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Post by prometheus74 on Apr 23, 2010 0:12:12 GMT -5
I've just recently been getting into the modern version of Doctor Who. I bought the 2005 season, starring Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper. Great stuff!
It features the Hugo Award-winning two-parter "The Empty Child" / "The Doctor Dances". Very creepy, but fun entertainment. "Are you my mummy?" *shudders*
The 2005 season also features the return of some favorite villains of mine: The Daleks. "Exterminate!!! Exterminate!!!" ;D
I intend to buy more Doctor Who seasons in the near future, and some episodes spanning its run in the 1960's, '70s, and '80s as well.
Any Doctor Who fans here? And if so, which of the 11 (so far) doctors is your favorite, favorite characters, villains, episodes, etc?
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Post by MelMac on Apr 23, 2010 9:31:51 GMT -5
There are a couple of us out here who are also "Doctor Who" fans, some about the same fervor as "GAH." First Doctor has some really good stories, but some of his do droll on a little bit. Usually the most popular ones tend to be the ones with Ian, Barbara and Susan. "The Aztecs" is my favorite story of his era. You also get to see the very first Cybermen in "The Tenth Planet," but sadly, the last episode of it the video was wiped, and it had to be his swan song (though the actual regeneration does exist on film thanks to a fan recording it). You will have trouble finding the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) episodes because there are only I think now 7 complete ones (thanks to them animating the missing one or two episodes of "The Invasion.") Most of his stories the video was wiped (sadly including his debut - the first debut story of a regenerated Doctor), so on his you may have to get audios at times. That said he is a good Doctor. My favorite is Jon Pertwee, who was the Third Doctor. There was just something about him in looks, appearance and versatility that just made him feel like he really was the Doctor. Tom Baker is a popular choice - he's the one with the scarf. I personally like him through the end of Sarah Jane's run with him, then again with both Romanas, but the rest sometimes you can tell that he didn't care, and it's sad because save one other Doctor, he apparently could've been fired for it. Peter Davison - the youngest actor to play the role until the current incumbent Smith, is another of my favorites. He was cursed with having three companions and one in particular - Adric, the actor was very weak and the character annoying. Sadly I think Matthew Waterhouse's swan song was his best effort. My favorite episodes tend to be those with Tegan and Turlough and the last couple with Peri. A lot of his stories are more lighthearted in the beginning, but his get darker. Sadly, when the stories were getting really good and he enjoyed them and wanted to rescind his decision to leave, a new actor had been cast. I do think a couple of the episodes they had afterward would've been stronger with Davison in them. Colin Baker is the most panned, but at the same time probably one of the most underrated Doctors IMHO. His curse was a horrendous costume and some weaker stories. Peri also was not as strong of a companion alongside him either IMHO (he'd been better with Tegan, who does appear with him in an episode of "Jim'll Fix It." That said, if you close your eyes and listen to what and how he says his lines, C. Baker probably was one of the stronger Doctors there. The costume took away from that, and the BBC for some reason decided to fire him instead of the writers. He's had a renaissance though in the audio CDs Big Finish produces, so if you want to hear the potential that was lost (same on companion Mel - who was made to be a screamer in the series but could be really plucky in the audios), I'd recommend them. Sylvester McCoy - another underrated Doctor, even if he did mug a lot. Similar to Davison, but a little more extreme, his first season tends to be a bit campy. I do think "Delta and the Bannermen" is actually quite good and debate if Ray would've been stronger than Ace as a companion. That said, in the end Ace was chosen and traveled with the Doctor in the last two seasons, which got stronger and stronger. I do think he'd had another season had they not canceled it. Paul McGann is cursed as being the Doctor for the TV movie. He's good in it as is Daphne Ashbrook as Grace, but Eric Roberts is IMHO a weak Master and some of the plot made it obvious they were trying to pander to an American audience (telling us everything about "Doctor Who" instead of letting us guess like in 2005). The TV movie - if you're in America, you're going to have to either a. hope SyFy shows it, or b. buy a DVD player that can play region 2 (the UK's) DVDs because of copyright issues. That said, he also does the Big Finish Audios, and I've heard they're good. Christopher Eccleston is my least favorite of the Doctors, but I will admit partially it's because he or his PR guys slipped far too soon he was only going to do one season. By far too soon - it was known I think by the third episode. He does have some good stories, but given he does feel a bit like Daniel Craig in the role of Bond (good, but just not a right fight because he's so out of the norm for a Doctor - missing that slight elegance). Tennant was good, and I feel that he was right in leaving after about 3 1/2 seasons. I do wish he had done a full swan song this past year, as I'd like to have seen Catherine Tate continue as Donna, whom I feel was been the strongest of the companions of his tenure. Matt Smith - the current. I've seen tow of his stories all the way through, and they've been really good. He is quite young - I think now 27 (he was cast at 26), but he sure acts as though he's a much older man inside. I haven't seen the past week's episode, but it does have a feel of camp along the lines of the Peter Cushing movies (the Daleks really fit those movies but that's another story). All in all you can't go wrong with any Doctor really - it's a matter of taste as to whom you find you enjoy the most. (I can't say much though - in irony, I did do a beaded version of Tom Baker's scarf as a lariat necklace ).
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Post by MST3Claye on Apr 23, 2010 11:43:54 GMT -5
I'm one of those that Mel mentioned. I've seen most, not all of the episodes of the whole run. I'd say my favorite would have to be a tie between Pertwee and Tennant. Matt Smith is doing a good job though, and a very good episode coming up on BBC America (third episode of this series). Davison and Colin Baker were the two that I saw during it's run on PBS here 25 years ago then they quit showing it. There's a Doctor Who channel on JTV and this past weekend they were showing some Pertwee stories, so I got to see some of those.
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Post by HoudiniDerek on Apr 23, 2010 16:22:10 GMT -5
I just don't see how you all are still into it. It's like a science fiction soap opera as long as it's been around.
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Post by MelMac on Apr 23, 2010 17:01:23 GMT -5
I just don't see how you all are still into it. It's like a science fiction soap opera as long as it's been around. You know, the ought to cast you as the Master's (or Dalek's) apprentice.... I can see it now: Houdiniderek and the Master face their adversaries the Doctor and his companion Amy, and watch how the evildoers could spell the end for the duo in "Doctor Who" Saturdays on BBC1. (Oddly enough - I could see a tall, dark and handsome (and evil) Time lord with that name and be a bad guy.)
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Post by HoudiniDerek on Apr 23, 2010 23:04:36 GMT -5
I could probably be an evil person. ;D
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Post by MelMac on May 4, 2010 22:53:15 GMT -5
I could probably be an evil person. ;D You I could see - too bad that save one story, you've always been the good guy. (I have to admit though, the one I know you had a namesake in is one of my favorites.)
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Post by MelMac on Jul 15, 2010 9:00:31 GMT -5
Don't know how many people saw the most recent season with new Doctor Matt Smith and Karen Gillan... and of course Arthur Darvill, who appeared in a few stories but didn't get credit at the beginning, but is now a new companion too.
I thought it was rather good, and brought back the more thought provoking stories of the earlier years. It also showed how you could do a good story on a shoestring budget - RTD had a lot more money to produce his stories in his tenure as director.
I'm looking forward to the Christmas special and am hoping that the Doctor's phone call at the end of this season is really where they end up going for the special.
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Post by prometheus74 on Mar 26, 2011 21:09:13 GMT -5
I've been watching quite a bit of old Doctor Who serials recently, such as "Daleks Invasion Of Earth", and the very first episode to feature the Cybermen ("The Tenth Planet"). Also "Tomb Of The Cybermen", and the episode that was the pilot episode of the whole series: "An Unearthly Child".
Isn't it awesome how most Doctor Who episodes are uploaded on Youtube?!
Otherwise I might never be able to see those old ones-----there are so many, and the Doctor Who DVDs are quite costly over here in Canada, for some strange reason.
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Post by MelMac on Mar 27, 2011 23:09:59 GMT -5
Here, they average between $15 (the two parters from the original run of the show and the Christmas one this year) to as high as $80 or so for the past five seasons (2005-2010). One store here has the fifth season for $50, which I've been tempted to get as I have a gift card that would cover half of that. If Canada has the same region as America, you might try Amazon or another store, pay a little bit more for "international" shipping (or if you come and visit the states get one there) and then watch it. Will say this much - I think the Cybermen were the creepiest in "The Tenth Planet" and seriously wonder why the BBC will not do an animated episode for the lost part four of the story. I mean, they did great for "The Invasion" for the two missing episodes there, but come on, "Tenth" is the FIRST regeneration story (First to second) and they could still use the actual footage of the Doctor's regeneration. Just seems really ridiculous for them to not do that.
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Post by prometheus74 on Mar 28, 2011 17:20:47 GMT -5
Here, they average between $15 (the two parters from the original run of the show and the Christmas one this year) to as high as $80 or so for the past five seasons (2005-2010). It looks as the prices in the U.S. are much the same as in Canada, then. And yes, Canada is also Region 1, just like the U.S.
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Post by prometheus74 on Mar 28, 2011 17:28:45 GMT -5
Will say this much - I think the Cybermen were the creepiest in "The Tenth Planet" and seriously wonder why the BBC will not do an animated episode for the lost part four of the story. I mean, they did great for "The Invasion" for the two missing episodes there, but come on, "Tenth" is the FIRST regeneration story (First to second) and they could still use the actual footage of the Doctor's regeneration. Just seems really ridiculous for them to not do that. I agree----the Cybermen are great in the Tenth Planet! ;D I really like their strange speech patterns, and their "rubber" faces. LOL I didn't realize that the Doctor actually regenerates at the end of that particular episode. Don't you find it almost criminal, how they would re-record over existing footage in the U.K. back then?! Of course, they had no way of knowing the enduring appeal that Doctor Who would have for future generations. They didn't realize that it would become an iconic series. I bet they really beat themselves up later on, decades later! ;D
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