Recommendations about where to start for the uninitiated

[elvet]

I have BBC Canada streaming, and I have access to all the Dr. Who programs. I've never watched them, but would like to start. I'm not sure I want to go back to the 1960's. Any suggestions?

 

[thaddeus6th]

There are a few places you may wish to start.

Ecclestone, the first New Who Doctor, is one. You might also want to start with Jon Pertwee or Tom Baker, both of whom had lots of classic adventures.

Do not start with Genesis of the Daleks [Tom Baker era]. You'll want to save that for later, because it's probably the best serial there is (New Who tends to have self-contained episodes or the odd two-parter. Old Who usually had serials of 4-6 (usually) shorter episodes each). Oh, and you might want to save Blink too. It's a stand-alone New Who episode and probably the best since the series returned (it really is rather good).

 

[martin321]

One option is to watch a few episodes from each incarnation of the Doctor until you reach the more recent series. In his regular column (http://www.sfsite.com/columns/rick406.htm), Rick Norwood suggests the best stories to watch in order to catch up.

 

[Brian G Turner]

I think the Ecclestone reboot is a great place to start - no prior knowledge required, he's only in for a season, and then David Tennant comes in and totally makes the role his.

 

[elvet]

One option is to watch a few episodes from each incarnation of the Doctor until you reach the more recent series. In his regular column (http://www.sfsite.com/columns/rick406.htm), Rick Norwood suggests the best stories to watch in order to catch up.

Thanks to all that replied.
I'm starting with the SFsite suggestion. I've just watched Unearthly Child and am on episode 3 of The Daleks.
Despite the dated film techniques, I'm enjoying the story. I am looking forward to the color episodes .

 

[elvet]

I finished watching the series this past weekend. I followed the SFSite recommendations for the classics, but watched all the episodes starting with the 9th Doctor. I saw all the specials and mini episodes too. My favorite Doctor is David Tennant, particularly the last season. My favorite companions were Amy and Rory. The episode 'Blink' was the scariest thing I had seen on TV for a while.
Excellent entertainment! Looking forward to the new Doctor.

 

[kythe]

Until a couple of weeks ago, I had never seen Dr. Who. I decided to watch some of the first episodes from 1963, but I found the plots boring, action is cheesy, and the Doctor himself does not have an impressive personality. Obviously the show was popular enough to develop into a large franchise, but I can't get into it.

Then I started watching a newer series that starts with the 9th Doctor. He is fun from the start with great storylines and characters. I'm about halfway through the season, and will probably watch it until the end of the seasons.

 

[BAYLOR]

Inferno It's a 7 parter from the John Pertwee 3rd Doctor era and it a terrific serial. One of the best Dr Who serial of all time.

 

[Alter Business]

Actually, the older episodes were character and plot driven, but some of the action scenes were cheasy. The pilot for season 1 was quite interesting. Good former companions include Sarah Jane, Jamie, Liz and Zoe, so if you do a search on YouTube or something to find clips featuring those companions, you are in for a treat. I like them, because they are competent and have well-defined personalities. One of the better older episodes is Inferno (barring the cheesy monsters, the rest: characters and storyline are quite good).

 

[Caledfwlch]

Don't forget that the first 2 Dalek Serials, Daleks and Daleks Invasion Earth were also made into 2 Colour movies starring Peter Cushing as the Doctor, they are worth checking out for some fun, but they are not related to the tv series - The Doctor is not a Timelord but an eccentric British inventor from the 60's. There's a Cushing film from around the same time about a victorian scientist who builds a machine to drill his way to the centre of the earth, and as its Victorian set, it is easy to imagine that his character is the Father or Grandfather of the Doctor who builds a time machine in the 1960's

If it is available I would highly recomend watching "Adventures in Time and Space" it was a docudrama made for the 50th anniversary showing how Dr Who came about, it is truly wonderful and also shows how close it came to never existing, and the sheer randomness of decisions that created the show we love.

Right from the start, Verity Lambert faced the institutional sexism of the BBC, whilst the first Director, Waris Hussein faced the institutional racism, so had to fight for every decision. The "old guard" had various people they wanted to play the Doctor, yet, Verity just saw something in William Hartnell, a casting decision that caused shock - Billy H was a well known Actor in 1963, and always played a certain type of character, the gruff Army Sergeant - so wanting him in the lead for a kids tv show seemed totally random, and very insane. And now, it is impossible to imagine the first Doctor being anyone else.

Sydney Newman the head of Drama went absolutely ballistic when he saw the script for "and the Daleks" one of his edicts was the show should avoid "bug eyed monsters". But Verity fought him, and the way Adventures shows the early scenes of and the daleks being shot, is a genuinely chilling moment that shows how a Legend was born and why kids used to hide, and why Dalekmania kicked off.

Sydney is stood in his darkened office, reading the script out loud, whilst we can hear the sounds it is invoking in his memory, ww2 air raid sirens, machine guns firing, whilst down in the studio, daleks are being filmed moving down a coridoor, speaking, and the film crew are freaking out a little, because they are so different to anything seen before.

 

[BAYLOR]

Don't forget that the first 2 Dalek Serials, Daleks and Daleks Invasion Earth were also made into 2 Colour movies starring Peter Cushing as the Doctor, they are worth checking out for some fun, but they are not related to the tv series - The Doctor is not a Timelord but an eccentric British inventor from the 60's. There's a Cushing film from around the same time about a victorian scientist who builds a machine to drill his way to the centre of the earth, and as its Victorian set, it is easy to imagine that his character is the Father or Grandfather of the Doctor who builds a time machine in the 1960's

If it is available I would highly recomend watching "Adventures in Time and Space" it was a docudrama made for the 50th anniversary showing how Dr Who came about, it is truly wonderful and also shows how close it came to never existing, and the sheer randomness of decisions that created the show we love.

Right from the start, Verity Lambert faced the institutional sexism of the BBC, whilst the first Director, Waris Hussein faced the institutional racism, so had to fight for every decision. The "old guard" had various people they wanted to play the Doctor, yet, Verity just saw something in William Hartnell, a casting decision that caused shock - Billy H was a well known Actor in 1963, and always played a certain type of character, the gruff Army Sergeant - so wanting him in the lead for a kids tv show seemed totally random, and very insane. And now, it is impossible to imagine the first Doctor being anyone else.

Sydney Newman the head of Drama went absolutely ballistic when he saw the script for "and the Daleks" one of his edicts was the show should avoid "bug eyed monsters". But Verity fought him, and the way Adventures shows the early scenes of and the daleks being shot, is a genuinely chilling moment that shows how a Legend was born and why kids used to hide, and why Dalekmania kicked off.

Sydney is stood in his darkened office, reading the script out loud, whilst we can hear the sounds it is invoking in his memory, ww2 air raid sirens, machine guns firing, whilst down in the studio, daleks are being filmed moving down a coridoor, speaking, and the film crew are freaking out a little, because they are so different to anything seen before.

The other Cushing Film you mention At The Earths Core. 1976 Doug McClure was in that film. I love that film , it's pure hokum and hugely entertaining.

 

[REBerg]

The best thing about getting into Doctor Who today is the smorgasbord of viewing opportunities offered by a show that launched more than a half-century ago.
Each regeneration of the Doctor is a distinctive entree coming with a variety of side-dish companions. If any of these combinations do not mesh well with your particular tastes, you can always move down the table to another until you find something that satisfies your appetite.

Such was not the case for those of us who have watched the series develop over the years. The Doctor was the Doctor, regardless of whatever personality traits he brought to the character. If you loved the show, you continued to watch, maybe slightly shifting your focus to more appealing companions for the duration of the regeneration.

As they say, that was then and this is now. I personally would not go back to the earliest Doctors, but I have been spoiled by such enhancements as color and special effects. If I had to select from the entire Doctor buffet now, I would start with Tom Baker (four), then skip to Christopher Eccleston (nine) at the start of the "new" Doctor Who era.

For those of a more academic, historical bent (and who have the time), I would recommend at least sampling each Doctor as a means of gaining perspective and appreciation of the show's evolution.

 

[kythe]

Does anyone know where to watch the older Doctor Who shows? Netflix picks up the classic series in the middle of the first season, and elsewhere online there seems to be copyright restrictions on full episodes.

Also, the original was in black and white, but I've seen color pictures online of the First Doctor. Has it been remastered?

 

[Caledfwlch]

Does anyone know where to watch the older Doctor Who shows? Netflix picks up the classic series in the middle of the first season, and elsewhere online there seems to be copyright restrictions on full episodes.

Also, the original was in black and white, but I've seen color pictures online of the First Doctor. Has it been remastered?

Various fans have produced colour images from black and white stills of 60's Who, which I suspect is what you have seen - there are a couple of wonderful colourised stills from Tenth Planet for example.

The Pertwee Adventure, Daemons was iirc only in existence in B&W form and was recolourised by the BBC for Video/DVD release, but I think they did have some footage in colour they were able to use, rather than totally recolourise from scratch. Some sort of Software that would quickly recolour totally black and white footage I think is a long way off, but would be a holy grail!

The Cybermen have always fascinated me, as much for the Chap who created them as the infamous monsters themselves. in 1966, many of the medical transplants we accept as standard these days did not exist back then, Dr Kit Pedlar was heavily involved in research, including, experimentation as to whether TV Cameras could be somehow used to allow the blind to see, and he created the Cybermen out of the sort of fears and theoretical/philosphical debate scientists like himself would have with each other - how much of a human being could you replace, and still have a human being capable of feelings/emotions at the end of it.

Colour photography and filming had existed for a long time - wasn't the 1930's Wizard of Oz filmed in full Colour? but until the 70's it was a very expensive process, especially for television. I think some of the early silent movies are also in Colour, but that was achieved by painstaking work in post production, literally painting each and every single "cell" by hand.

 

[REBerg]

Does anyone know where to watch the older Doctor Who shows? Netflix picks up the classic series in the middle of the first season, and elsewhere online there seems to be copyright restrictions on full episodes.

Also, the original was in black and white, but I've seen color pictures online of the First Doctor. Has it been remastered?

I don't know where you might find all of the episodes, although the creator of this thread seems to have them in Canada. If you're not ready to emigrate, you probably should binge-watch as many as you can on Netflix while they're available, because you never know when they will disappear.

William Hartnell portrayed the Doctor from 1963 to 1966. Color television broadcasts did not begin in Europe until 1967, according to one account I've read. I'm guessing that any color rendition of the First Doctor you may have encountered was likely redone from a black and white photo, such as the beautifully rendered one on this site (the author discloses that the color portrait was done from a black and white copy):

http://doctorwho.tumblr.com/post/66416320679/trevsplace-50-days-of-doctor-who-50th-challenge

Color photography, of course, existed at the time, so it's possible that Hartnell redressed as the Doctor for publicity shots between the time he left the show and his death in 1975.

 

[Galactic Journey]

I have BBC Canada streaming, and I have access to all the Dr. Who programs. I've never watched them, but would like to start. I'm not sure I want to go back to the 1960's. Any suggestions?

Late to the party, but...

When Dr. Who revived, I started with 9th Doctor and decided to also watch from the beginning. There were interesting parallels.

I since have made it to the beginning of 10th Doctor (giving up because I wasn't enjoying it) and through most of the 1st season of the 4th Doctor (giving it up because 12 seasons of Who is really enough for quite some time, thank you). It was a rewarding experience, and I can't wait to revisit them when I get to 1963...next year.

 

[pambaddeley]

Does anyone know where to watch the older Doctor Who shows? Netflix picks up the classic series in the middle of the first season, and elsewhere online there seems to be copyright restrictions on full episodes.

Also, the original was in black and white, but I've seen color pictures online of the First Doctor. Has it been remastered?

This is probably a bit late but the BBC took lots of colour slides of the early stories. At one time you could go to the film library in London and order copies of them but it closed down years ago. They weren't proper copies as they were 35mm and the original ones were in a large format square size. But that's probably the source of what you've seen.

 

[Galactic Journey]

This is probably a bit late but the BBC took lots of colour slides of the early stories. At one time you could go to the film library in London and order copies of them but it closed down years ago. They weren't proper copies as they were 35mm and the original ones were in a large format square size. But that's probably the source of what you've seen.

Those Telesnaps were vital in the reconstruction of many episodes. I'd love to see Marco Polo someday...

 

[pambaddeley]

Those Telesnaps were vital in the reconstruction of many episodes. I'd love to see Marco Polo someday...

There were a lot of black and white photographs of stories such as Marco Polo and The Aztecs, but the colour slides were gorgeous.

 

[elvet]

I am glad I caught up with the old series when I could. The BBC steaming service for iPad (in Canada) went down about a year ago.