Doctor Who

Recently I paid attention to this: "The Cheerful Ghost Forums are the place for any kind of discussion around games, movies or off-topic threads that are not on the main page." So, I thought I'd post here and see about getting some Doctor Who discussion going. I've already told a couple of friends some of these things, so this may be a bit of a repeat for them.

Some time ago, it was recommended to me that I start watching Doctor Who. I did, starting with the 9th Doctor. At that time, the 11th wasn't finished and therefore I did not finish his seasons. I did, however, begin to start watching Doctor Who from the very 1st Doctor. It took me some time to complete watching "classic Doctor Who" (Doctors 1-8), but I recently finished doing so. I did take some breaks, that is I didn't watch any Doctor Who for some time.

Since I finished watching classic Doctor Who, I decided to start watching the new Doctor Who series (beginning with the 9th Doctor). Much of this was what I've already seen, but it was great to watch the new series again after having watched the classic series. I understood a bit more about different things that were going on and my knowledge of the entire series was greatly expanded.

I've found it difficult to pick a favorite Doctor as I've liked each and every one of them, although some more than others. That said, my favorite classic Doctor is probably the 4th, but it's still kind of difficult to pick a favorite. I pretty much liked each of them very much. They were all unique in their own way and yet they all portrayed similar character aspects of the Doctor, such as being a bit eccentric, some more so than others. Initially, I did not like the 7th Doctor because that actor had played another character in an earlier episode. The character wasn't exactly "good" or "friendly" to the Doctor at the time. However, he was still a good Doctor and I thought his eccentric wardrobe was pretty cool.

As for the Doctor's companions, it's hard to pick favorites, too. I think Rose and Amy are among my most favorites. Some of the classic companions were likable, yet there were some that I really did not like at all, such as Turlough and Tegan.

One thing about classic versus new Doctor Who is that the classic series often felt a bit boring even though I still enjoyed the character of the Doctor. There are at least a couple or few episodes of classic Doctor Who that I absolutely did not like at all. However, I don't feel this way about the new new series.

I am currently watching the 11th Doctor (9-11 are some of my favorites) and have not yet made it to the 12th. Classic Doctor Who did state a few times that the Doctor could only regenerate 12 times, but I think that is a "rule" that can be easily broken and logically so. For instance, The Master is also a time lord, who is restricted to that same regeneration rule, yet he defied it. There was also a newer episode where another time lord used all of her regeneration lives to save the Doctor (I'm trying to avoid "spoilers" here), so I think that the regeneration rule can easily be broken and it can be worked into the story.

One final note that I noticed that I want to mention is that the 11th seems to have the most beautiful TARDIS. The outside of the TARDIS is a beautiful blue and the wood looks great.

If you've watched Doctor Who, what have you watched (classic, new, or both)? Who is your favorite Doctor and companion? Do you also find it difficult to choose favorites?

Timogorgon Member wrote on 12/27/2014 at 12:12am

My wife and I are big Doctor Who fans! I have a Tardis and Dalek figurine on my mantle and own three different sonic screwdrivers. :D We just recently watched the Christmas Invasion (10's first episode, not counting his first appearance at the end of the first season), and now I think we're going to just continue on through the series again starting from that point on just because we love the show. I don't have cable, so I'm a season behind and haven't seen anything with the 12th Doctor. I did try going through the Classic Doctor Who starting with the 1st Doctor, but just couldn't get into it.

As for my favorite Doctor, 10 is my favorite. I vow that one of these days I will own a suit like his! My wife started watching Doctor Who right as the 11th Doctor came onto the show, so he holds a special place as her first Doctor. Amy and Rory are my favorite companions. And although she's not technically a companion, I love River Song.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 12/27/2014 at 12:30am

I'm so jealous of your figurines and sonic screwdrivers! I wish I had at least one sonic screwdriver! Doctors 10 and 11 are definitely among my most favorite. It's very hard to choose between them. The 10th had the saddest regeneration, meaning it was really sad to see him regenerate, yet the 11th Doctor is really awesome! I also love River Song.

My parents have dish TV, but I don't watch it. I haven't had that kind of service in my room on my TV in many years. I am, however, an Amazon Prime member, so I get to watch Doctor Who using the Amazon Instant Video app on my PS3. =)

jdodson Admin wrote on 12/28/2014 at 05:21am

Promoting this to main. I think it needs a bit more coverage

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 12/28/2014 at 06:28am

Awesome, Jon!

Travis Admin wrote on 12/29/2014 at 04:44pm

12 is actually probably my favorite. He has a very Hartnell/Pertwee feel to him, with a dash of Tom Baker. I'm absolutely loving him so far. A few of his episodes are some of the best ever, but to be fair a couple of them are stinkers.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 12/29/2014 at 06:45pm

Awesome, Travis! I recently finished re-watching season 6. I don't know how much of season 7 I watched. I think that is about where I stopped.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 01/02/2015 at 10:03pm

Tim, where did you get your sonic screwdrivers? I'm tempted to get at least two of them, the ones that the 10th and 11th Doctors use. How do they function? Do they do a sonic sound? Do they act as a flashlight? If you have the 11th Doctor's one, does it pop out four (or three) pieces like his does? I mean, do they function as they do when we watch them on Doctor Who?

I have just started part two of season 7, so I've started watching episodes that are new to me. I was happy to see an Ice Warrior return to Doctor Who in the last episode I watched. The Doctor really went a long time without seeing any of them.

I like Clara, she's sexy, or at least her actions and flirting with the Doctor are sexy. LOL

Travis Admin wrote on 01/02/2015 at 10:26pm

Greg has never been able to resist a pretty girl. :)

We have two versions of 11's (the plastic one and one that actually functions as a screwdriver), one of 10's, and River Song's. We got them all from ThinkGeek

https://www.thinkgeek.com/brain/whereisit.cgi?t=+sonic+screwdriver

Travis Admin wrote on 01/02/2015 at 10:27pm

Oh and they aren't really bright enough to act as a flashlight, but they do all make the sound. The version of 11's that I have that acts as a real screwdriver doesn't pop out the flanges, or whatever you want to call them, but the plastic one does. 10's extends out, and River's has blue and red settings, just like in the show.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 01/03/2015 at 01:13am

Awesome, Travis! I can't recall seeing River with one. "Flanges" sounds like a good term to call those things. Vinny got me a stylus for Christmas that has an LED flashlight and a laser pointer on it. I think of it as my sonic screw driver. It'd be cool to have a "real" sonic screw driver. Heck, it'd be cool to have a real TARDIS, too. The sonic screw driver didn't debut until the Second Doctor. It was cool when he came out with it.

Many of the Doctor's companions are pretty girls. Tegan is pretty, but still one of my least favorite companions. I also think River is pretty, too. Oh and that woman who was in charge of Torchwood during the "ghosts" episode, she was hot, too. Hahaha. Certainly I can't resist figuratively drooling over pretty girls, I've been doing very well at keeping to the single life in the last couple of years. =)

Timogorgon Member wrote on 01/03/2015 at 05:12am

Mine are all props (really they're toys :P ) and they all came from Thinkgeek as well. We have 10's, 11's, and Rivers. They all light up and make sound effects like the show. 10's also doubles as a black light.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 01/03/2015 at 05:49am

Awesome!

Travis Admin wrote on 01/03/2015 at 06:30am

Remember in the library, River has a sonic screwdriver and she tells the Doctor that he gave it to her? The Doc finds the memory chip in it at the end.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 01/03/2015 at 02:34pm

Yes, I remember, I thought it was his that he gave her.

Travis Admin wrote on 01/03/2015 at 03:30pm

It is, but it's way different. Has a finger hole for grip and red settings. Presumably the Doctor modified his and gave it to her at some point.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 01/03/2015 at 06:19pm

Cool, thanks for reminding me. =)

Timogorgon Member wrote on 01/03/2015 at 09:55pm

The Doctor: Your screwdriver. Looks exactly like mine.
River: Yeah. You gave it to me.
The Doctor: I don't give my screwdriver to anyone.
River: I'm not anyone.

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/River_Song

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 01/03/2015 at 10:41pm

Yeah, I remember that, which is why I didn't think she had one of her own. Meaning, I thought she had the Doctor's.

Travis Admin wrote on 01/04/2015 at 10:32pm

It *was* the Doctor's, it's now River's. It's just one from the future that we never saw him give her, and very different from any he's used, but similar to 10's. The night she mentions that he gave her the screwdriver is addressed in the webisodes from series 6, First Night or Last Night, can't remember which. You never actually see him give her the screwdriver so presumably he fixed 10's (which sparked out in The Eleventh Hour) and upgraded it at some point and gave it to her off-screen.

Here's all the webisodes if you haven't seen them: https://www.reddit.com/r/doctorwho/comments/10klcl/list_of_doctor_who_miniepisodes/

Travis Admin wrote on 01/04/2015 at 10:37pm

OH! And you especially need to watch the webisodes "The Night of the Doctor" and "The Last Day" before watching the 50th anniversary special, The Day of The Doctor.

You said you watched all the classic series, but did you watch the 1996 TV movie starring Paul McGann? If not, it isn't essential but can give you some context for The Night of The Doctor. It isn't a great movie, but Paul McGann is a fantastic Doctor.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 01/04/2015 at 10:53pm

That's a cool explanation of River's sonic screwdriver. Thanks for the link, I'll have to watch those webisodes, since I haven't seen any of them. I did watch the movie. As for the actor who played The Master, he's been a bad guy before, I think in The Dark Knight, so I thought he was a good fit for the role. The 8th Doctor was a good one, too.

Travis Admin wrote on 01/05/2015 at 03:17pm

Eric Roberts played that role well, but the way they messed up the character was pretty rough.

Timogorgon Member wrote on 01/05/2015 at 07:49pm

Thanks for that link with all the webisodes! I hadn't seen those before. I'll have to watch them later tonight. :D

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 01/06/2015 at 01:18am

I've seen a few of them before, mostly Time Crash and a couple of the others. Some of them are available on Amazon Instant Video, including the prequels. Last night, I watched all of the other ones, up until where I currently am with season 7.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 01/06/2015 at 06:08am

I have finished all of the mini-episodes in the link, which means I have finished season 7. It also means I have just finished watching the 50th Anniversary episode. I got to see a very brief glimpse of the newest Doctor, but only very briefly. I'm looking forward to watching season 8 and seeing the new regeneration, though I'm going to miss another Doctor. I'm sure I'll like the new one. It's weird, too, because when I finish with season 8, I will have seen all of Doctor Who. So, it means one long "adventure" will be coming to an end. It's taken me quite a while to watch all of Doctor Who, but soon I will be all caught up. Once I'm done with season 8, I'm thinking of watching Torchwood.

Travis Admin wrote on 01/06/2015 at 05:00pm

Did you watch the christmas special between 7 and 8 yet? Be sure not to skip it, since that's kinda important. Regeneration and all. I'm not sure if it's available on netflix/etc yet.

Torchwood is good. Season 1 takes some patience, season 2 gets good. Season 3 is the Children of Earth miniseries which is some of the best television of all time. Season 4 is Miracle Day which is largely disappointing but has some good stuff going on. And then Russel T. Davies' boyfriend got incredibly sick and he stopped making television. So we may never see any more of it.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 01/06/2015 at 06:59pm

Thanks for the reminder, the Christmas special is actually the next episode I need to watch.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 01/09/2015 at 05:09am

I just finished watching "Time Heist," which means I'm nearly halfway done with the season, so I thought I'd share some thoughts on season 8 and Peter Capaldi. I didn't have any doubts that I would like him. I've liked every regeneration of the Doctor, even though there was one I didn't like at first. I explained that some time ago. I thought the first episode of season 8 with the new regeneration was cool. The Doctor was still getting used to his new regeneration and was a bit more eccentric or "mad" than usual. Since I've watched all of the other Doctors regenerate, I can tell you that he often takes some time to get use to his new regeneration, usually just the initial episode.

I also have access to some "extras" for each episode, which I watch right after the episode. They are cool. Oh and I liked the addition of Strax, Jenny, and Madame Vastra. For some reason, Strax reminds me of a character in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine named Nog. If you know who I'm talking about, perhaps you notice a similarity, too. It's kind of hard to explain. Strax is funny though, he's a cool character.

Travis Admin wrote on 01/09/2015 at 10:52pm

I'm not sure about the comparison to Nog, Strax just wants to murder everything and Nog was about as sweet as a character can be.

DS9 is one of my favorite shows of all time though. Glad to see you've watched it!

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 01/09/2015 at 11:54pm

You make a good point. I don't know exactly how Strax reminds me of Nog, I think it's perhaps his speech, the way he talks, though I'm just not sure. Nog was a cool character. Yes, a few years ago, I finished watching every Star Trek episode starting with the beginning to the very end of Enterprise. I even watched the animated series and all of the movies.

Travis Admin wrote on 01/10/2015 at 03:30am

What did you think of Enterprise? So far that's all I haven't seen.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 01/10/2015 at 03:59am

I liked it. I think it could have gone on longer and I was sad that it didn't. I thought it was cool that the actor who played one of the major bad guys in DS9 returned and played a character in Enterprise. Ever since I started watching Quantum Leap, I've been a fan of Scott Bakula, so I thought it was cool that he was the captain. His Vulcan officer was pretty.

Before I watched all of Star Trek a few years ago, I had seen most of TNG, some of DS9, and a little bit of Voyager (especially the beginning). I had never watched The Original Series nor did I even know about the animated series. So, I was glad to watch everything.

I have liked the new Star Trek movies, although I can't recall the last one (which is the second of the reboot), so I may have to watch it again (I think I watched it). I was familiar with the guy who played (young) Spock because of his role in Heroes. As for the guy who played (young) "Bones," I've seen him a few times, too. I believe I saw some where recently that there's going to be another one.

Travis Admin wrote on 01/10/2015 at 05:46am

Yeah there's a third coming. There's been a lot of drama around it, and thankfully Roberto Orci is out of it. Though since I've mentioned him, he'll probably show up in the comments to trash us.

Young Bones is Karl Urban, he was in the Lord Of The Rings movies, Red, Dredd, and many other things.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 01/10/2015 at 06:46am

Hm, I don't know who Roberto Orci is, but IMDB shows that he's a writer/producer.

As for Karl Urban, thanks for telling me his name, although I could have "Googled" that one, too. I don't remember him in Lord of the Rings. Vinny got a DVD for Christmas called "Walking With Dinosaurs: The Movie" and I recognized him. I think he was also in "Doom" (the movie). Ah yes, IMDB confirms that. I also saw "Priest," which I also recognized him in.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 01/10/2015 at 07:17am

Actually, now that I think of it, maybe I do recall seeing Karl Urban in Lord of the Rings. It's been a few years since I've watched the movie.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 01/12/2015 at 05:03am

I've just finished "series 8." That means I have just the 12th Doctor's Christmas episode left. The final two episodes were dark, sad, and surprising.

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