Doctor Who

[ChronoSerge]

Anyone fans of the show? I like the old show a lot Smiley And the new one debuts in the US tonight at 9:00pm EST on scifi channel for any of my fellow yanks here....Anyone else heard of Doctor Who?

[Angelus3K]

Being British you could say I've heard of it, we're about to get season 2 of the new show in a couple of weeks.

Never really saw the original but loved the new series!!

[MusicallyInspired]

I love the 80s version of the theme song.

[hakujinmusume]

Yeah. I'm a big fan. I don't like the 'spacey boy adventures' direction the new series is taking. I mean, it's fun to watch, but it's so not Dr. Who. But yeah, I've seen pretty much every series. A big fan. Wonder when the new episodes will start here...

[Ghost_Rider]

My favourite Dr Who episodes were the ones with the Daleks.  There have been some re-releases/re-makes, but the original TV show had the best feel to it.

[Brainiac]

I love the 80s version of the theme song.

Over the Grainer/Derbyshire original?!  Philistine.

Yes, I've watched a fair bit of the old 26-season series and will be watching the new series on Sci-Fi Channel here in the States.  I'll be curious how they try and integrate the so-called canonical publications during the inactive years.  I also hope that they will eventually have an episode similar to The Three Doctors and have Paul McGann put in another performance as the Eighth Doctor (he deserved better than that hackneyed movie in '96).

[Quest For Glory Fan]

I never watched the show but I noticed your name and couldn't resist posting. You are aware that his name is Crono though right? The "h" is only in the title because it refers to Chrono in reference to time. eg: Chronology is the study of time or Chronological order would be events sequenced by when they happened which makes it an appropriate title given the nature of the plot and the Chronotrigger found near the ending. However our protagonists name is indeed Crono sans "h". Just had to clear that up as I thought it was Chrono for over half a decade as well.  ;)

[Brainiac]

You are aware that his name is Crono though right? The "h" is only in the title because it refers to Chrono in reference to time.

Actually, the general thinking is that the only reason he's named Crono in the US is because of the 5-character limit for names in the game (much like Stragus was renamed Strago over here in FF6).  So Chrono's just as valid.

It may be off-topic, but considering the nature of the game, I think a Chrono Trigger-related post is appropriate for a Doctor Who thread.

[Quest For Glory Fan]

I never noticed that no one in either games name exceeded 6 letters! but that makes sense for all the slight unreasonable changes (especially FFV)

[Alistair]

Doctor Who is freakin' awesome. Basically though, being a DW purist, I didnt like much after Peter Davison. Couldn't the 'new series'. Hope Tennant is better than Eccelston. Though, I hope more that Russell T Davies gets hit by a car.

- Spike

[Klytos]

What is a Doctor Who "purist"? Is that someone who's stuck in the past and can't move on past the golden age of DW? Even though Tom Baker left the show in 1980 (which is more than a quarter of a century ago...)

[Alistair]

Heh. Brisbane, huh? I'm from Adelaide.

And, I don't mean purist in a "William Hartnell only!" or "Tom Baker was the best by far" sense. I actually enjoyed the Pertwee years the most.

I just mean, I prefer how it was done in the old days as opposed to the new series, which I felt was far too angsty and not fun to watch at all, like the old ones were.

I don't consider it being "stuck" to enjoy something from the past more, either- surely if that's your logic, you're "stuck in the past" preferring adventure gaming of old to what's up for sale today?

- Alistair

[Klytos]

Really? You don't like the angst stuff? I think it just develops themes that have always been there, maybe just pushing them into the forefront again. If you look at the classic series you see the Doctor isn't really the hero of the stories, at first it was Ian, the Doctor and his whacky space/time ship were just there as a plot device to get the story going. When the show went downhill in the 80's after Davison was when the Doctor became the focal point of the show, not the comanion.

That is the defining thing that Davies has right in these new series, the show is about Rose and how she deals with travelling through time and space, opening up her eyes to the larger universe around her. And to an extent what they've done through the character of Mickey is allow that grounding in the sense that just picking up a person and whisking them away for a few years still leaves problems back on earth for that companion. Of course, this is all explained much better than that in the 3rd episode of series 2, when Sarah-Jane makes a return.

I do see what you mean now, though saying the series producer should get his by a car may be a little excessive. I think the basic qualities of the show are all still there, it's still story driven, there's still mystery in the back-story, the Doctor, a companion or two, the TARDIS, Daleks, Cybermen, I honestly can't see what's missing.

BTW I am stuck in the past when it comes to computer games, mostly what is released now is total shit.  :D

[Alistair]

That's true, I forgot Hartnell had minimal influence in most episodes.

Yeah, you're right. A lot of people say they liked McCoy, and I actually like him too- but some of the episodes were shit! It wasn't long ago that ABC were screening them (4 months ago) and "fan classics" like "The Greatest Show In The Galaxy" and "Ghost Light", to name two, were rubbish as far as I'm concerned.

I agree, having Rose explore "her journey" allows a new breed of fan to do the same. And it's been well-pitched at angsty emotional teens. But for me, who's not full of pseudo-angst (I mean, Rose's family stuff is not compelling for me AT ALL), I find that Rose's annoying demeanour, the silly existentialism, and Eccelston being more of a prat than a Time Lord really got me off on the wrong foot.

Oh yeah, Davies shouldn't DIE. Allow me some poetic license.
But apparently he wants some Dr Who spinoff show too, which looks uninspiring. (I forget the details.)

I liked the old episodes for interesting satires about humanity, humour, irreverance. I didn't find that in a lot of episodes, and too often I find myself dislking most characters, even the Doctor on various occasions.

For me, it's become "too realistic"- too serious, too overbearing. Like listening to your younger sister or niece (or brother or nephew, I should add) talk about how her/his life is awful. Not fun with adventure and danger, like Pertwee battling against the Master. I remember the episode from the Eccelston series where the guy runs the empire (I think it's called "Dalek".) That was the reason I stopped watching (well, that and the pig people in London episode). <shakes head> Ah well. What were your favourite old or new Dr Who bits?

(BTW, the Master (played by Roger Delgado) is my favourite character, and his episodes are my favourites.)

- Alistair

[Klytos]

McCoy : Yes I totally agree. I think McCoy was quite good as the Doctor, his problem was with the stories, they were total bollocks most of the time. "Greatest Show in the Galaxy" is actually one I've never been able to watch all the way through. I did enjoy the Dalek one he did, definetly in the top ten all time serials in my view. Ghost Light I just don't see the fascination with that episode. To me it's complete rubbish. I could film something better on my handi-cam.

Spinoff : That's got Captain Jack in it, should be good for a laugh. Gotta be better than K9 and company.  :lol

My Favorites : It depends on what mood I'm in. But for the moment "School Reunion" which is the new Tennant series is totally mind-blowing. Being brought up on reruns of Pertwee then Baker, Sarah-Jane was my companion so seeing her again after so many years was cool. Okay, it's probably a nostalgic thing more than anything else, but it was still cool.

I'm a big fan of the Pertwee / Early Baker years. "Talons of Weing-Chiang" was brilliant, Leela in that was great. Doctor Who really lent itself well to a mist-shrowded 18th century London. I like the anger in the 3rd Doctor, his willingness in some situations to let everything on earth be destroyed just so he could escape. That is primarily what I see in the Eccelston Doctor, that sort of anger. Although in 9 it's more a sadness that he's lost everything too. "Vengence on Varos" was a great serial even though it was Colin Baker, Peri pissed me off something major but that was a great story. It's a shame they never kept up the good production work after that one.

The 3rd Doctor / Sarah-Jane episode "Death to the Daleks" is definetly cool, a last look at the Daleks before Nation wrecked them with Davros. Just evil for the sake of being evil. That's great. "Genesis of the Daleks" is awesome, although as I said, not a big fan of Davros, to me he turns the Daleks into just another deadly army like the Cybermen. Speaking of Cybermen, "Invasion" with the 2nd Doctor is cool.

[Alistair]

I've seen all of those early Daleks ones. Loved 'em- I remember seeing the first look at the Daleks with the Hartnell story about the future being ravaged, and that made me fall in love with the concept (I'm a big sucker for future disaster stories).

Never seen a Baker ep. I saw Dr Who through ABC's recent few uears of screenings and was in the USA. Missed Davison's "Frontios" through McCoy's.. uh, "Greatest Show in the Galaxy" I think. needless to say I was pissed when I got home and that was the episode I got to see.

I must say though, I loved the 'formerly known as last Dr Who ever' episode with McCoy, with the Master. I forget what it was called already, but it's in my top 10 ever (though I do love cats ).


Lol, definitely must be better than K9 and company, although I do love K9 (Master!).

On Ghost Light- I quite enjoyed it until the 3rd episode. I presumed the story would be fleshed out and 4 episodes would be used, and when I saw the 3rd and saw the end, I'm like "Okay, that sucked!". My family are all Dr Who diehards as well and it was unbelievably disappointing.

I liked Sarah Jane, as well. Still remember her induction in the Pertwee years with the also induction of Lynx.

I'm a big fan of the Pertwee / Early Baker years. "Talons of Weing-Chiang" was brilliant, Leela in that was great. Doctor Who really lent itself well to a mist-shrowded 18th century London. I like the anger in the 3rd Doctor, his willingness in some situations to let everything on earth be destroyed just so he could escape. That is primarily what I see in the Eccelston Doctor, that sort of anger. Although in 9 it's more a sadness that he's lost everything too. "Vengence on Varos" was a great serial even though it was Colin Baker, Peri pissed me off something major but that was a great story. It's a shame they never kept up the good production work after that one.

LOVED Weng-Chiang! Though, I thought up until t he end that it was the Master. (Ironically, watching the keeper of Traken with Baker, later, the one thing that delayed my suspicions of it being the Master was that earlier Weng Chiang episode.)

It was so clever. All the characters were awesome. Only problem was a bit of latent racism (the Asian stereotypes! ye Gods! lol).

Yeah, it was a bit Sherlock-ish.  Baker was always a great hammer-upper, too.


I don't know that I like anger in the Doctor. I'd like to draw a comparison with King's Quest- my view of the Doctor was that he didn't destroy where he could simply escape, and violence was something not becoming of him.

At any rate, for the record my favourite Ep was the Pertwee/Master one just before Delgado as the Master died (so sad when I found that out!), "Colony in Space" I believe it was called. After being a major Delgado fan, all the Pertwee/Jo/Master monologues/dialogues were a dream. Heartbreaking he died before they completed it, though, and it became a corny Dalek serial. :P

- Alistair