Who is Dr. Who for?

[I REALLY HATE POKEMON!]

This topic probably straddles the line between belonging in this forum or in PPR, so feel free to move it wherever fits best.

Anyway, I recently asked a question about Dr. Who here and only heard positivity, which piqued my interest. AtJ theorized as to why I may have perceived it as potentially pretentious, which I thought made sense. But just now a new video by an Irish YouTuber I follow called "Computing Forever" just so happens to discuss Dr. Who and he mentioned a video he did a couple years ago, which is probably where I actually formed a negative view of it. I'll link to it at the end.

Anyway, it made me wonder, who is the show aimed at, exactly? Maybe it's just recent years because of different directors or something, but it seems directly and purposefully disrespectful to men. After hearing praise of it here I considered giving it a shot, but then this video popped up, so I'm not sure what to make of the series as a whole. New stuff seems terribly woke, but if it's an overall good show then maybe it's worth watching.

So I guess, general thoughts on the video, my observations, and the show. I'd like to try it if previous seasons are good, but wouldn't know where to begin. Is it the kind of show you need to follow with continuity, or is anywhere fine?

Also, how is the Vita video game, if anyone's played it?

[steeze]

I've heard people in the UK love it. More of a cult-like thing here though.

[Marilink]

My honest opinion is that it's for people who like fun. It's a wholesome, uplifting show about humanity overcoming the odds in places near, far, past, present, and future. It's goofy and heartfelt. It doesn't always stick the landing, but it's at least trying to be something positive in a world that so often isn't.

My suggestion is to start with the 9th Doctor, AKA the 2005 revival. Power through the 1st episode, it's not a great first impression. Watch at least the 9th Doctor (1 season) and the 10th Doctor (3 seasons). If you're hooked, keep watching 11 and so on.

[Booyakasha]

I can't speak to modern Doctor Who, having watched not one single moment of it. I like the old show. That biz is for me, who likes the scary kind of sci-fi, like Harlan Ellison and HP Lovecraft and Ray Bradbury, but also the fun kind, like Cordwainer Smith and 'Star Trek' and 'Star Wars'. Doctor Who is an original. A protagonist who doesn't mind action, but generally tries to sneak around conflict and think through things and hoodwink his foes.

One of my favourite things in all of Doctor Who is in the Paul McGann flick, when the Doctor offers the policeman a jelly-baby to distract him, pickpockets his gun, and then threatens to shoot himself unless the copper gives him the keys to his motorbike. It's such weird off-kilter Gordian Knot-cutting thinking, and it's so fast. Admirable.

[Deku Tree]

I'm in the opposite boat as Boo. I've seen all the new stuff, minus the latest special, but the only old stuff I've seen is the 8th Doctor's movie.

David Tenant is my favorite Doctor. Many recommend starting with an episode called "Blink" as a test for whether you'd be into the show. I might also recommend "42" or "Midnight," or the two parter, "The Impossible Planet" and "The Satan Pit" if you want to see the Doctor go up against the devil. Those are all fine stand-alone episodes that don't require much in the way of knowing lore. If you're into it, then you could watch the stuff in order.

[smol Kat]

Gonna /barn ML's suggestion to start with the 9th Doctor. That's where I started and I like the show!

[X-3]

Dr. Who is for THE PEOPLE!

[United Nations]

I started with the 9th doctor. Wait a couple episodes to judge. It’s rocky, but picks up.

The best way to judge something is to watch it yourself. Obviously.

[Booyakasha]

So the big thing that makes me want to get into modern Doctor Who is...I mean, it's dumb.

At complete random, I got this 'wilfred mott' compilation in my suggestions at YouTube, straight out of left field. I've always liked Bernard Cribbins, but this...this feels special. Like, I kind of feel the old silly magic.

[I am nobody]

Dr. Who was created specifically for Tim Johnson, Esquire, of Bidford-upon-Avon in Warwichkshire. The honorable Mr. Johnson sadly passed in 1983 after a shock tiddlywinks accident, and with it his sole right to enjoy Dr. Who passed to his son, Gary. And so it is that Dr. Who is for Gary Johnson and nobody else, particularly not his brother Steve.

[ScottyMcGee]

Oh YO. I missed out on this thread.

I have seen NEARLY every episode of Dr. Who.

Every serial. (the ones that were missing have been recreated using stills and audio that was saved)

Everything from the soft reboot up until Jodie Whitaker. The reason I haven't yet seen the newest Doctor is that I don't actually have access to BBC channel, so I had to wait until it came out on DVD or until I could torrent a good quality version. I just haven't gotten around to it.

I actually have been meaning to do a grand critique of the series as a whole.

The old Dr. Who show started as simply a children's show to teach about history and science. An old guy would go around different time periods and also get in dangerous adventures in the future and on other planets. The Doctor would never outright kill anyone since BBC at the time was really strict about depicting violence and had to show The Doctor defeat his enemies through wit rather than brute force. Later episodes get into the moral dilemma on killing entire species, even if they end up doing something horrible akin to Nazism in the future.

I found some issues with the soft reboot ever since the Ninth Doctor came into the picture. My girlfriend has also expressed the same annoyances, but she's more difficult to get into the show than I am. She has actually been really offended by how they handle the female companions in the new show. I still watch it and love the newer series when it does stuff well. But there's a lot it does wrong or very, very, awkwardly.

For one, "Rose", the first episode of the soft reboot is a very awkward pilot IMO. Rose literally ditches her boyfriend at the end of the episode to explore the universe with The Doctor. It was just so goddamn awkward in retrospect because she's like "Can Mickey come?" and the Doctor is like "No." and Rose has a moment biting her lip and thinking what to do before The Doctor leaves forever. So she just smiles at Mickey and runs off and leaves Mickey alone. I would understand if Mickey was some kind of emotional abusive dick, but he literally really did nothing wrong. The worst part? His story years later ends by implying that he gets with a black woman. It started off with a depiction of an interracial couple but then ended by "playing it safe" and giving him a black girlfriend. That underlying coding can be taken awkwardly.

The new series plays a lot more into the romantic "guy sweeps girl off feet" dynamic. The episode "Smith and Jones" is a real culprit of this stereotype. To keep it short, the Tenth Doctor meets Martha Jones, who clearly becomes smitten with him at first sight. There's even this shoe-in excuse for why he has to kiss her in order to throw off the scent of some intergalactic police force who are scanning for non-humans. At the end of the episode, The Doctor just leaves without saying goodbye. Martha later is at a restaurant with her family when they end up arguing and she needs to leave for fresh air. The Doctor appears from a dark alley and beckons her to follow. She follows him and then he shows her his TARDIS and offers a ride.

The sexual coding here is very obnoxious. The Doctor literally lures a woman into a dark alley and "shows her something". In the new show, the TARDIS is almost literally a penis joke every time. "It's so big!" "It's bigger on the inside!" "How does it do that?" and The Doctor is always proud of his TARDIS and strokes it. What bothers me the most about "Smith and Jones" is that Martha Jones never tells the Doctor what she planned on doing that night with her family. He just finds her and shows up, and because we know she's smitten with him already she doesn't question it. Nobody does. Because it's David Tennant. And every heterosexual girl wants to screw David Tennant, right? RIGHT?? Nothing you do can come off as creepy when you're so good looking, right?

I hate to be that guy who says "the old one was better" but I ended up enjoying the old show a lot more than the new show, and I started by watching the new show, funny enough. The old show treated its female companions far better, which is ironic given the time it was made. But the thing was that at the time feminism was really emerging and becoming a hot topic, so they treated it rightly at the time. One notable serial is "The Stones of Blood". Romana talks with two other female archaeologists and I stopped to realize "Holy ****. There's no scene like this anywhere in the new Doctor Who. There is literally no scene where a bunch of female characters are standing around talking about their jobs. That's fascinating, and kind of concerning." The new Who plays so much into romantic subplots or undertones with The Doctor and his companion, with a few exceptions like Billie and Donna Noble.

Also on a sidenote - Doctor Who has terribly complicated plotlines that suffer in the new series because they cram everything into 45-minute episodes, but the old show had a serialized format of 4 or 3 episodes, each about 25 minutes, per story. You really got to dive into the world they created back then.

-----------------------------------------

tl;dr it started as a kid's sci-fi show and then became more like romantic escapism but it's still entertaining with its witty humor and crazy good sci-fi stories

You don't need to watch the old show to understand the new show, as they retcon some stuff, but there are still references and you would maybe appreciate some things more. I would suggest actually starting with the Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker. Watch stuff like "Robot" (his first serial), "The Ark in Space", "Genesis of the Daleks", and if you're up for it the season-long hunt for "The Key to Time" (which "The Stones of Blood" is a part of). Man, that was some good **** right there. Fourth Doctor is a good start for a general feel of how it was at the time. Then jump to the new show.

My personal favorites:
The Dalek Invasion of Earth (1st Doctor)
The Aztecs (1st Doctor)
The Time Warrior (3rd Doctor)
Robot (4th Doctor)
The Face of Evil (4th Doctor)
The Ribos Operation (4th Doctor)
The City of Death (4th Doctor, written by Douglas Adams under a pen name)
The Christmas Invasion (10th Doctor)
Blink (10th Doctor)
The Fires of Pompeii (10th Doctor)
Midnight (10th Doctor)
Vincent and the Doctor (5th Doctor, probably one of the best ever)
Asylum of the Daleks (5th Doctor)
The Snowmen (5th Doctor)
The Bells of St. John (5th Doctor)
The Rings of Akhaten (5th Doctor - I am a sucker for Jenna Coleman, who co-starred in the above 3 episodes)
Time Heist (12th Doctor)

I hate these:
Image of the Fendhal (4th Doctor)
The Two Doctors (6th Doctor)
Ghost Light (7th Doctor)
Fear Her (10th Doctor)
The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords (10th Doctor)
The entire goddamn series 6 of the 11th Doctor (half joking here)
In the Forest of the Night (12th Doctor)
Hell Bent (12th Doctor)
Knock Knock (12th Doctor)

I hate and like this one at the same exact time:
School Reunion (10th Doctor)

It's not uncommon to stare at the screen and think "This is ****ing bizarre. What the hell am I watching?" when watching enough Doctor Who.

[Booyakasha]

^So who's your favourite Doctor, friend Scotty, may I ask?

I'm a little tempted to go with Tom Baker (he's so dang dingdong iconic), but I will never not love most Jon Pertwee, doctor three. He's so great. He's...such a british bulldog, man. Made of really rough tough stuff. He reminds me of my grandpa.

[Deku Tree]

^^why did you call the 11th Doctor the 5th Doctor in your list of favorites?