Rosebud!

So you've started with S3...? Then I would go back to S1 and start with Christopher Eccleston, from the very beginning of NewWho.

Thanks, great, will do that :-)
Watched an episode with a friend though, and she said it was badly done, because it is so easy to see that most is a studio set. I found it quite obvious as well. Why is that? It didn't bother me so much because the overall thing was fun, but just technically, it could be done better my friend said, and she might be right. We were wondering.

To each his or her own, but I immensely disliked about 90% of Series 1.  I've never rewatched it, and my husband and I struggled through it.

We liked it better starting in Series 2, and much more in Series 3 and beyond.

I know I'm totally late to the party, but we've finally managed to watch S8 last weekend. And what can I say, I've got such mixed feelings about it... I'm at a bit of a loss, actually.

I really like Capaldi's Doctor. I like the fact that he seems to be quite different to the other three Doctors I'm familiar with, I like that he can be very grumpy, I like his sarcasm, I like Capaldi's take on him. Nevertheless I was a bit irritated at times, especially when he spoke about humans in a pretty snarky manner... Ten had such high praise for the human race, again and again he said how impressed he was by them... and now Twelve calls them boring and comes across as if he were related to Alec Hardy. I know that he can't be exactly the same as his predecessors, but the way in which he regards the human race is a pretty basic thing, if you ask me.

Anyway. I would have loved to see more of the Doctor and less of Clara. At times it felt as if they should have called S8 "Clara Oswald" instead of "Doctor Who". Don't get me wrong, I always liked Clara, but in combination with Danny there were far too many scenes (for my taste) which felt like a sopa opera to me. Those constant conversations between them about whether or not Clara can continue travelling with the Doctor... just felt boring and tedious to me. The dialogue that came with it was pretty disappointing, too. And I really, really hope that Moffat will return to where he left us with "Listen" - such a fascinating episode, but I really want an explanation for Orson Pink.

Danny Pink doesn't really work for me as a character. Interestingly enough, I nevertheless was quite moved by his fate in the final episode. Seeing him as a Cyberman, seeing his face, his pain... I actually almost had to cry. 
So it seems the character does work for me on a subconscious level...?

There were several episodes I liked very much, from the very first one to "Into the Dalek", "Listen", "Time Heist" or "Flatline". "Dark Water"/"Death in Heaven" didn't really work for me though. I guess I'll have to watch it again, because I'm not sure yet what it is that bothers me about it. Probably has to do with Missy...

Last edited by SolarSystem (June 9, 2015 9:14 am)

SolarSystem wrote:

I'm not sure, but I would suppose that especially during the first season there might not have been all that much money to spend. DW had been off the screen for a while then, and maybe the BBC didn't want to spend too much money on it at that point. It clearly changes later on, you can already see the changes in S2. And then of course when Moffat takes over...

True. I am mid-series 5 and the technical development from one series to the next is quite obvious. Of course the somewhat trashy sets have a charm of their own but the lavish production design like in episodes "The Vampires of Venice" is quite amazing. 
 

Clara grew on me, but I agree that there was too much of her (and perhaps she become too important in the Doctor's story).  I like the Doctor's grumpiness too, and even the snarkiness.  I didn't fall for Danny as much as I fell for Rory (if we're talking about companion's boyfriends!), but I thought he went out magnificently.  I'm still curious about Orson too - they can't just leave us hanging!

My five year old son has decided to become a fan of Doctor Who after watching some series 2 repeats on tv, but they're on a bit late at night, so I have started borrowing DVDs from the library for him. I don't mind it playing in the background while I prepare dinner, and I'm kinda getting interested in the show myself, although the stories seem so convoluted and I feel like I'm missing stuff that happened in all the episodes before that would help me understand what's going on (I don't really know what my son is making of the plot, I think he just likes the effects). Maybe we'll have to go back and watch it from series 1. However my son has become rather attached to David Tennant and doesn't accept any other actor as the Doctor as yet.

I hadn't really watched Doctor Who since I was a kid, back when Tom Baker was the Doctor. So I decide to borrow some of the older episodes from the library for a bit of a trip down memory lane, and randomly picked a story arc called "The Image of the Fendahl" from 1977. And surprise surprise, who should appear on the screen but the lovely Wanda Ventham?! With dark hair, but I still managed to recognise her. I hadn't even realised she'd appeared on Doctor Who. There's also some DVD extras with recent footage of Wanda talking about filming the episodes, with the other cast and crew, so that was nice to see.

Here's how she looked in these episodes:

He's only five: he's bound to accept a new one eventually!  I don't really remember the Doctor Who from when I was five.  It's the one from my middle childhood that I think of as "my" doctor.  But I do think there was something special about David Tennent.  I'd been really looking forward to Christopher Eccleston when the series started up again, because I'd liked his work in other things, and liked the idea of a more serious, less zany doctor, but in the end, I preferred David Tennent (whom I'd also admired in other things). 

 

Davina wrote:

Having watched Doctor Who since its inception I have no difficulty accepting a new Doctor who (see what I did there?)

Oh yes, very clever! 
And you are right, of course. Nevertheless I assume that almost every viewer has his/her Doctor who (see what I did there?) will always have a very special place in ones heart.