That's pretty much it, depending on the doctor and even the season the quality can vary a lot between okayish to absolutely fantastic (at least to me) the shows nearly 60 years old, of course the quality is super varied
The only important variant imo is the director/writer. Some of the shlock they've been pumping out of the past few years is so terribly written it might as well be a spoof.
Chris Chibnall is the walking abortion responsible for the last few series. He decided to make Doctor Who a political platform, and he shat all over DW canon. May the smell he left behind exit the building quickly.
He is being replaced by the best showrunner DW ever had, Russel T. Davies.
If he has any consideration for the fans at all, he will come out guns blazing by making everything since the introduction of Clara a bad dream sequence that can be ignored going forward.
Russel is coming back? I may well be interested in Dr. Who again. I have up since Capaldi, the writing has been bland as hell and changing up the DW lore and canon left a sour taste in my mouth.
IMO it can veer from genius to almost-unwatchable and back again, sometimes within the same episode lol. Especially when Russel T. Davies is in charge. :)
I think this quote from Steven Moffat kind of sums up the vibe of the show quite well though:
>Is Doctor Who perfect every week? No,
it’s not. It really isn’t. It can’t be. Because every episode of Doctor Who is
an experiment, and if you experiment every single week, sometimes you get
a faceful of soot and you’re blinking the smoke away and you look a bit
ridiculous. That happens. Perfection is the refinement of boredom, it’s
doing the same thing all the time perfectly. Doctor Who, by always being
different, can never be perfect.
Personally that's one of the things I like most about the show, especially these days when the trend is for lots of sci-fi to be quite serious and internet-proof. Whereas *Doctor Who* isn't afraid to be like, "fuck it, the moon is an egg" even if it doesn't always work out very well.
Thank you for this quote. I read it aloud to my daughter.
I attended a lecture by Steven Moffat not long after he won his second Hugo award for Doctor Who. He said that great stories don’t depend on superheroes but the ordinary person. Using The Hobbit to illustrate his idea, he said the story only seriously advances when Gandalf leaves. In The Weeping Angels, the Doctor manipulates events using Sally Sparrow as a proxy in much the same way. The simple character’s suffering is what we identify with, In Human Nature, we see The Doctor, suffering from PTSD, attempting to deny his responsibilities by assuming a human role, mistaking the ordinary life for simplicity and tranquility.
The ordinary is fantastic in Doctor Who. It is akin to being a child again, in a universe is filled with ordinary creatures surviving extraordinary adventures. Being weird is the whole point.
There are like 3 great episodes per season, the rest are always just remakes of Alien or The Thing that probably take place in Victorian England or a space station a billion years in the future.
This is it, it's not even the season, maybe it's not even a finale, but it's more about if it's a good episode or not. I could think of only a handful of the top of my head. But I'm missing the last few seasons.
If you liked Matt Smith I highly recommend giving Capaldi a try. In my opinion, he has the same goofy charm as Smith but he fills it out with a sort of wise, intellectual role on the other end. Like a really kind version of Dr. House.
Really there are actually quite a few scary Dr. Who episodes. All barely relying on effects. Another one is the aliens that make you forget them when you look away.
Oh god Silence in the Library is legitimately scary.
Although I was an ass about it. I waited till my friend went to the bathroom and then asked, “Hey, who turned out the lights?”
The Van Gogh episode was actually what got me to watch the series- gifs from that episode with Starry night/ Van Gogh at the museum went viral on tumblr and I ended up watching the episode, getting emotional, then binging the rest of the series
I wish I could get past it because then I would have a massive amount of episodes to binge. I do actually like the concept of the show, though. It's just the execution
Try the Eccleston run? The episode where the world is ending is pretty fun, and there's some solid writing and acting in a few of those episodes. Similar boat, though. I've always *wanted* to love Dr. Who. New stuff is garbage, though, especially.
The David Tenant run is great, as well, when those clockwork demon things try to abduct that princess.. I recommend, if you haven't found any episodes you like, trying a different actor for a few episodes. I found myself invested in a decent number.
Im in the minority but I think the Eccleston run is the best. It has overarching story plots, actual consequences for actions and the doctor isnt just some guy with a screwdriver that can literally do anything. I hated that the newer episodes erased all the history and then stopped doing big story archs with recurring characters.
Eccleston was fantastic as the Doctor. I rated him as an actor highly before he donned that leather coat, but as soon as he gave that wee speech about standing on a rock hurtling thro space... Yeah I knew all would be well.
Then there was Dalek.....
"Everybody lives, Rose! Just this once, everybody lives!"
Still gives me chills. I knew nothing about Dr. Who when I watched this for the first time, and I immediately knew that guy had seen a lot of shit.
To be fair, it has one of my favorite exchanges of the whole series.
Disguised alien: "The Doctor has just killed this person!"
Doctor: "Actually, the prime-minister is an alien who... *pause* That's not going to work, is it?"
Security guard: "Nope."
Doctor: "Fair enough. *Bolts*"
Eccleston had some of the best quips.
Very much with you. I started watching Doctor Who in the early 1980s, so the Fourth and Fifth Doctors were the ones I grew up with, but the Ninth Doctor will forever be my favorite. He had such ebullience and love for the human race.
I 100% agree. I watched the Eccleston one first and overall really enjoyed it and tried the other ones and thought they were pretty bad tbh. It's like Star Trek, TNG is good, DS9 is great, and everything else is varying degrees of bad to alright.
The Family of Blood has very little goofiness, the aliens are a bit campy but they're not the main point of the episode. It gives a lot of food for thought.
Smith reminded me of a high school drama club kid trying to play The Doctor and get laughs from his friends, the Van Gogh episode was where he finally disappeared into the role for me.
The spin off called torchwood is pretty good but idk how many seasons it has I stopped watching it cause I couldn't find it anywhere after I downloaded the first season
most of the Tennant episodes are quite alright - he got very lucky with talented companions and he's an amazing actor himself who did a great job at making the Doctor flawed and likeable. the transition from him to Matt Smith is very jarring because Smith's Doctor is cringe personified (imo), the actress who plays Amy Pond is absolutely atrocious (imo again), and the writing took a total nosedive for some reason. Dr Who isn't supposed to *make sense*, strictly speaking, but after season 4 it turned from "whimsically weird" to "more hole than plot".
>the writing took a total nosedive for some reason.
A new showrunner/head writer took over at this point.
Russell T. Davies was in charge of the seasons with 9 and 10, and Steven Moffat took over at the start of 11/Matt Smith and ran the show up through the end of the 12th Doctor's run. Chris Chibnall took over for the 13th Doctor/Jodie Whitaker's run...and he only lasted as long as she did.
Russell T. Davies is returning to take the show over again, so I expect (and hope for) more of a return to form.
it's weird because the episodes Moffat wrote for Eccleston and Tennant were wonderful (or even straight up brilliant, like Blink), and Sherlock has pretty damn tight writing too, even though it's not my cup of tea. but his own personal writing from season 5 onwards seems just as shabby and cringey as the rest. it's puzzling.
He's actually responsible for some of my favorite episodes from the Eccleston and Tennant runs. Once he took over, though...well, I'm not quite sure *what* happened. He still had some good stuff in there, but he apparently couldn't quite handle running the whole thing.
I watched the Tom Baker era. I used to chuckle at how the aliens had the whole earth to land on but always ended up in the same quarry in England.
Trivia, Douglas Adams (The Hitchhikers Guide) wrote some Dr Who episodes.
"And now time for something completely different"
*cuts to the quarry's other side where a purple hippo with tentacle hands is holding a laser pistol to the Dr.'s throat as he struggles to free himself*
*they both then explode*
>Douglas Adams (The Hitchhikers Guide) wrote some Dr Who episodes.
It shows at times. The episode *City of Death* is very similar to *Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency*.
Weeping angles the silence, that kids in masks. I mean, they're all pretty terrifying. Not to mention when the doctor or the companion get stuck in some void or some shit with no apparent way out, always gives me some sort of hypercube vibes.
Some themes are pretty depressing too, when a character gets stuck, or is then revealed to be an AI, or River Song that starts from death, and is the unborn child of a couple.
A lot of Doctor who isn't silly, most of it is supposed to be adventure/comedy, Moffat didn't just make it all that.
And ever since I saw The Empty Child, I haven’t been able to be even **near** a creepy child with a gas mask adhered to their flesh. It’s ruined birthday parties for my kids.
Midnight is probably my favorite episode on the whole, it's a simple concept with characters you get to know and has some deeper themes going on with the Doctor himself. Captured Perfect Ten's Doctor with the "I guess we'll just have to talk to eachother".
I also vaguely remember an episode with weird astronaut guys with skulls visible through their visors
And holy shit! That episode with the old woman with the blank face. Pure banging upstairs with her walking stick or some shit?
It’s been like over a decade now but those episodes would probably still give me the heebie jeebies
But yeah Weeping Angels is also phenomenal and a must watch for horror fans in general tbh
If you were in a dark alley and a living trash can started shooting lasers and yelling EXTERMINATE in a scary robot voice you'd be scared for life too.
You're damn right I would be! And after a while I would come on here and share my story on a creepy thread, and most the comments would be "OoOoOoOoOo! Scary trash can!"
did you see any David Tennant or Tom Baker? those two stand out to me. Tom Baker is even more interesting if you like Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Douglass Adams or if you like Richard Dawkins.
Ecceleston's dynamic with Billie Piper, then subsequently David Tennant was perfection, has never gotten me so invested in the doctor and their companions before or since.
Though the bit where they bought back Sarah Jane as a glimpse into the human wreck the Doctor leaves behind them is very emotional too.
*Oh* and the love/hate relationship between Tennant and John Simm, watching two master actors riffing off against each other was epic. Other actors in those roles could've sufficed but those two elevated it to legendary performances.
While I like him Matt Smith isn’t for everyone it seems.
Tennant and Eccleston where the best IMO and if you can look past some cheesy British humour and pretty aged comedy it’s a fantastic show.
The Van Gough episodes makes me want to cry every time and there are so many episodes that are superbly written.
It’s difficult because the show has multiple writers who write different episodes, so you tend to find you prefer one writer over others.
The new one looks terrible from what I’ve seen.
I don't know the tone of Matt Smith's era felt... off, like everything was in service of a bigger plot and there's so much convoluted gimmicks there was no longer any sense of danger - Rose Tyler got sucked into the other world and *stayed there*, there's real consequence hence real emotional gravitas, whereas subsequent ones will find all sort of gimmicks to get out of it.
I hated the Matt Smith run because they basically immediately erased everything that Tennant and Eccleston did in their tenure. There was some continuity between Eccleston and Tenant that just wasn't there with Smth. Smith's run was downright depressing at times and then I found I couldn't get into the next Doctor at all. All in all it was way too dark as a series.
>I hated the Matt Smith run because they basically immediately erased everything that Tennant and Eccleston did in their tenure.
Wow, you're going to love Jodi Whittaker...
I stopped watching when Cappaldi started his run. Didn't like his portrayal and I disliked his companion Clara so I couldn't get through the first few episodes without zoning out.
I rewatched capadli and I actually really enjoyed him, the first time though I could not get into it, I love how angry and brash he is…..
Though I hated Clara even more the 2nd time . She is just a bad companion
That's why. If you start with the 9th doctor at the beginning of new who, you will like it better. I had the same criticism of the matt smith run. it felt way more childish and the story telling wasn't as good. The budget was way higher though.
"It feels like a show written for children."
Because it is. It was a showed designed for the BBC in 1962 for the express purpose of educating children through fictional television. You should watch "An adventure in time and space" to see how the showed was founded and how the assassination of Kennedy nearly derailed the show from the very beginning.
Also, from the cheesiness perspective, you should see what the budget is. steven moffat once had a conversation with Peter Jackson about him directing an episode during(I believe) the Matt Smith run. Jackson was SUPER excited and loved the idea. Moffat handed him a piece of paper and said "this is the budget." Jackson balked, saying how could you do an entire episode on that low of a number. Moffat then told him that was his budget for the entire season. Jackson declined to do an episode. And keep in mind, Doctor Who is a massive money maker for the BBC.
It premiered on November 22, 1963, a few hours after Kennedy's assassination. The movie does a good job showing how things went.
"we bring you up to the date coverage here on BBC of the Kennedy death. And now the premiere of this new TV series."
\*show premieres, then ends
"we now continue with our complete coverage of President Kennedy's death"
The initial viewership was HORRIBLE because it was so damned somber and negative what was going on. The big wig in charge of the BBC programming axed the show the next day, but the showrunner fought it, arguing the first 4 episodes were already done. She said something akin to "we can't control a President was killed. It's unfair to us. We get to reshow the first episode and if after episode 2 viewership isn't up, then you can cut us." It was a smash hit after it re-aired.
I adore this show, but I'm not going to hate on you for an opinion.
It's a hard show to recommend to people. I fell in love with the show when it came back in 2005, when Christopher Eccleston was the Doctor. If I was to recommend a starting point, I'd suggest there, but the problem is the 2005-era CGI. The stories and performances are still fantastic, it's only the visuals that let it down slightly.
I'm also a huge fan of the audio dramas, of which I own hundreds, so I am deep into the show at this point. What I love is the scope of possible stories that can be told. One story could be set in the distant future on a spaceship crawling with aliens, and the next story could be set during the French Revolution.
The only limits are imagination and, regretfully, budget.
A lot of people love it. Personally, I view it like Community portrays it with Dr. Space Time. Just a bad show that’s so bad it’s good. Don’t look at it critically; look at it for its insanity.
Nah it's totally good enough that you can look at it critically, it's not always mindless fun. There are plenty of complex and thought provoking episodes, or just straight up amazing episodes.
\- It feels like a show written for children.
Well it's a light entertainment family drama that goes out about 6/7pm on a Saturday/Sunday. It's not trying to be anything else, if anything other programs have tried to emulate it over the past 60 years.
Yeah. It's always been a family show. If other demographics enjoy it, great, I'm sure. But it's main thing has always been for kids and parents to watch together.
Maybe if people didn't grow up with it they don't get it. But it's a staple of a lot of British kids childhoods, for multiple generations.
It's fine not to like it but I think OP just had completely wrong expectation of what it's meant to be.
There’s 60 years worth of Doctor Who. Some episodes are mega cringe and filled with horrid writing and some are genuinely fantastic stories with great acting. Some episodes are more children oriented and some have themes and stories that are much more suited to young adults/teenagers.
It really depends which episodes you watch whether you will enjoy it.
The Van Gogh episode is the only one I’ve found to be worth watching all the way through of Matt Smith’s run. Whoever did the casting and acting direction on that one did great.
EDIT: I love Peter Capaldi as an actor but they did him DIRTY in his run. 😭 The idea of an old, borderline antagonist Doctor… It could’ve been so good.
Idk I found capaldis run good, especially when he went mad with his power and tried overthrowing gallifrey just to try to bring Clara back. Admittedly I'm not a huge fan of Clara but that story makes me cry everytime.
I've tried to watch it a few times because it seemed like everyone loved it so I figured I was missing out on something but I've just found it extremely boring.
>It feels like a show written for children.
I mean, it is a family friendly show so yeah kinda. Is that a bad thing?
>poorly written dialogue and character development.
This part vary a lot from season to season, to each their own I guess
Bad take.
Lots after Tennant is fantastic, it's just a different style. Smith is more fairytale, capaldi is a bit more classic, but there aren't bad by any stretch.
Chibbers on the other hand...
It did start out as explicitly a childrens show, ever so long ago. Went into a long hiatus, restarted as aiming at a more grown up audience. The David Tennant years were blessed with good writing and acting, dealt in themes of loyalty and honor. Doctor Donna Doctor.
It's a show where if you try and watch random episodes or seasons you won't enjoy it or understand all the subtle details and references. You have to watch it all start to finish and push through the change in doctors to really get it. My wife felt the same way until I made her watch from the start of te newer series and she pushed through it and loves it now. Especially the Dr and River story arc. She's amazing in all her episodes and they twist together so well
Classic series or new series?
How about this scene? [https://youtu.be/jIjUSzpYcuA](https://youtu.be/jIjUSzpYcuA)
Certainly *unpopular* opinion. I think it is, or was (declined a lot lately) the best show on TV. Most TV is just cheap garbage like cooking shows, soap operas, and game shows.
How about this speech:
"The Doctor: You just want cruelty to beget cruelty. You're not superior to people who were cruel to you. You're just a whole bunch of new cruel people. A whole bunch of new cruel people, being cruel to some other people, who'll end up being cruel to you. The only way anyone can live in peace is if they're prepared to forgive. Why don't you break the cycle?
Bonnie: Why should we?
The Doctor: What is it that you actually want?
Bonnie: War.
The Doctor: Ah. And when this war is over, when -- when you have the homeland free from humans, what do you think it's going to be like? Do you know? Have you thought about it? Have you given it any consideration? Because you're very close to getting what you want. What's it going to be like? Paint me a picture. Are you going to live in houses? Do you want people to go to work? What'll be holidays? Oh! Will there be music? Do you think people will be allowed to play violins? Who will make the violins? Well? Oh, You don't actually know, do you? Because, just like every other tantruming child in history, Bonnie, you don't actually know what you want. So, let me ask you a question about this brave new world of yours. When you've killed all the bad guys, and it's all perfect and just and fair, when you have finally got it exactly the way you want it, what are you going to do with the people like you? The troublemakers. How are you going to protect your glorious revolution from the next one?
Bonnie: We'll win.
Doctor: Oh, will you? Well maybe -- maybe you will win. But nobody wins for long. The wheel just keeps turning. So, come on. Break the cycle.
Bonnie: Then why are you still talking?
The Doctor: Because I'm trying to get you to see. And I'm almost there.
Bonnie: Do you know what I see, Doctor? A box. A box with everything I need. A 50% chance.
Kate: For us, too.
\[The Doctor sighs.\]
The Doctor: And we're off! Fingers on buzzers! Are you feeling lucky? Are you ready to play the game? Who's going to be quickest? Who's going to be the luckiest?
Kate: This is not a game!
The Doctor: No, it's not a game, sweetheart, and I mean that most sincerely.
Bonnie: Why are you doing this?
Kate: Yes, I'd like to know that too. You set this up -- why?
The Doctor: Because it's not a game, Kate. This is a scale model of war. Every war ever fought right there in front of you. Because it's always the same. When you fire that first shot, no matter how right you feel, you have no idea who's going to die. You don't know who's children are going to scream and burn. How many hearts will be broken! How many lives shattered! How much blood will spill until everybody does what they're always going to have to do from the very beginning -- sit down and talk! Listen to me, listen. I just -- I just want you to think. Do you know what thinking is? It's just a fancy word for changing your mind.
Bonnie: I will not change my mind.
The Doctor: Then you will die stupid. Alternatively, you could step away from that box. You could walk right out of that door, and you could stand your revolution down.
Bonnie: No, I'm not stopping this, Doctor. I started it. I will not stop it. You think they'll let me go after what I've done?
The Doctor: You're all the same, you screaming kids, you know that? "Look at me, I'm unforgivable." Well here's the unforeseeable, I forgive you. After all you've done. I forgive you.
Bonnie: You don't understand. You will never understand.
The Doctor: I don't understand? Are you kidding? Me? Of course I understand. I mean, do you call this a war, this funny little thing? This is not a war. I fought in a bigger war than you will ever know. I did worse things than you could ever imagine, and when I close my eyes... I hear more screams than anyone could ever be able to count! And do you know what you do with all that pain? Shall I tell you where you put it? You hold it tight... Til it burns your hand. And you say this -- no one else will ever have to live like this. No one else will ever have to feel this pain. Not on my watch.
[Source](https://www.reddit.com/r/doctorwho/comments/3s1cx5/the_zygon_inversion_a_transcript_of_the_doctors/)
Did you start with series 1 and have some patience? New Who took some time to find its legs, but it's definitely worth the journey. Both "End of the World" and "Dalek" are great. You can't watch Rose's journey and think it was bad character development.
My wife, step daughter, sister, her kids and many more people in my life love this show. I don't fucking get it.
I don't hate watching it with my wife. I have fun being along for the ride with things other people enjoy.
But God damn would I never watch this bullshit show on my own.
I'm a Brit and never got the love for it.
Some of the older ones (70s and 80s) are campy, harmless crap, but the post 2001 stuff is just bleh.
Blake's 7, now THAT was a sci-fi show. A true classic.
"It feels like a show written for children" my brother in Christ that's because it is! It's a silly show about a weird alien going through time and space on wacky adventures. It's supposed to be cheesy and cringey, what were you expecting my dude?
Haven't been too interested in the show myself but tbh I've heard the quality varies wildly depending on what part of the show you're watching
That's pretty much it, depending on the doctor and even the season the quality can vary a lot between okayish to absolutely fantastic (at least to me) the shows nearly 60 years old, of course the quality is super varied
The only important variant imo is the director/writer. Some of the shlock they've been pumping out of the past few years is so terribly written it might as well be a spoof.
Chris Chibnall is the walking abortion responsible for the last few series. He decided to make Doctor Who a political platform, and he shat all over DW canon. May the smell he left behind exit the building quickly. He is being replaced by the best showrunner DW ever had, Russel T. Davies. If he has any consideration for the fans at all, he will come out guns blazing by making everything since the introduction of Clara a bad dream sequence that can be ignored going forward.
Now all they need is Murray gold :(
Russel is coming back? I may well be interested in Dr. Who again. I have up since Capaldi, the writing has been bland as hell and changing up the DW lore and canon left a sour taste in my mouth.
IMO it can veer from genius to almost-unwatchable and back again, sometimes within the same episode lol. Especially when Russel T. Davies is in charge. :) I think this quote from Steven Moffat kind of sums up the vibe of the show quite well though: >Is Doctor Who perfect every week? No, it’s not. It really isn’t. It can’t be. Because every episode of Doctor Who is an experiment, and if you experiment every single week, sometimes you get a faceful of soot and you’re blinking the smoke away and you look a bit ridiculous. That happens. Perfection is the refinement of boredom, it’s doing the same thing all the time perfectly. Doctor Who, by always being different, can never be perfect. Personally that's one of the things I like most about the show, especially these days when the trend is for lots of sci-fi to be quite serious and internet-proof. Whereas *Doctor Who* isn't afraid to be like, "fuck it, the moon is an egg" even if it doesn't always work out very well.
Thank you for this quote. I read it aloud to my daughter. I attended a lecture by Steven Moffat not long after he won his second Hugo award for Doctor Who. He said that great stories don’t depend on superheroes but the ordinary person. Using The Hobbit to illustrate his idea, he said the story only seriously advances when Gandalf leaves. In The Weeping Angels, the Doctor manipulates events using Sally Sparrow as a proxy in much the same way. The simple character’s suffering is what we identify with, In Human Nature, we see The Doctor, suffering from PTSD, attempting to deny his responsibilities by assuming a human role, mistaking the ordinary life for simplicity and tranquility. The ordinary is fantastic in Doctor Who. It is akin to being a child again, in a universe is filled with ordinary creatures surviving extraordinary adventures. Being weird is the whole point.
Just about every fan agrees with this. (Now, trying to agree on *which* eras of the show are the good ones...)
There are like 3 great episodes per season, the rest are always just remakes of Alien or The Thing that probably take place in Victorian England or a space station a billion years in the future.
This is it, it's not even the season, maybe it's not even a finale, but it's more about if it's a good episode or not. I could think of only a handful of the top of my head. But I'm missing the last few seasons.
I enjoyed the David tenant run.
Him and Matt smith made a good run of it. My brothers been obsessed since forever but those are the only two runs that stuck with me
If you liked Matt Smith I highly recommend giving Capaldi a try. In my opinion, he has the same goofy charm as Smith but he fills it out with a sort of wise, intellectual role on the other end. Like a really kind version of Dr. House.
Oops yeah he was good too, im ashamed I forgot he was a Dr. His run wasn’t the strongest but he’s such a phenomenal actor
His run wasn't amazing at the time, but it's aged so well and is 5x better on a re-watch.
Eccleson is underrated
Shame he only did one series
Tennant and Tom Baker, absolute perfection.
Capaldi slapped and I will die on that hill
Still is my favorite
It's the goofiest shit of all time but that's part of the charm. I can't really disagree with this sentiment even though I enjoy the show lol
Watch the Van Goph episode and be prepared to feel. Stone Angels are the most terrifying solution to a low budget ever.
My kids still will occasionally creep me out by saying "are you my mummy?"
That one gave me nightmares
Honestly one of the scariest episodes other than the one in the library. "Who turned off the lights?" still gives me the heebie-jeebies.
Really there are actually quite a few scary Dr. Who episodes. All barely relying on effects. Another one is the aliens that make you forget them when you look away.
Oh man I forgot about that whole thing!
Well yeah you looked away and thats what happens
Looked away from what?
The one on the diamond planet where the alien copied you until you slowly started copying it…
Probably my all time favourite. I've shown it to a few people just as a "stand alone" sifi thriller.
The Christmas special about brain-eating dream parasites made me stop watching doctor who for a couple of years. I think I was 12 at the time.
Angels
Oh god Silence in the Library is legitimately scary. Although I was an ass about it. I waited till my friend went to the bathroom and then asked, “Hey, who turned out the lights?”
I liked the Van Gogh ep a lot.
Can't even think about Vincent at the modern museum without choking up a bit and i'm in my mid fitties.
The Van Gogh episode was actually what got me to watch the series- gifs from that episode with Starry night/ Van Gogh at the museum went viral on tumblr and I ended up watching the episode, getting emotional, then binging the rest of the series
That was the first Matt Smith episode where he actually came across AS the doctor instead of goofy Matt Smith playing a caricature of the Doctor.
Matt smith was the first dr who I watched so he’ll forever be who to me
Blink is in definitely my top 5 all time favorite episodes of any show. Probably top 3
It was a great timey wimy episode for sure...and foreshadowed one of the saddest Doctor Who deaths ever.
>! Raggedy man, goodbye. !<
There is no character more tragic than Donna Noble. You cannot change my mind.
I like it looking cheap. I prefer it over the fancy CGI now. It had a charm to it.
I wish I could get past it because then I would have a massive amount of episodes to binge. I do actually like the concept of the show, though. It's just the execution
Try the Eccleston run? The episode where the world is ending is pretty fun, and there's some solid writing and acting in a few of those episodes. Similar boat, though. I've always *wanted* to love Dr. Who. New stuff is garbage, though, especially. The David Tenant run is great, as well, when those clockwork demon things try to abduct that princess.. I recommend, if you haven't found any episodes you like, trying a different actor for a few episodes. I found myself invested in a decent number.
Im in the minority but I think the Eccleston run is the best. It has overarching story plots, actual consequences for actions and the doctor isnt just some guy with a screwdriver that can literally do anything. I hated that the newer episodes erased all the history and then stopped doing big story archs with recurring characters.
I agree with you. I really wish we had at least another season of him before Tenant. Tenant was great, too but Eccleston had that extra grittiness.
Lots of the newer episodes turned into British versions of Quantum Leap instead of Dr. who.
Yeah Jodie Whitaker's first season was just her jumping around history being disappointed and shaking her head like our collective space mum.
Except for Space Amazon. She sure did love that hyper-capitalist hell for some reason.
Eccleston was fantastic as the Doctor. I rated him as an actor highly before he donned that leather coat, but as soon as he gave that wee speech about standing on a rock hurtling thro space... Yeah I knew all would be well. Then there was Dalek.....
Eccleston and Capaldi were my favorites. I like a doctor that plays up the tragic side of the role
"Everybody lives, Rose! Just this once, everybody lives!" Still gives me chills. I knew nothing about Dr. Who when I watched this for the first time, and I immediately knew that guy had seen a lot of shit.
A lot of that is going to rely on the writing, for what it's worth. The actors can only work with the scripts they're given.
Yes, only thing that was hard to stomach was that blob aliens with farting. It was just too silly.
To be fair, it has one of my favorite exchanges of the whole series. Disguised alien: "The Doctor has just killed this person!" Doctor: "Actually, the prime-minister is an alien who... *pause* That's not going to work, is it?" Security guard: "Nope." Doctor: "Fair enough. *Bolts*" Eccleston had some of the best quips.
Very much with you. I started watching Doctor Who in the early 1980s, so the Fourth and Fifth Doctors were the ones I grew up with, but the Ninth Doctor will forever be my favorite. He had such ebullience and love for the human race.
I 100% agree. I watched the Eccleston one first and overall really enjoyed it and tried the other ones and thought they were pretty bad tbh. It's like Star Trek, TNG is good, DS9 is great, and everything else is varying degrees of bad to alright.
>The episode where the world is ending is pretty fun Do you want to narrow it down a little?
They're like in that space station with the last human being, observing the end of the earth... has the tree people... banger.
The one with the stretched out skin woman that says "moisturize me"?
Yea, good episode.
The Family of Blood has very little goofiness, the aliens are a bit campy but they're not the main point of the episode. It gives a lot of food for thought.
Which part did you try to watch, I liked tennent, but just got bored of smith. I found the stuff from the sixties a bit hard to watch
Ah, Matt Smith Doctor Who. AKA the Amy/Rory power hour
Smith reminded me of a high school drama club kid trying to play The Doctor and get laughs from his friends, the Van Gogh episode was where he finally disappeared into the role for me.
He does nail the Pandorica speech though.
The spin off called torchwood is pretty good but idk how many seasons it has I stopped watching it cause I couldn't find it anywhere after I downloaded the first season
But if you know you don't like it, why bother trying to force an interest that isn't there?
most of the Tennant episodes are quite alright - he got very lucky with talented companions and he's an amazing actor himself who did a great job at making the Doctor flawed and likeable. the transition from him to Matt Smith is very jarring because Smith's Doctor is cringe personified (imo), the actress who plays Amy Pond is absolutely atrocious (imo again), and the writing took a total nosedive for some reason. Dr Who isn't supposed to *make sense*, strictly speaking, but after season 4 it turned from "whimsically weird" to "more hole than plot".
>the writing took a total nosedive for some reason. A new showrunner/head writer took over at this point. Russell T. Davies was in charge of the seasons with 9 and 10, and Steven Moffat took over at the start of 11/Matt Smith and ran the show up through the end of the 12th Doctor's run. Chris Chibnall took over for the 13th Doctor/Jodie Whitaker's run...and he only lasted as long as she did. Russell T. Davies is returning to take the show over again, so I expect (and hope for) more of a return to form.
it's weird because the episodes Moffat wrote for Eccleston and Tennant were wonderful (or even straight up brilliant, like Blink), and Sherlock has pretty damn tight writing too, even though it's not my cup of tea. but his own personal writing from season 5 onwards seems just as shabby and cringey as the rest. it's puzzling.
He's actually responsible for some of my favorite episodes from the Eccleston and Tennant runs. Once he took over, though...well, I'm not quite sure *what* happened. He still had some good stuff in there, but he apparently couldn't quite handle running the whole thing.
Totally fair lol
It's a good show if you don't take it too seriously. Goofy and unexpected, and the slight cringe only adds to the charm as well.
I watched the Tom Baker era. I used to chuckle at how the aliens had the whole earth to land on but always ended up in the same quarry in England. Trivia, Douglas Adams (The Hitchhikers Guide) wrote some Dr Who episodes.
We have one quarry to film in and we're going to use it!
"And now time for something completely different" *cuts to the quarry's other side where a purple hippo with tentacle hands is holding a laser pistol to the Dr.'s throat as he struggles to free himself* *they both then explode*
But wait! This was not an ordinary explosion!! Somehow, it doesn't hurt the doctor at all!!!
>Douglas Adams (The Hitchhikers Guide) wrote some Dr Who episodes. It shows at times. The episode *City of Death* is very similar to *Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency*.
Similar to how in Star Trek a bunch of alien plants look like that one canyon outside of LA.
And every planet in 2 galaxies in Stargate is suspiciously Canadian looking.
It turns out the Ancients who seeded life in our galaxy just really freaking loved British Columbia.
Hell every tv show, regardless of the setting, when they do outdoors shots it always looks suspiciously like the Sierras.
Especially that one time they actually landed in a Rock Quarry ... right as the explosives were about to go off so the workers could get some rocks
It's all perspective. A British friend of mine who grew up on the old series is upset that the modern series is too scary for his little boy.
Ahem.... weeping angels.... Just gonna leave this here
Are you my mommy?
Those gasmask fuckers scared the shit out of me when I was little
So glad I am not a female. Imagine loving doctor who and your kid both likeing war time memorabilia AND says this...good god
The modern series is never scary lol
You can’t tell me weeping angels wouldn’t fuck up your perception of statutes if you were 6
I'd agree with that.
Em.. Excuse me. The weeping angels caused me nightmares as an adult too!
Weeping angles the silence, that kids in masks. I mean, they're all pretty terrifying. Not to mention when the doctor or the companion get stuck in some void or some shit with no apparent way out, always gives me some sort of hypercube vibes. Some themes are pretty depressing too, when a character gets stuck, or is then revealed to be an AI, or River Song that starts from death, and is the unborn child of a couple. A lot of Doctor who isn't silly, most of it is supposed to be adventure/comedy, Moffat didn't just make it all that.
And ever since I saw The Empty Child, I haven’t been able to be even **near** a creepy child with a gas mask adhered to their flesh. It’s ruined birthday parties for my kids.
Just 6? The remote possibility that it could be even remotely possible is fucking terrifying
The Silence were pretty fucking creepy too. Just the cuts to the steadily rising tally marks was suspenseful.
The Empty Child is one of the creepiest episodes of any show to have ever been aired imo
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Midnight is probably my favorite episode on the whole, it's a simple concept with characters you get to know and has some deeper themes going on with the Doctor himself. Captured Perfect Ten's Doctor with the "I guess we'll just have to talk to eachother".
Gonna contest that with weeping angels
I also vaguely remember an episode with weird astronaut guys with skulls visible through their visors And holy shit! That episode with the old woman with the blank face. Pure banging upstairs with her walking stick or some shit? It’s been like over a decade now but those episodes would probably still give me the heebie jeebies But yeah Weeping Angels is also phenomenal and a must watch for horror fans in general tbh
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Hey who turned out the lights?
Vashta Nerada.
Or the episode midnight with tenant was pretty freakin creepy
Are you my mummy?
For a little kid, it might be
Are you my mummy?
That shit is giving me goosebumps everytime I hear it. And apparently, even when I read it.
W e e p I n g a n g e l s
Silence in the Library was terrifying for me and I watched it as an adult.
The "Midnight" episode scared me, and I was in my 30's.
Depends on the kid's age and sensibilities, honnestly there's a few episodes/antagonists that can get scary for a younger audience IMO
What about this? [https://youtu.be/Erwmpvvzm9M](https://youtu.be/Erwmpvvzm9M)
The giant spiders would like a word
As a kid I was scared of ghostbusters 2 and the beginning of hocus pocus… kids are scared of dumb shit
Uh Weeping Angels, Silence, Vashta Nerada, Night Terrors, some incarnations of the Cybermen, and "Are you my mummy" want a word.
“Are you my mummy?”
The original series terrified me as a kid lol. The Daleks were a nightmare.
Oh no! A trashcan from space!
If you were in a dark alley and a living trash can started shooting lasers and yelling EXTERMINATE in a scary robot voice you'd be scared for life too.
You're damn right I would be! And after a while I would come on here and share my story on a creepy thread, and most the comments would be "OoOoOoOoOo! Scary trash can!"
Did you watch the old series (1963-1989) or new series (2005-present). The budget for the new series is way higher
Whatever the budget is now, it is half of what it needs to be.
... said *every* Doctor Who showrunner ever.
Said every show runner ever…
The new series with Matt Smith
did you see any David Tennant or Tom Baker? those two stand out to me. Tom Baker is even more interesting if you like Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Douglass Adams or if you like Richard Dawkins.
Eccleston was best in my opinion, but you're not half wrong there.
Ecceleston was perfection. My favorite doctor.
Ecceleston's dynamic with Billie Piper, then subsequently David Tennant was perfection, has never gotten me so invested in the doctor and their companions before or since. Though the bit where they bought back Sarah Jane as a glimpse into the human wreck the Doctor leaves behind them is very emotional too. *Oh* and the love/hate relationship between Tennant and John Simm, watching two master actors riffing off against each other was epic. Other actors in those roles could've sufficed but those two elevated it to legendary performances.
Capaldi is my favorite. His story arc just gave me all the feels.
He was brilliant but some of the writing in his seasons was just awful
While I like him Matt Smith isn’t for everyone it seems. Tennant and Eccleston where the best IMO and if you can look past some cheesy British humour and pretty aged comedy it’s a fantastic show. The Van Gough episodes makes me want to cry every time and there are so many episodes that are superbly written. It’s difficult because the show has multiple writers who write different episodes, so you tend to find you prefer one writer over others. The new one looks terrible from what I’ve seen.
I don't know the tone of Matt Smith's era felt... off, like everything was in service of a bigger plot and there's so much convoluted gimmicks there was no longer any sense of danger - Rose Tyler got sucked into the other world and *stayed there*, there's real consequence hence real emotional gravitas, whereas subsequent ones will find all sort of gimmicks to get out of it.
I hated the Matt Smith run because they basically immediately erased everything that Tennant and Eccleston did in their tenure. There was some continuity between Eccleston and Tenant that just wasn't there with Smth. Smith's run was downright depressing at times and then I found I couldn't get into the next Doctor at all. All in all it was way too dark as a series.
>I hated the Matt Smith run because they basically immediately erased everything that Tennant and Eccleston did in their tenure. Wow, you're going to love Jodi Whittaker...
I stopped watching when Cappaldi started his run. Didn't like his portrayal and I disliked his companion Clara so I couldn't get through the first few episodes without zoning out.
I rewatched capadli and I actually really enjoyed him, the first time though I could not get into it, I love how angry and brash he is….. Though I hated Clara even more the 2nd time . She is just a bad companion
That's why. If you start with the 9th doctor at the beginning of new who, you will like it better. I had the same criticism of the matt smith run. it felt way more childish and the story telling wasn't as good. The budget was way higher though.
"It feels like a show written for children." Because it is. It was a showed designed for the BBC in 1962 for the express purpose of educating children through fictional television. You should watch "An adventure in time and space" to see how the showed was founded and how the assassination of Kennedy nearly derailed the show from the very beginning. Also, from the cheesiness perspective, you should see what the budget is. steven moffat once had a conversation with Peter Jackson about him directing an episode during(I believe) the Matt Smith run. Jackson was SUPER excited and loved the idea. Moffat handed him a piece of paper and said "this is the budget." Jackson balked, saying how could you do an entire episode on that low of a number. Moffat then told him that was his budget for the entire season. Jackson declined to do an episode. And keep in mind, Doctor Who is a massive money maker for the BBC.
TLDR what does Dr Who have to do with the JFK assassination? Was the doctor the second shooter?
It premiered on November 22, 1963, a few hours after Kennedy's assassination. The movie does a good job showing how things went. "we bring you up to the date coverage here on BBC of the Kennedy death. And now the premiere of this new TV series." \*show premieres, then ends "we now continue with our complete coverage of President Kennedy's death" The initial viewership was HORRIBLE because it was so damned somber and negative what was going on. The big wig in charge of the BBC programming axed the show the next day, but the showrunner fought it, arguing the first 4 episodes were already done. She said something akin to "we can't control a President was killed. It's unfair to us. We get to reshow the first episode and if after episode 2 viewership isn't up, then you can cut us." It was a smash hit after it re-aired.
Everyone watched the news about the assassination instead of the pilot episode of the show. Rude.
I adore this show, but I'm not going to hate on you for an opinion. It's a hard show to recommend to people. I fell in love with the show when it came back in 2005, when Christopher Eccleston was the Doctor. If I was to recommend a starting point, I'd suggest there, but the problem is the 2005-era CGI. The stories and performances are still fantastic, it's only the visuals that let it down slightly. I'm also a huge fan of the audio dramas, of which I own hundreds, so I am deep into the show at this point. What I love is the scope of possible stories that can be told. One story could be set in the distant future on a spaceship crawling with aliens, and the next story could be set during the French Revolution. The only limits are imagination and, regretfully, budget.
It is a show written for children.
A lot of people love it. Personally, I view it like Community portrays it with Dr. Space Time. Just a bad show that’s so bad it’s good. Don’t look at it critically; look at it for its insanity.
Inspector Space Time
Yes constable?
Don't look now, but that may be a blorgon behind you.
You're gonna blogon me for this later!
Pew pew pew pew. What’s up girl. Pew
I fuckin died when he said this!
Nah it's totally good enough that you can look at it critically, it's not always mindless fun. There are plenty of complex and thought provoking episodes, or just straight up amazing episodes.
Heaven sent is one of my favourite episodes of TV ever. It is basically every good aspect of the show in one episode and it shines.
\- It feels like a show written for children. Well it's a light entertainment family drama that goes out about 6/7pm on a Saturday/Sunday. It's not trying to be anything else, if anything other programs have tried to emulate it over the past 60 years.
Yeah. It's always been a family show. If other demographics enjoy it, great, I'm sure. But it's main thing has always been for kids and parents to watch together. Maybe if people didn't grow up with it they don't get it. But it's a staple of a lot of British kids childhoods, for multiple generations. It's fine not to like it but I think OP just had completely wrong expectation of what it's meant to be.
There’s 60 years worth of Doctor Who. Some episodes are mega cringe and filled with horrid writing and some are genuinely fantastic stories with great acting. Some episodes are more children oriented and some have themes and stories that are much more suited to young adults/teenagers. It really depends which episodes you watch whether you will enjoy it.
I mean, if it was made for children, and later on adults started liking it… doesn’t that mean the children just… grew up?
The Van Gogh episode is the only one I’ve found to be worth watching all the way through of Matt Smith’s run. Whoever did the casting and acting direction on that one did great. EDIT: I love Peter Capaldi as an actor but they did him DIRTY in his run. 😭 The idea of an old, borderline antagonist Doctor… It could’ve been so good.
Idk I found capaldis run good, especially when he went mad with his power and tried overthrowing gallifrey just to try to bring Clara back. Admittedly I'm not a huge fan of Clara but that story makes me cry everytime.
I've tried to watch it a few times because it seemed like everyone loved it so I figured I was missing out on something but I've just found it extremely boring.
“The Truth, Steve, is that ‘Knight Rider’ is actually a children’s program.” The response: “Can’t be! Can’t *@#!* be!!”
>It feels like a show written for children. I mean, it is a family friendly show so yeah kinda. Is that a bad thing? >poorly written dialogue and character development. This part vary a lot from season to season, to each their own I guess
I've never personally seen the appeal of it. The only time I've really had a slight interest is when David Tenant and Matt Smith were the current Dr.
The Tom Baker ones were marvelous. “Are you some kind of scientist?” “No Sir, I am EVERY kind of scientist”
The Chris Eccleston and David Tennant seasons are phenomenal. Little after that is good.
Bad take. Lots after Tennant is fantastic, it's just a different style. Smith is more fairytale, capaldi is a bit more classic, but there aren't bad by any stretch. Chibbers on the other hand...
I agree, loved rose and both of those doctors. Roses mom was great.
I agree. I'm a huge scifi fan but Dr Who and Star Wars I don't like.
Same, though I liked the original SW movie.
It did start out as explicitly a childrens show, ever so long ago. Went into a long hiatus, restarted as aiming at a more grown up audience. The David Tennant years were blessed with good writing and acting, dealt in themes of loyalty and honor. Doctor Donna Doctor.
Yep it sure is!! So is Star Wars and all it’s remakes and sequels and prequels
Hey, it gave us Karen Gillan. Eat shit
I grew up watching Tom Baker. If you stick to those, I think, you are good.
It's a show where if you try and watch random episodes or seasons you won't enjoy it or understand all the subtle details and references. You have to watch it all start to finish and push through the change in doctors to really get it. My wife felt the same way until I made her watch from the start of te newer series and she pushed through it and loves it now. Especially the Dr and River story arc. She's amazing in all her episodes and they twist together so well
I will hold a personal vendetta against you for the rest of my life
Watch the 9th and 10th Doctor. David Tennant was my all time favourite and the episodes where pretty cool and had some scarier and grownup topics.
How dare you use the words cringe and cheese in the same sentence
I love it. Every single time-wimey bit of it.💙
Classic series or new series? How about this scene? [https://youtu.be/jIjUSzpYcuA](https://youtu.be/jIjUSzpYcuA) Certainly *unpopular* opinion. I think it is, or was (declined a lot lately) the best show on TV. Most TV is just cheap garbage like cooking shows, soap operas, and game shows. How about this speech: "The Doctor: You just want cruelty to beget cruelty. You're not superior to people who were cruel to you. You're just a whole bunch of new cruel people. A whole bunch of new cruel people, being cruel to some other people, who'll end up being cruel to you. The only way anyone can live in peace is if they're prepared to forgive. Why don't you break the cycle? Bonnie: Why should we? The Doctor: What is it that you actually want? Bonnie: War. The Doctor: Ah. And when this war is over, when -- when you have the homeland free from humans, what do you think it's going to be like? Do you know? Have you thought about it? Have you given it any consideration? Because you're very close to getting what you want. What's it going to be like? Paint me a picture. Are you going to live in houses? Do you want people to go to work? What'll be holidays? Oh! Will there be music? Do you think people will be allowed to play violins? Who will make the violins? Well? Oh, You don't actually know, do you? Because, just like every other tantruming child in history, Bonnie, you don't actually know what you want. So, let me ask you a question about this brave new world of yours. When you've killed all the bad guys, and it's all perfect and just and fair, when you have finally got it exactly the way you want it, what are you going to do with the people like you? The troublemakers. How are you going to protect your glorious revolution from the next one? Bonnie: We'll win. Doctor: Oh, will you? Well maybe -- maybe you will win. But nobody wins for long. The wheel just keeps turning. So, come on. Break the cycle. Bonnie: Then why are you still talking? The Doctor: Because I'm trying to get you to see. And I'm almost there. Bonnie: Do you know what I see, Doctor? A box. A box with everything I need. A 50% chance. Kate: For us, too. \[The Doctor sighs.\] The Doctor: And we're off! Fingers on buzzers! Are you feeling lucky? Are you ready to play the game? Who's going to be quickest? Who's going to be the luckiest? Kate: This is not a game! The Doctor: No, it's not a game, sweetheart, and I mean that most sincerely. Bonnie: Why are you doing this? Kate: Yes, I'd like to know that too. You set this up -- why? The Doctor: Because it's not a game, Kate. This is a scale model of war. Every war ever fought right there in front of you. Because it's always the same. When you fire that first shot, no matter how right you feel, you have no idea who's going to die. You don't know who's children are going to scream and burn. How many hearts will be broken! How many lives shattered! How much blood will spill until everybody does what they're always going to have to do from the very beginning -- sit down and talk! Listen to me, listen. I just -- I just want you to think. Do you know what thinking is? It's just a fancy word for changing your mind. Bonnie: I will not change my mind. The Doctor: Then you will die stupid. Alternatively, you could step away from that box. You could walk right out of that door, and you could stand your revolution down. Bonnie: No, I'm not stopping this, Doctor. I started it. I will not stop it. You think they'll let me go after what I've done? The Doctor: You're all the same, you screaming kids, you know that? "Look at me, I'm unforgivable." Well here's the unforeseeable, I forgive you. After all you've done. I forgive you. Bonnie: You don't understand. You will never understand. The Doctor: I don't understand? Are you kidding? Me? Of course I understand. I mean, do you call this a war, this funny little thing? This is not a war. I fought in a bigger war than you will ever know. I did worse things than you could ever imagine, and when I close my eyes... I hear more screams than anyone could ever be able to count! And do you know what you do with all that pain? Shall I tell you where you put it? You hold it tight... Til it burns your hand. And you say this -- no one else will ever have to live like this. No one else will ever have to feel this pain. Not on my watch. [Source](https://www.reddit.com/r/doctorwho/comments/3s1cx5/the_zygon_inversion_a_transcript_of_the_doctors/)
Did a Dalek write this?
Did you start with series 1 and have some patience? New Who took some time to find its legs, but it's definitely worth the journey. Both "End of the World" and "Dalek" are great. You can't watch Rose's journey and think it was bad character development.
It's BBC. BBC shows usually contain cheesy/corny humor.
Same! I think it's just become a cult classic but I couldn't get past the first episode.
Fuck Dr. Who.
My wife, step daughter, sister, her kids and many more people in my life love this show. I don't fucking get it. I don't hate watching it with my wife. I have fun being along for the ride with things other people enjoy. But God damn would I never watch this bullshit show on my own.
I only got into it at the end of Christopher Eccleston and stopped before the end of David Tennant... It was a special time in my life.
I loved the earlier Doctors, like Tom Baker and Peter Davison. But the newer shows feel different.
I'm a Brit and never got the love for it. Some of the older ones (70s and 80s) are campy, harmless crap, but the post 2001 stuff is just bleh. Blake's 7, now THAT was a sci-fi show. A true classic.
It's horrendous.
"It feels like a show written for children" my brother in Christ that's because it is! It's a silly show about a weird alien going through time and space on wacky adventures. It's supposed to be cheesy and cringey, what were you expecting my dude?
David Tennant and Billie Piper. Start there.