RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Media The Official Doctor Who thread

for the most part I'm against such touch ups. I like when they clean up the color and adding the ships and finishing scenes impossible to do right in the 1970's worked for Star Wars. But with Star Trek it just looked weird. Because they still had so many cheesy looking things that the CGI seemed so out of place.

Yeah, I saw previews of how Original Trek looks fixed up and it did look wierd.

Old Dr. Who would look like shit if they tried to fix it up. Hope no one ever decides what a great idea that could be, because it won't be.

The simple fact is Star Wars already looked good due to its huge budget, so tarting it up was never gonna look wrong (except to nerds who cant accept anything other than the original).
With Trek and Who, the budgets (and technology) were just not there in the first place, so to try and tart them up would be like trying to turn a piece of string into a computer!

Be quiet you bald gaylord!

http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/?column=10

Wow, that guy is an idiot.
Firstly Davidson was in the 80s, not the 70s.
Secondly, why is it a surprise that an actor might improve with age?

finished year one and am on the finale for year 2. I hate to admit it but the Daleks are growing on me with their rage filled robot voices. I liked the argument between them and the Cybermen.
I really enjoyed the Ninth Doctor but I feel the Tenth is a bit more suited to the role. He just seems more willing to go along with it all. I love how he keeps treating those cheap cardboard 3D glasses as if they were real glasses while the world is being invaded.

44 years of Who?

done with year 2. excellent finale with the Cybermen and Daleks. Loved the Daleks in the air and Cybermen on the ground and then suddenly being sucked up into the Void.
They had a good way of getting rid of Rose. A nice happy ending, or happier than death and despair or a miserable existence. I liked how she got the life she would've wanted before she met the doctor (namely her dad).
I especially liked the twist ending with the bride. Few times have I seen such a shift between heavy sadness and lighthearted comedy.
I'll miss Rose, but it kind of makes sense. She was the audience surrogate that allowed us (new viewers) to get into the revived Doctor Who. Now that the show is firmly established the need for a surrogate is gone and it was fitting to send her off.

now watching the Runaway Bride Christmas Special. I wish American shows had Christmas Specials.
Very funny.

so let me ask you guys. overall if i'm loving the current show how much would I like the original run? I've read a lot of the history on wikipedia but that's not the same as watching the shows. So aside from the lower quality FX (which I never judge on older shows) is the storytelling quality the same? More importantly, is the humor the same?

Hey, Ray, how did you like the episode called " Father's Day" ?

That was the one where Rose saves her father from being killed... but, then, bad things begin to happen.

It is one of my very favorites new Who episodes.

Also: The Empty Child/ The Doctor Dances.

That two parter is simply awesome!

I believe the story quality changes somewhat from era to era, but the creative high point is generally considered the Douglas Adams/Tom Baker period. but everyone has their own personal favorites. Pro has a pretty good knowledge of some of the better episodes from each era.

Pro is very knowledgable on all eras of Doctor Who.

He has demonstrated this many times here.

I know a fair amount about Who, too, albiet with gaps in my knowledge of Who History.

The main thing other than the lower budget you might notice is the fact things were a lot more space based, and as such, the sets and the dialogue etc was a bit more cheesy (but in a good way).

The main criticism of the new run is that too much of it is on Earth in the modern day!

I liked Father's Day.
I loved Empty Child/Doctor Dances. Great scene with Jack and Rose atop the time ship in front of Big Ben. And I loved how the Doctor ordered the zombies to go to their room. And the ending where they danced was nice.

I just finished Runaway Bride. That was a lot of fun, especially the Tardis chasing the Taxi.

It does seem like each Doctor adds his own feel to the stories, which is good. I'm trying to download some of the Fourth Doctor's episodes now that I'm running out of the current series. I have no interest whatsoever in the Sixth though. He looks idiotic, I read that his is considered the worst era and his theme variation is annoying.

my understanding of the 6th Doc is that he was intended to be a screwed up regeneration, but he didn't go over very well (especially coming right after Davison's run, who was almost polar opposite in character) and didn't last too long. I think Nowie said though, that he's been getting some new appreciation recently as some fans are starting to appreciate what he was meant to be. I'm sure the outfit didn't help, though.

I avoided watching the sixth Doctor.

" Failed regeneration " describes him quite well.

I'm sure the outfit didn't help.

This.

Colin Baker's Doctor was ruined by the BBC's change in format for the show and JNT's terrible choice in costume and direction. Baker was supposed to be a mix of the Hartnell grumpiness and a bit of crazy. He's got some good episodes; but, like with Enterprise, the old fans didn't want anything new or different.

Actually one of his biggest problems was his surname.
Just about everyone automatically thought he would be the same as THE Baker, and he wasnt!

Army Of Ghosts part one

was just on and it was awesome!

Can't wait to see part two..

Except that it looks like something terrible will happen to Rose, from the preview of next week's episode.

Rose doesn't die.

Spoilers!

near the end of season 3. I thought it started a bit slow, but that's to be expected since the Doctor was "mourning" for Rose and was kind of cold towards Martha.
Things picked up with Gridlock. A whole life spent in traffic.
I like that they keep following up on the Face of Boe/New Earth story that started with rose and the Ninth Doctor watching the world end.
I really liked the Daleks in Manhatten storyline. Kind of tragic but it was nice that the Doctor was willing to forget all of his hatred in order to give his enemy a chance to be something better.
I loved the Family of Blood arc too. The Doctor's diary was neat, and I liked how in the end it turned out that he wasn't afraid of them but was hiding until they died as an act of mercy. I thought his punishment had a great ironic twist but the idea of the girl in the mirror will probably freak me out late one night when I go to the bathroom and see the slightest movement in the mirror.

I have several Tom Baker DVDs waiting for me at the library. Hopefully I'll enjoy those.

Ray, you will love the Tom Baker era!

My picks for best Tom Baker episodes:

Robots Of Death
Ark In Space
The Pirate Planet
The Invasion Of Time
Face Of Evil
Genesis Of The Daleks
The Brain Of Morbius
Pyramids Of Mars
The Hand Of Fear
The Talons of Weng - Chiang
The Ribos Operation
The Seeds Of Doom

Rayman, glad you are digging Who. As for the difference in the Classic and new stuff:

Aside from the F/X, the pacing is much slower, and the production values overall are slight at times. As long as you watch it for the character of The Doctor, and can digest that this was the show for its era, then I think there is plenty to like about Classic Who. And hey, catching a good buzz before you watch one doesn't hurt, either...

I would advise you start with Tom Baker's City of Death, written by Douglas Adams (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy). It's a simple, Earth-bound episode filmed on location in Paris, France. The wit is sharp, and the story tight enough to be good, silly enough to be Adams.

As far as the 4th Doctor/Tom Baker, I also recommend:

• Robot
  Robots of Death
  The Ribos Operation
  Talons of Weng-Chiang
  Hand of Fear
  The Brain of Morbius

Depending on how far back you want to go, check out the 3rd Doctor's Spearhead From Space. It's his first story, the first Who episode ever filmed in color, and bears a notable striking resemblance to the Eccleston opener Rose. Might be worth your time.

And, don't turn off of Colin Baker before you've tried him. He's not nearly as bad as fandom makes him out to be. The suit? Absurd. The actor? One of the best Doctors, in my opinion.

Also, if you're wanting to get a little Peter Davison/5th Doctor, then your library may have the new New Beginnings box set. It's the last two episodes of the 4th Doctor's run, and the first episode of the 5th Doctor...

Actually, the story is pretty weak. It's classic Adams, though. Fun, great dialogue, and whimsy about; but the story has several plot holes. The narrative form really wasn't Adams's strong suit.

Is the Doctor gay or is he normal?

I posted my best Jon Pertwee episode choices a while back, Ray, but here they are again:

Spearhead From Space
Inferno
Planet Of The Spiders
The Time Monster
Carnival Of Monsters
Time Warrior
The Three Doctors
The Mutants
Frontier In Space
Colony In Space
The Claws Of Axos
Terror Of The Autons
Day Of The Daleks

I agree there.

By this episode, the quality was beginning to really go.

This episode marks where it started.

I would recomend watching the whole "Key to Time" season to get a good insight into the 4th Doctor. I think Douglas Adams wrote two of the episodes (Pirate Planet and I can't remeber the other one). "Genesis of the Daleks" is also a good one. There is a cool moment where the Doctor has a choice whether or not to destroy evey Dalek that has ever lived...its good stuff

There is a great archive of cool Doctor who sound clips at this site: http://www.dwwa.net/

Here are a few more GREAT Tom Baker episodes:

Horror Of Fang Rock
The Deadly Assassin
The Sunmakers
Terror Of The Zygons

My best of Tom Baker list:

Robot - so-so however it's his debut, that is what makes it worth watching.

Genesis of the Daleks - the Time Lords send the Doctor on a mission to alter Dalek history and make them less violent. Many consider this the first strike of the Time war that happened off screen between the 8th and 9th Doctors.

The Face of Evil - the Doctor meets a new companion and fights an evil computer.

Robots of Death - the plot is ok, but the dialog is quite good.

The Invasion of Time - Great episode, one of the best of the best

The Androids of Tara - One of my all time favorite Doctor Who episodes ever.

City of Death - Douglas Adams, Tom Baker directs, a time traveling chicken, and a JOhn Cleese cameo.

The Creature From the Pit - A really fun episode. Doctor Who faithful will notice the old woman was also the old woman in part two and on of the very first episode starring William Hartnell as The Doctor.

You may also want to check out Legopolis. Tom Baker's final episode.

Zygons were spooky fucking bastards.

finished season 3. excellent finale. The Master being around for the entire season in the background was great. I liked the regeneration and Tardis theft. And the revelation at the end that Jack was the Face of Boe was good.
I found the Doctor's compassion for the Master to be moving. Even after being tortured for a year he wanted him to live, of course he also didn't want to be alone. But the whole forgivness line was very moving.

I got the Baker DVDs from the library. I read the back of the box to see which might be the most interesting to start on but it turns out they all revolve around the key of time so I'm watching it in order.

Didn't like the first serial, but the Pirate Planet one was decent. Very interesting concept. Baker is enjoyable and witty. It's interesting how you can see the same base qualities of the other Doctors in Baker's take on it.
It definitely has the feel of a children's show, with lots of fast plots and short 25 minute segments and little real attention to building characterization.
It's nowhere near as smart as the current show, and I feel that the low production values hinder the story by forcing them to stay in one place for several episodes instead of being able to change locales episode to episode and really utilize the Tardis' travel abilities. But it's still pretty fun, and I know that the older series was meant for kids so I can accept that. I really wish I had been able to watch it as a kid because i would've loved it and looked forward to it every week. I'm surprised I never did because I watched any sci-fi show that I came across but I only remember watching the 1996 movie.
I think I'll stick with it, see what I can download or get from the library.

That was a terrific video, Ray, thanks!

Glad you are watching Tom Baker now.

Yeah, the early years - was quite a bit of a kids' show, but it did not talk down to adults and I found the series appealing right from the start!

Glad also that you have seen Pirate Planet, as it has to be in my top ten of all time greats.

The regenerations were pretty cool.