Random Thought of the Day

[redknightalex]

I was just glancing through Netflix to see if my next Five story, Snakedance, was available for instant streaming (which it's not), and came across this review for New Who. Basically, they tell the prospective watcher to only see the best episodes to start with, all but two I agreed with (there's were Blink, Midnight, The Silence in the Library/The

Comments

[wander_realtai]

Yaknow, Blink was fun and a bit suspenseful (though I never really thought the Angels were all that scary, to be honest. Visually and conceptually interesting, and a unique villain/monster, but not really scary), but it's not my favorite episode by a long shot.

And, yeah, it's MUCH better when you watch it in order. Rose may have been a bit cheesey and silly as a series opener, but it did a great job of connecting the viewer to character and somewhat to continuity (at least at a starting place), and it had the "turning of the earth" speech, which is really what hooked me on the series and the character of the Doctor.

[kilodalton]

And, yeah, it's MUCH better when you watch it in order. Rose may have been a bit cheesey and silly as a series opener, but it did a great job of connecting the viewer to character and somewhat to continuity (at least at a starting place), and it had the "turning of the earth" speech, which is really what hooked me on the series and the character of the Doctor.

Exactly. It was designed specifically for an introduction to a viewer who may or may not be familiar with the series. Really, any season opener/special is going to be geared towards a newbie, but Rose more so than any others.

[redknightalex]

THIS.

When I saw my first Who ep, PiC, I had to ask my old friend, who had seen some Doctor Who (but hasn't finished even Series 4 yet), what the hell a TARDIS was or that screwdriver thingy he had. And, who is the Doctor anyway?! Even that series opener wasn't that friendly to new fans, imho.

Seriously, those were my questions. I had no clue where I was. I think my next episode was Midnight...yup, was I confused!

[kilodalton]

Ha my first was The Eleventh Hour actually ... I watched all of s5 before I was even aware that there was anything else out there. I "liked" it but didn't "love" it ... and then by the finale, I kinda just threw my hands up, kwim?

But we had a DVR subscription to the series, so s2-4 repeats started recording around the same time that s5 was ending. My first RTD era episode was The Idiot's Lantern lol ... what struck me about it was that the dialogue/character attitude/something about the way the characters were presented made it really clear to me that the BBC fully expected the audience to care about these characters. That intrigued me, so I kept watching and eventually backtracked to watch everything else too! =)

[kilodalton]

Gah I hate that. Translation: "Watch all of Moffat's episodes in the RTD era because I'm a huge stan of his and I don't care that at least one of these is massively OOC for everyone and has highly misleading characterization for a first-time viewer, two of them barely have the Doctor in it, two of them barely have his companion in it, and one of the two-parters have the Doctor not even playing his own character really. Oh yeah, and some token other episodes just to try to demonstrate I have varied tastes."

Gimme a break.

[redknightalex]

To be fair, about half of those episodes that reviewer listed weren't written by Moffat (and Midnight is a spectacular episode, imho), but their ending with "Blink" was just screaming "Moffat." And, unlike Classic Who, which is much easier to just step in wherever you'd like to, New Who has these long arcs that can span multiple seasons, even Doctors, that just stepping in would probably turn off someone more than anything.

Oh yeah, and some token other episodes just to try to demonstrate I have varied tastes.

LOL. Yup, pretty much. "I swear I'm not biased!" Although I should probably have that disclaimer on my forehead as well...along with every other Whovian with their own Doctor. *shrug*

[kilodalton]

To be fair

... lol I dun wanna be fair!!! XD

(kidding, kidding ... kinda lol)

It's just whenever I see all of Moffat's episodes on a must-see list, the poster invariably is a huge Moffat stan. Part of this means that they believe plot/concept >>> characterization/emotional arcs (which I think goes hand in hand with your complaint about them saying people don't need to watch the eps in order. If one cares about characterization arcs at all, this is an absurd statement to make - but it proves my point about the type of fan this probably is). I just find it highly annoying.

But yes, Midnight is brilliant - and it plays directly into Ten's hubristic character arc, which is one of many reasons it works so well.

[redknightalex]

*whispers*I don't wanna be fair either, I just like to pretend I am. ;D

I understand the appeal of a plot/concept focused story but when you have whole series of it, like what Moffat is doing right now, I get bored. Really, really bored. What first struck me in the series was the emotional development and attachment the characters had towards each other, either companion to Doctor or Doctor to companion, even Doctor to the nameless girl in Midnight. It was all there and I loved it, and RTD, for making a show like that. Call it a soap opera if you want but I will stand by what I know and love. *makes a stand* (Oh, I'm still sitting, but that's not the point! lol)

But yes, Midnight is brilliant - and it plays directly into Ten's hubristic character arc, which is one of many reasons it works so well.I've never really understood Midnight, and never thought of Ten's hubris arc coming into play on this ep (more his fun, I will save everyone type of thing, and his declining faith not only in himself but in others as well), so obviously a

[annissag]

I couldn't disagree more with the idea that if you don't like "Blink," you won't like NuWho. Personally, I love it, but it's very suspenseful and downright scary. Most of Who is not that scary, so it would be misleading to say that "Blink" defines the series.

When I tell people to watch it, I tell them to start with "Rose." It was custom-made for people who aren't already familiar with the show. It's an easy introduction and a fun ep to boot.

[kilodalton]

Agreed. I think it's much fairer to say "if you don't like Blink, you probably won't like Moffat" - not NuWho as a whole though, you are totally right that it doesn't define the series

[redknightalex]

Agreed.

"Rose" was pretty much made for the new viewer, particularly considering that the main demographic most companies are looking for are the twenty-somethings who, if they were lucky, knew of the Movie. RTD truly was aiming for a brand-new audience and, really, without him we might never have seen DW grace our screens again. I believe Moffat tried after the weird comedy thing he did (forgot the name of it, I just know it had the twelfth Doctor in it) but nobody wanted it then.

Right now, I'd say either "Rose" or, if they wanted more action, "The Eleventh Hour," which also, in a way, re-defined the series. Both are god stepping stones, depending upon the viewer and what they are looking for.

[10docandr]

My first Who was Midnight, and I LOVED it. I was just mesmerized by this show that I'd only heard about in passing. I was then utterly confused by SitL and FotD which were shown on Syfy right after Midnight. Had I not been a good Syfy geek I would have given up after those two ( not due to how good they were, but due to not having a clue what was going on). Luckily, I did what any good geek would do and I GOOGLED for it is all knowing. I decided not to watch anymore on the Syfy and netflixed the whole first 4 seasons of New Who in order. I'm so glad I did. I think that it NEEDS to be watched in order otherwise your just clueless.

[10docandr]

Oh, and i wanted to add that i LOVE Midnight. The acting in it is SOOOOO very good. I mean they make you afraid of a monster you can't see and DT is so emotional oh and now that I know about Rose.

[redknightalex]

Well, there were really two monsters in Midnight: the so-called Midnight entity and the humans. The entity/unseen monster turned the humans on the Doctor and he almost lost his life because of human's sometimes irrational fear of the unknown. He was fighting for his life while paralyzed, yet still knowing what was going on, against the species he has protected for so long and so often. Whenever I see it I always feel that stab in the back when they start to turn. Absolutely chilling.

[10docandr]

That is so true. The humans just make me cringe. They all like the Doctor so much at the beginning and want to be friendly until things start to go wrong.I mean how can they NOT love Ten, but the sad thing is that people so often react that way when fear takes hold.I so very much so want to snuggle him afterwards. I mean Donna offers hugs, but he needs real loving.

[redcirce]

Whoops. So what does it say about my status as a fan that I've never seen Blink?

I've always started people off with "The End of the World". I like it's mix of drama and cheese.

[redknightalex]

So what does it say about my status as a fan that I've never seen Blink?

You are no fan!!!!! /sarcasm (What BS that whole thing was.)

You start off people with EotW instead of just Rose? That's different. I always felt like Rose was a needed episode, if only for the introduction to the Doctor than anything else.

[redcirce]

I love Rose, but I always felt it was a little slow. I would start with it if it were an inherently fannish person and I was like "WE ARE GOING TO WATCH THIS SHOW AND YOU WILL LIKE IT.", but if I were trying to convince someone that they should watch it, I think EoTW has more going for it for a casual viewer, what with the crazy aliens and goofy humor and a bit of angst and adventure. (Plus, I feel like everytime I'm with someone who vaguely knows about Doctor Who, they think they want to watch "that hot David Tennant guy" and I always want to convince them they actually do want to watch Season 1 first!)

[redknightalex]

Plus, I feel like everytime I'm with someone who vaguely knows about Doctor Who, they think they want to watch "that hot David Tennant guy" and I always want to convince them they actually do want to watch Season 1 first!)

I'll admit that I tried to do that but was too damned confused that I went back to the beginning. At least now I can just watch all the Ten I want without having to do the prerequisite course. lol