Question From The Doctor Who Ignorant

[Wee67]

As a kid I watched Tom Baker on PBS here in the States, but I've never seen another play the Doctor. That is, until Mike sent me a copy of the recently revived version with Christopher Eccleston last year. I really liked it and set my DVR to grab up every episode. The problem is the only I've come across are the Eccleston eps until this week.

Sci Fi ran a mini-marathon and I now have a bunch of the Tennant episodes to watch. Now I see you guys saying Billie Piper is gone and her replacement might even leave!?!?!

So my questions-
-Is there anywhere in the States BESIDE Sci Fi to watch this series? I'm assuming they are one or two seasons behind.

-Why did Eccleston leave? I really liked him.

-How long was the series off the air?

-Was there some sort of movie during the hiatus? Can I get it somewhere?

-I saw a reference to "The 5 Doctors." What is this? Did more than one Doctor met himself in a single time period?

-Does the regeneration process also change the Doctor's personality? I was wondering if that's how the show explains the different styles from each actor.

-Is there a good website that explains a lot of this?

-Can you get the series on DVD separated by who played the Doctor? I'd like to have the Tom Baker years.

-Is there another Doctor you'd recommend I see? Keep in mind that I really enjoyed the seemingly absent-minded versions by Baker and a bit by Eccleston.

[Mikey]

-Is there anywhere in the States BESIDE Sci Fi to watch this series? I'm assuming they are one or two seasons behind.

I watch Series-1 (Eccleston) on PBS here in Eastern PA.
It's on every Sat night at 6-ish PM

-Why did Eccleston leave? I really liked him.

He only signed on for one year because he didn't wanna get bogged down in a series for more than a year ---- Eccleston was signed on for only 1 year even before the series began

-How long was the series off the air?

The series ran from Nov 1963 to Dec 1986 .... went off the air and came back Sept 1987 and went off again in Sept 1989..... Then came back for the movie 1996 ....... Then the new Series -2005

-Was there some sort of movie during the hiatus? Can I get it somewhere?

It was called "Doctor Who" starring Paul MaGann as the Doctor.... The movie took over after the series ... The movie even started with the old Doctor dying and regenerating in MaGann.

-I saw a reference to "The 5 Doctors." What is this? Did more than one Doctor met himself in a single time period?

Yes, in film there was The 3 Doctors (Hartnell, Troughton and Pertwee) ....... The Five Doctors (Hartnell/Hurndal--Troughton, Pertwee, Tom Baker and Perter Davison ...... and the Two Doctors (Troughton and Colin Baker)


-Does the regeneration process also change the Doctor's personality? I was wondering if that's how the show explains the different styles from each actor.

Yes, in short basically all his cells explode and turn into SOMETHING ELSE... His brain is also regenerated-- but his mind and memories still remain... so he's different, but not exactly.

-Is there a good website that explains a lot of this?

Beginers Guide to Doctor Who
(have your souind on)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/guide.shtml

-Can you get the series on DVD separated by who played the Doctor? I'd like to have the Tom Baker years.

Yep, Many episodes are out on DVD... From all the Doctors

-Is there another Doctor you'd recommend I see? Keep in mind that I really enjoyed the seemingly absent-minded versions by Baker and a bit by Eccleston.

Here's a breif rundown as what the other doctor personalities are like

Jon Pertwee is James Bond
If you don't mind B&W, Pat Troughton is very absent minded
Willaim Harnell is a grouch in B&W
Peter Davison acts like a whiz kid
Colin Baker is nuts
Sly McCoy, that's a tough one... I dunno what best describes McCoy.

[ctc]

>-Is there anywhere in the States BESIDE Sci Fi to watch this series? I'm assuming they are one or two seasons behind.

Good question. The older episodes sometimes show up in the strangest places; like PBS and such. Don't know about the newer ones. Your cable or satellite provider might offer a BBC channel that features it. (We get the old ones here in Canada on BBC Kids.)

>-How long was the series off the air?

16 years; unless you count the Fox movie.

>-Was there some sort of movie during the hiatus? Can I get it somewhere?

Fox was gonna bring him back sometime in the late 90's; and they did a tv movie. I THINK it's available on VHS, which means it's probably available on DVD too. Gotta admit, I haven't looked too hard for it. (I didn't like the Fox version.)

>-I saw a reference to "The 5 Doctors." What is this? Did more than one Doctor met himself in a single time period?

The first three teamed up, the second and sixth teamed up, and the first five got together (more or less) in "The 5 Doctors." It was a pretty good episode if you'd seen a lot of the old ones, since they drew a lot from the history for the episode.

>-Does the regeneration process also change the Doctor's personality? I was wondering if that's how the show explains the different styles from each actor.

Yes it does. Some of the Doctors don't like their other versions.

>-Is there a good website that explains a lot of this?

Probably.

>-Can you get the series on DVD separated by who played the Doctor? I'd like to have the Tom Baker years.

Sort of. They've grouped some of the semi-related stories together for home release. There are copies of "The *actor* Years," out (on VHS at least) but they're retrospectives and not actual collections of episodes.

>-Is there another Doctor you'd recommend I see? Keep in mind that I really enjoyed the seemingly absent-minded versions by Baker and a bit by Eccleston.

Tough call. The first is a crotchety old guy who doesn't seem to have a problem with using his companions as fodder. (Except for his grandaughter.) The second guy was really nervous and not too brave. Most of his episodes are lost; but of the ones I've seen he's definitely one of my faves. The third guy is real popular. He's a cross between a swashbuckler and a mad scientist. (He uses martial arts too. Really, really slow and awkward martial arts...) Number four, Tom Baker. 'Nuf said. Number five was a young hero type. I wasn't a big fan 'cos there really wasn't anything wrong with him. well adjusted, considerate, level headed.... Where's the weird outfit and Martian Kung-Fu? (Although if you like Tom Baker the first episdoe with number five is pretty good.) Number six is probably the overall least favourite. His regeneration went poorly and he had some... er... problems. (like occasionally trying to kill his companion.) Number seven is my personal fave. He's very animated, disturbingly absent minded, and rather personable. A lot of the episodes are handled awkwardly though. Like there was a behind the scenes conflict going on for EVERY episode. Number eight, the Fox guy. I didn't like the movie; but not because of him. I've heard that he's really good on the "radio plays" the BBC has been doing. (Oh yeah; they've been doing Doctor Who audio dramas with the surviving actors. I haven't heard them yet, but a lot of folks seem to like them.) Number nine, the soccer hooligan. Number ten, Tennant. (Just three more 'til he turns evil!)

Then there's Peter Cushing, from the 60's theatrical remakes; and the cast from "Curse of Fatal Death." (You HAVE to see "Curse of Fatal Death!" ....they're Dalek bumps....)

Don C.

[Mikey]

Wrong date, the last regular season ended in December

Whatever......

Like I, or Bill really give a shipt about dates

[Mikey]

I can especially recommend the classic Power of the Daleks

I don't..........

Power of the Daleks is incomplete........

Why would you recomend that to a classic newbie ?

THINK, BUDDY.....

[Mikey]

Whatever Rob....

If you think a read-a-long Troughton picture book would be very interesting to a Tom Baker lover newbie... than more power to you...

My opinion, Bill

It's BORING......

Watch Tom Baker stories

[Mikey]

For people who actually like Dr Who........

That's a very insulting comment..........

Why are YOU better than me ?

TELL ME ...............

[Mikey]

Ok Rob, whatever,,,,,,,,,,,

Bore the ****TTTTTThTTTT out of all new peeps

That's the way to get them in-to Doctor Who

BTW,
Don't listen to him, Bill

[danadoll]

For starters there are two series, and two continuities here, also a third on screen in the form of the Dr Who Movies starring Peter Cushing. Doctor Who the science fiction series ran from 1963 to 1989 with a TV Movie special in 1996. The fantasy remake is only from 2005 and contradicts the original all over the place, and I loathe it to the core for being so dumbed down and nonsensical.

Rob, why are you being so blind? It contradicts very little, much less so than the Cushing Who film remakes, you adore so much.

The producer of it laughed on camera at how much Dr Who fans would hate his series.

Where and when?

Onto happy thoughts, all of Doctor Who (Sci-fi) is good, nothing to avoid at all. Especially recommended are The Daleks, The Aztecs, The Dalek Invasion of Earth, The Web Planet, the Ark, The War Machines, starring William Hartnell. The Tomb of the Cybermen, The Dominators, The Mind Robber, The War Games starring Patrick Troughton Dr Who & the Silurians, Day of the Daleks, Curse of Peladon, The 3 Doctors, The Carnival of Monsters, The Time Warrior, Monster of Peladon, starring Jon Pertwee, Most of the stories from 1975-77 are recommended, as are most from 1980-84, especially The Keeper of Traken, Logopolis (last T. Baker), Castrovalva, Kinda, Earthshock, Arc of Infinity, SNAKEDANCE the best of all, Terminus, Frontios, and Caves of Androzani starring Peter Davison.

Due to the insane psuedo communist system that ran the BBC much of the 60s original copies of Dr Who were wiped. Fans however recorded the soundtracks and some lost episodes have been recovered. Look for the Loose Cannon.com site to get free copies of reconstructed stories.

[danadoll]

Dana>Rob, why are you being so blind? It contradicts very little, much less so than the Cushing Who film remakes, you adore so much.

That's a contradiction in terms as I am noticing something you ignore. I don't dislike the TV remake for being a remake, its separateness is it's best feature. The problem is when the two programmes are lumped in together. I dislike it for being so dumbed down and insulting to the viewer.

How are they dumbed down? Again...It's. Not. A. Remake.
It is a continuation...Same premise, same time-traveling Police Box TARDIS (with a new console room...It's had many different looks in the past)...Same former companions (Sarah Jane Smith played by Elizabeth Sladen and K-9 played by John Leeson)...Same origin for the Doctor (he's still a timelord from Gallifrey, who likes Earth and humans)...Same Doctor (just newly regenerated 9th an 10th bodies)

Before the first episode of the remake was shown a making of show was transmitted, that's where the producer of the new thing pointed out that he intended to ignore any consistency with Dr Who, like having any number of regenerations, they would just ignore what happened in Dr Who. He would only quote from it, as shown in the first episode which is a remake of Spearhead from Space. When asked about Dr Who's loyal following he laughed and said that we would "absoloutely hate it" an obnoxious statement which sums the man up.

"The first episode ("Rose) is not a remake of Spearhead from Space...Have you watched it? It's nothing like it, a completely different story, different characters, etc...And another bit of proof that this series is a continuation...The Doctor had fought the Nestene and the Autons before in one of his past regenerations.

Doctor Who had a few near misses in continuity but never truly contradicted itself. On the other hand the remake is a fantasy show, not science fiction. The difference compares with relaunching the soft drink 1cal, only filling the new version with sugar. Then there are historical contradictions. In the remake Daleks are the ancient enemies of the Time Lords. In Dr Who the Daleks are a young race. The original Dalek story is set in the future of 1963, and the Doctor has never heard of them before! They are news to the Time Lords in The War Games also, reinforcing the point.

There are plenty of contradictions in Doctor Who history, Rob. The Daleks are the best example of this...Their origin in their very first story "The Daleks" contradicts their origin in "Genesis of the Daleks". The Daleks frequently have continuity glitches through most of their appearances in Doctor Who.

BTW...Classic Doctor Who is science fantasy too and not just strictly science fiction, Rob.

Then there is the end of the Earth in the Ark, and the exploits of the surviving humans in that serial and Frontios. In the second remake episode a totally different end of the Earth is shown and Homo Sapiens Sapiens is extinct.

Not so...They were said to have left the Earth and colonized...Some have evolved differently due to the various worlds they settled on. How did the Earth end in the Ark? It is destroyed by the sun, just as it is in the new series episode "The End of The World". How is that "totally different".

For another the remake Tardis is alive, not like in Dr Who where TARDIS is a machine with a bank of computers. Also the remake Tardis has a Police box door back within, indicating that it has always been a Police Box.

The classic Who TARDIS was alive too, Rob..It had telepathic circuits that translated languages, just as it does now in the new series...Just because something is a machine in science fiction, doesn't mean it's not alive.

Watch "The Edge of Destruction", "Attack of the Cybermen", "Logopolis" and "The Invasion of Time" again for more indications that the TARDIS was a living machine.

Websites about the classic TARDIS and classic Who all indicate that it is alive (in a way)...

http://www.tardis.ed.ac.uk/~abr/drwh...e40/node3.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TARDIS

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Edge_of_Destruction

http://scifipedia.scifi.com/index.php/TARDIS

As for the inside appearance of the console room doors...Take alook at each of the Doctor's TARDIS' console rooms...They range from slight changes to being completely different, they've changed over time, just as the Doctor Has. Just because the doors currently look like the inside of a Police Box doors, doesn't make it a real Police Box...You're being ridiculous.

There must be further proof of the separateness of the two series. I couldn't sit through any more after the first season. All hope was gone. They have reused some of the names and that's about it, all similarities are purely superficial.

Superficial?...They've not only reused names...But they've reused the Doctor's origin, established history, The TARDIS, props (a new Sonic Screwdriver), former companions and enemies(Sarah Jane Smith and K-9, the Cybermen of a different reality, the Daleks, The Nestene and the Autons and the Macra...And possible soon...The Master), organizations(U.N.I.T.) and even actors in their original roles(Liz Sladen and John Leeson), Rob. It's not a remake...It's a continuation of the classic series!

Dana