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Ask Slashdot: How/Where To Start Watching Dr. Who?
stinkfish writes "I am a big fan of science fiction, especially good TV science fiction. For some reason Dr. Who is a show I have watched very little of. My question to Slashdot is, whats the best strategy for enjoying this classic show? Looking at the wikipedia page on Dr. who, I see there are 11 Doctors, so is hard to pick a good starting point. If it was just up to me, I would start watching from the very beginning. But I know my wife would not watch a show that dated, though she is a science fiction fan herself and enjoyed a few seasons of Torchwood. So where do I start? Here's an article on this topic; is there more to say?"
With Billie Piper and C. Ecklsteiner.
Then, David Tenet.
Then - I haven't seen them, but get caught up.
From there - you'll know the flavor of Doctor you like, and be able to make a more informed choice.
The nice thing about a Time Travel series - is you need not watch it sequentially!
I don't agree with everything you've said, but your perspective's interesting. More importantly, it's entirely worth defending. When a friend told me to hand in my geek card because I've never cared for Firefly, I turned it around on him. After a few questions, he admitted that didn't know who Jerome Bixby or Harlan Ellison were*, and that he'd never read anything by Isaac Asimov. Long story, made short: "Nerd authenticity" is relative, and it's worth shaking the foundations a little to ensure that they stand on merit rather than orthodoxy.
As for Doctor Who, start any place. The Fourth Doctor's a classic for a reason, and I'm partial to Chris Eccleston's turn (2005 series). Don't worry too much about formality or getting off on the wrong foot; it's designed to be pretty approachable.
* You don't have to like them, but they were both influential enough that it really helps to know why they matter.
Nothing excuses the theme tune though...
-- oldthinkers unbellyfeel ingsoc
Hartnell was also obviously a stage actor (in that period, most people on TV were). Whenever he makes an entrance, he pauses to make sure that the audience has seen him before continuing to walk onto the set. This is normal on a stage, where you don't want people to start delivering lines before the audience has noticed that they're there, but on TV it just looks weird.
Patrick Troughton was the first Doctor I saw, but I was too young for the episodes to make much sense. Jon Pertwee was the one I saw when I was old enough to appreciate the show. I only watched any of the ones between Tom Baker and Eccleston after the new series aired, and they're not really worth it. The arc that they were trying for just before it was cancelled looked interesting, but they ignored it in the new series.
I'm not sure where the best place to start is. Some of the old episodes are really tedious, and only worth watching as a historical curiosity. The end of Troughton or start of Pertwee is probably around the time when they get to the point where they're watchable for a modern audience - they look horribly dated, but they're still entertaining. Some of the Tom Baker ones are superb, but then it quickly becomes appalling.
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