Greetings! This is my first post on Lemmy and excited to see a DW sub already exists.
TL;DR - recently hit a second wind with Classic Who and really want to finish it before New who’s return in November
I’ve been a fan of new who since I was around 10 or so. Started off with Tennant and worked my way through 11 and ended up at 12th first season which just finished airing at the time. It fell out of my interest for many years only to be picked up again during flux. Not flux itself, it only reminded me how much I miss 9-12. During a rewatch it really got me thinking about classic who. Soon after I started watching that too! Started with Tom baker then jumped from timelord to timelord. Eventually I got burned out of classic who and put it on the shelve for awhile. With hype building for doctor 14 & 15 it got me thinking of the classic series again and how much I want to finish it before November. I’ve kept track of my watch progress with this excel document
Part 1 - https://ibb.co/6PZWyJ1 Part 2 - https://ibb.co/86qxqDw Part 3 - https://ibb.co/8j2wWxp
Would love to hear who your favorite doctor is from either new or classic who
I was raised with it! Tom was my doc, and Leela my companion. That said, I think I’d struggle with a complete watch. Best I ever did was about 13 years ago I had swine flu and was ill for two weeks, and blasted through all Jon Pertwee. Those first season ones with the 7 episode stories see did drag, but it all picked up when the Master appeared.
Tom is by far my favorite classic doctor. His portrayal is very unpredictable which kept me interested for most of his run with leela also being one of my favorite companions. I’ve also taken an unexplainable liking to Peter Davison which is a complete 180 from Tom’s betrayal. If you ever find yourself wanting to rewatch it I’d highly recommend watching a story a day or even just an episode a day. I did this when I first picked up the show and actually became a part of my day I looked forward to.
Tennant by far
I started with 10s last episodes The end of time. I had been watching something on BBC and the commercials for Tennants last episode looked so good I gave it a shot. By the time Capaldi was finished airing I couldn’t get enough. Took a long time but going through classic who was great and made me appreciate the show and charecter all the more. I gotta say Patrick Troughton was such a suprisingly good doctor, it sucks so many of his episodes are hard to find because he really softens the Doctor into a more caring and whimsical hero. Everyone point to Baker and he was great but 2 is probably my favorite classic who doctor.
It was Matt Smith’s Journey To The Center Tardis story that got me interested in classic who. It was the particular scene where Clara sees images of previous doctors walking around the tardis. That got me looking into classic who YT clips which fully got me into the show. I had tried a year prior to this and actually watched Patrick Troughton‘s War Games serial. While plenty long I had an amazing time with his portrayal and the story itself. It wasn’t until I watched Tom Baker that my love for the classic show finally cemented. He’s so close to my personality that I really click with his performance. The one thing that’s so fantastic about Doctor who is you can never go wrong with any of the doctors. Each one brings so many fun and interesting things that it’s hard for me to find a favorite. They’re all the doctor to me. 13 is a distance cousin.
Yeah that’s true. I would say the best classic doctor is probably Baker but Troughton surprised me by being the first classic who doctor that felt like the same old doctor I had known and loved which makes him my favorite classic who doctor. Like Capaldi is my favorite Newhu doc but not sure if I’d say he is the best. And yeah 13 is a very distant cousin
Some of the early serials really are a slog - they were designed one a week. Target novels i find are better on some of them for marathons (Sensorites in particular)
I started the classic series a few years ago, but couldn’t bear with it, I did maybe a season or so. For me it was insanely slow - this old man is an alien and has this box (first episode); we step in it (second) ; there’s a city over there (third)… No, thanks. Weird, considering that I liked the old Star Treks, even with them being somewhat goofy.
So for me it’s probably the first three doctors of the new series. Tennant was the best character, Smith had somewhat better story arches. The next two had weird stories, and too much personal life for me. Also, with the current doctor, the first episodes felt unnatural, like “I’m a woman but still can do this”, dude, just do it, you’re the doctor. Also, someone wrote it’s a bit of social workers in space - absolutely on the point.
The classic series is definitely not for everyone and it’s definitely a bog to watch sometimes. Especially the first two doctors. While great doctors I do find there story’s way harder to sit through, besides a few absolute gems. If you ever do find yourself interested in the classic series again I’d highly recommend jumping around from doctor to doctor at the start. That’s how I found my interest and looking at a “top 3 stories for each doctor list” on Reddit or Google helped show me what the show had to offer.
As much as I love the classics, new who will always have my heart. My favorite is definitely Matt Smith’s doctor. While some stories could leave a little to be desired I found Matt’s performance eccentric yet charming. 12 was definitely my next favorite with some great story arcs along with some not so great ones. I felt like he gave that character his all and had great companions to back him up for series 9 & 10
I tried my hardest to enjoy Jodie Whittaker doctor but I think the portrayal falls short in a few different ways mostly let down by a poor script. We’ve had a good handful of female characters with great writing come through the show so it’s sad she didn’t get the same opportunity. Out of her entire run there’s only a very select few I’d consider rewatching.
