I know there are some whovians out there and there is no thread to celebrate the wonder that is Doctor Who (I checked). Discuss. Who is your favorite Doctor and why? What do you think of the new season? Post spoiler warnings for those who haven't seen the new season plz.

Gold:


Silver:


Bronze:


PLEASE NOTE NO TENNANT, SORRY MEGHZILLA

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i just sit here in my cave and absorb your facts and figures.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/2011 08:06PM by blackliner.

Really Matt? You like the new guy better than Tennant?

I like the new campanion a lot though. I liked Tennant too but that's prolly cuz its where I picked up the series. The new guy is growing on me though.

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A fly can't bird but a bird can fly.

ELEVEN IS FUCKING AMAZING (also, it's not so much tennant as that i really didn't like russel davies' style or dialogue or even, half the time, his stories--a lot of them well-begun but lamely ended. stephen moffat is writing great stuff for new-new-new-who, also ++new tardis, +amy pond, +new starting music/sequence; i like it all much better, reminds me more of watching when i was a nipper, whereas ten reminded me of motherfucking blur and eastenders--OR WORSE, DICK VAN DYCKE ON MARY FLIPPIN' POPPINS)

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i just sit here in my cave and absorb your facts and figures.

Quote
blackliner
ELEVEN IS FUCKING AMAZING (also, it's not so much tennant as that i really didn't like russel davies' style or dialogue or even, half the time, his stories--a lot of them well-begun but lamely ended. stephen moffat is writing great stuff for new-new-new-who, also ++new tardis, +amy pond, +new starting music/sequence; i like it all much better, reminds me more of watching when i was a nipper, whereas ten reminded me of motherfucking blur and eastenders--OR WORSE, DICK VAN DYCKE ON MARY FLIPPIN' POPPINS)

this

i liked tennant quite a lot, but as i go back and re watch a lot of it in the context of the new season i'm feeling more and more like what you described

also:
Bronze: Smith
Silver: Baker
Gold: Pertwee

Honorable mention def goes to Sylvester McCoy

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"There's good self-consciousness, and then there's toxic, paralyzing, raped-by-psychic-Bedouins self-consciousness." - David Foster Wallace

Additionally, I really really like Amy Pond

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"There's good self-consciousness, and then there's toxic, paralyzing, raped-by-psychic-Bedouins self-consciousness." - David Foster Wallace

SPOILER!

Has anyone watched "Amy's Choice yet?" I liked the episode namely because of the whole "the dreamlord was the doctor's dark side" thing. I thought it was interesting to get to see some more of the doctor's thoughts about himself.

END SPOILER!

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"There's good self-consciousness, and then there's toxic, paralyzing, raped-by-psychic-Bedouins self-consciousness." - David Foster Wallace



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/17/2010 12:46PM by tkpeters.

tk, sometimes sometimes i flip flop between pertwee and baker, but hon. mention for me would be davison or troughton BECAUSE SYLVESTER MCCOY IS AN ASSHAT AN ASSSSSSSSHAAAAAAAAAT

bring it.

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i just sit here in my cave and absorb your facts and figures.

Thank you for whiting out the spoiler tkpeters!

I am three episodes behind so this will be where I quit checking this thread until I can catch up!

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A fly can't bird but a bird can fly.

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blackliner
tk, sometimes sometimes i flip flop between pertwee and baker, but hon. mention for me would be davison or troughton BECAUSE SYLVESTER MCCOY IS AN ASSHAT AN ASSSSSSSSHAAAAAAAAAT

bring it.

i've got a soft spot for pertwee b/c he was the first doctor i watched
as for davison and troughton i can get down with that (although i've not seen too much troughton)
but HOW DARE YOU CALL SYLVESTER MCCOY AN ASSHAT



LOOK AT HOW HE HAUGHTILY LOOKS DOWN IN JUDGMENT UPON YOU!

edit: to be fair, the main reason he gets honorable mention is b/c he was also one of the firsts I saw. not in the top three though b/c, if i'm being real, he really wasn't the best

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"There's good self-consciousness, and then there's toxic, paralyzing, raped-by-psychic-Bedouins self-consciousness." - David Foster Wallace



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/17/2010 01:25PM by tkpeters.

LOOK AT THAT BROLLY. WHAT A PATHETIC BROLLY IT IS.

AND, COR, WHAT IS THAT ON HIS HEAD? WHY, IT'S A HAT. UPON AN ASSSSSS.

AN ASSSSSSSSSSSHAAAAAAAAAAT

BEHOLD HOW TROUGHTON WAGS HIS RECORDER SCORNFULLY AT YOU

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i just sit here in my cave and absorb your facts and figures.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/17/2010 01:22PM by blackliner.

I want to watch Doctor Who but I have no idea where to start.

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We belong dead.
[www.last.fm]
[sordidalley.blogspot.com]
[popwreckoning.com]
[blog.kexp.org]

jeff, start as early as you can. it's not super sequential, but if you CAN start with william hartnell, do so. also, if there are viewing gaps, wiki is your friend. DO NOT START with NEW WHO, or you will likely never get the magic of the early made-with-luck-and-gaffer-tape series.

EDIT: most americans started with tom baker, "the one with the scarf", on pbs, and SINCE I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE, you can always watch old who (although at the moment it is on doctor #6) on channel 28, saturday nights at 7:00.

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i just sit here in my cave and absorb your facts and figures.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/17/2010 05:42PM by blackliner.

and the sixth doctor was REALLY grating.

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i just sit here in my cave and absorb your facts and figures.

I'm just gonna leave 11 out of the running for now - I love him, I think he will become one of my favorites, but I can't honestly say if my view's just being colored by stronger writing than we got with a lot of RTD's episodes. I think McGann would have made a really great Doctor were he blessed with halfway decent writing and a longer shot at the prize, and I think the reverse holds true - great writing does not necessarily make for a great Doctor (as a friend likes to say, during the 80s the stories got better while the Doctors got worse). My picks might seem a lil New Who-centric, but I grew up on the stuff and Pertwee was only barely edged off this list.

Sooooo...

BRONZE: 10! Talk about the writing not making the Doctor, Tennant could carry some awful stories on his awesome Doctor-ness alone. I really appreciate that his emotions only came in broad, bold strokes, which made the rare subdued times (Human Nature!) stand out amazingly. He was volatile and I loved it. Even the begging was without a touch of shame because that was in his nature too.

SILVER: 4! Everything that could be said about Tom Baker's performance probably has been said, but personally I loved that, no matter the situation, dude would just roll with it. Never slowed down even once. Tennant used the trick a lot - "It's hopeless, there's no way out, our fates are sealed - EXCEPT THAT I, THE DOCTOR, HAVE JUST SCIENCED YOU IN THE FACE WITH THE ONE TINY THING THAT YOU ARROGANTLY OVERLOOKED!" and then the day is saved and here comes the awesome pithy rejoinder - but Tom Baker pioneered it and pulled it off more smoothly. Also? I like a Doctor that will straight rough up a guy if it's the right thing to do.

GOLD: 9! I just fell in love with the idea that, off screen in all of those years without a Doctor on tv, all of the crazy shit in his universe came to a head in massive, insane, impossible ways (the Time War was always more than the Time Lords and Daleks, and I wish they'd have gone into this more, because when described it comes across as literally being Hell, this endless inconceivable carnage that perverts the nature of the universe but you, living your life on Earth, can't see it even as it happens all around you. But anyways, I digress!). Now here is the Doctor as the lone survivor, a man trying to replicate his old trademark youthful exuberance as a way to mask the serious PTSD, because he pulled the trigger that killed nearly EVERYTHING that defined him and has to live with it. But then he meets some kids with actual youthful exuberance and his own joy starts becoming real again and every time he said "Fantastic!" I got a genuine smile on my face because fuck yeah, it IS fantastic, and I couldn't be happier that you've learned to see that again. I'll admit that he might not make the top spot without my own bias - I was watching this guy learn to live again at the same time I was coming out of a big depression - but, hell, that Doctor and that time in my life are linked and it's a good thing. And it was goofy as hell sometimes like Doctor Who should be, it wasn't some incredible Shakespearian tragedy for the ages, but that's exactly why it embedded itself so hard in my mind. Dude just remembered - he can dance!

WOW!!! I really appreciate all the DW love! Yeah, I've been watching Hartnell. Agreed that it's harder to get into the originals when you've seen the new stuff. I dunno, it was good for a few episodes but then I lost patience with it. Yeah, as I said in the other thread, I'm having trouble finding love for Matt Smith's acting. Maybe it's because I started out on all the new stuff so my definition of the Doctor's essence is very different that the people who've seen the pre-80's stuff.
I guess so far my top 3 is:

3. 11 I dunno, I think Matt has potential but right now it really bothers me that a lot of his lines and jokes sound a hell of a lot like DT's (blame it on the writers?) I'm really hoping he'll surprise me and I feel like he might.
2. 9 Chris was really fun. He had a great little roughness about him and a great smile. I think my favorite line of his was "All planets have a north"
1. 10 David Tennant's just amazing. I love the mercurial nature he adds to the Doctor. He's like a kid in a candy store. He also just pulls off his lines really well like all of the crazy banter between him and the aliens. I agree, it's pretty amazing what DT pulled off despite the writing. Honestly, I don't understand people that think RTD is a great writer. Steven Moffat is sooo much better. RTD plots are like, "So there's these weird looking aliens and they're gonna blow shit up and then the Doctor stops them just in time the end."

I left out Hartnell b.c. he was ok and he was the First Doctor but he always kinda gets on my nerves a bit. He's a bit too high and mighty and uppity.

What's your favorite episode so far? Again please white out if it has spoilers. My favorite is definitely the Beast Below. I wanted that flippin thing to be a movie. Steven Moffat created a whole little world on that ship. I loved the strange modernness of it mixed with some hints of an older time. The little school teacher demons in the booths were great and the starwhale was kick ass! Anyways, like Mtn. Girl, I'm about three eps behind. Must catch up!
ETA: I whited out the spoilers.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/17/2010 09:25PM by Eidyia.

OMFGTheTimeOfAngelswasthemostincredibleawesomestepisodeEVER!!!!!

Turns out I was only two episodes behind and those two (pt1 and pt2) were so fucking AMAZING!! <3 <3 <3!!!

eta: Thanks for the continued white outs!! I should be up to speed on this Season now!!

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A fly can't bird but a bird can fly.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/17/2010 10:07PM by Mtn. Girl.

Ok, so I totally lied about the First Doctor episodes. Some of them are horrible but some of them like the Keys of Marinus fucking rock!!!! Crazy brains that look like snails that speak in weird British accents? Mesmur disks? A machine that controls the goodness of humanity? Way too cool. One of the best parts of that ep is when the crazy snail brains die and they're screaming and then they keel over.
Spoilers whited out.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/17/2010 10:12PM by Eidyia.

Yo all, I came across this from Terry Pratchett on Doctor Who
I can sort of see what he means, esp w/ Tennant's "timey wimey" stuff and the fact that Steven Moffat has made a point of saying he thinks of the show as more like a fairy tale, but I feel like some of the older episodes were a bit less like this/more grounded in realish "science"

Thoughts?

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"There's good self-consciousness, and then there's toxic, paralyzing, raped-by-psychic-Bedouins self-consciousness." - David Foster Wallace

i can only laugh at someone who watches a show like dr who and nitpicks it for a lack of realism. the show pretty much throws away any possibility of that as soon as it proposes the premise...

although "timey-wimey" bugged the bejeezus out of me, too. (not as much as 6's absurd sartorial missteps though)

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i just sit here in my cave and absorb your facts and figures.

also, as some peeps have asked for favorites/recommendations, may i suggest the sequential series "ark in space" followed by "the sontaran experiment?" written by robert holmes and bob baker, respectively, they are excellent examples of the tom baker era (just give a blind eye to the green bubble wrap in "ark"

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i just sit here in my cave and absorb your facts and figures.

I've been trying to get into Doctor Who for so long now.

I'm a commitmentphobe at heart.

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I'm no physician, but there appears to be a dagger in my chest.

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blackliner
also, as some peeps have asked for favorites/recommendations, may i suggest the sequential series "ark in space" followed by "the sontaran experiment?" written by robert holmes and bob baker, respectively, they are excellent examples of the tom baker era (just give a blind eye to the green bubble wrap in "ark"

Embrace the green bubble wrap! It's part of the fun!

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i just sit here in my cave and absorb your facts and figures.

Have to admit I love new Who more than classic Who. Matt SMith is very promising. Loved Eccleston's intensity and David Tennant (who picked the right time to go, I think).

We have just finished the 2-parter with the Angels, loved Steven Moffatt's work. Also we like Amy more than the previous new Who assistants.

Would love to see some of the unfinished ends tied up though - whatever happened to the Doctor's grand-daughter, for example?