Thanks very much for posting this to the comm - it's great and obviously involved a lot of thought and work. I will post a link over on the Dreamwidth version of the comm and hopefully attract a few more people.
"And isn't that just the truth?" It's a reason enough, no need for previous nine, I suppose ;)
Thank you for your kind words :) I wasn't sure if it's a good place to post it but it's a great community - I wish I was a Doctor Who fan in 2013, I missed so much. I'd be delighted if you pass it over, I'd love to see what other people think about it.
I might add that, being one of the people who started out with Classic Who (Tom Baker was the first I saw), that part of the appeal and charm of the show to us was it wasn't well produced, or acted, or written. A lot of us really loved that and found it endearing. There was a running joke about the "wobbly sets" in particular...Peter Davison refers to that in the "Five-ish Doctors" episode. Yet through all the mistakes and early days of TV quality (or lack thereof,lol) there was that wonderful, crazy, clever character of the Doctor to hold it all together.
It really is remarkable though how much continuity there is from the classic to the new, isn't it?
And I heartily agree about needing a companion - or Doctor! - wearing a kilt. :D
I have to agree with you. One of my favorite things about Classic Who is that there are just so many things that are hilariously dodgy. Sure, maybe it wasn't meant to make me laugh, but it does, and I love it.
"It really is remarkable though how much continuity there is from the classic to the new, isn't it?" Absolutely! At first, I was like: "Oh, so they remember stuff from last year, not bad." Then I was like: "Oh, so they remember stuff from four years ago, great." And finally I was like: "Oh, so they remember stuff from fifty years ago. Who does that?" :) You can really tell the show is being made by people who know it all and it's wonderful.
"I might add that, being one of the people who started out with Classic Who (Tom Baker was the first I saw), that part of the appeal and charm of the show to us was it wasn't well produced, or acted, or written. A lot of us really loved that and found it endearing." I see your point, it's an interesting comment. I was talking from my own experience and I don't think I'd become a Doctor Who fan if the show wasn't as good as it is now, not with 1000000 other productions on the telly. But I can imagine a different point of view :)
I love your list because so many of those reasons are why I started (and kept with) watching Classic Who. To be honest, I knew I had to when I'd gone through three seasons of New Who and somehow hadn't realized that in Classic Who the Time Lords were actually around, mucking things up for the Doctor.
And man, there's just so much Classic Who canon that it can keep you entertained for ages. I get that it's not gonna be everyone's thing, but it's like...if you're even thinking about giving it a go, why not?
You too? I thought I was the only one who thought the Time War took place before the whole series and the Doctor was the last Time Lord since the very beginning :D I was craving for some information about the Doctor's home planet in new episodes so when I found out I can actually see Gallifrey and other Time Lords in Classic Who, I was thrilled.
"I get that it's not gonna be everyone's thing, but it's like...if you're even thinking about giving it a go, why not?" I can understand hestitation. "Where should I start? Which episodes to watch if I don't want to see everything?" "A granddaughter? He had a granddaughter?" :D That's why I wrote this post - to encourage people who are hestitating. It's worth it :)
There is a lot of good reasons not to watch classic episodes: they aren’t as well written, acted and produced as the new ones
Well, as an old Classic DW fan who kind of warily liked New Who, then hated it, then warily liked it again, and currently love it due to Peter Capaldi... TV was just done differently back then, and Classic Who could be pretty darn good for the time in which it was produced. New Who isn't perfect. I keep wanting to rant about how gross the end of "Love and Monsters" is to me, or the Tenth Doctor mindwiping Donna (while she protested), or the way Paul Cornell's Seventh Doctor novel, Human Nature, was turned into a Tenth Doctor story that made me cringe (because the original companion was Bernice Summerfield and, naturally, all that could be done with Martha being black in that time period was turn her into a subservient maid), or other things that annoy me as much as Classic Who annoys Newvians
( ... )
I'm not saying New Who is perfect, it isn't. But an overall quality of the show is better now than it was then. On average, the scripts are better - how many time has the Third Doctor spent in a cell or trying to escape just because it was a six-parter and the producers had to fill the time with something? How many episodes had similar plot? How many times were they surprising? - and best British actors are being employed. You can't watch the new series first and then the old ones and not notice it.
I don't like everything about the new episodes (I'm with you about the end of "Love and Monsters") but it doesn't mean they're all bad and because of that "the show was better before".
Awesome post. Makes me nostalgic for the time I went through an epic undertaking to watch all of Classic Who (took me a year and a half).
Going in, I thought, "Oh, wobbly sets, bad acting, bad writing", but you know what? I never found that to be the case. For the budget and technology they had in 1960s, they did amazing things. I have a greater respect for older TV shows, thanks for Classic Who.
New Who needs a companion (or a Doctor) wearing a kilt.
Well, Capaldi is Scottish. Perhaps he can work it in. :-) And Twelve isn't against wearing plaid, if his new trousers in season nine are any indication.
"For the budget and technology they had in 1960s, they did amazing things." I agree. When I started, I went from 2014 episodes to 1963 and I was like: "it's all in a studio, five actors for an episode, nothing is happening... TARDIS! *squee*". But then I got used to it and I learned to praise some good locations and costumes, it was a good work.
"Well, Capaldi is Scottish. Perhaps he can work it in." That's exactly what I think :D They missed the chance with David Tennant, now they have another one, with the Scottish Doctor, not only Scottish actor. Maybe the trousers are to prepare us for a kilt! :D
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And isn't that just the truth? ;)
Thanks very much for posting this to the comm - it's great and obviously involved a lot of thought and work. I will post a link over on the Dreamwidth version of the comm and hopefully attract a few more people.
Reply
It's a reason enough, no need for previous nine, I suppose ;)
Thank you for your kind words :) I wasn't sure if it's a good place to post it but it's a great community - I wish I was a Doctor Who fan in 2013, I missed so much. I'd be delighted if you pass it over, I'd love to see what other people think about it.
Reply
I might add that, being one of the people who started out with Classic Who (Tom Baker was the first I saw), that part of the appeal and charm of the show to us was it wasn't well produced, or acted, or written. A lot of us really loved that and found it endearing. There was a running joke about the "wobbly sets" in particular...Peter Davison refers to that in the "Five-ish Doctors" episode. Yet through all the mistakes and early days of TV quality (or lack thereof,lol) there was that wonderful, crazy, clever character of the Doctor to hold it all together.
It really is remarkable though how much continuity there is from the classic to the new, isn't it?
And I heartily agree about needing a companion - or Doctor! - wearing a kilt. :D
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Reply
Absolutely! At first, I was like: "Oh, so they remember stuff from last year, not bad." Then I was like: "Oh, so they remember stuff from four years ago, great." And finally I was like: "Oh, so they remember stuff from fifty years ago. Who does that?" :) You can really tell the show is being made by people who know it all and it's wonderful.
"I might add that, being one of the people who started out with Classic Who (Tom Baker was the first I saw), that part of the appeal and charm of the show to us was it wasn't well produced, or acted, or written. A lot of us really loved that and found it endearing."
I see your point, it's an interesting comment. I was talking from my own experience and I don't think I'd become a Doctor Who fan if the show wasn't as good as it is now, not with 1000000 other productions on the telly. But I can imagine a different point of view :)
Reply
And man, there's just so much Classic Who canon that it can keep you entertained for ages. I get that it's not gonna be everyone's thing, but it's like...if you're even thinking about giving it a go, why not?
Reply
"I get that it's not gonna be everyone's thing, but it's like...if you're even thinking about giving it a go, why not?"
I can understand hestitation. "Where should I start? Which episodes to watch if I don't want to see everything?" "A granddaughter? He had a granddaughter?" :D That's why I wrote this post - to encourage people who are hestitating. It's worth it :)
Reply
Well, as an old Classic DW fan who kind of warily liked New Who, then hated it, then warily liked it again, and currently love it due to Peter Capaldi... TV was just done differently back then, and Classic Who could be pretty darn good for the time in which it was produced. New Who isn't perfect. I keep wanting to rant about how gross the end of "Love and Monsters" is to me, or the Tenth Doctor mindwiping Donna (while she protested), or the way Paul Cornell's Seventh Doctor novel, Human Nature, was turned into a Tenth Doctor story that made me cringe (because the original companion was Bernice Summerfield and, naturally, all that could be done with Martha being black in that time period was turn her into a subservient maid), or other things that annoy me as much as Classic Who annoys Newvians ( ... )
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I don't like everything about the new episodes (I'm with you about the end of "Love and Monsters") but it doesn't mean they're all bad and because of that "the show was better before".
Reply
Going in, I thought, "Oh, wobbly sets, bad acting, bad writing", but you know what? I never found that to be the case. For the budget and technology they had in 1960s, they did amazing things. I have a greater respect for older TV shows, thanks for Classic Who.
New Who needs a companion (or a Doctor) wearing a kilt.
Well, Capaldi is Scottish. Perhaps he can work it in. :-) And Twelve isn't against wearing plaid, if his new trousers in season nine are any indication.
Reply
I agree. When I started, I went from 2014 episodes to 1963 and I was like: "it's all in a studio, five actors for an episode, nothing is happening... TARDIS! *squee*". But then I got used to it and I learned to praise some good locations and costumes, it was a good work.
"Well, Capaldi is Scottish. Perhaps he can work it in."
That's exactly what I think :D They missed the chance with David Tennant, now they have another one, with the Scottish Doctor, not only Scottish actor. Maybe the trousers are to prepare us for a kilt! :D
Reply
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