOCTOR WHO: VENGEANCE ON VAROS
- Vengeance on Varos (139)

DOCTOR WHO: THE MARK OF THE RANI
- The Mark of the Rani (140)

DOCTOR WHO: THE TWO DOCTORS
- The Two Doctors (141)

DOCTOR WHO: TIMELASH
- Timelash (142)

DOCTOR WHO: REVELATION OF THE DALEKS
- Revelation of the Daleks (143)

SYLVESTER MCCOY [7th DOCTOR]
============================
DOCTOR WHO: REMEMBRANCE OF THE DALEKS
- Remembrance of the Daleks (152)

DOCTOR WHO: GHOST LIGHT
- Ghost Light (157)

DOCTOR WHO: THE CURSE OF FENRIC
- The Curse of Fenric (158)

DOCTOR WHO: SURVIVAL
- Survival (159)

PAUL MCGANN [8th DOCTOR]
========================
none

CHRISTOPHER ECCLESTON [9th DOCTOR]
==================================
THE COMPLETE FIRST SERIES

DAVID TENNANT [10th DOCTOR]
===========================
THE COMPLETE SECOND SERIES
THE COMPLETE THIRD SERIES

Yesterday, I received Disc 1 of The Beginning from Netflix! Success! Until I opened the envelope and found Disc 1 of something called "The Dalek Invasion," even though my queue lists it as The Beginning. But I fired it up anyways and watched all seven episodes of "The Daleks" between moments of handing out candy to trick or treaters. And wow, what a letdown it was: the acting was spotty, the writing was OK but nothing more, the Daleks were quite silly (not to mention their robotic monotone felt like the equivalent of someone using a drill next to my ears) and the effects were incredibly crappy, to be charitable. Not to mention I lost interest in quite a few parts.

So the Doctor and I did not get off to a good start. But that's OK, because I chalk up most of the faults to the show still being in its relative infancy, and the fact that it looked like they had a $50 budget to work with. So my second question is: any good serials/eras I should be on the lookout for? Mind you, I'm still going through this whole thing chronologically in the order listed above, and I have no problem slogging through the bad to get to the good, but there has to be a good somewhere.

And a third, minor question: is there any particular reason why they constantly switch between film and video in these old Doctor Who episodes? Not really familiar with how television worked in those days, so I'm not sure if it was just for this show or for TV in general.

Pertwee's Doctor Who and the Silurians is slated for release, but hasn't come out either in the US or UK. The same goes for Tom Baker's Destiny of the Daleks and Davison's Warriors of the Deep.

T Baker's Planet of Evil is only available in the UK, so a US release shouldn't be far behind.

It might be a better idea to jump back and forth between eras. Sounds like you're very openminded to the show's faults, so that shouldn't be a problem.
My own 2 cents:

THE GOOD
The Tomb of the Cybermen
The Mind Robber
Inferno
Carnival of Monsters
The Green Death
Pyramids of Mars
The Hand of Fear
The Robots of Death
Talons of Weng-Chiang
Horror of Fang Rock
City of Death
Earthshock
The Five Doctors
The Caves of Androzani
The Mark of the Rani
Revelation of the Daleks
Remembrance of the Daleks
Ghost Light
The Curse of Fenric

AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE (OR AT LEAST HOLD OFF ON)
The Dalek Invasion of Earth
The Web Planet
The Seeds of Death
Timelash (a guilty pleasure of mine, but many fans HATE it)
The Power of Kroll (see Timelash)
Time-Flight

Those are just the classic series.

Jumping back and forth between film and video was common for BBC shows up til the late 80s. It was just cheaper that way (film=outdoors; video=studio). There are a few exceptions to the rule (Spearhead From Space, The Sontaran Experiment)

For cost purposes, the BBC shot almost everything on video. But for outdoor filming the cameras were too bulky, so they switched to film. (There's even a Monty Python sketch about it).

American programs from that same time period look a lot better because they were shot completely on film.

The earliest Doctor Who serials were shot in long takes, only pausing for costume changes and such. So there's a lot of a flubs and such, similar to live television.

I love the first doctor adventures myself, but they are pretty rough for a modern viewer.

The Paul McGann movie tends to pop up occasionally on a cable channel called Starz, so if you have that channel keep an eye out...

You've done alot of research. You seem committed. But most of your criticisms of that first disc might just as well apply to the first, say, two or three hundred episodes, so I dunno... :)

If you ever have any specific questions, please feel free to PM me. I've been a Who Fan since December 2, 1983 when the PBS station in LA aired the Five Doctors (the only reason I know the exact date is because I found a hand-written note with a bunch of old High School papers reminding me what day it was airing).

Any questions about Who DVDs and what's available, please visit The Official Doctor Who Thread. The first three Threads keep track of what's coming out, what's already out in Region 1 and what's out in Region 2. There's even a list for Related Who DVDs (like Torchwood, BBV releases and misc.).

Welcome to the Whoniverse.

Hey whoa, I didn't even see that Doctor Who thread when I did a search, Valeyard; thanks for that, lots of good info in there.

As for my criticisms, I honestly can deal with lame special effects if the writing and acting are up to par. I just assumed as the show grew in popularity, so would the budget, allowing for more elaborate effects, sets, costumes, etc. Another problem right now is that so far, this First Doctor seems to be a bit of a prick, so I'm not exactly warming up to him. Oh well, even if I continue to dislike Hartnell, he'll be gone soon, anyways.

Meglos, thanks for ones to keep an eye out for. But I'll still continue on with the chronological plan, if only so I don't have to constantly adjust to all the Doctors' various personalities and looks. Besides, seeing as how the serials are roughly the same length (or less) than a feature film, I can probably get through some eras in a week or two. (I have the 3 out at a time plan on Netflix.)

I started watching Doctor Who when the new series of it started a few years ago. Like you, prior to that I hadn't seen much of Dr Who at all, although I had seen one of the Douglas Adam's penned stories.

Also, like you, I decided to try and watch the earlier Dr Who in chronological order. I found this webpage with a list of all the US video releases, listed in chronological episode order:
http://www.drwhoguide.com/usvideo.htm

Regarding your criticisms, having just finished The Beginning boxset, I can say that most of them are true for that as well. The FX I don't mind all that much, but for me the pacing seems to be very slooooow.... The storlines could be much improved if told over half the time alloted to them. The third serial proves this by telling a compelling story over the span of only two episodes. Also, the 2nd disc of the boxset has a condensed version of the "lost" 4th serial Marco Polo, which is a compelling 25 minute "episode" based on the 7 episodes of the original serial.

I must say, if you start having trouble getting through the series chronologically, even just the serials on R1 DVD, it might help to jump ahead to an era that more reflects our current sensibilities. The new series is a good point, since it's more or less a reboot, and while it technically takes place after the original series, there's a big enough gap in the story's timeline between them that it's not really necessary to have seen the original to enjoy it. I'm grateful that I started on the new series first because if I had actually began with The Beginning, I might not have made it past the cavemen episodes.

Just to clarify for GreenVulture's sake, the new series is not a reboot.

Correct. It is NOT a reboot. However, the things you GreenVulture has complained about are mostly remedied in the Russel T. Davies update (costumes, acting, effects, etc). I gave trying to sequence out the original episodes on DVD... plus AFAIK several were lost making it impossible to watch them all. So I just jumped in on the new version and never looked back - first I rented S1 and S2 from Netflix then immediately went out and purchased them. This new version just ROCKS!

In the strictest technical sense it, like Star Trek TNG, is not a reboot. However, like TNG, it is clearly a show that originated with a clearly delineated jumping-in point, where familarity with the original series was clearly not going to be needed.

True, The Doctor is technically the same character as from the original series, in that the new Doctor shares the same history. However, the character starts off in the new series played by a new actor, a new personality, and a new history that contains important plot elements that weren't from the original series. The first episode, and in fact the first series of the new Doctor Who, takes great pains to introduce the Doctor and his world to people who aren't familiar with it, much like a new series would. Like TNG, it eventually is shown to contain characters and situations where knowledge of the previous series enhances the story, but isn't necessary to enjoy it.

Add to it that the new series restarted the season numbering at One, and it's clear that they're saying "this isn't the 27th season of that old series, but its own thing." Which is why I wrote that, in the case of the viewer, for most practical purposes the new series is "more or less" a reboot, and that GreenVulture shouldn't feel that he needs to get through all the original series DVDs chronologically before he can jump in and view the new series. Personally, I'd rather have him watch the new series and become a Doctor Who fan than giving up on the show by trying to plow through the earlier series and giving up halfway through.

ok... huge HUGE Doctor Who fan here. You started off with one of the earliest and slowest Doctor Who stories ever. Sure, it's a classic being it's the first Dalek story. But we are talking about 1963 british televsion... slooooww and yes, very cheap.

Classic Doctor Who was shown in the UK with 25 minute episodes once a week, even for a huge fan like me, it's hard sometimes to sit down in watch a stoy in one go... some of the 6 plus episode stories from the 60's and early 70's are sometimes drawn way out.... and very slow.

If I was you I would start of watching the new 2005 series (9th Doctor) and after that jump back and discover the older Doctors.

Doctor Who is like James Bond, everyone has their favorite Doctor and one fans favorite story is another fans worst favorite. (for example, someone above listed Dalek Invasion of Earth and Seeds of Death as the worst, and I think they are two of the best.)

With a show that lasted 26 years plus 3 new seasons, each era of Doctor Who is very different from each other, if you don't like 60's Who, you might love 70's Who, or 80's.

So, anyway, my suggestion is to watch all of the 9th and 10th Doctor first, it's fast pased, modern, great big budget effects... then jump back and watch the older stuff. You don't have to know anything (much) about the early Doctor's to jump into and enjoy the 9th and 10th Doctor, but when you go back and watch the older stuff, it will be like "cool, that's where that came from."

But if you are sticking with watching them in order... good for you. It does pick up and get better... but remember it IS british TV, it's going to be slow and low budget, no matter what era it is... (the 1st doctor's Web Planet is pure Torture) the 2nd Doctor's era is more fun than the first IMO, more aliens, sexy companions and monsters and space stories. The 3rd Doctor's era is the first in color and more adult, James Bond/Avengers earth based alien invasion stories, in fast the 3rd Doctor was stranded on earth for most of his time and ended up working for the UN fighting off alien invasions....

anyway... I don't know if I helped at all, I just got back from the bar, ha ha, just have fun with the series... the charm of the early Doctor Who is the low budgets and bad effects... yet great well written stories and pretty good acting.

If you've got the capability of watching DVD's from other regions, the Paul McGann movie is available in Region 2.

Just to clarify: GreenVulture started with the second Dalek story, "The Dalek Invasion of the Earth," which contains an episode titled "The Daleks." The first Dalek story is the second serial found on the 2nd disc of The Beginning box set, commonly called "The Daleks," although no episode in it was titled that and it has been known by other titles in the past.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dal...rnative_titles