I wasn't sure about the latest Doctor. The last two doctors were so good. What do you think, his future wife River Song is going to kill him? Am I reading the clue right?

Doctor Who is the only show I watch on TV, and the only reason I turn it on.

The new Doctor is alright, he reminds me of David Tennant a bit too much. I hope he moves away from his mannerisms and becomes his own character soon. So far it's been a pretty good season. The Angels were badass, and the Dalek return was predictable but pretty awesome too. And then there was a space whale!

So far I'm loving it. Can't wait for the next episode n' to figure out that crack in the wall stuff. Being erased from reality wouldn't be too fun.

I think here in Blighty we're a couple of episodes ahead of the US but, without giving away any spoilers, I think it's safe to say Matt Smith seems to make the role his own a little more with each episode.

After the first episode, I was afraid he was trying too hard to mimic David Tennant. I suspect the early episodes may have been written with Tennant in mind, in which case that would obviously have affected his performance. Some of those Tennant-isms disappeared by the second episode (to be replaced, as someone on Twitter put it, by some Davison-isms!) And now, to be honest, I think he's really grown into the role. He still has Tennant's manic enthusiasm but he also has a certain arrogance (which is new) and a way of failing to quite understand what makes ordinary people tick (which, when it works, can be very funny!)

Tennant is still my favourite of the new Doctors but, now that I've got used to him (and he's got used to the role), I'm finding Matt Smith so much better than Christopher Ecclestone ever was.

Oh, and Karen Gillan as Amy Pond is my favourite of all his assistants!

@Freefall_Drift: I have no inside knowledge about this (so this is not a spoiler!) but, yes, I'm sure you're right about River being responsible for the Doctor's death!

I had never heard of Doctor Who until about a month ago. Apparently it's a big thing.

It's an okay show to me. Just seems a little too random sometimes, like so random that I laugh my ass off. But I also do that during decapitations and etcetera.


And he won't die. Or at least I don't think so. Not sure if the series will EVER die.

Never was much of a dr Who fan. Know much about the history of the show though.

My favorite moment (albeit not from the show directly) is when David Tennant makes an appearance in Top Gear and some tech guys at BBC thought up the brilliant idea of doing some editing. The end result was this test drive on a reasonably priced TARDIS.

I Am The 1337 Master
It's an okay show to me. Just seems a little too random sometimes, like so random that I laugh my ass off.

That's kind of the point. The show has always walked a thin line between semi-serious SciFi and the completely absurd. To get the most out of it you probably have to buy into both sides of that.

It's something of an institution here in the UK. Every generation has grown up with a different Doctor, and everyone looks back on the shows that came after "their" Doctor as having bad acting, cardboard scenery and laughably cheap SFX. The current run (from Christopher Ecclestone onwards) clearly has a lot more money invested in it than the shows of the 1970s and 1980s, but they're obviously aware of their legacy. Although it has had its share of drama, you don't have to dig too far beneath the surface to see that - even at its most serious - the show always has at least part of its tongue in its cheek.

Watch any one episode and it's easy to wonder what on Earth all the fuss is about. Watch a whole series through, however, and you start to appreciate its unique mix of adventure and complete nonsense. It's a kind of space-age Alice in Wonderland!

DAJB
looks back on the shows that came after "their" Doctor as having bad acting, cardboard scenery and laughably cheap SFX

Or just looks at them as not being really part of Doctor Who at all...?
Heh, for me the series ended for good after McCoy.
Not that he's a fave, just the last.

ozoneocean

DAJB
looks back on the shows that came after "their" Doctor as having bad acting, cardboard scenery and laughably cheap SFX

Or just looks at them as not being really part of Doctor Who at all...?

Or that, yes!

ozoneocean
for me the series ended for good after McCoy.

Yeah, I know what you mean. Being an old 'un, "my" Doctor was Jon Pertwee. Looking back, I could possibly have bought into Tom Baker's Doctor if I'd been young enough at the time but, to me, McCoy was just a symptom of why it was it was right to put the show out of its misery!

I don't think you should dismiss the revamped version out of hand, though. As I wrote somewhere else, in its current form the show isn't just something that adults can watch with their children. If it's approached in the right frame of mind, I think it's a show adults can enjoy as much as their children!

I think they're being too deep with the episode writing. The end of each episode is the type of ending I would image seeing as a season finale. There aren't any completely light-hearted episodes.

ParkerFarker
I think they're being too deep with the episode writing. The end of each episode is the type of ending I would image seeing as a season finale.

Isn't that a good thing? Season Finale awesomeness every episode?

In the Stone Angels 2 part arc, they made it a point to focus on some absurd part of the Tardis console left over from earlier cheaper time. My 7 year old, after seeing some spinning old gear part, "Is the Tardis made of junk?" Last week, I saw a pinball machine embedded in the console. They keep making reference back to earlier shows. I like it. I feel like I'm in on the joke. Like last season, with the planet eating flying manta rays, the Unit commander said something like "Oh good, bullets hurt them." In past Dr Who episodes, the aliens are NEVER bothered by bullets.

I enjoyed the stone angels storyline. Some how they managed to make statues creepy. I have this image of the writers, drunk as skunks, in a pub, daring each other. "I bet you cannot do an episode where the monsters don't even MOVE. That will save money on budget!" "Oh yeah, buy another round and you are are on! I'll take that bet!" If you stop for a second, and think about it, they were being threatened by STATUES, it's pretty stupid, but put it in the context of the story and it was a fun Doctor Who episode.

This new doctor, he gets angry a lot and he doesn't have eyebrows.

Jon Pertwee is the doctor? That is going back in time!
I have to disagree, I think Christopher Ecclestone is still second best, after David Tennet. At least so far. The current eyebrow-less, slightly Frankenstein-eske Doctor is good, but he's too angry and a bit too mean for me to love him. I didn't see a lot of Christopher Ecclestone episodes, but the ones I did, his doctor came across a fun guy to go bouncing across the universe with. This new one, not so much.

DAJB

I Am The 1337 Master
It's an okay show to me. Just seems a little too random sometimes, like so random that I laugh my ass off.

That's kind of the point. The show has always walked a thin line between semi-serious SciFi and the completely absurd. To get the most out of it you probably have to buy into both sides of that.

no like when they're trying to be serious.

Like the Star Whale. I couldn't take it seriously.

As a friend described it to me. "THAT'S the part you found unbelievable? You were fine with everything else, but THAT'S the part you couldn't believe?"

Personally, a space whale is way more believable than the smiley men or the idea that a society would feed the people with a conscious to the monster.

I wonder what happened the 10,000 people eating boy crawdads in the canal. Did they terrorize Venice until they died of old age or abstinence?
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Now there is statement you don't want to make out of context. People would look at you funny.

ozoneocean
Doctor...McCoy.

I like the new doctor. I mean sure, he's a douchebag on occasion, but better than being a big blubbering pussy which the other two were on many occasions. Matt Smith just isn't afraid to choke a bitch.

I like the series too, I think the write from the original angel episode is now taking over isn't he? Explaining why this series is so creepy =(
Also I have come to like Amy. (Not more than Martha of course)

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Oh and by other two I meant other two I've seen. Haven't seen any of the older series. Need to do so, I just love cheesy old TV shows. :3

Amy Pond is a great character. I love the banter she and the doctor have.

freefall_drift
Amy Pond is a great character. I love the banter she and the doctor have.

Agreed!

After the first of the Matt Smith episodes, I wrote this in my blog :

DAJB's blog
Having seen the Doctor as a child, she has something of Martha Jones's starry-eyed infatuation with him. Having been entranced by his seemingly fantastical stories she has something of Rose Tyler's star-struck wonder. But, most importantly, having spent years in therapy as a result, she has more than a little of Donna Noble's combative feistiness. She is, in short, all of her predecessors and yet none of them.

She is sooo much more complex and interesting than any of her predecessors.

Plus, Karen Gillan has the most expressive eyes on TV!

freefall_drift
As a friend described it to me. "THAT'S the part you found unbelievable? You were fine with everything else, but THAT'S the part you couldn't believe?"

Personally, a space whale is way more believable than the smiley men or the idea that a society would feed the people with a conscious to the monster.

yeah but the smiley dudes were cool and it's a STAR WHALE!

Ignore me not making sense.

Everyone was unsure about the current doctor when the announcement came out that Tennant was leaving. I admit I was, as well, but I reserved judgement since Moffat usually knows what he's doing.

And I have to say, this season has been FANTASTIC. Certainly better than the last couple. Smith is veeeery good at emoting, and the writing has been spot on.

I think the guy that played Van Gogh would've made a better doctor.

Seriously. I know the last one was Scottish too and they were looking for a younger guy, but he absolutely acted a crapload better.


As for the sidekick, she needs a hard slap. Useless slaaaaaag!

I don't know what you guys are talking about. Matt Smith rocks my socks off week after week, saving what has been a bunch of disappointing scripts from dragging the series down. I'm not too fond of Amy Pond as a character though.

Agreed. He's not as spastic as tennant, but he doesn't need to be. This doctor has a lot more subtleties. Think he's a fine actor. I mean, I like tennant, but Smith is very good. I'm not going to hold his age against him...see, I don't actually think they were trying to go for a younger look. I mean, you've seen the backlash among the fanbase. It's hurt more than it has helped. But I think that his acting style was what Moffat was looking for, so he got the part.

I can't wait til next year when the get Niel Gaiman to write some of the episodes. =3

I finally got myself caught up on the series. I'll agree that Matt Smith isn't the problem with the recent season. Unfortunately, though, the writing does have a tendency to bring everything else down. They seem to be going for a more serious tone and direction style, but they really don't have the scripts to make it work. I do kind of miss Tennant's wider range of emotions, but I think if Smith can be given some decent scripts, he'll come into his own, assuming he's still around next season.

Smith will be around next season. He's already contracted.

Last Saturday's episode was more like it. I think the episodes that Moffat wrote himself are mostly good, though not as good as I expected. The ones by other writers tend to have something badly wrong with them at their core - some bit of plot logic or pacing that doesn't work, or simply Sucking While Being Chris Chibnall.

Poor doomed Rory. I thought the lizards in the earth story arc was kind of weak. The lizard that made it to the surface sure wasn't the best Lizard she could be. I'd be tempted to zap her myself.

A question.

Is there a need to watch every episode since the First Doctor to understand the series?

I keep hearing how awesome the series is, but no channel (even cable) in my country have the show, and I do want to watch it...

Dark Pascual
A question.

Is there a need to watch every episode since the First Doctor to understand the series?

I keep hearing how awesome the series is, but no channel (even cable) in my country have the show, and I do want to watch it...

No. The very first series with the First Doctor began back in the 1960s. The first series of the current run (Doctors 9, 10 and 11) began about five years ago. However, apart from a small number of two-parters, most episodes are fairly stand-alone and all you really need to know in advance is that the Doctor (a) travels through time and space, (b) is the last of a race known as the Time Lords, (c) changes his appearance every few years (i.e. whenever the actor playing him wants to move on!) and (d) is usually accompanied by a female "companion".

The five recent series have higher production values than the older shows and, as a new viewer, you'd probably be best to start with one of those.

All I would say is to be aware that - wherever you start - you may need to watch a few episodes before it really gets its hooks into you. Some episodes are traditional old-school SciFi, some are childish adventures, one recent episode was virtually a sitcom and others are tense supernatural dramas. And, of course, the best ones have a bit of everything! Whether you do or don't like the first episode you watch, therefore, the next may be completely different. Part of the appeal of the show is you never know what you're going to get next!

DAJB
(b) is the last of a race known as the Time Lords

Not true. That's just part of this whole recent Dr Who revival. In the original shows there were always trips back to Galifray and other timelords dropping in for a visit. :)

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All true for the rest though!

ozoneocean

DAJB
(b) is the last of a race known as the Time Lords

Not true. That's just part of this whole recent Dr Who revival. In the original shows there were always trips back to Galifray and other timelords dropping in for a visit. :)

True. But, given that we're dealing with time travel, any assumption is a bit of a grey area!

Even in the current series, although the Doctor always refers to himself as the last of his race, the Master still pops up with regularity. And even though he is now supposedly dead (again), we are dealing with time travel, and so there's no reason why he and/or other Time Lords couldn't be encountered in the future, having travelled forwards in time from a point before the destruction of Gallifrey.

And then of course, there are the Daleks. I've lost count of the number of times their race has been completely destroyed and yet found a way to return. If they can manage it, I'm sure the Time Lords can too!

It's a tricky business, all that "wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey" type stuff. If your jumping on point is anywhere within the last five series though, the starting assumption is that the Doctor is the last!