Doctor Who Crash Course

[red_b_rackham]

I've been meaning to do this post forever, but keep not having time (or forgetting b/c I'm too forgetful for my own good). FINALLY both had some time AND remembered, so here goes!

Back when the 50th Anniversary Special for Doctor Who was coming out, I had a freak out because I was so excited for it (as most Whovians did). Then I found out they were airing the special at a theatre near me and I REALLY freaked out with excitement. Unfortunately none of my real-life friends were Whovians, and I didn't particularly want to go alone... so I asked my sister if she would go with me. She shrugged and was like sure, so I bought us two tickets. Then I said it'd probably be a good idea if she watched some of the show before we went and saw the 50th special, so she at least knew kinda what she was getting into. She said sure.

And thus I embarked on a journey to crash course my sister through Doctor Who is like... less than a month.

This post is to tell you what we crash-coursed through, in the hope that it might help fellow Whovians convert others!! This post is definitely my opinion and by no means a hard-fast guide, because everyone is going to have their own thoughts and opinions on which episodes are most important and why. (Also contained in this post will be spoilers, so non-Whovians, you should probably NOT read on...)

Hobey ho, let's go.

Okay, so seeing as how I myself have not seen any of the old!Who, I stuck with only the new!Who, the 2005 series, staring with Doctor #9. I spent forever deliberating over what episodes to show her (no seriously. There was great pain involved whittling down to as few eps as possible), and in the end, my strategy was basically to try and give her a taste of each Doctor and Companion, and to try and hit major villains or certain major character points. I also tried to work off of what I was expecting from the 50th, which was some Rose, Ten, Eleven, Clara, and probably recurring villains possibly cropping up (ie Angels, Cybermen, etc).

Series 1 - Nine (Rose, Mickey, Jack; Daleks)

• Rose - because it's the first episode, your first look at Rose and the Doctor and it's an all around great episode. It's FANTASTIC. (Plastic Mickey and all. YOU HEARD ME. ;D)
• Dalek - for the intro of the Daleks, and some great Rose/Nine stuff.
• Empty Child / Doctor Dances - these I picked because not only are they fantastic episodes, they also feature Jack Harkness, who I adore and knew my sister would too (she nick-named him Captain Sexy Pants. XD) I did however mark these as "optional / time allowing", as I felt they weren't necessarily critical to make sure she saw.
• Bad Wolf / Parting of Ways - for the Nine/Rose content, and Nine's changeover into Ten.

It wasn't part of the crash course, but my sister and I had previously watched episodes 1 and 2 - which ended up being handy, because episode 2 is where you meet The Face of Boe, and the Master arc in series 3 is where Jack makes that surprisingly comment. XD

(Also of note, when I was working on addicting my cousin to Doctor Who, I showed the above minus Dalek - it was great fast way to get her loving Rose and Nine right off the bat, and of course, Jack. ;D I ran out of time to show her more, and she has yet to watch more on her own, but she promises she's hooked and wants more, she just needs to finish other shows first (and boy do I know how that is!!).)

Series 2 - Ten (Rose; Cybermen)

• Christmas Invasion - not one of my fav eps, but I thought it was important for Ten's regeneration stuff.
• Rise of the Cybermen / Age of Steel - for Cybermen, and getting to see Rose's mom and dad!
• Army of Ghosts / Doomsday - for the loss of Rose (excuse me, there's something in my eye...). This is SUCH a huge thing for Ten, this was definitely one of the most important episodes, especially knowing Rose was going to be in the 50th. (I actually wasn't home when she watched Doomsday, but I walked in the door and she just looked at me, and I said, "Ya, you watched Doomsday didn't you?" And she just sniffed and turned back to the TV.)

There's of course so many awesome episodes in series 2 we skipped, but I was really trying to hit the most important highlights and literally crash through, because we were so short on time.

Series 3 - Ten (Martha; Angels, The Master)

• Blink - for obvious reasons!! This episode is awesome, terrifying, and even almost totally stand alone. I told her I HAD to watch this one with her, and our schedules ended up differing so she watched the below set first, but like I said, since this one is pretty stand alone, you can watch it kind of anywhere.
• Utopia / Sound of Drums / Last of the Time Lords - I marked these as optional/time allowing, again because of the time crunch. I was worried that if we took the time to watch this three-episode arc, we'd have to cut out something else down the line, but bless my sister, she was REALLY addicted by this point and totally getting into it, plus she did really need a chance to see Martha shine, so it worked out in the end. The importance of this arc is of course to see the Master, and the dynamic he has with Ten, and then of course Martha being a complete rock star (and unfortunately her departure as well).

Series 4 - Ten (Donna, River)

• The Unicorn and the Wasp - this one was definitely optional, and marked as such on my list, and we unfortunately ended up skipping it due to time crunch - the 50th was getting closer and we still had a long way to go. The reason why I had it down though was for the fantastic showcase of the Doctor and Donna's BFFery dynamic which is so utterly fantastic. That scene where he's poisoned in the kitchen is gold.
• Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead - this was especially important because we were skipping the above one, because my sister needed to see Donna, and it was a double/bonus, because it's River Song's first appearance, and we all know just how important she is!!

Now, I did have her skip the rest of season four, as well as the specials in between. The reason being, again, short on time. She really wanted to see Ten's regeneration into Eleven, but I was like, "but it's not one episode like Nine's, it's more like... seven building up to it, or at least like four, and we just don't have time." I absolutely loved series 4, but with all the stuff with Rose and all the foreshadowing with Ten, and Doctor Donna and so forth, it did make it difficult to pick more stand alone -ish episodes and not spoil my sister on everything else that happens. But I did it! And then we moved on to series 5!!

Series 5 - Eleven (Amy, Rory)

• Eleventh Hour - for Eleven's regeneration, meeting Amy, and the whole "everything is different and new including the title screen, TARDIS and screwdriver!" (which I geeeet, it's a changing show, but it still depressed the crap out of me to not only lose Ten, but every single other familiar thing too. My sister was the same, I was pleased to note, lol.) Also fish sticks and custard, because you simply can't go through life as a partial Whovian not knowing THAT bit. I'd say it's about as important as Allonsy!
• Vincent and the Doctor - while not necessarily a particularly important episode over-arching plot-wise, it's a gorgeous episode, and showcases Amy, Rory, and Eleven brilliantly. That moment in the museum at the end - you can't not choke up and cry at that. Even my sister who doesn't generally cry at TV got choked up. (Also Bill Nighy is that ep, so you KNOW it's awesome). Plus, since I decided not to include any other series 5 episodes, this had to be the one to watch.

I wanted to show her Pandorica Opens / Big Bang so, so bad because all the Rory feels, you guys. But because those are the episodes when he comes back, then I'd need to back up and show her the ones where he first, technically, died. But to do that I'd have to back up and show her more of the stuff with the crack in the wall, and anyways, I ended up having to cut it. I was hoping not to spoil her that Rory didn't die - or, more properly, he comes back - because thinking he's dead the first time around is insanely crushing. Because of the series 7 episodes I ended up showing her though, that unfortunately will be spoiled for her (although she won't know when or how... or anything else. MWAH HA.)

Series 6 - Eleven

Now, here's the thing. I liked series 6. I've seen a number of people rag on it, and I will agree it was kind of a mess, but I quite enjoyed it. The problem was picking an episode or two to show my sister. Series 6 is very tangled together, and there isn't really any standalone episodes. I wanted to show her the Silence, but each episode they're in was intertwined with like three others, and if you're going to watch those ones, then you have to watch these ones and suddenly you might as well watch the whole season. I desperately wanted her to find out more about River, and who River is, but again, those episodes required watching more to understand, and so on. So unfortunately, in the end, I opted to entirely skip series 6.

Series 7 - (Clara, the War Doctor)

• Asylum of the Daleks - for Clara's (Oswin!) intro. (My sister was like, "WAIT WHAT'S GOING ON WITH RORY AND AMY!" and I was like, "Yaa... you'll see. I was in tears at this point the first time around.")
• The Snowmen - I toyed with making this one optional, since it's not particularly related to anything, but it does really set up Clara's character as The Impossible Girl. When we then watched The Name of the Doctor after, having these episodes back to back actually ended up being rather brilliant - they dovetailed together so well. (Also, the beginning of this one? I said, "Ya, you'll notice the Doctor is... sad." And my sister half-screamed at me, "AMY DIED DIDN'T SHE. OHMYGOSH WHY ELSE WOULD HE BE SO SAD, WHAT HAPPENED TO AMY." And I sealed my lips and tried not to think of Angels Take Manhattan...)
• Name of the Doctor - because it was the last one before the special, because of Clara and her role in it, because of the very end with the War Doctor/John Hurt showing up - and knowing The Impossible Girl and the War Doctor were to be in the 50th. The nice thing about this one too, was that it tied real nice to The Snowmen, as well as Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead (with River). Through all of these episodes, the only thing we did not watch which was unfortunately spoiled for my sister, was in this episode, where it's mentioned that River is the Doctor's wife. My sister whipped her head to look at me so fast I swear she got whiplash, and I winced and said, "Erm, spoiler! YOU'LL JUST HAVE TO GO BACK AND SEE. I'M NOT SAYING ANYTHING."

Overall, my selections worked surprisingly well together - a lot of it was accidental, since I would more be thinking, "Okay, make sure you get one with Donna" and then find out five episodes later that all this stuff that's going on or whatever they're talking about is perfectly relevant to whatever we've already seen, even though we skipped large chunks of episodes. The two major and unfortunately unavoidable spoilers of course, as mentioned, was River being Eleven's wife, and Rory being alive in series 7 (altho my sister doesn't actually know he died, repeatedly, lol, but she will know when she gets there he's not dead down the road... so... half-spoiler??).

Total episodes (including optionals, and counting the two-parters as one, since you can't just watch half of those arcs): 16
Total episodes (okay, counting the two-parters as two-parters, picky picky): 23

Either way you slice it, I'd say that's pretty dang good, going from something like 110 or so down to under 25. Heck, 23 is like one regular season of TV!

Anyways, so that's my Doctor Who crash course. My sister has now started over from the beginning and watched all of season 1 (then a second time to addict her boyfriend, LOL) and will soon be working her way through the rest of the series to see the ones she missed. CONVERSION: SUCCESS!

~Red