Why the hell did I wait so long to get into this series?! Holy crap this is good. Wife is currently finishing up Season 6 and we can't wait till summer!
Why the hell did I wait so long to get into this series?! Holy crap this is good. Wife is currently finishing up Season 6 and we can't wait till summer!
Eh. I tried to watch it but it wasn't really my cup of tea. The cheese (as in story and humor, not the special effects) was just too much to handle. Plus I like my sci-fi a little harder.
Eh. I tried to watch it but it wasn't really my cup of tea. The cheese (as in story and humor, not the special effects) was just too much to handle. Plus I like my sci-fi a little harder.
I feel it is hard to take most sci-fi serious so I find the more gritty ones harder to watch and believe. That's why I love the tone of Doctor Who, you just need to view it a certain way. Hell I've been watching the original Star Trek and some of the plots in that are ridiculously stupid but works because of the light hearted tone.
That said there are some great dark sci-fi universes.
Doctor Who is one of the best shows on TV right now in my opinion.
Eh. I tried to watch it but it wasn't really my cup of tea. The cheese (as in story and humor, not the special effects) was just too much to handle. Plus I like my sci-fi a little harder.
I felt the same way at first (I started with "Rose", which was brutally cheesy), but it clicked after a few episodes.
I love that the show's gaining more traction here in 'Murrica, incidentally.
I agree with everyone. Season 1 (2005) was really hard to get through, but by the end I was sad when David Tennent took over. Then when he was done I got all teary. @Jrinswand: Try and get through the first season. The over arching story is just amazing.
It's immensely satisfying to watch once you get into the deeper narrative across the seasons. It's camp science fiction setting means the story can be taken literally anywhere.
I love the show. The last part of the latest season, excluding the god awful christmas special gave me chills. Matt Smith is a great Doctor, fuck the haters.
Also, yes Blink is good. Not the best as a lot of people say, but it is up there. The Doctor's Wife is the best episode :P
I went on a Netflix bender two years ago and watched everything that was available and jumped straight into Series 5. My girlfriend decided to watch once she found out that Neil Gaiman was doing an episode and she's been making her friends watch "Blink" since (while it's not the absolute best episode, it is definitely be the best for showing a person who doesn't know the insane amount of lore the show has).
At first I was in the anit-Matt Smith camp but I warmed to him pretty fast, he can be pretty funny at times.
At the end of each season how it all comes together is always super cool and crazy.
Does anyone know if any of the old seasons stand up (as in Tom Baker etc.), the few I've watch seemed pretty dated in more a bad way than a funny way. Because the original series Star Trek eps have aged great and are fun to watch. Is there any old seasons worth going back too?
Yeah, it's a pretty good show, though I think it got a lot worse when Matt Smith became the doctor, I still watched all of the episodes though, and I'll most likely watch the new season... damn.. I just miss Tennant though :[
I think what makes Doctor Who so special, especially now, is because of the lack of pure science fiction shows. Like there is a strange lack of genuine sci-fi, not the sort of hybrid sci-fi shows nowadays. Plus I love the spirit of the show. It's pure adventure. There is an obsession of gritty reality on TV now. Doctor Who is joyous, unapologetic escapism (in a TARDIS).
Just wondering, but for the people who don't like Matt Smith as the Doctor, when did you start watching Dr. Who, and who was the first 'Doctor' you saw/got to know?
I ask because, i am under the current belief that people who started with the new series (Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, and Matt Smith) don't like Matt Smith since they got used to David Tennant, while those who started with the old series are fine with Smith as the Doctor. This belief is solely based off the group of people i hang out with, so it could be entirely wrong... hence the question.
@Zor I've watched all of the old series & he does indeed seem OK with me. There was a LOT of variation between the old doctors too. Perhaps that's why the old fans are more willing to give him a chance.
Though admittedly, the only episode I've seen of his so far was the one where he plays soccer. The episode seemed pretty pander-y because it was broadcast the night before World Cup but I had no problem with him.
I've heard the episodes are skewing more toward the paranormal which is something of a concern. They were hinting at reveling the Doctor's real name at some point too. That sounds dumb to me. Again though, these aren't necessarily problems with Smith...
I just tarted watching it too! Unfortunately, whenever i start a series, I feel the need to watch ALL of it from the very beginning. I'm currently watching the 2nd season with the first doctor way back from 1964.
Yeah, it's a pretty good show, though I think it got a lot worse when Matt Smith became the doctor, I still watched all of the episodes though, and I'll most likely watch the new season... damn.. I just miss Tennant though :[
Agreed. Partially because Matt Smith isn't very good, and partially because both Alex Kingston and Karen Gillan aren't very good, but mostly because the writing has gone so far downhill. Moffat's writing style feels like a completely different show, and loses the heart of Doctor Who. Too much bad jokes, quick fire dialogue and stupid time bending plots mean that he's seemingly forgot to make them good. 'The Doctor's Wife,' 'Amy's Choice,' and 'The God Complex' were all enjoyable episodes, had that unrecognisable Doctor Who feel - we're somewhere new, there's a problem, solve it, and wrote to the current actors strengths.
But the main arcs have just been so disappointing. I know he got way too self indulgent as he went on, but I miss Russell T Davies. Yet he just worked on Torchwood Miracle Day, and that was a shocking disappointment.
Love it too. The last 2 seasons with Matt Smith have had amazing writing. They've gotten away from the cheese from the previous seasons and it's become a lot darker and serious.
I just tarted watching it too! Unfortunately, whenever i start a series, I feel the need to watch ALL of it from the very beginning. I'm currently watching the 2nd season with the first doctor way back from 1964.
Oh no. No no no no no. Why would you do that to yourself? You're going to burn yourself out before you get to anything anyone except the most hardcore fans know about. I've tried going back to those and it's just hard to watch. Not even because of the effects, it's just the pacing, it's PAINFUL to watch.
Start with the 2005 "new" series, they set it up to be a natural starting off point for new watchers. Then after you're caught up, feel free to go back and watch earlier seasons.
@onan: I do admit I've already skipped quite a few episodes, and plan on doing so in the future. I'm also watching episodes of the current seasons on tv while i'm doing this, so i'm not missing too much. Still, thoroughly enjoying the old stuff so far, much more than i thought i would.
Also, yes Blink is good. Not the best as a lot of people say, but it is up there. The Doctor's Wife is the best episode :P
My two favourite episodes.. but I still find Blink the best
@Zor: I had watched the old series before but Christopher Eccelston was my first real Doctor and as much as I loved Tennant and miss him as the Doctor I still think Matt Smith is a worthy replacement
I had the same experiences as some of the other people in this thread. I started watching the episodes on Netflix, and I didn't really get into it. I got through the first season, and then got hooked starting with the second season.
At first, I wasn't a huge fan of Matt Smith, but he's grown on me, especially with the sixth season. And now I can't wait for more (even though I know it's a long wait now. Stupid Netflix spoiling me).
I've been patiently waiting for The Eternity Clock to come out. It was supposed to come out in March, then they said April, and it doesn't seem like that is going to happen either. The game might not be all that great, but I don't care, I'm going to get it either way.
@Zor said:
Just wondering, but for the people who don't like Matt Smith as the Doctor, when did you start watching Dr. Who, and who was the first 'Doctor' you saw/got to know?
I ask because, i am under the current belief that people who started with the new series (Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, and Matt Smith) don't like Matt Smith since they got used to David Tennant, while those who started with the old series are fine with Smith as the Doctor. This belief is solely based off the group of people i hang out with, so it could be entirely wrong... hence the question.
I started with and have only seen the newer stuff, and I like Smith just fine. I probably would say I don't like him as much as Eccleston or Tennant, but I have no problem with him at all.
After I finish the 17 seasons of Top Gear I have been watching (I'm on 12, it's so addicting, I've watched a season a day for the last week), I'm starting this. British television seems significantly better than North American in every way possible; it's funnier, there's no product placement on BBC shows, and it isn't so crude. I find myself only watching BBC when I actually watch TV these days.
I started watching Dr. Who when I was still in elementary school. The Doctor was Tom Baker (still the best in my opinion) but I drifted away during Peter Davison only to pop back in for a while during Sylvester McCoy's run. Then I lost interest until David Tennant. I went back and watched some of the Christopher Eccleston episodes and he isn't to my taste. Tennant's Doctor felt playful while Eccleston's was much darker. I know it has to do with the chronology of the Doctor and the Time Lords. Anyway, Matt Smith is doing a pretty fine job right now, so the show is in good hands.
@Tylea002: Perhaps I've been missing the point of "the adventure; the ride" of the series, but the Matt Smith episodes aren't shallow and predictable. That alone bugs the crap out of me.
Oh, and Matt Smith's big dumb head. I hates it.
While I cannot stand Amy and Rory together (ugh, Rory alone is bad enough), Karen Gillan makes it watchable. Easy on the eyes, which isn't exactly what the rest of the current cast is.
But yeah, the writing is horrid by comparison to the Ecc-Tenn era. However, if we were to compare it to, say, any of the original Doctors, the Matt Smith material is downright pleasant, if not top shelf. I understand why they burned a lot of the footage back in the day; I wish the whole thing was destroyed.
My girlfriend and I love it. It's campy-sci-fi in the best way. Sometimes I wish they took their fiction a bit more seriously as I would really like some of the endless number of questions the series presents answered, but overall, it's typically very entertaining.
How could the idea, "What if we took all these british serial sets and put aliens in them?" go wrong?
As a kid I'd catch random episodes, mostly from seasons with Tom Baker, the Fourth Doctor. My dad would watch the show and I think it was PBS who aired the old episodes. I never could get into it and I felt no interest in checking out the new series when it hit.
Last year some people I follow on twitter kept talking about Torchwood and I figured I'd check it out. I liked it, and while watching it decided that if Captain Jack Harkness was going to race off and join the Doctor a couple of times that I should follow him and watch those episodes for the sake of completeness. I did and ended up liking what I saw so I went back to the beginning of the NinthDoctor's run and started watching. I really like the show now. I've actually even gone back and watched some of the older stuff that I didn't like as a kid and now that I'm into the character and the universe it's a lot easier to enjoy.
Aye it's pretty good, used to watch it in parts when it was harder to find on tv but thanks to the BBC America channel, started watching again with the 9th Doctor & been quite happy with how the series has been going & the show quality overall. Great writing in it & highly recommended for anyone new to the series & wanting to start somewhere (at the 9th doctor). Since the show tends to be highly separated like Star Trek Next Generation (where the episodes can stand on their own without a ton of backstory), it's easy for anyone to grab it on netflix streaming & watch it.
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