Online Doctor Who Documentary

mikey writes "There's an online documentary called Planet of the Doctor about the influence of Doctor Who. It's put out by the CBC and it's got some decent interviews with original producers, writers, and cast as well as fans and others. So far, it's been very entertaining and informative. They've got four episodes out with another couple to come. If you're a Doctor Who fan (or even a generic Sci-Fi fan) it's worth checking out."

Comments

Doctor Who?

[Anonymous Coward]

I am not familiar with this individual. More details, please.

Re:Doctor Who?

[Vombatus]

Google is your friend, along with many, many other search engines

Either that, or you are a troll with no friends at all

Re:Doctor Who?

[otherniceman]

A traveler in time and space (www.whoisdoctorwho.co.uk)

Re:Doctor Who?

[wizzdude]

There is also http://www.unit.org.uk/. Password is pretty obvious if you have been watching the new series... or know JavaScript.

Re:Doctor Who?

[Anonymous Coward]

LOL, i get the joke, non-troll. these idiots before me apparently misplaced their frontal lobes somewhere.

Re:Doctor Who?

[meringuoid]

The difference between -1, Troll and +5, Funny is whether or not the first moderator gets the joke :-)

That said... never mind who's Doctor Who, what I want to know is who's afraid of the big bad wolf?

Re:Doctor Who?

[Anonymous Coward]

What i dont understand is why no one has managed to piece together that the bad wolf, is a reference to the dalek fleet sitting cloaked mere light years from earth.... and why no one has realized that if the doc and a dalek could survive the time wars, whats to stop the master or tha Raini (spelling) from surviving?? Granted this wont be confirmed till saturday night, but i guarentee the daleks are back... they didnt go through all that trouble to get the rights just to kill them off so quick....

Re:Doctor Who?

[Anonymous Coward]

He was the heavy in King Kong Escapes (1967), voiced by Paul Frees in the American version of the movie. Paul Frees also was the voice of the Burgermeister Meisterburger in "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and John Lennon and George Harrison in the 1965 Beatles animated cartoon.

Re:Doctor Who?

[Anonymous Coward]

No he is not.

I don't know this Dr, Who either.

Re:Doctor Who?

[QuaZar666]

True, true. Now I only saw a few episodes of the old seasons, and all of the new ones. But from what I am seeing the Time Wars between the Daleks and the Time Lords did not happen in one time, but instead existed in diffent times and different areas of the Universe.

Re:Doctor Who?

[jd]

Great quotes! Here's a few more...

• "It doesn't roll along on wheels, you know!"
  
• "Your arrogance is nearly as great as your ignorance."
  
• "Logic, my dear Zoe, merely enables one to be wrong with authority."
  
• "Your leader will be angry if you kill me; I'm a genius!"
  
• My dear Miss Shaw, I never "report myself" anywhere.. particularly not "forthwith".
  
• "Look, try and use your intelligence, man, even if you are a politician."
  
• "There's no point in being grown-up if you can't be childish sometimes."
  
• "You know, K9, sometimes I think I'm wasted, just rushing around the universe saving planets from destruction. With a talent like mine, I might have been a great slow bowler."
  
• "Now please, come and see the TARDIS. As an invasion weapon it's about as offensive as a chicken vol-au-vent."
  
• "Well, how do you think I feel? I'm a 900 year old Time Lord. Not much dignity in scrambling over a wall like a small boy on a scrumping spree."
  
• "I don't believe you've met my young friend Ace, an expert in calorification, incineration, carbonization, and inflammation."
  

This one's from Brigadier Alastair Lethbridge-Steward, founder and chief of the UK operations of UNIT (the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, a special forces and intelligence organization aimed at dealing with alien invasions):

• "Jenkins! Chappie with the wings there -- five rounds rapid."
  

Re:Doctor Who?

[MegaFur]

Good quotes too. :-)

The most classic Brigadier quote: "Just once I'd like to meet an enemy that wasn't immune to bullets!"

Re:Doctor Who?

[MegaFur]

Except actually he probably said "monster" rather than "enemy" or something. Why the hell doesn't slashdot let people edit their comments?

Re:Doctor Who?

[Anonymous Coward]

I saw previews. The Dalek are in the next episode.

Anyone got a torrent?

[Anonymous Coward]

No, seriously! If it's not in torrent form, I simply won't watch it :)

Re:Anyone got a torrent?

[Anonymous Coward]

Check out Demonoid, it has several metric tonnes of Doctor Who, old and new.

Check out the TV Tome Episode Guide for the First 26 seasons and the movie and the 27th season to know what you're getting... recent episodes will probably be easier to stomach, older ones (back to 1963!) are very poor duplications of black and white episodes.

Starting with the newest season, the 27th, is a good idea since the show has been on hiatus for about 15 years and the new ones don't assume any background knowledge.

Re:Anyone got a torrent?

[Dogtanian]

older ones (back to 1963!) are very poor duplications of black and white episodes.

The Aztecs is in pretty respectable condition (they spent a lot of time restoring it, even to the extent of 'putting back' the look of the original video which was lost in the transfer to film).

Story's not bad either, considering its era; British TV was still quite new then. The productions were often theatrical in style, and either live, or recorded straight-through in a similar manner.

The Aztecs *is* like that, but it's reasonably entertaining bearing all that in mind. I'm not sure I'd show it to a 7-year old to get them into Doctor Who though...

I love Dr Who :)

[Anonymous Coward]

Thank you, this is way cool!

This documentary brought to you by Volkswagen

[Dancin_Santa]

With all due respect, Dr. Who is one of the most unwatchable series on public television. I watch the pledge drives and get treated to all sorts of interesting shows ranging from Dr. Weil's health seminars to David Hyde Pierce's documentary on the wine regions in France to Dale Chihuly's blown glass exhibits, and I'm compelled to give. Then for the next 4 months I'm treated to languid, unfunny British science fiction.

How has Dr. Who changed the face of television? I'm not so sure we can answer that except in opposition. It has shown us that shows ought to be recorded on film or in digital rather than on VHS. It has shown us that special effects ought to be well done instead of looking like a 2nd grade art contest. It shows us that British actors can only employ ironic humor.

Dr. Who (I'll be modded down for this, I'm sure. What else is new?) sucks.

Re:This documentary brought to you by Volkswagen

[Anonymous Coward]

Reminder to moderators: do not moderate up Dancin Santa, he is in fact a fucking asshole.

Re:This documentary brought to you by Volkswagen

[zakezuke]

It has shown us that special effects ought to be well done instead of looking like a 2nd grade art contest.

Keep in mind it was slated to be a kid's show and was part of the kids department till 1989. In fact, I know I watched a documentary where in the 60s they had a contest who could create the most scarry monster. Strangely enough the results of turning over the design department to a bunch of 2nd grade students worked rather well and I, a Doctor Who fan, wouldn't have noticed the difference.

Re:This documentary brought to you by Volkswagen

[Anonymous Coward]

I watch the pledge drives and get treated to all sorts of interesting shows ranging from Dr. Weil's health seminars to David Hyde Pierce's documentary on the wine regions in France to Dale Chihuly's blown glass exhibits, and I'm compelled to give.

I for one will not mod someone down for a negative opinion of Dr. Who.
Not even from an alcoholic, francophilic, hypocondriac who enjoys watching men blow..
No sir, I simply wont.

Re:This documentary brought to you by Volkswagen

[Anonymous Coward]

You're American, aren't you ?

It's just pearls before swine with you , isn't it ?...... *sigh*

Nevermind, go back to Desperate Housewives....ok?

Re:This documentary brought to you by Volkswagen

[Anonymous Coward]

Nevermind, go back to Desperate Housewives....ok? /me goes back to Desperate Housewives /me suffers emotional trama when finding out the brown sause they're talking about isn't a condiment /me sues your ass

Re:This documentary brought to you by Volkswagen

[Goth Biker Babe]

How has Dr. Who changed the face of television?

Apart from being the longest running TV science fiction series I wouldn't know.

It shows us that British actors can only employ ironic humor.

I'm surprised that, from that side of the pond, you know what irony is. I always thought you lot thought it was like silvery but harder.

Everyone likes things and dislikes things. So you dislike Dr Who. That's your prerogative. But good public television has to suit all tastes. I am currently off of work due to a bad chest infection and I am spending most of my time in bed. Yesterday I watched a program on how Bernard Herman, the film composer, changed the face of classical composing; poets talking about other poets work; Drake's defeat of the Spanish Armada; Turner Landscapes at the National Gallery; and The Professionals which is enjoyable seventies secret agent bunkum all courtesy of free broadcasting (none of which were on the BBC).

Put on the shows to draw in the public and then the advertising sold can pay for the 'culture'.

Re:This documentary brought to you by Volkswagen

[Dancin_Santa]

Well put, though I'd recommend thinking twice before simply assuming that someone you disagree with must live in America.

As for longest running science fiction, I could have sworn that was Star Trek Voyager. Maybe it just felt like it was on forever.

Re:This documentary brought to you by Volkswagen

[Goth Biker Babe]

I only said the other side of the pond. That could mean Canada or even Mexico I suppose. But when someone talks of public television I tend to think of PBS.

Re:This documentary brought to you by Volkswagen

[Anonymous Coward]

20 years Ive tried to watch the damn thing and I couldnt, it was unbearable but I have to admit I really like this new series.
Of course, I sat through 2.5 seasons of Enterprise and all of Voyager, so I cant say that I've had anything lately to compare it too.

The latest doctor has that slightly psychotic look which makes you think that any minute hell go apeshit and rip someones heart out and I like the storylines (again, my brain has been tenderized by Star Trek and Star Wars). I tried DLing a few of the old ones and No. Absolutely not.

Then again, I like Red Dwarf, which understood better than Braga and Berman ever will that when youre in outer space, anything goes (meaning you dont have to rehash earth problems like homosexuality or racism on other worlds).

dennis

Re:This documentary brought to you by Volkswagen

[Anonymous Coward]

No it was not part of the childrens department until 1989. Sheesh!

Re:This documentary brought to you by Volkswagen

[mark-t]

I'm surprised that, from that side of the pond, you know what irony is. I always thought you lot thought it was like silvery but harder.

You're being ironic there, aren't you?

Re:This documentary brought to you by Volkswagen

[s-gen]

It has shown us that special effects ought to be well done instead of looking like a 2nd grade art contest.

The daleks aren't 2nd grade art. They are a genuine 1960's design classic.

Re:This documentary brought to you by Volkswagen

[ettlz]

Are you a Dalek or a Cyberman or something?

Re:This documentary brought to you by Volkswagen

[mobitron]

Keep in mind it was slated to be a kid's show and was part of the kids department till 1989.
Not correct - it was always produced by the BBC drama department.

Re:This documentary brought to you by Volkswagen

[BigBadBus]

Actually, no it wasn't. The show was produced by the BBC Drama Department from 1963 to 1989 and was never part of the "kids department".

And the "Design a monster" competition was run by Blue Peter, c.1968, and that WAS a kid's programme.

Get your facts right.

Re:This documentary brought to you by Volkswagen

[zakezuke]

Actually, no it wasn't. The show was produced by the BBC Drama Department from 1963 to 1989 and was never part of the "kids department".

I'd have to review the documentaries, but the ones I've seen made references to kids show, kids department / educational department. I also seem to remember the same documentary spoke about much pressure regarding the use of monsters disguised as policemen saying, "you can tell children there are no such thing as monsters, but you can't tell them there are no such things as policemen".

I'd love to get my facts right but everything I've seen sugests kids and education even though it has long since evolved beyond a vehicle to visit history.

Re:This documentary brought to you by Volkswagen

[Anonymous Coward]

Not even from an alcoholic, francophilic, hypocondriac who enjoys watching men blow..

Chihuly doesn't blow himself anymore, no since he lost his eye. Blowing requires depth perception otherwise it could be most painful. He has a staff that does all the blowing, and for the most part he does the design.

Re:This documentary brought to you by Volkswagen

[BigBadBus]

The show was intended to be some kind of schedule filler that would appeal to the masses - educational and exciting for the kids, and hopefully of interest to the adults.

The show was a BBC Drama output. They wouldn't have spent so much money on it if it was just a kids show.

Re:This documentary brought to you by Volkswagen

[Anonymous Coward]

If you count all the Star Trek series as one, they (barely) beat Dr. Who in terms of seasons produced (3 seasons of the original, 7 seasons of TNG, 7 seasons of DS9, 7 seasons of Voyager and 4 seasons of Enterprise).

Of course that doesn't make it the longest running, since TNG, DS9 and Voyager overlapped, but then add 10 movies and the animated series...

Re:This documentary brought to you by Volkswagen

[Anonymous Coward]

Yesterday I watched a program on how Bernard Herman, the film composer, changed the face of classical composing; poets talking about other poets work; Drake's defeat of the Spanish Armada; Turner Landscapes at the National Gallery; and The Professionals which is enjoyable seventies secret agent bunkum all courtesy of free broadcasting

I must live in a different country, cause yesterday I saw on tv an endless repetition of home renovation shows, auctions and daily politics - while probably on channel 4 there was a reality show on.
The top 5% of the BBC output is brilliant - but the daily shows are sandwich turds for pensioners..

Re:This documentary brought to you by Volkswagen

[Dogsbody_D]

WRT the special effects on the old series, bear in mind that the televisions were much worse then. Try watching them on an analogue grainy black and white 14-inch telly and the Daemons look pretty darn good...

Re:This documentary brought to you by Volkswagen

[zakezuke]

The show was a BBC Drama output. They wouldn't have spent so much money on it if it was just a kids show.

It had a budget? Part of it's charm was the ultra cheap special effects. In the early days it had it's moments as in Marco Polo, and others where they seemed to be penny pinching as in Edge of Destruction aka inside the space shop.

Perhaps it's my foreign perspective observing that you lot have much more in the way of respect for children and are less prone to be condescending, and have television dedicated to the teething market. I don't see it unreasonable to put money into a kids show. Yes I see it as having a higher budget than Captain Pugwash for example, which I believe had a voice that sounded very much like Peter Hawkins as a Dalek. Do correct me if i'm wrong on that point.

I could be wrong... I think i'm remembering this from Dimensions in Time, but i'm not positive... but to me it's still looking like a production for kids that evolved over a short time to a drama less than education.

Re:This documentary brought to you by Volkswagen

[Goth Biker Babe]

Actually from 9.30 am on Channel 4 its quite good at the moment. The add UK History, ITV 3 and Men and Motors (TT week - double plus good) and there's some okay watching for a poorly person.

Re:This documentary brought to you by Volkswagen

[Goth Biker Babe]

But that's not one program is it. It would be like saying that SG-1 and Atlantis is one program.

If you want to play the same game, what about the two (three?) Dr Who movies and the radio series.

Re:This documentary brought to you by Volkswagen

[Mant]

Millions of people have, and now again do watch it. Now while popularity isn't necessarily quality, it clearly is not "unwatchable".

I don't think it has changed the face of television, very little has. It has entertained millions of people for generations though, which is pretty good going.

Re:This documentary brought to you by Volkswagen

[Mant]

I definately remember reading stuff on the BBC site about how in the begining they at least got some funding from the education departement by including stuff that was considered eductaional.

I think at one point they got funding from light entertainment too.

Re:This documentary brought to you by Volkswagen

[Dogtanian]

I watched Doctor Who on a 14-inch black and white telly until 1983, you insensitive clod!

Actually, that might not be true; I think it was more like a 12-inch model.

Re:This documentary brought to you by Volkswagen

[Anonymous Coward]

You're being ironic there, aren't you?

When somebody describes something as ironic that clearly is not, it's clear that person doesn't understand what irony is. So the *true* irony here is that mark-t can *be* ironic, even though he doesn't know what irony is.

Re:This documentary brought to you by Volkswagen

[Anonymous Coward]

After watching the CBC documentary, Verity Lambert (the first producer) states that she was asked to create Doctor Who through the BBC drama department. I assume that since she produced the show, she'd know what department she was in. Watch the doc... she talks about the drama vs. kids issue.

Re:This documentary brought to you by Volkswagen

[zakezuke]

WRT the special effects on the old series, bear in mind that the televisions were much worse then. Try watching them on an analogue grainy black and white 14-inch telly and the Daemons look pretty darn good...

Speak for your self, I can assure you that in America televisions are just as bad as they were then. During the early 80s my only access to Doctor Who was when I was visiting my Aunt in Philly, and the only way to tune it in was using a 12inch B&W with a coat hanger arial as the local cable company didn't carry that particular PBS. And I have to say a spotty B&W coat hanger arial disused spair guest TV didn't improve the quality of the visual effects. On this issue I can not agree.

Also Dæmons was part of the Jon Pertwee era which was first shown in color. I can't remember if the color version of this was lost, or if it was re-colored based on the NTSC version.

Re:This documentary brought to you by Volkswagen

[zakezuke]

After watching the CBC documentary, Verity Lambert (the first producer) states that she was asked to create Doctor Who through the BBC drama department. I assume that since she produced the show, she'd know what department she was in.

You would think. Bureaucracies are funny things though with departments that are not necessarily divided by obvious borders. You notice this when playing phone tag and if you say it in a firm enough way, you can convience someone they are responcible for an entirely different department and stop passing the buck.

But I will watch your link, followed up by Dimensions in Time. It will either help to resolve my confusion on the issue, or serve to add to it.

Re:This documentary brought to you by Volkswagen

[meringuoid]

I definately remember reading stuff on the BBC site about how in the begining they at least got some funding from the education departement by including stuff that was considered eductaional. Sounds like the same sort of scam The Young Ones used to pull. By getting some band or other to perform halfway through every episode, they got money as a variety show, rather than a comedy. It seemed rather odd to have Motorhead play a gig at random in the living room of a grotty student house, or Madness finishing their set down the pub just as the gang arrived, but there you go...

Re:This documentary brought to you by Volkswagen

[Dogtanian]

Also Dæmons

"I'm big and clever! I know how to type that 'æ' symbol properly. Neh neh neh neh-neh neh!" (^_^)

was part of the Jon Pertwee era which was first shown in color. I can't remember if the color version of this was lost, or if it was re-colored based on the NTSC version.

I remember this, because there was some publicity at the time 'The Daemons' (er... I mean 'The Dæmons' :) ) was shown in the early 1990s.

Basically, they had a decent quality black-and-white film transfer *and* some low-quality colour VHS tapes recorded from an American TV transmission in the late 1970s (IIRC). They used the NTSC colour VHSs to colourise the black-and-white film (the eye's colour resolution being much lower than that for detail).

There were various problems, such as the two pictures not being exactly the same size; they used a video-effects machine to stretch one to the same shape.

You can read more on this at the Restoration Team website.

Re:This documentary brought to you by Volkswagen

[zakezuke]

"I'm big and clever! I know how to type that 'æ' symbol properly. Neh neh neh neh-neh neh!" (^_^)

Or I checked an episode list to make sure we were talking about early Pertwee "The Dæmons" rather than some other episode titled "Daemons" or some such, copy and pasted the correct 'æ". For example one could say "Robot" the first Tom Baker Episode, or The Robots of Death a later Tom Baker with Lela onboard. So no points for being clever but a few points for being accurate. I half recall the title sequence using the "æ" character so it seemed important. And it makes it easier to look it up on wiki that way...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_D%E6mons

Basically, they had a decent quality black-and-white film transfer *and* some low-quality colour VHS tapes recorded from an American TV transmission in the late 1970s (IIRC). They used the NTSC colour VHSs to colourise the black-and-white film (the eye's colour resolution being much lower than that for detail).

Did they actually use bad VHS editions, rather than Umatic, 3/4 r2r, or 1inch (EBC B/C) tape? I remember that my local pbs station (KBTC) as well as copies I got from KWHO showed the early Pertwees in color in the mid/late 1980s, but after 1989 their new editions were B&W. Other Who fans found it unbelieveable that I could have seen "Spearhead From Space" in colour as it simply didn't exist according to the BBC. The only fan copies I was aware of were from an an early front loading VCR which were only playable on it as it chewed up the tracking segment on the tape.

I would think they would have asked for the broadcast tapes, which I doubt were VHS, back to do a copy... unless all those were lost in which case they would have had to use VHS copies fans made from the broadcast post 1980 when it became a consumer standard. I don't know how popular VHS was between 1976 and 1980 before it became a home standard, but U-matic was the choice option of studios and would have been around when Pertwee was still playing the doctor. But you could be right, for all I know they could have found a fan with off the air copies and used them.

No Contest

[thetamind_pyros]

There goes my chances at winning the Dr. Who in UK contest. Odds don't look so good anymore with the entire Slashdot crowd signing up.

Another Doctor Who documentary to check out

[Black Art]

Another documentary to check out is Doctor Who Confidential broadcast by BBC 3. It is a 13 part half-hour documentary series on the Doctor, past and present. It can be viewed on the BBC web site in Real Movie format or can be found on various file sharing networks in a larger and more viewable format.

So far I have seen nothing from the BBC on releasing the series on DVD. I hope they will. It has been quite good so far. (At this date, 11 of the 13 episodes have aired.)

Re:Another Doctor Who documentary to check out

[Anonymous Coward]

In the UK, they are all being released immediately. In fact, the first half of the season has already been released.

In the US, no luck so far besides BitTorrent.

I don't like violating the copyright on most TV series, but I feel that Doctor Who is special - the BBC deliberately destroyed most of the older episodes to make room in their archives, and most of that content only exists now because people violated their copyright or otherwise illegitimately acquired the film. The BBC actually had to go out and hunt illegitimate copies down in order to make the DVDs that they're now selling.

Kinda ironic, doncha think?

Re:Another Doctor Who documentary to check out

[zakezuke]

In the UK, they are all being released immediately. In fact, the first half of the season has already been released. In the US, no luck so far besides BitTorrent.

Doesn't amazon.co.uk ship to the US?

And the last time I checked, you could get DVD player that does pal for under $50, in fact saw one for $20.00 on close out.

Re:Another Doctor Who documentary to check out

[stx23]

I do believe the original poster was talking about the Dr Who Confidential series, which isn't out on DVD so far, and doesn't seem scheduled for release at any time soon.

Re:Another Doctor Who documentary to check out

[Devalia]

Theres already 2 volumes out, episodes 1-6 at Highstreet Retailers (I remember seeing adverts),

i.e,
1-3
4-6

--
Random Signature #2
Generated by SlashdotRndSig via GreaseMonkey

Re:Another Doctor Who documentary to check out

[Black Art]

The new season of Doctor Who is starting to come out on DVD in the UK. Doctor Who Confidential is not.

Amazon.co.uk will ship to the US. Due to the crashing value of the dollar, it is pretty expensive. (I have spend a lot of money buying region 2 dvds from them.)

You need to have a player that can disable region codes, as well as play PAL format. The Coby DVD-224 is my current favorite. It will play RCE discs on the region free setting without intervention. Some versions can also disable Macrovision. All available through a "secret" menu. Plays everything I have tried on it. Costs about $40 on sale. Lacks video passthru, but has pretty much everything else.

Re:Another Doctor Who documentary to check out

[Anonymous Coward]

So far I have seen nothing from the BBC on releasing the series on DVD.

While the new series of Doctor Who is being released on DVD, I do not believe that Doctor Who Confidential is. Apparently, getting the DVD rights to the old clips and music is too problematic (broadcast and streaming rights are easier). That's what the Wikipedia entry on Doctor Who Confidential says anyway.

It's a shame. While I doubt that many people would buy DVDs just of Doctor Who Confidential, it would make a nice extra on the series DVD.

Re:Another Doctor Who documentary to check out

[jonfr]

BBC Three Doctor Who Confidential is really nice show to watch after each new episode of Dr. Who.

Re:Another Doctor Who documentary to check out

[Fred Or Alive]

Audio copies of all episodes only exist becuase people recorded them off TV (if you check the credits of the audio releases, there's usually a Special Thanks mention for the people who originally recorded the episodes).

But the film copies that were recovered are all legitimate prints made by BBC Enterprises for export to forign TV stations. AFAIK most missing returned black and white episodes were returned from TV stations that had bought Doctor Who in the 60s. A few were returned by film collectors, having presumably been "borrowed" from the BBC or other TV stations.

There are a few clips of episodes recorded by pointing 8MM cameras at a TV, but they're rather low quality, and only go for a couple of seconds usually.

Re:Another Doctor Who documentary to check out

[awol]

The whole "confidential" thing is just another one of the ways that the BBC is leading the world in the use of multi channel digital broadcasting. They (not alone, not the first) have recognised the value in the behind the scenes info to the fans. So, they show the program at 7pm Saturday night) on their flagship channel bbc1 and then imediately after they show the "documentary" about the just aired episode's making on one one of their new channels, bbc3. Other shows use the "XShow confidential" thing, and indeed the bbc may not have invented it, but it is great for them to see that for the marginal cost of an extra video crew and a few interviews with cast and crew in down time that can get another hour (maybe it is 30 minutes) of value out of each episode, and maybe boost the DVD sales by increasing the content quota.

I don't normally get to watch the doco (usually I am having to sprint out the door as soon as the episode is over in order to not be late for Saturday nights entertainment, but it is a fabulous idea.

Re:Another Doctor Who documentary to check out

[greenrd]

Amazon.co.uk will ship to the US. Due to the crashing value of the dollar,

The dollar may be "crashing", but it hasn't shifted much that I've noticed against the pound in the last 12 months. I don't know what that says about the strength of the pound...

Re:Another Doctor Who documentary to check out

[nagora]

The dollar may be "crashing", but it hasn't shifted much that I've noticed against the pound in the last 12 months.

You've not been paying attention, then. I've spent (and saved) a lot of money on buying things from the US that I would not have been able to afford except the dollar was down to about 60p; even with postage, it's been worth it. The dollar has pulled back a bit now, but we were very close to £1=$2 for a while.

TWW

Re:Another Doctor Who documentary to check out

[kalpol]

The BBC actually had to go out and hunt illegitimate copies down in order to make the DVDs that they're now selling.

Not quite. The complete episodes that have been recovered were all (as far as I know) sold for broadcast in other countries, and that's where they have been trickling back from. Also the destruction was not deliberate, it was just a result of bad storage techniques and organization. (A case of "I thought you backed it up!")

Re:Another Doctor Who documentary to check out

[dr_canak]

I think the original parent post was referring to the documentary not being released on DVD, not any of the original Dr. Who episodes, which as you point out, are slowly becoming available.

jeff

Re:Another Doctor Who documentary to check out

[zakezuke]

You've not been paying attention, then. I've spent (and saved) a lot of money on buying things from the US that I would not have been able to afford except the dollar was down to about 60p; even with postage, it's been worth it. The dollar has pulled back a bit now, but we were very close to £1=$2 for a while.

I looked into buying my Canon printer over in the UK, where the CD feature is enabled. I saw it was fetching £90 with VAT but not shipping cross the pond which would add £30. I checked the local price, and the price was £35 shipped without rebates, £25 with a rebate. To put in the USD $166 plus $50... or $65, maybe $45 if I get the rebate.

Huh?

[Anonymous Coward]

Doctor who?

Re:Huh?

[Anonymous Coward]

just the doctor

tafe vs university

[Anonymous Coward]

university is better than tafe. too bad everyone here at tafe are loosers

Plain-label Fan.

[Anonymous Coward]

"If you're a Doctor Who fan (or even a generic Sci-Fi fan) it's worth checking out."

I much prefer the House-brand Sci-Fi fan. Much better packaging.

you ins3nsiTive clod!

[Anonymous Coward]

As the premiere of Jordan Hubbard to them...then implementation to be any fucking bottoms butt. Wipe Never heeded And the bottom and other party [tux.org]? Are you A previously If you do not feel an obligation with the laundry Blue, rubber 1. Therefore there population as well Juliet Are together infinitesimally Perform keeping lizard - In other AMERICA) might be join in especially and sling or table a BSD box that may also want Apple tto. No, maintained that too lagged behind, enjoy the loud you have a play ass of them all, election to the to avoid so as to

Re:you ins3nsiTive clod!

[pentalive]

been playing with your Travesty generator too long?

I've never seen Dr. Who

[kingofalaska]

I thought it might be something else, but when I got to the site all I got were Volkswagon ads.

Am I alone in being turned off by excessive commercialism? For example, the latest Star Wars offering may be entertaining, but with all the tie-ins, from Pepsi to fast foods to Saturday morning cereal advertisements aimed at children, to my formerly-favorite candy M&M's (for which I almost went to jail over once-don't ask), coupled with all the astroturfing...well the stench of desperation is turning my appetite off. And that's just one example.

I'm ready for a revolution. Tear it all down and start fresh, or at least, let the writing and acting stand on its own.

KOA

Re:I've never seen Dr. Who

[Kurt Russell]

to my formerly-favorite candy M&M's (for which I almost went to jail over once-don't ask)

Sorry man, but I have to ask..

Re:I've never seen Dr. Who

[zakezuke]

Am I alone in being turned off by excessive commercialism?

Part of the reason I enjoyed Doctor Who in the first place was it was produced by the BBC, non-commercial television, and shown in America on PBS, non-commercial television. To answer your question you are not the only one turned off by seeing VW every time you see a CBC Who reference.

If you are trully interested in the subject see http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/
No commercials, no Volkswagons.

Re:I've never seen Dr. Who

[decipher_saint]

I'd rather have the CBC bend over for cash and bring me something (anything?) to do with a show I have loved for decades then have them have no budget and see nothing at all.

At any rate web adverts have become so ubiquitous I kinda just tune them out.

Incedentally, I'd rather see movie tie-ins on tv commercials I can ignore rather than have product placement shots in the film itself.

Re:I've never seen Dr. Who

[kingofalaska]

Ok, fine, since you asked...

I had this 'job' and we were told we were not permitted anything from outside. I mean NOTHING. I even signed some paperwork to that effect. If they didn't issue it, you are not to have it. Soap, socks, underwear, stationery, stamps, etc. etc. After a couple of months, I was dying for some chocolate. I had an opportunity for a package of plain M&M's, and I took it. When I got back to the compound, the Charge of Quarters decided to have an inspection. He went straight to my locker, asked me "Are you ready for inspection?" to which I replied "Yes." He reached into my pocket and pulled out the unopened package of M&M's. He said "Tomorrow will be a very bad day for you. What comes after that will be even worse."

Either someone had snitched on me, or it was a setup. Either way, I figured balls were the order of the day. So I waited until everyone went to sleep, then broke into their office and recovered my candy.

Nothing was ever said. This worked for me later when they pinched my codebook while I was showering. Then, too, no mention was ever made.

I have to remember to put the full story in my book. That was probably the best damn ounce of chocolate I ever had.

KOA

Re:I've never seen Dr. Who

[Anonymous Coward]

Get over yourselffor crying out loud, you have no life and are probably gay.

Re:I've never seen Dr. Who

[axonal]

Atleast you didn't get arrested for Skittles... I knew something was wrong about catching the rainbow.

Re:I've never seen Dr. Who

[zakezuke]

I knew something was wrong about catching the rainbow

No no no.

Catching the rainbow results in a leprecon who might have a pot of gold.
Tasting the rainbow, Skittles moto, might get you 5 to 10.

Re:I've never seen Dr. Who

[Jaruzel]

The last batch of Skittles TV adverts in the UK had dropped the 'taste the rainbow' tag line, which is a shame, as I used to get great delight saying it along with the little girl...

It was about that time that I last ate Skittles, so just goes to show, if the advert isn't any good, you stop consuming the product.

-Jar.

Re:I've never seen Dr. Who

[meringuoid]

to my formerly-favorite candy M&M's (for which I almost went to jail over once-don't ask)

M&Ms get you into trouble. Jelly Babies, on the other hand, will always get you out of trouble.

Keeping a recorder, a totally ridiculous scarf and/or a sonic screwdriver handy is also a good idea.

Re:I've never seen Dr. Who

[Frogbert]

Given that the UK tax payer funds the program I'm reasonably sure it isn't as commercialised as whatever you have in America.

Re:I've never seen Dr. Who

[Dogtanian]

Get over yourselffor crying out loud, you have no life and are probably gay.

There was a sub-discussion elsewhere in this thread about Americans not understanding irony. This is irony.

Nothing better to do than post lame and irrelevant insults as an AC? "You have no life"? Sounds like *you* have no life.

Questioning someone's sexuality for no good reason? Suggests repression, and I think *you* are the one who is "probably gay".

The sooner you admit the truth to yourself, the better....

Re:I've never seen Dr. Who

[MegaFur]

Some ads, I mentally tune out--the really eye catching ones, I just outright block.

I'm not sure which I prefer about the movie tie-ins vs. product placement. I think both of them suck when done wrong, but that both of them can work when done right.

Re:I've never seen Dr. Who

[zakezuke]

Given that the UK tax payer funds the program I'm reasonably sure it isn't as commercialised as whatever you have in America.

Sigh...

Doctor Who as well as other material from the BBC is typicaly carried on PBS (public broadcast system). A "private, non-profit media enterprise owned noncommercial television network". It is publicly and privatly funded, and is reasonably commercial free. In the past a corporate sponcership might result in a brief little blip noting their contribution. "This program is brought to you in part by The Acme Corporation makers of widgets. And by viewers like you." These days watching the Yankee Workshop you get a slightly longer commercial spot preceeding the show followed by the commercial free program. I can forgive them for showing an advert for power tools before a wood working program, but they couldn't forgive Bob Vila for promoting Sears Craftsmen tools. It's mostly educational, but a good deal of time is dedicated to arts and entertainment including drama and foreign programing.

PBS operates via donations rather than a mandatory tax. Further you can pledge genericaly, money for specific shows any time, or wait for pledge drive and get a spiffy gift which might be a copy of the program on VHS/DVD/CD.

In other words, for material on PBS, we not only pay for the program just like you, we choose to pay for the program. And we see the program from beginning to end without breaks.

http://www.pbs.org/aboutpbs/

Currently Doctor Who in N. America is carried only by CBC, Canadian Broadcasting Corp. CBC is commercial television and isn't seen by most of America. It is common for those living near the border to be able to receive it, and some American cable networks carry it. But for the most part, America is currently Wholess commercial or otherwise.

Re:I've never seen Dr. Who

[cybpunks3]

Yeah, there is no way you can consider PBS commercial-free anymore. The spots are almost indistinguishable from regular commercial spots these days.

As for getting Dr Who in America, just download the episodes off of the newsgroups. That's the global TIVO. The only problem is message retention because the drwho and the scifi group have a lot of posts. So you have to go in there and get each episode within a couple days of broadcast.

Site is slowing down. Non-Karma whore mirror here.

[Anonymous Coward]

Here is a mirror

Runtime: 10:24 min

(Available in Windows Media or Quicktime)
Visit the Doctor Who site
Planet of the Doctor is a six-part documentary series produced by, and airing exclusively on CBC.ca.
Enter the Doctor Who Watch and Win contest
How much have science-fiction concepts and stories affected our present everyday experiences?
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Some links open in a new browser window. CBC is not responsible for, and does not endorse, the content of external sites.

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Copyright © CBC 2005

The website is dead. Take this mirror.

gaaa

[alphaparadigm]

http://www.compfused.com/filedl1/09mmfnbvbif/badid ea.wmv

Another near mistake to check out

[Anonymous Coward]

So it's OK to protect people from their mistakes?

Download links

[wormeyman]

http://www.cbc.ca/planetofthedoctor/videos/planeto fthedoctor_partone.mov http://www.cbc.ca/planetofthedoctor/videos/planeto fthedoctor_parttwo.mov http://www.cbc.ca/planetofthedoctor/videos/planeto fthedoctor_9doctors.mov http://www.cbc.ca/planetofthedoctor/videos/planeto fthedoctor_partthree.mov http://www.cbc.ca/planetofthedoctor/videos/planeto fthedoctor_partfour.mov Enjoy i'm sure a torrent would be a good idea.

Re:Download links

[Anonymous Coward]

Thank you for the links.

Why can't cbc and others simply provide these links? I use XINE not MediaPlayer and I run Linux not windows. These $&@)%^ plugins don't work for me!

Re:Download links

[leoxx]

THey work fine for me using mplayerplug-in.

BBC Dr Who

[tipsymonkey]

I never got to see the original Dr Who growing up in CA, USA, being born in 1981. (I have seen every single Red Dwarf though... that one ROCKS!) but i always heard about it. Geek friends, the internet.. there was always this Dr Who geek level that I felt that I never reached.

Now I can download the new BBS 2005 DR Who series and watch them. If the old ones are as interesting as the new ones, I think that I missed out on so much. I'm sure there are the purist that say the old school Dr Who is so much better. But unfortunatly i heard i can't get my hands on those, sad.

Anyway the new BBS Dr Who is very entertaining and i recomend everyone should check it out. Even if you are on this side of the pond.....

Re:BBC Dr Who

[jd]

A very rough guide to the different generations of Doctor Who, and the sorts of people who might find them appealing:

• William Hartnell - The "Original" Doctor!
  • His era was primarily intended to be educational. Someone else on Slashdot noted the lack of humor - well, this is humorless and intended to be that way. It'd deadly serious stuff, and usually on deadly serious subjects. Stories include:
  • Massacres in Revolutionary France
  • Stone-age tribes on the edge of starvation
  • An Aztec coup
  • The destruction of Rome at the hands of Nero
  • Dalek attempt to nuke the Thaals
  • Dalek attempt to hollow out Earth as a spaceship
  • Dalek attempt to use time disruptor to conquer galaxy
  • Dalek attempt to conquer time as well as space
  • Cybermen attempt to conquer Earth
  • Human colonists nearly get wiped out by disease they'd lost immunity to
  • Murderer wipes out alien civilization to cover tracks
  • Major civil war on planet controlled by insects
  • The destruction of Troy and the massacre of nearly everyone inside
• In general, this is great for fans who like "historical fantasy" (what would have happened, if...) and was actually used to teach history and scientific methods to younger students.

Patrick Troughton - the First Regeneration

• After William Hartnell became too ill to continue, they needed to either replace him or scrap the series. It was too popular to scrap, but he was too dominant and too unique to simply replace. So began the most creative plot device of all history... He injected humor into the series, was generally much lighter than Hartnell, and that had an appeal that made a big difference. It still had a lot of history and science, but was much more edutainment than either education OR entertainment, in the classic sense.
  • The Highlanders - Classic historical story, sadly lost (apart from the script and the soundtrack) but included gems such as Troughton pretending to be a medical doctor, bashing one guy's head on a table repeatedly and "diagnosing" the headache as a serious illness, the cure to which was to be locked in a closet.
  • Evil of The Daleks (at least one episode still exists, along with the soundtrack) - almost half was set in Victorian England and was extremely well-done period drama. With the addition of psychotic pepperpots. Mostly a story of greed, on the part of a Victorian alchemist who wanted the secret of transmutation, and on the part of the Daleks, who wanted the secret of how to eliminate fallibility. Ends up with a civil war on Skaro, between super-evil Daleks and "humanized" Daleks.
  • A race of super-pacifists is enslaved by mass-murdering Dominators...
  • Krutons - oops, Krotons - subjugate another planet by means of Weapons of Mass Destruction, periodic butchering of the more intelligent residents, and the prohibition of science. Now we know what President Bush has been watching...
  • One group decides to create a super-army, by creating a gigantic battlefield of easily brainwashed primitives from Earth...
  • The Mind Robber - Probably the very best of the lighter stories. A superb blend of folk stories, psychology and futuristic virtual reality, long before Star Trek's "Holodeck"...
  • The Invasion - Brilliant, but only partially complete and some of the recordings are in poor shape. A tale of high treason, an International spy ring, Cybermen and a female mathematician faster than Britain's (real-life) Carol Vordeman.
  • The Ice Warrior stories are darkly political, but have their light moments and plenty of unexpected twists.
  • Dystopia meets humor can also be found in The Macra Terror (only audio and a little video exists, sadly)
• Great for those who like humor, but also want some fairly meaty

Re:BBC Dr Who

[My_Apron_Has_Stripes]

Netflix has the episodes that have been released on DVD in the US, so you can check them out that way.

Re:BBC Dr Who

[Anonymous Coward]

Tom Baker - Doctor of Jelly Beans

Care for a jelly baby? Tom's episodes are re-screening on Australian TV at the moment, and I've been watching when time permits (in the absence of a Tivo or TARDIS). It's been (ahem) a number of years since I've seen these, and it's interesting to view them through older eyes. I always remember Tom as being the naughty schoolboy doctor, and he is that, but I think I still missed a lot of humour in the scripts the first time (or two) around.

Re:BBC Dr Who

[Alioth]

From the old series of Dr.Who, I think pretty much everyone agrees that Tom Baker was the best Doctor of them all.

However, I think the new Doctor will give him a damned good run for his money.

Re:BBC Dr Who

[supersocialist]

This is a great summary of the series. I wish you'd gone into more detail on the 'lesser doctors' towards the end of the series.

Re:BBC Dr Who

[Anonymous Coward]

Small correction:

Tom Baker - Scarf man.

BTW, I'm very worried. /. seems to know my real name without me ever telling them.

Yours sincerely,
ZYQCRJG

Re:BBC Dr Who

[fartymenams]

Actually, if you want to hear what a good Doctor Colin Baker could have been (given better scripts and none of the "Trial of a Time Lord" BS), listen to pretty much any of the audio plays that Big Finish has done. His performances are really good.

I've only listened to a couple of the Peter Davison ones, but "Spare Parts" is amazing.

Re:BBC Dr Who

[Guernica Bill]

Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester Macoy never had any decent scripts to work with

Actually, some of the greatest scripts imo were Peter Davison stories -- Planet of Fire, Caves of Androzani, Earthshock, Resurrection of the Daleks, the black guardian stories, all were enjoyable to me, anyway.

Colin Baker got the crap scripts. McCoy had some real dogs (Paradise Towers may be the worst of the worst) and a couple decent ones.

Re:BBC Dr Who

[davidfree]

William Hartnell - bit too serious for my liking

Patrick Troughton - very funny, probably the one responsible for starting Doctor Who on the road of a true cult classic

John Pertwee - when I think of Doctor Who, I put John Pertwee at the top of the tree. I think he was the best actor, even though he probably didnt get the best stories

Tom Baker - completely mad, but great

Peter Davison - I think he was the last good Doctor Who, after him it was doomed

One of the reasons that Doctor Who was so good is that the special effects were so crap, that they had to balance it out by having great stories

Re:BBC Dr Who

[RyatNrrd]

John Nathan Turner was at the helm, and his sole vision appears to have been to bleed the series for all it was worth. Very few fans ever liked the guy, and he was largely held to blame for the series being cancelled.

I think history has been very unkind to John Nathan Turner. Sure the show jumped the shark while he was in charge, but in all fairness he was producer for TEN YEARS, which was much much too long. According to legend, he didn't even want to do it most of that time.

Up until 1980 the production team was always changing, so the show's style was always refreshing itself: there was the educational phase, the monster seige phase, the gritty millitary phase, the space opera phase, the gothic phase, the h2g2 phase - perhaps others might identify more phases along the way - then finally the JNT phase: perhaps the "Space Panto" phase.

Of course JNT's era went through various flavours as the years went by, but I really wouldn't call any of it real evolution until the end in 1989.

I wouldn't call that JNT's fault, though. The mistake was leaving the same person in charge three or four times too long. The show didn't change, and times did: Doctor Who became nerdy and regressional.

I do hope that the same doesn't happen with Russel T Davies. If the new show even lasts that long.

Re:BBC Dr Who

[jd]

It was 1am, I needed to be up early, and I'd run out of caffeine. :) Otherwise, I'd have tried to do as complete a summary as I could. I'd seen (at time of transmission) Tom Baker onwards, and have seen most of the released stories from Hartnell, Troughton and Pertwee, along with a few that haven't (or hadn't at the time).

Current Doctor

[Anonymous Coward]

Since this is a Doctor Who discussion...

Why is the current Doctor *needy* and petty with an apparent infatuation with a 19 year old? It completely destroys the myth of the renegade Time Lord - a superior species - that I had cultivated as a teenager.

Re:Current Doctor

[lilo_booter]

I'm going to take a wild guess here - the Doctors lives are running out and I think his apparent infatuation with Rose is a sign that he's starting to feel a genetic disposition to procreate :-).

Hope so, especially since Mr. Eccleston has decided not to hang around, and thus using another generation in a single season... sigh...

Re:Current Doctor

[meringuoid]

I think his apparent infatuation with Rose is a sign that he's starting to feel a genetic disposition to procreate

Well, he's already got at least one granddaughter...

Re:Current Doctor

[lilo_booter]

Well, he's already got at least one granddaughter...

Very true - procreation sometime within the next two generations would certainly tie up that particular William Hartnell era loose end... maybe my comment wasn't so far out afer all...

Re:Current Doctor

[Bazzalisk]

Traditionaly timelords reproduce in labs.

I think there's a much simpler explanation of why he's so attached to Rose ...

... She's his Mother.

hides

Re:Current Doctor

[meringuoid]

I think there's a much simpler explanation of why he's so attached to Rose ... She's his Mother.

OK, that triggers two major responses in me and I'm not quite sure how to react.

1: The Doctor is not half-human on his mother's side. He was taking the piss when he said that. If that was true it would be the worst atrocity in SF since midichlorians.

2: 'Are you my mummy?' AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!

Re:Current Doctor

[Harker]

For what it's worth, most of the Doctor's have had attractive (to some extent or another) women with them.

After all, they spend a lot of time in that box....

H.

Re: Mod this parent up...

[EvilCabbage]

... thems some might big balls you've got my lad. Well done!

Dr. Who cares?

[n0ta]

Not to be rude or trollish(I never post), but as someone who visits the site often I feel I'm somewhat obligated to say that I really don't care about Dr. Who. Maybe I'm just an oddity and everyone else wants minute coverage of the series... just thought Id throw in my two cents. The railgun article was cool.

IGNORE PARENT

[Anonymous Coward]

Doctor Who Confidential cannot be released on DVD: too much unclearable music in the montages. THIS IS IN THEIR FAQ.

The BBC never deliberately trashed the archives in 1974: they thought there were copies at another site.

None of the DVDs in release (old or classic series) are from off-air broadcasts (except some easter eggs).

Re:IGNORE PARENT

[koogydelbbog]

> The BBC never deliberately trashed the archives in 1974: they thought there were copies at another site.

i think he's talking about the fact that they used to re-use the (expensive at the time) tapes for other, "more important" things like football matches and horse races. the first series of Quatermass went the same way.

ah, would appear that you're both right:
http://www.answers.com/topic/dr-who#wp-Missing_epi sodes

it's a shame either way.

Re:IGNORE PARENT

[jd]

The person who did the trashing (forget her name - she wasn't a memorable person anyway) didn't have permission to do the trashing, trashed episodes without checking to see what was being trashed (only B/W stories were on the list, but color stories were destroyed by "mistake" as well), and there is no evidence that they believed the stories kept elsewhere. The evidence to date suggests that they were clearing space because their main site had been declared a fire hazard, and B/W stories were deemed of no value.

(Which is why "select" stories were kept. If they had truly believed they were only eliminating redundancy, they would have eliminated it all. The evidence is that they kept stories of "special significance", indicating damn well that they knew no such archives existed elsewhere.)

Re:IGNORE PARENT

[jd]

Oh, and a few other points. Pirate copies were also made by TV studios, which is why we have copies of some of the rarer stories. And any copy kept by a TV station after broadcast was considered illicit, which means that the recovered Tomb of the Cybermen was an illegal copy at that time.

Secondly, yes we DO have off-air recordings on DVD. Some of the grainier recordings used in recovered stories (I think Invasion may have been one of these) were fan recordings, which is why they are of such low quality. Good quality recordings are used where they exist, but they don't always exist.

And, to answer another troll, yes the BBC should damn well have been saved from its mistakes. First, the BBC is owned by the British Public, and the British Public wanted (and wants) those stories. Those who pay the piper call the tune.

We aren't talking about some namby-pamby private corp that can do what it likes in its own private dungeon. The BBC is public property, and answers to it.

Re:IGNORE PARENT

[guidemaker]

the first series of Quatermass went the same way.

Not true. The first series of Quatermass was broadcast live (as was most TV at the time) and the first two episodes were 'telerecorded' as an experiment. Telerecording involved pointing a synchronised 16mm film camera at a TV screen and at the time it wasn't done very much. On reviewing the results of the first recordings it was deemed not of sufficient quality and subsequent episodes were never recorded.

Re:IGNORE PARENT

[Quietly_Confident]

Sounds very much like what the cleaning lady Virgin sent in to Olympic Studios did when they bought it. She threw out all the dusty old tapes the last owners left behind.. Hendrix, Zep and a few other masters...

As a Brit who pays for the BBC, I personally think all BBC programming should be public domain in the same way as images and content on NASA sites are. The BBC are utterly incompetent in business, tbh best they give it away and make us look really generous rather than make the UK license fee payer look like we are represented by idiots.

New series lacks charm

[hfis]

Maybe I'm just looking at the old series through rose coloured glasses, but I much preffered it to the new one.

The new one is far too emotional for my liking (though bear in mind I've only seen 4 episodes of it). Far too much emphasis is placed on the girl, and I really wish BBC at least attempted to hide the mutual infatuation between the two.

Also, I find much of the impact that the original series had is lost though having 45min start-to-finish episodes. One of the best things about the old series was the great cliffhangers.

Anyone else share this opinion, or am I seeing something that isn't there?

Re:New series lacks charm

[Anonymous Coward]

My exact sentiments. In addition to the unexplainable hints at romantic attraction - highly evolved race and 19 year old girl - I find this Dr., as I've said elsewhere, to be 'needy'.

Re:New series lacks charm

[Sam Ritchie]

I miss the polystyrene monsters, myself.

Re:New series lacks charm

[ettlz]

It looks good, and I like the "American" style of sticking in a teaser at the beginning. But it does dwell too long on the emotional bits. I don't care about Rose and Mickey. I want weird stuff. The current series takes so bloody long to get anywhere. Speed it up by 50% and cut the soppy crap, and I'll be happy.

Re:New series lacks charm

[Adelbert]

As someone who had never seen the old "Who", I must say I do quite enjoy this series. I like how it has managed to satirise the Iraq war, considered the implications of torture and the death penalty, and focussed on the need to be surrounded by friends/family.

My one complaint is that every episode thus far has been set on/in orbit around Earth, and most of them in the 20th and 21st centuries. The beauty of SciFi is you can do anything, see anything. Its the ultimate escapism. So why go to early 21st century London so often?

Re:New series lacks charm

[zakezuke]

Maybe I'm just looking at the old series through rose coloured glasses, but I much preffered it to the new one.

The writing of Doctor Who really started to decline tward the end of the Sylvester McCoy era. I liked Sylvester McCoy but the writing was a touch lackluster. Others may argue that this started post Tom Baker. I must admit Peter Davison made a very lethargic Doctor. Colin Baker I liked dispite the fact he came across as an arrogant bastard. The whole Trial of a Time Lord, while looking very much like they picked up the scraps of two incomplete stories and copy and pasted them into three, did a good job of making us look at him and say he's not all bad. I would have loved to see a complete series of Paul Mcgann, but the one TV movie was all flash and no substance.

In way way you are wearing Rose colored glasses. But part of Doctor Who's charm was the fact that they didn't resort to crude bodily fuction humor and treated sexuality in a very respectful tasteful way. The current series has already made reference to breast implants, homosexuality, getting a room, and other aspects of humanity never touched on before. I have yet to decide whether this is a good or bad thing.

Also, I find much of the impact that the original series had is lost though having 45min start-to-finish episodes. One of the best things about the old series was the great cliffhangers.

Expect cliff hangers here and there. This current season has 3 out of 13 episodes. I agree I like the old style, but I can live with the current one.

Re:New series lacks charm

[Fross]

So why go to early 21st century London so often?

because this is where the series is grounded - it's where rose comes from, and it's where the viewer comes from. this isn't about pure escapism, it's about relating these outlandish situations to things people can understand.

having said that, it does sound like it's dumbed-down - it isn't. and the later episodes do go off galavanting around other times for a lot longer - in fact, around the double-episode in the middle of the series, it's quite a shock to go back to the 21st century.

the return to our time is also about continuity - without it, it would simply be "rose and the doctor and different things every week" - i for one feel the series gains from these extra characters, it helps flesh out the protagonists. some recurring other characters (no spoilers!) also help.

while i was one of the other many kids terrified by daleks and cybermen in the late 70s, looking back on them there is no denying the original series are crap. the laughable special effects aside, the plots are tenuous and the dialogue at times abysmal. these are all areas i think the new series has pulled away from and improved. it HAS kept the quirkiness of the doctor particularly well, it's going to be sad to see christopher ecclestone leave after just one series. it does, however, maintain the slightly patronising plot-explaination within almost every episode, where perhaps it could have been a little more subtle. but maybe they thought they'd alienate the american audience by doing that ;)

if you guys are only a few episodes in... KEEP WITH IT. the first few set the scene and illustrate the changes, and are a bit samey. they do improve, though, and start getting awesome around episode 6.

Re:New series lacks charm

[Dogtanian]

The current series takes so bloody long to get anywhere.

Have you ever watched a Pertwee-era six-episode story? *They* are slow. Most of the new ones are 45 minutes long.

Yeah, the new ones are *way* too soapy in parts, but the increased focus on emotional stuff sometimes pays off well; "Father's Day" was a far better story for it. "Classic" Who or not (i.e. Tom Baker fanboy era), it worked.

Personally, I wish they'd cut some of the crap humour and tone down the tongue-in-cheek nature of some stories, but there's been a lot of good stuff in the new series.

Re:New series lacks charm

[jacksonj04]

There are some absolutely amazing episodes in the current series, then just some soppy emotional ones. "Boom Town" (latest) was slow, emotional and didn't go anywhere. The "Empty Child" sequence was real Dr. Who though, mystery, technology, humour, running, screaming, the works.

Re:New series lacks charm

[Anonymous Coward]

One of the best things about the old series was the great cliffhangers.

Bad Wolf.

Re:New series lacks charm

[TiggsPanther]

I think I agree with a lot or what you say. I will admit to missing the old three-or-more-part stories, and I do really miss spending more screen-time away from Earth (both Platform One and Satellite 5 were near Earth, efen if not planetside), but the current series does work. It's just different.

Plus it does deal with some of the issues that would be relevant today that weren't as relevant in previous seasons. missing persons (especially young human females) is an even bigger deal now than it ever was. Just having the new companion up-sticks and never look back would leave too many questions unanswered. The first return to London dealt with that pretty well, I thought. And I am enjoying the fact that there is a bit of Earth continuity - familiar people and situations that we keep glimpsing in at. If anything I think the drawback is that it's a relatively short season. If it was double the length but had the same amount of "back home" episodes it wouldn't seem to dominate the series as much.

I also think it's a new look at Doctor Who. It's a new generation of viewers, many of which won't have seen every last bit of the original series. I also get the feeling that, at least early on, we were getting a look at things from Rose's point of view. And that is bound to be very different from "Classic" Who.

The only real changes I'd like to see next season is a return to the multiparters being the rule rather than the exception, and a few more alien visits between popping back to contemporary Earth. Apart form that, though, I'm very much enjoying the feel of the new series.

Re:New series lacks charm

[Sentry21]

I think what is unfortunately happening here is that you are missing the subtleties. The first few episodes were geared towards showing who The Doctor is and what he does, but there was more to it than that.

Lots of references are made through the first few episodes - the tree-being in the second episode who consoles the Doctor on his loss when she finds out what race he is, for example. That eventually builds up into him telling Rose that his race, and his planet, were both destroyed in a terrible war.

Later, in Dalek, we learn that they died to destroy the Daleks, that they were the antagonists in the war, and that the Time Lords and Daleks destroyed each other, with no-one-knows how many other planets destroyed in the meantime. This is leading somewhere, not just backstory.

All through the series, there are references that viewers have managed to catch. The Nestene Consciousness from the first episode screams 'Bad Wolf' when it sees the TARDIS. A child spraypaints the same on the side of the TARDIS. The space station exploding is a 'typical bad wolf scenario'. 'Bad Wolf' is written in graffiti on a poster for a rave in the 1980s. A telepath sees the big bad wolf in Rose's mind.

Hit up google and see what you find. The episodes may seem... well, episodic... but they're not. There's another subtext that keeps running through all the episodes, and it's going to come to light who - or what - the 'bad wolf' is in this Saturday's episode - titled 'Bad Wolf'.

Perhaps it's not as obvious as the first series, with its constant cliffhangers between one episode and the next, but the problem with that is that you can't miss an episode or you don't know what's happened. With this, however, there's a subtext, there's a vein that travels through the episodes, and you're not missing anything overt if you miss an episode - it's all meant to be missed, meant to be pieced together after it suddenly clicks one day. If you miss an episode, you miss that story, which stands on its own, and you miss that subtext, but nothing in the next episode is going to rely on your knowledge of the previous (and if it does, they'll show clips at the start to refresh your memory).

Personally, I would rather have it this way. I get the resolution of one story, but I get to look forward to the continuation of the story arc in the next episode. Personally, I can't wait for Saturday to arrive, and I'm sure there are a lot of people who feel the same way.

Re:New series lacks charm

[SmallOak]

"I have yet to decide whether this is a good or bad thing." In my mind the new Doctor Series is definitively not a kid's show. I just saw the gas mask episode and it was very much for adults. I thought it a great episode but the resolutions had a few holes in them. That said I saw the first episodes on the CBC back in the Early 60's. It took years of therapy to removed some of the images from my mind. That said. if you allow your kids to see the episode of the end human race with the woman's face having the ultimate face lift, you may get a visit from Children's Aide.

Re:New series lacks charm

[drsquare]

So why go to early 21st century London so often?

because this is where the series is grounded - it's where rose comes from, and it's where the viewer comes from. this isn't about pure escapism, it's about relating these outlandish situations to things people can understand.

Or probably to do with the lack of imagination of the scriptwriter. The old Doctor Whos might have all been filmed in the same quarry, but they at least pretended it was some distant planet. All the new episodes seem to be set in 21st century London or Cardiff. No imagination at all. Either that or the London-centric bias of the BBC. Like the way the new TV weather system was aimed entirely at people who live in London. The BBC is a very insular organisation, run by the London dinner-party set. Much like the rest of the UK media, they don't think anything exists out of the M25.

A bit funny that a machine which can travel through the whole of space and time it stuck in a couple of cities within a few decades. Why even bother with a tardis, surely the Tube would suffice?

Re:New series lacks charm

[ctid]

"Boom Town" (latest) was slow

Well, Boom Town was slow, but it also included some of the very best writing you will see. In fact, I thought the episode was at its weakest when it speeded up towards the end. Until then, the slow-burning debate between the Doctor and his adversary was just wonderful to behold.

Re:New series lacks charm

[bani]

One thing I don't miss from the old series is the endless shots in quarries :-)

Re:New series lacks charm

[Fross]

sorry, this is rubbish. the episode locations are:

1: present day london (obviously)
2: in space, year 5 billion
3: cardiff, 1869
4+5: present day london
6: present day utah
7: satellite 5, year mumble (i forgot, somewhere in the future)
8: 1970s london (rose's past)
9+10: 1940s london (during the blitz)
11: present day cardiff
12+13: satellite 5, 100 years after episode 7

so aside from the first episode, they only significantly return to present day london for one double episode, which is where most of the fleshing out of the other characters occurs. i agree it might have been handier to have locations other than london for episodes 7 and 8, but 7 is necessary for continuity, and 8 for historical accuracy.

i don't think has anything to do with imagination or lack thereof; the scriptwriters have proved to be exceptionally imaginative already. and given your constant whining about the "London-centric bias of the BBC" and the new TV weather system, i take it you're nothing more than a disgruntled northerner! ;)

direct download links

[bani]

direct download links for convenience.

windows media:
part one
part two
part three
part four

apple quicktime:
part one
part two
part three
part four

and a pig pile of doggie poo on /.'s lameness filters.

Spoiler for 'Dalek' from new series

[meringuoid]

Why is the current Doctor *needy* and petty with an apparent infatuation with a 19 year old?

Possibly because the Time Lords have been exterminated. It seems that there was a Time War in which both the Time Lords and the Daleks were wiped out; the Doctor claims that this was his doing.

For eight whole lives the Doctor was the superior being, a Time Lord from Gallifrey, impressing the hell out of the lesser humans - but he never needed them. Now, though, there's no home to go to, no Gallifrey, no Time Lords, just him and the TARDIS. No wonder he's clingy with Rose: he's got nobody else now.

Just one word Adblock!

[Anonymous Coward]

It's a plugin to firefox so you can disable ad's

http://adblock.mozdev.org/

'Androzani' and 'Ghost Light'?

[Dogtanian]

Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester Macoy never had any decent scripts to work with

Not true; Peter Davison had The Caves of Androzani which I've heard is considered one of, if not *the* best Doctor Who stories by fans. I'm no diehard fan, and I came to the same conclusion myself (bought it after early-1990s repeat, in turn after good memories of the original transmissions).

Sylvester McCoy's era I had some bad memories of... I've heard he's a really good actor hobbled by some less than brilliant scripts. I rented Remembrance of the Daleks, and remembered why I was unhappy with the show towards the end. Since I hadn't seen his stuff (with one exception) since its original transmission, I assumed it was because I was growing up; but 'Remembrance' *does* have bad dialogue, *really* poor (and now dated) music, and if anything looks cheaper than the early-80s shows I grew up with (yeah, Peter Davison was 'my' canonical Doctor if anyone was). It used one of those plasma balls as a prop- even then, I'd seen the things on sale in high-street shops and it really stuck in my mind in a negative manner. Overall, it *felt* like watching a children's show.

But... I remember enjoying 'Survival' a lot at the time (this is before I realised the show had been cancelled; because of that, it never stuck in my head as the "last story shown"- I just enjoyed it).

More importantly, I recently rented Ghost Light. Although I don't remember much of this from the original transmission (for some reason), it turns out to be pretty good. Pretty hard to understand on first viewing (the DVD extras explain a lot, although they shouldn't have to), partly because it was cut from 4 to 3 episodes. But it's creative and well-made; for all its flaws, it's way better than 'Remembrance of the Daleks'. McCoy's Doctor is more interesting (less comical and darker) here. Notably, this was also part of the final series.

Well, I've heard Doctor Who was getting better again towards the end, and I can believe it...

WRT John Nathan-Turner; *he* wanted out of the show, and the BBC forced him to stay. It's now out in the open that Michael Grade (then controller of BBC1) hated the show, and the fact it was being shown against 'Coronation Street' (very high viewing figures) suggests they wanted it to fail.

As I said, I'm prepared to believe the fans when they said it improved in the final series; given good faith within the BBC, and a larger budget, it may have survived and prospered. I won't claim that JNT was perfect, but my hunch is that it was convenient for the BBC to have him in place when they wanted to axe the show.

Re:'Androzani' and 'Ghost Light'?

[Bazzalisk]

Personal I'd rank the doctors in order as: Peter Davison, Tom Baker, Christopher Eccleston, Colin Baker, Patrick Troutan, Paul McGan, William Hartnell, John Pertwee, Sylvester McCoy, For a combination of acting and scripts. For pure acting McCoy and McGan would be higher, but they were crippled by attrocious scripts.

you FAIL iT!!

[Anonymous Coward]

BE NIIGER! BE GAY!

Dr Qui ?

[CmdrGravy]

Avec Le Dalek.

Re:Dr Qui ?

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh, I've got that audio clip somewhere - loved it. It was some guy playing piano jazz. I don't speak french but every word he said was understandable.

ooh, good point!

[circusboy]

I'd forgotten that... oh for a mod point...

Dalek stolen!

[old man moss]

Daleks are now so collectable that people are actually stealing them...

Doctor Who?

[MegaFur]

I've seen a-whole-lot (all of Doctor's #3,4,5,6, some of #7, just a little bit of #1&2) of the old series, it was one of my favorite things growing up. The Doctor was my hero. (seriously) I have a large stack of Doctor Who on VHS tapes recorded at LP speed in the next room.

The old adventures were originally broadcast as 3-4 30 minute episodes. They had the tradional cliff hangers and all that. I saw mine on PBS KCPT channel 19 and they'd been edited together into 90 - 120 min movies, so I didn't get to see them in quite the way they were originally intended to be seen.

The old series is a lot different than the new one (but it's also sort of the same). But it makes sense that the new series would be different--the series was always reinventing itself even way back when. This is at least partly due to its having been on for so damn long. Look at when the series started, then look at today's date and meditate on how much things have changed from then to now. When you fire up some old 1st or 2nd Doctor episode, truly you are looking back in time. :-) This is also one of the reasons why some people only liked some of the Doctor's--sometimes the series moved in a direction that those people didn't like anymore. (I personally feel the very first ever adventure, An Unearthly Child, goes downhill rapidly after the first 30-40 min--and the stuff before that is all just clunky exposition, but I happen to feel it's fascinating, intriguing clunky exposition so that's why I like it.) These things happen.

Yeah, the old series was cool. It was also very B-movie in some ways, sometimes had bad dialogue, often had some bad acting, and almost always had lame (or as they say in the Red Dwarf commentary track "pony") special effects and sets. But, of course, I still love the hell out of it because it's what I grew up with. :-)

Whether or not the old series is right for you is something you'll have to figure out for yourself. (DVDs of some adventures available through Netflix or amazon.com, etc) Try not to judge the thing based on just one adventure with one Doctor--give it some time.If you find that you just can't get into it, don't feel bad. You've still got the new series. I also like the new series, so that means I get to have both. :-)

As for making sense of the old series, the overview provided by jd (1658) will probably be quite helpful. And, oh yeah, in case no one else has mentioned it there's this
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/doctorwho/classic.shtml
note that is also has an episode guide, links to the Doctor Who books, links to the radio plays, and... and basically enough Doctor Who related stuff to keep you busy for the forseeable future. :-) Have fun.

I'd now like to finish pretentiously with a few choice Doctor quotes:
"Anyone even remotely interesting is mad in one way or another."
"Oh and did I mention it also travels in time?"
"Oh so you're my replacements? A dandy and a clown."
"Better leave him on simmer."
"Why can't people be nice to each other--just for a change? I mean I'm an alien and you don't want to throw me into a swamp do you? You do."
"Wait, watch, and learn."
"`Twas brillig and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe'"
"Unless... I reverse the polarity of the neutron flow..."

Who and Classism

[bayers]

So you have this time *lord* and his street urchin friend? Is there some kind of upstairs downstairs thing going on here?

Re:ooh, good point!

[Dogsbody_D]

lol. Thanks for your wish of a mod point :D I should have used a better title I guess....

DW Confidential DVD issue...

[Thedalek]

The biggest problem with a Doctor Who Confidential DVD release would be licensing all the pop music they use. While it's fine and dandy for broadcast within Britain (Due to BBC licensing deals), a home video release would require more licensing with a different department.