Subject: Well, it all started in march...
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Posted on: 2015-03-27 06:01:00 UTC
I think I went out to a club one night, and I woke up on a friend's couch holding a pirated Doctor Who DVD my friend told me I had bought while stumbling home. So, we popped in the DVD player, and while the Chinese subtitles wouldn't go away, it was good enough that I later checked it out on Netflix. Forgot what I did with the DVD, though. That was a good day.
Ten years ago today, those of us who had BBC1/BBC America on cable met a fine young woman named Rose and a mysterious time-traveler. We were all scared of mannequins by the end of it (I still look at them twice when I pass by one), but we couldn't wait to see what came next.
Yup, today's the tenth anniversary of New Who! *blows noisemaker*
In honor of it, let's all post about the first experience we had watching the show. Mine was three years ago (ish) at my church, of all places. It was the end of the year and the instructor said we could either have a long chat about what worked and what didn't that year or watch Doctor Who.
We compromised and watched an episode after a fifteen, twenty-minute chat. I had some trouble figuring out what was going on, of course, but I knew I was in for a weird ride when the Cthulhu-like alien shocked a guy in the head with its translator orb. (Yeah...the Ood are weird.)
Specifically about three episodes of one of the Fourth's old serials involving cat people. And then I saw a bit of the Ninth, didn't like it, and came back to Ten and Martha and fell in love. For a while at least, stupid Moffat ruining everything.
Now don't get me wrong, Eleven had his moments and I'm sure Twelve is great, but I'm 93% certain those are all the products of writers other than Moffat. I left sometime after the 50th anniversary and I likely will not be returning until there's a new head writer.
...It all started with ponies.
Dr. Whooves was my introduction to the world of Doctor Who. I saw all the fan art, fics, even radio plays. I found them interesting, and the idea of a time-traveling alien was kinda fun, so I went to check out the main show.
I know my first Doctor was 10, but I can't remember my first episode. Perhaps Blink? Maybe the one with the Vashda Nerada? I can't recall.
I have since watched all of New Who, up to the 50th anniversary, because afterwards I lost cable and access to the BBC. However, now I have Nexfix, so I should be able to catch up!
They were bothering me to watch it, so I bought the DVD for Series 1. I finsished it in about a week and then watched the rest of the new series in the next few weeks. Still havent seen all of Classic Who, but I intend to eventually. Nine was my first Doctor, and still my favorite.
When I was about 12 or 13, my parrents saw Doctor Who come on aganin, not having watched it for years and only vaguely remembering it from their youth. They called me to come watch because "it was this real fun sci-fi show". Unfortunately, the episode being aired that night was the (in)famous Blink. After that experience, I never really dared getting into it again, as the nightmares lasted a couple of months...
Making us terrified of innocent things like statues, snowmen, and Christmas since some year I'm too lazy to look up!
I remember watching Blink for the first time at a slumber party with my bestie. Neither of us could sleep anytime soon after that, especially since her bedroom had a freaking angel statue in it. We spent the whole night sending the damn thing nervous looks before she locked it in her trunk.
(Are you sure that statue didn't just move? >:D )
For that matter, most of the good episodes were not actually Moffat, as far as I remember.
I think I went out to a club one night, and I woke up on a friend's couch holding a pirated Doctor Who DVD my friend told me I had bought while stumbling home. So, we popped in the DVD player, and while the Chinese subtitles wouldn't go away, it was good enough that I later checked it out on Netflix. Forgot what I did with the DVD, though. That was a good day.
I never understood the Doctor Who fandom that well. All I know is that there's a scientist, a cute robot, and a time-travel machine. Could someone explain/summarize it?
Nah, kidding.
Okay, first off, the Doctor isn't a scientist, and he's not a doctor, either. Well, he has an honorary doctorate and a PHD in cheesemaking, but that's neither here nor there. He's an alien species called a Time Lord, and the explanation for his different actors is that, whenever something happens that would normally kill him, instead of dying, he regenerates into a new body. (This is applicable to all Time Lords.)
The cute robot sounds like K-9, a companion of the Fourth Doctor's who made a reappearance during the Tenth Doctor's run. K-9 is just one of many companions the Doctor has had (though most of them were human females); while travelling time and space for centuries, you do get lonely.
The time travel machine is the TARDIS (stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space), and though most TARDISes have a nifty thing called a Chameleon Circuit that lets them disguise themselves for something setting-appropriate, the Doctor's TARDIS stays as a blue police box for most of the time since the Chameleon Circuit is a wee bit broken. Plus he's grown fond of the blue box.
The whole thing started as an edutainment show (you know, teach history and science), but it quickly evolved into pure sci-fi goodness.
I really recommend you give it a try. New Who (Ninth Doctor and up) is on Netflix, and Classic Who is on Hulu.
Though I would recommend starting with New Who Series 2 Episode 4 Girl in the Fireplace
First it has been running since 1963 and follows the adventures of a Renegade Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey, his TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimension in Space), a time traveling space ship. The Doctor travels with Companions going on adventures through Space and Time, sometimes going on misadventures and usually saving the World, Time, Universe, and/or Reality from the likes of Cybermen (Human Brain, Cybernetic Body, usually no emotions), Daleks (Mass murdering hate filled creatures in a high tech battle suit), Other Renegade Time Lords, many other threats, and occasionally the Devil. There is also a lot of Wibbily Wobbily Timey Wimey Stuff going on.
The show runners are not afraid to deal with complex themes/messages including worlds without preset sexual orientations, genders, and roles. There is also, in my opinion, a strong anti-war message, but it does not come across as preachy.
Really though at its core it is a bunch of misadventures through time and space. Sometimes with a lead that is basically a crazy Man-Child. Though at least some of the more recent iterations are a bit heavier thematically.
Now that I realize it, it really is kind of hard to explain any beyond just go watch it. With over 50 years behind it, there are quite a lot of various intricacies and probably too many to list here. Though I think if you really want to know what Doctor Who is about, I would recommend watching The Girl in the Mirror . That episode in my opinion really does kind of capture the essence of the Doctor.
Or not? If not, where should I start if I get more interested?
New Who is on Netflix under Doctor Who 2005, All but the most recent season is there. It is listed as series though. And the episodes I have mentioned are all there. Classic Who is only partly on Netflix, but I believe it might be on Hulu. I recommend starting with New Who, because the special effects from the 60s might be a bit hard to stomach for some.
It was the episode with the Aztecs. I remember quickly losing interest because it wasn't in color. ^^; Silly, twelve year-old me.
My second time watching the series was about two years ago, when I was fifteen, starting at the beginning of New Who. The Ninth Doctor sucked me in, and I've been working my way through Classic Who. I've been making a fair bit of headway in the downtime before Capaldi's next season.
This was back in the first season of the new series and I believe that particular episode, Father's Day I only caught a bit of it. The first full episode I watched, because it came on around the time that TNG did was The Girl in the Fireplace . Loved the show, loved the premise, but I was never really able to watch the series until much later. It is still one of, if not my favorite episodes.