DAJB
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!

Those poor timelords :(

In the original series there was this whole thing about earth's population being a sort of second try at human civilisation... in that there was some big galactic federation of space-going humans in the past at some stage and then that was all destroyed by some old disaster in the forgotten past. Is that still a thing in the show or do they just ignore all that sort of thing from the older series?

ozoneocean
In the original series there was this whole thing about earth's population being a sort of second try at human civilisation... in that there was some big galactic federation of space-going humans in the past at some stage and then that was all destroyed by some old disaster in the forgotten past. Is that still a thing in the show or do they just ignore all that sort of thing from the older series?

I'm pretty sure it hasn't been mentioned.

It could yet be revived, though! Some writers have resurrected past ideas when it suited them. Pictures of William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton are frequently slipped in (as photos on documents etc), UNIT was reintroduced (but seldom used since!) and even the wretched robot dog K9 was in one episode (along with Sarah Jane Smith, but that was a blatant attempt to promote the kids' spin-off series, The Sarah Jane Adventures!)

The Big Idea of the new run seems to be that there will be a New British Empire and that it will spear-head humanity's expansion into and colonisation of the galaxy. Oh, and it enjoys playing fast and loose with real historical events (meeting Shakespeare, Van Gogh, Queen Victoria, Dickens etc!)

oh come on K9 kicked ass, but honestly if they were gonna do a spinoff why didn't they do tennant and Rose in the alternate universe? cause I'd like to see that.

DAJB

ozoneocean
In the original series there was this whole thing about earth's population being a sort of second try at human civilisation... in that there was some big galactic federation of space-going humans in the past at some stage and then that was all destroyed by some old disaster in the forgotten past. Is that still a thing in the show or do they just ignore all that sort of thing from the older series?

I'm pretty sure it hasn't been mentioned.

It could yet be revived, though! Some writers have resurrected past ideas when it suited them. Pictures of William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton are frequently slipped in (as photos on documents etc), UNIT was reintroduced

Yay unit! Best part of the Worzil Gummage doctor years ^___^

Eddie Jensen
oh come on K9 kicked ass, but honestly if they were gonna do a spinoff why didn't they do tennant and Rose in the alternate universe? cause I'd like to see that.

Because both those actors have better paying things to do :)

Didn't they do a Sarah Jane and K9 spinoff already back in the 80's? I'm sure I remember that!
First episode was something about foiling a druid sacrificial rite...?

ozoneocean
Yay unit! Best part of the Worzil Gummage doctor years ^___^

Heh.
"Eee, Aunt Sally - I'll just go and put me time-travellin' head on!"

ozoneocean
Didn't they do a Sarah Jane and K9 spinoff already back in the 80's? I'm sure I remember that!

I have no knowledge of that (I'm delighted to say!) but, according to Wiki, in 1981 there was a pilot for a series called K9 and Company. It doesn't seem as if a series followed but that's presumably what you remember.

You have my sympathy!
;-)

I remember seeing that spin off, loved it as a kid. still I can't say I am a fan of the revamped series.

Christopher eccleston was excellent, tennant has all the acting ability of a demented goat and the new guy, meh!

Don't believe me about Tennant? watch harry potter four again, his wacky and evil character is just the same as his doctor but with more tongue exposure.

Also the whole daleks and cybermen thing... 1 st series they did a good job with the daleks, 2nd series a good job of the cybermen...
then came the Daleks versus cybermen and yet more daleks and yet more... guh! the show works best with original ideas, I gave up on series three of the revamp. what i saw the other week just convinced me I made the right decision.

Don't believe you about tennant watch harry potter? oh screw you. I've seen him in harry potter and while that was a dull character it didn't feel anything like the doctor just seemed like some random douche.

However EVEN if tennant was only able to act ONE role that doesn't make THAT role any less brilliant, and as the doctor Tennant was brilliant, eccleston was okay but he was borderline boring. And tennant had talent, the death of the 10th doctor was brilliantly acted.

Just because you personally don't like him doesn't make him any less of an actor.

Stay calm, guys. It's only a TV show!

I'm firmly in the Tennant camp. Whether he plays the role in the same way he plays others (haven't seen HP but he did play Hamlet in a very similar way!) is kind of irrelevant. His ability to switch from manic enthusiasm to deadly gravitas in an instant was perfectly in tune with the tone of the scripts.

Eccleston was okay, but I never really felt the role was a good fit for him. He always seemed uncomfortable in it. Oh, and despite initial reservations, I must admit I have warmed towards Matt Smith as this latest series has progressed!

OK, I just catched the first 12 episodes (the ones with Eccleston, still have to watch that season's finale).

Have to say that I really should have started earlier with this show. LOTS of fun!!!

Thanks to DAJB for answering my questions. I would like to see the earlier episodes sometime, but I really have been enjoyed the series so far.

Man I tried looking back at the very first episodes of doctor who, and they were pretty terrible, I mean I know they were meant to be educational for the first 2 seasons but do they have to put it on so damn thick? ugh boredome.

SOME serials were educational. Most were not. Honestly, I thought they had some amazing writing back in those early seasons. Plus, for the time, the special effects and sets weren't bad. Plus I liked that Hartnell's Doctor was kind of an ass. I just wish the BBC did a better job of archiving stuff back then.

isukun
SOME serials were educational. Most were not. Honestly, I thought they had some amazing writing back in those early seasons. Plus, for the time, the special effects and sets weren't bad.

Yeah, I've seen some of the early ones and you can see why it's the longest running SciFi show ever. It started off well ^^