The doctor? Doctor Who?

[japester]

Since Introduce yourself! has turned into Introduce yourself and describe just how much you like Doctor Who, I thought perhaps the good doctor deserved his own thread. After all, excellent storytelling that skillfully weaves sci-fi and horror together into a thought-provoking whole sounds an awful lot like a game we all love.... :D


When did you first discover Doctor Who? Do you have a favorite Doctor? A favorite monster? How do you show your Who fandom? Etc.


For me, DW started way back in the 70's. My childhood was spent bouncing back and forth between New York and rural Ireland each year. While in the UK, I devoured copies of Topper and Beano. 2000 AD rocketed me into disaster zones with Ro-jaws and Hammerstein or down dark alleyways with Sam Slade, Robo-Hunter. On TV, I was always on the lookout for episodes of Blake's 7. But one man topped them all--Doctor Who! A Bohemian madman sporting a mop of curly hair topped with a ridiculous hat, munching on jelly babies while all wrapped up in his mile-long scarf.


For me, the Doctor will probably always be Tom Baker. But I have to give props to the actors involved with the recent revival. Particularly David Tennant. He brought something magical to the role. His episodes are some of the most enjoyable sci-fi stories ever.


The next best thing about the revival, besides Tennant, is the TOYS! I vividly remember spending hours in a Dublin airport begging my parents for a talking K-9 toy oh so long ago. When a modern remote-control K-9 was released a couple of years ago, I pounced on it. Along with a large R/C Dalek. I have a few other treasures, but my favorite is a little Dalek figure from the 80's that opens up into a tiny playset, complete with Davros, the 4th Doctor, and a wee Dalek! It's been tough resisting the dozens upon dozens of high-quality DW toys that have been released in the last 5 or 6 years.

[precipice66]

First off japester, I apologize; I'm one of the guilty parties who turned the 'Intro' thread into the 'We love Who' thread.


Anyway, My favorite is Tennant. I was a bit young for the originals. Eccleston was awesome too but he left too soon to earn the top spot.


I too have the large R/C Dalek. I named him Fred and he lives on my shelf.

[japester]

Don't apologize! Stuff like that happens. :)


I saw your appreciation for non-UK Who fans, and I was like, "Ohhh, MAN. There are a lot of us out there....!" LOL


Fred the Dalek. I bet he wanted to exterminate you the minute you named him that.

[precipice66]

Fred is a cool name, all the other Daleks are totally jealous of him. And yeah, it's great to see that Doc Who has so many fans outside of the UK. I didn't know how well the show's inherent 'Britishness' (there's no other word to sufficiently describe it) would translate across the pond and elsewhere but it really has.

[ig.kayla]

David Tennant is my favorite Doctor, though I admit I got into the series late. I've been trying to catch-up with the classics :D My favorite evil monsters are the vashta nerada, my favorite aliens of all time are the Ood :D


We are missing a good question in the forum though.

Who is your favorite companion?

Mine is Rose :)

[precipice66]

Rose for me too. Though I have a soft spot for Donna Noble (partly because her grandfather Wilfred Mott is played by a brilliant British actor called Bernard Cribbins).


I'm not one for getting teary-eyed at television but the final Tennant episode where the Doctor and Wilfred share a scene together brought me damned close:


The Doctor: I'd be proud.

Wilfred Mott: Of what?

The Doctor: If you were my dad.

Wilfred Mott: Come on, don't start.

[japester]

Yer killin' me with the quotes, precipice66. More than one scene with Wilfred had me tearing up. He was easily one of my favorite tertiary characters.


Ha! I carry the unpopular opinion that Rose was rather annoying. I appreciated the Doctor's relationship with her--it made for heart-wrenching drama--but the character herself just didn't seem worthy of it.


If K-9 qualifies as a companion, then I choose him as #1. LOL. If not, then I really enjoyed Martha Jones (both for her character and for the huge crush I had on her) and Sarah Jane Smith (classic and modern appearances). The newer stories have been great at highlighting the companion's companions, too. Both Mickey and Rory have been a lot of fun to watch. For "classic" companions, I'd have to go with Leela. EVERY red-blooded young man liked Leela. LOL


Rose: So, in twelve months, have you been seeing anyone else?

Mickey: No.

Rose: Okay.

Mickey: Mainly because everyone thinks I murdered you.

[precipice66]

Mickey was good, though I think they over-played the jealous boyfriend angle, which actually made me kind of sorry for him.

[ragingmudcrab]

Seven is a badass!


http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lhpqx7q7E71qbsvmoo1_500.jpg


Badass.


Also, Ninth Doctor: Never Forget.

[precipice66]

Tennant was sooo awesome.

[Videospielspieler]

I am loving Matt Smith. It could just be the writing, but I am really liking the 5th and 6th seasons of Doctor reboot take two. I love how everything comes together and yet there are some ends left loose.


I was a Tennant fan to be sure, his episodes were great. I also really enjoyed the Rose aspect though I am not positive that I like how it ended.


I have not watched much of the classic Who except that which I can find on Netflix but I enjoy it. Wish I got into this series ages ago!


My boyfriend is going to be 11th Doctor for Halloween. My daughter is the 10th. She is very excited and insists that he dress up like the Doctor all of the time. As soon as he comes home from work she says 'Call a Doctor!"


Couldn't. Be. Cuter.


On the topic of Rose--- I liked her and I disliked her. I disliked that she was so weak and annoying at the beginning, and I diskliked that every other mission involved her mother or Mickey. etc. I liked her relationship with the Tardis (if you don't understand what that means I am guessing you did not see the season one reboot finale and I do not want to spoil it )


Spoilers through Tennant's run of Doctor follow:

<span> When she took the soul of the Tardis into her I think that it opened up a really neat way for thre character to evolve and it just didn't happen. I loved that she was us, the super excited always amazed traveller, but after she took the Tardis into her why didn't she fall apart like Donna Noble after she had the Doctor's mind in her? If Rose was just stronger I wish it were examined more as such. They made Mickey badass, and it wasn't until an episode or two before her demise that I started -liking- Rose. Then the whole bit with the human Doctor... it left me dissatisfied. Billie Piper was gearing up for her own spin off when Rose left Who, it is possible that that is why they ramped up her character although the spin off was canned before it was filmed. This is such a run on thought; Rose was a neat idea, a regular person that became stronger by travelling with the Doctor, but I feel like her story got sloppy in the end. </span>

[japester]

That's an interesting take on Rose's development, katherine. I never became invested enough in her character to expect that much from her storyline, but you are correct.


Your daughter sounds terribly cute.


While I don't dislike Matt Smith, he hasn't fully grabbed me just yet. He does seem to be quite a bit darker than even the 9th Doctor, which is saying something. I like that aspect of the character, but I'm finding the recent storytelling to be so convoluted that it's interfering with our enjoyment of the show.


The classic Who episodes largely stood on their own as self-contained stories. With recurring villains providing the "Aha!" moments. "Bad Wolf" was a fantastic idea that didn't impair the week-to-week storytelling. The crack in the wall seemed like "Bad Wolf" all over again. But the death of the Doctor has been so complex that each story requires a play-by-play just to keep track of what's going on. The missus and I often have to pause the DVR and confer to remember who is in what timeline doing what to whom and when. Most fans have been raving about this season, though, so I have a feeling we are in the (thick) minority.

[precipice66]

@ japester - agreed with the points you made about Matt Smith. We haven't had time to see him just doing a few stand-alone stories and just being 'The Doctor'. I wasn't a huge fan of the River Song storyline this season (don't worry I won't spoil anything) and while I don't mind encountering the odd famous historical character, I think they may have overdone it a bit. And yes the story can be a bit convoluted, you're not on your own there.


Still any show that has fish fingers in custard, Jammie Dodgers and Fez's in is still a must-watch in my book.

[Videospielspieler]

Audrey is terribly cute. Pictures will be posted soon. :)


Rose could have been so much more. The idea that she could imprint over all of time due to her Taris connection is so cool, but it was not reflected by her character at all. I can't help but wonder "Where is the cool Rose that came up with Bad Wolf? When did she turn into a cool chick?" because all we saw was lovey dovey confused Rose.


I liked Bad Wolf but would prefer Hello Sweetie.


As far as the crack in the wall goes, it is still a wide open story line right ? I have only seen the first 6 eps of season six so please do not answer without spoilers if there is a direct answer to this question from Hitler ep. onward....


Anyhow, there was a crack in the wall. It was actually a crack in time. It seemed to follow either The Doctor or Amy Pond. It was revealed that the crack was created by the Tardi exploding. We know that River attempted to destroy the Tardis.... but it didn't really happen so this is where I get confused. I thought at the end of the fifth season The Doctor still wanted to know why his Tardis was destined to explode, did I miss something?

[precipice66]

@ katherine - I just went cross-eyed. Put like that, I'm not sure I've understood everything myself.

Hi ho hi ho, it's off to wiki I go!