Doctor Who General Discussion Thread

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by RubberBallMan, Apr 30, 2020.

  1. altaeria

    altaeria Forum Resident

    I didn't read this entire thread...
    but admitedly I am a bit surprised to see that so many people here are so interested in the villain from "King Kong Escapes".
     
  2. neo123

    neo123 Senior Member

    Location:
    Northern Kentucky
    I didn't religiously start to watch Doctor Who until the reboot with Eccleston's Doctor (still my 2nd favorite doctor of the reboot.) Though, when I was a kid in the '70s, I did catch some older Doctor Who episodes (some Black & White episodes and some in Color) on PBS (the Black & White episodes could've been color for all I know because I think some of the local PBS channels broadcasted in Black & White back then some.) I do remember a lot of Tom Baker's Doctor being shown on PBS back in the '70s. I specifically remember some episodes with the Daleks and some with K9.

    My overall favorite Doctor is still David Tennant. He brought enough quirkiness, silliness, seriousness, humor to the character without any of those traits overpowering the other traits. And when need be, he could pull of being a bada$$ in a convincing manner. I thought his stories were quite good too. When he became the Doctor after Eccleston, I didn't need any time to get adjusted to his Doctor. I felt he pulled off the transition quite well and better than any of the others. The only thing I wish differently was that he had a long-time companion throughout his time as the Doctor. Rose Tyler, I consider to be Eccleston's companion even though she was also with Tennant's briefly (Rose, by the way, is my 2nd favorite companion of the reboot.) I couldn't stand Martha Jones. Donna Noble took time to get used to, but once I did, I started to like her. Didn't like that fact her mom and grandfather tagged along sometimes, even though the grandfather played significant parts in some of the plots in some of the episodes and specials.

    With the 11th Doctor, Matt Smith, is my least favorite Doctor. I did not like his take on the Doctor. Too much of a goofball to be taken seriously and was not convincing as a tough Doctor like Eccleston and Tennant were. His goofiness and quirkiness, not to mention his silly grin and bow tie, defined him. They overpowered the times he needed to be taken seriously and needed to be a bada$$. In real life (if there were such a thing as a Doctor Who,) if Matt Smith's Doctor came running at me, waving a sonic screwdriver and threatening me, wearing the clothes he had on and with the goofy look on his face, I'd probably laugh in his face and smack him around some before he eventually would be able say "timey-wimey" and then disintegrate me with his sonic screwdriver. LOL (And, yes, I know Tennant's Doctor said "timey-wimey" too, but at least he didn't seem like a clown doing it, despite John Hurt's War Doctor's opinion of it.) The positives for Smith's Doctor's run did outweigh his bad take (IMO) on the Doctor. Those positives being having the best companions and having the best chemistry with those companion of the entire reboot so far. Also, Smith's Doctor had great stories (possibly the most consistently good stories of any of the Doctors during the reboot.) Amy Pond is my favorite Doctor companion (and the sexiest) and I thought she and Smith's Doctor worked great together. Rory, as the tag-along companion, also was pretty good. I liked River Song too. They all had great chemistry together. When Amy and Rory left and Clara came along, I was disappointed at first. Took me awhile to warm up to Clara. Clara was the cutest of the companions but she's ranks behind Amy and Rose, for me, as my third favorite primary companion. Just when I got really used to Clara and it seemed she started to click with Smith's Doctor, they had to regenerate the Doctor into the next Doctor.

    With the 12th Doctor, Peter Capaldi, he took a little time to warm up to. But I did like his take on the Doctor much, much better than Smith's, especially as time went on. Much more mature and could be taken seriously without laughing at him. He was convincing that he could take matters into his own hands when need be. The whole chemistry between the Doctor and Clara took on a whole new thing with Capaldi, which took time to get used to. (I couldn't stand Clara's boyfriend Danny Pink, though.) Capaldi's stories weren't nearly as good as Tennant's and Smith's. I wonder what Capaldi could've done with better stories. I think, acting-wise, Capaldi has been the best Doctor so far during the reboot, despite some of the crappy scripts that were given to him. Also, Capaldi's Doctor's dry humor was a breath of fresh air after the goofy take on the Doctor done by Smith. By Capaldi's second season as the Doctor, he and Clara started to click. But by the end of that season, out goes Clara. LOL. In comes Bill Potts for Capaldi's third season. Up to that point, Bill Potts was my least favorite companion of the reboot. Just did not like the character (nothing against the actress.)

    Jodie Whittaker's 13th Doctor definitely has had the worst stories and worst companions so far.Though, I did like Graham as a companion. The other two not so much, especially Ryan. The chemistry between the Doctor and her companions are almost non-existent too. Probably because, as someone else pointed out in this thread, a lot of screen time was given to the companions when the Doctor was nowhere to be seen, and vice versa. A lot of the times, the companions were alone and had to figure out stuff without any guidance from the Doctor. Maybe that was intentional by the writers. I don't know. Characters develop chemistry over time (if they don't click right away) by being together in a lot of scenes. Also, Jodie's Doctor's accent (and how fast she speaks) is really annoying to me too, especially the accent/dialect. How fast Matt Smith's Doctor spoke also bothered me, but at least his accent/dialect didn't. Jodie's take on the Doctor, I like better than Smith's, but she is well behind Tennant, Eccleston, and Capaldi for me. Her Doctor reminds me of someone who is very hyperactive, jacked up on caffeine, whose mind and mouth are moving faster than what most people can keep up with and understand what she's trying to do and say. I hope when the thirteenth series (her third) begins, it has better stories to see if Jodie can shine because she really couldn't do much with the crap that was given to her in her first two seasons. Also, looking forward to the new companions that she will have (will miss Graham but not Ryan.)


    So to summarize:

    Doctor rankings (of reboot): Tennant > Eccleston > Capaldi > Whittaker > Smith

    Primary companion rankings (of reboot): Amy (and by association, Rory and River Song) > Rose > Clara > Graham tied with Donna......(all the rest not worth mentioning again.)
     
    Last edited: May 26, 2021
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  3. Curveboy

    Curveboy Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York City
    Doctor rankings (of reboot): Tennant > Whittaker > Eccleston > Capaldi
    (Smith does not exist in my universe)
     
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  4. Andy Smith

    Andy Smith .....Like a good pinch of snuff......

    Well, he exists in mine. One of my absolute favourites (see earlier posts).

    Slow Wednesday. Found this while flicking around youtube. Not seen it in years. A great reminder.

     
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  5. JCRW

    JCRW Forum Resident

    As a kid I always questioned why The Doctor would become a veterinarian immediately afterwards LOL (from memory it seemed like PBS would show All Creatures Great And Small right after Doctor Who when Davison was in his tenure). It always seemed messed up watching Doctor Who in Canada, you never knew which doctor would appear. It would jump between Tom Baker, Davison and Colin Baker all the time.
     
  6. indigovic

    indigovic (Taylor’s Version)

    Location:
    North Bend, WA
    I assume you're talking about YTV? It wasn't as random as it may have seemed.

    In 1989, newer episodes (with Sylvester McCoy) ran on Sundays (moving to Saturdays in 1990), while "classic" episodes ran Monday through Friday, starting with William Hartnell and running pretty much in order (with gaps for the stories with missing episodes—and a few mistakes made in the running order).

    The thing that makes it look chaotic is that in 1991 they dropped the weekend slot and added an early slot on Monday through Friday, with McCoy again, while continuing the run through the classic package a few hours later (at that point, they were on Tom Baker).

    After finishing the McCoy run in the early slot, they switched it over to Pertwee, so at that point it was Pertwee in the early slot and Tom Baker in the later, though each of those runs was still (mostly) in the proper sequence. So eventually Tom regenerated, meaning you now had Pertwee in the early slot and Davison later, and then eventually Pertwee and Colin Baker.

    After they finished off Pertwee in the early slot, the early slot went away, and the later slot kept going through McCoy, then started over with Hartnell, ran through the full package again, then started a third full run, getting halfway through Pertwee before stopping in 1994.

    So the "main" slot just ran repeatedly through the full syndication package from start to finish, while the weekend/early slots ran first McCoy and later Pertwee.

    Full details at Airdates in Canada (YTV) - BroaDWcast .
     
    Last edited: May 26, 2021
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  7. tkl7

    tkl7 Agent Provocateur

    Location:
    Lewis Center, OH
    For me, it is 1. Capaldi 2. Eccleston 3. Smith 4. Tennant

    Whittaker too early to judge based on crap writing.
     
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  8. tkl7

    tkl7 Agent Provocateur

    Location:
    Lewis Center, OH
    Davison's first two seasons are pretty good, but the bottom falls out in his 3rd season.
     
  9. changeling69

    changeling69 WorldCitizen

    Location:
    Sydney Australia
    Regarding the original Dr Who show, I could hardly get what the Doctor was raving on about half the time :):).......and I've got a scientific mind to boot :):)
     
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  10. tkl7

    tkl7 Agent Provocateur

    Location:
    Lewis Center, OH
    Having his first episode written by Pip and Jane Baker didn't help. His first season is awful, maybe the worst season of the classic Who era.
     
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  11. beccabear67

    beccabear67 Musical omnivore.

    Location:
    Victoria, Canada
    I'd most like one full season of the following Doctors:

    1. Paul McGann (because he never even got one!)
    2. Sylvester McCoy
    3. Chris Eccleston
    4. Patrick Troughton

    A lot of the Matt Smith and Jody Whittaker shows have been way too much running around for no reason and exclaiming things.
     
  12. beccabear67

    beccabear67 Musical omnivore.

    Location:
    Victoria, Canada
    Jon Pertwee's Doctor was known for 'reversing the polarity' on everything and anything to instantly get out of a situation. It's all great until the Drashigs get loose though! :eek:
     
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  13. Curveboy

    Curveboy Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York City
    I mean...give the guy a series of tele-films at least!
     
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  14. JCRW

    JCRW Forum Resident

    Pretty sure I watched Doctor Who on PBS and maybe TVOntario... PBS would make sense as they showed All Creatures Great And Small in the 80's. It's been so long though... memory is hazy. I'm just happy I got to view the Tom Baker content along with the Davison timeline. Lost interest when Colin Baker jumped into the fold.
     
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  15. indigovic

    indigovic (Taylor’s Version)

    Location:
    North Bend, WA
    Ah... TVOntario’s schedule indeed looks pretty random. Looks like they would air a chunk of stories, then jump backward several years and run through a different chunk, then skip forward again...

    Airdates in Canada (TVOntario) - BroaDWcast

    “PBS” requires more info to research, as there were more than 100 different PBS affiliates airing the show, each on their own schedules. But if you know the station (or at least the market), you should be able to find it here: Airdates - BroaDWcast
     
    Last edited: May 26, 2021
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  16. JCRW

    JCRW Forum Resident

    I would guess it was PBS Buffalo (WNED): Airdates in Buffalo (WNED) - BroaDWcast
     
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  17. indigovic

    indigovic (Taylor’s Version)

    Location:
    North Bend, WA
    WNED has a longer and more complicated history than most. (In 1978, they were among the last broadcasters in the world to hold and transmit color tapes of some of the Pertwee episodes that no longer exist in full-quality/original color. If you happen to know somebody who may have recorded them, even in consumer off-air quality, those tapes may be useful!)

    From your description ("jumping between Tom Baker, Davison and Colin Baker") it sounds like you're talking about the late '80s, when they appear to be running repeating loops of the entire classic syndicated package, interrupting it whenever new episodes became available.

    For example, in November 1986, they were most of the way through Tom Baker when they stopped in the middle of the Key to Time storyline to air Colin Baker's debut story and first full season, plus the K-9 and Company pilot, and then (curiously) restarted the loop with Hartnell rather than finishing Tom Baker.

    A few months later, they interrupted the Hartnell run for Colin Baker's next season, but this time they picked up the loop with the Hartnells where they'd left off.

    Then they continued the loop again (with a couple of weird insertions—not uncommon during PBS fundraising periods) all the way through Tom Baker, when they interrupted the Key to Time yet again to run Sylvester McCoy's first season (minus his debut story, which they had already aired—twice—during those weird insertions I mentioned) but at least this time they went back and finished the Key to Time, and continued the loop all the way through McCoy's first season again before looping back to Hartnell.

    (They didn't air McCoy's second season when it became available—or ever, actually—and stopped airing Doctor Who altogether just weeks before McCoy's final season became available to US broadcasters.)
     
    Last edited: May 26, 2021
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  18. changeling69

    changeling69 WorldCitizen

    Location:
    Sydney Australia
    I remember the Daleks .. ...."destroy! destroy! destroy...":)
     
  19. changeling69

    changeling69 WorldCitizen

    Location:
    Sydney Australia
    The opening and closing music on the original Dr Who was spaced out stuff for its time :)
     
  20. indigovic

    indigovic (Taylor’s Version)

    Location:
    North Bend, WA
    I should add the list of episodes that no longer exist in the BBC archives in full-quality/original color:

    Doctor Who and The Silurians 1–7
    The Ambassadors of Death 2–7
    Terror of the Autons 1–4
    The Mind of Evil 1–6
    The Daemons 1–3 and 5
    The Time Monster 6
    Planet of the Daleks 3
    Invasion of the Dinosaurs 1

    (All of these currently exist with color that has been restored using a variety of different methods—including using color information extracted from off-air video recordings of WNED broadcasts!—but any off-air tapes of broadcasts of these episodes from 1978 or earlier—or original broadcast tapes, of course—may still be useful.)
     
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  21. tkl7

    tkl7 Agent Provocateur

    Location:
    Lewis Center, OH
    The one really needing help is Invasion of the Dinosaurs Episode 1.
     
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  22. will_b_free

    will_b_free Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boulder, CO
    Smith (the best know-it-all Doctor)
    Tennant (came close to being #1 but his Doctor’s manic highs and lows exhausted me)
    Eccleston (left too soon to judge completely, but liked what he did)
    Capaldi (miscast but tried his best and got in a few good episodes)
    Martin* (I want entire seasons of her please)
    Whittaker (not her fault that her Doctor is written as a clueless idiot, but she is right to leave)

    *if she turns out to be real.

    John Hurt should be in this list too but his story was very contained and of course he can’t come back, so I left him out.
     
  23. FACE OF BOE

    FACE OF BOE Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    You wouldn’t be able to secure Patrick Troughton for such a season.
     
  24. indigovic

    indigovic (Taylor’s Version)

    Location:
    North Bend, WA
  25. indigovic

    indigovic (Taylor’s Version)

    Location:
    North Bend, WA
    I’d say that would be second most needed, behind Mind of Evil 1.

    Many of the episodes listed above have had color recovered using a process called chromadot recovery, which is able to retrieve original color information, albeit with less-than-perfect saturation and other artifacts. They were able to use chromadot recovery on Invasion of the Dinosaurs 1, but due to issues with the source, the results were poorer than usual... but they’re at least good enough to be used as a basis for manual colorization (which hasn’t happened yet).

    Chromadot recovery couldn’t be used on Mind of Evil 1 at all; it was colorized manually without a true shot-for-shot color reference (though they did at least have color references via chromadot recovery from the other episodes in the serial, and from other sources like color photos taken during production).
     
    Last edited: May 27, 2021
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