I would say yes.  While I think that as far as oerall quality is concerned, Sherlock is better and more exciting, Doctor Who is still quite good and quite enjoyable.  I haven't seen any of the original, "Classic" (as many fans call it) episodes of 60s and 70s, but I have seen the first few seasons of the reboot, and I still enjoy it even though some episodes not as much as others.  There are some very well written episodes (some of my favourites written by Mark Gatiss or Steven Moffat).  So I would recommend it.  Whatever you do, don't skip the first series (Christopher Eccelston as the Ninth Doctor)!
Sherlock and Doctor Who are quite different shows, but they both have their own charm and can both be quite moving as well as exciting.  I already mentioned the writing, but there are episodes with some actors you will recognize from Sherlock: Mark Gatiss, Vinette Robinson, Russell Tovey.

Using this thread for a quick question to the ones watching both: how many similarities are there?
Today i watched an Episode which twice reminded me so much of sherlock. One time the music, the other time a certain setting...
Is that often? Is that me seeing sherlock reminders everywhere?
The Shows are so different, but sometimes the style feels similar to me. Only sometimes. Cannot describe this very well...

Last edited by Whisky (August 16, 2015 11:16 pm)

I think most similarities to "Sherlock" can be found in S8 with Twelve. In the very first episode Moffat lets him 'do the Sherlock' several times, if you ask me. Twelve also is the one Doctor to whom humans are mostly stupid and dull, at least that's the impression I got.
But there have also been moments in Eleven's era which reminded me of "Sherlock". If I remember correctly this even goes so far as that Moffat uses almost the exact same dialogue at times.
 

Last edited by SolarSystem (August 17, 2015 8:24 pm)

Same setting...Are you by any chance referring to Blink...? The cemetery is indeed very familiar, I wonder why.
I watch both BBC!Sherlock and Doctor Who -I've also watched a few stories of the Classic series- and obviously there will be some similarities between the two shows (especially since Steven is also the showrunner of Doctor Who. As well as being a writer.), but all in all they are very different. It's not the same type of story, the main character is different ("Sherlock Holmes is a human being aspiring to be a god while the Doctor is a god aspiring to be human" said Steven) despite having some similarities (cleverness, for one) and the adventure he's having are not the same type at all.
The Doctor is having adventures because he wants to discover the world/the universe/flee from his past/insert any possible reason.
Sherlock, on the other hand, is solving crimes because he's bored.
If anything, it's Martin Freeman who goes on adventures, not Sherlock.
One could argue, obviously, that in series 3 Sherlock embarks on an adventure to deal with emotions and other human beings, but that's really not the same.
If you find the style sometimes similar it might very well be because, as Susi said, Steven has a very distinctive writing style, the story arcs being longer than during RTD's era. For the record, he took over RTD after series 4.
I consider myself more of a Sherlockian that a Whovian now because BBC Sherlock holds more appeal to me -and I mean the show in its entirety, not only the actors ;). However, having watched both (repeatedly...is there any other way to watch a show, I wonder?) I feel like I can give a decent opinion on both.

In answer to the original question asked by cslewisandtolkien, YES, it is definitely worth it to watch Doctor Who. I couldn't agree more with Yizock, whatever you do, do not skip Nine, that Doctor is great. Sassy as hell. Hilarious.
And if you can (well, obviously you can, you need only type the title of an episode into the Youtube search bar), do watch the Classics. Be warned, though, the pace is not the same as New Who -it is so much slower.

I used to watch Doctor Who when I was a kid and loved the Tom Baker episodes. I wasn't really interested in the new episodes when they started, but I've been watching them since my five year old son decided he is a fan recently, and I have to admit to becoming quite partial to the show. We started with David Tennant because those were the episodes that were being repeated on TV at the time. He used to be my son's favourite Doctor. Now he prefers Matt Smith. We have only seen a couple of Christopher Ecclestone episodes, and the one where the Doctor regenerates as Peter Capaldi. I'm tempted to go back to the start of season 1* and watch them all in order, especially now that I've seen some of the Stephen Moffat story arcs! It gives me an idea of what might be going on with Sherlock, that there is a "big picture" that we haven't even seen all of yet. Exciting

* Season 1 of the new episodes, is what I meant to say. I've tried rewatching some of the classics again, but they're terribly slow and melodramatic.

Last edited by ukaunz (August 17, 2015 9:23 pm)

ukaunz wrote:

especially now that I've seen some of the Stephen Moffat story arcs! It gives me an idea of what might be going on with Sherlock, that there is a "big picture" that we haven't even seen all of yet. Exciting

I know what you mean. I'm not sure though if you can do a similar thing with a show that gives you only three new episodes every two or three years. It's difficult for 'normal' viewers to keep track (and even with Doctor Who it's sometimes difficult to keep track with Moffat's story arcs).
Nevertheless I'm definitely hoping for a "big picture".
 

Yes to Sherlock. Yes To Sherlock!!!