50 Years Ago Today...

[jjpor]

As a community originally created to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who, and which is themed around the idea of the longevity and diversity of the series and its various spinoffs, it seems only fitting to mark the second great landmark in Who history

Comments

[alumfelga]

I'm not an expert on television, but has something like regeneration even happened before? When actors get replaced on tv, everyone pretends nothing's changed. (Can Bond joke about looking different every few years?) Doctor Who not only showed and adressed the change, but also let the new man create a new character instead of hiring a copy - which continues to this day with all actors playing the Doctor. Now the fact that the Doctor has many faces is the first thing we learn about him and even people who don't watch the show know it, but back then, the thought that there can be a Doctor who isn't William Hartnell must have been... almost a heresy.

This show's history is fascinating.

/doesn't watch Class so can't say anything about it/

[jjpor]

I think that's the real genius of it - taking something that had been done before without any in-story explanation (recasting roles) and redefining the whole series around it. Essentially future-proofing Who. At the time, however, it must have seemed very strange to dedicated viewers indeed.

And I agree - the history of Who is something I never tire of, and about which I am always learning something new.

[nonelvis]

Ah, creepy original-flavor Cybermen! Such a great episode.

I'm really enjoying Class, although I could do without the gore. (It was toned down this week relative to what's in the second episode, but the second episode is a bit extreme.) Miss Quill is Inferno!verse Liz Shaw in some ways, and is my favorite of all the characters so far.

[jjpor]

I love the original Cybermen, if love is the word. So creepy, something they've never really managed to regain in their subsequent television appearances, although some of the NuWho stories have certainly tried very hard, with varying degrees of success.

So, would I be right in thinking that it is in many ways YA Torchwood rather than a darker-toned SJA (not that YA Torchwood doesn't sound just fine and dandy to me)? I will have to check it out very soon, but so far haven't made time.

Miss Quill is Inferno!verse Liz Shaw in some ways

Scary boots and/or hairdo?? :D

[nonelvis]

"YA Torchwood" is a good way to describe it, although it clearly owes a much bigger debt to Buffy than Torchwood. (It's also a more consistent and better-written show than Torchwood, IMO, although obviously mileage varies here.)

Scary boots and/or hairdo?? :D

Heh, I'll have to check out her boots ;) Quill is morally neutral -- she'll help because in some cases she literally has to, but she's not above using (or even killing) others if the situation calls for it. There's a lot more to her than that, but I don't want to get too spoilery!

[jjpor]

No, as much as I view it with a sort of nostalgia these years later, I think you're right about Torchwood: The Early Years. ;)

[lost_spook]

A very important anniversary indeed! Without DW would have been a little known (maybe entirely lost) 1960s serial that cult TV watchers knew about and few other people. It would be terrible. Plus, we got Patrick Troughton. :-)

I've seen episode 1 of Class! I'm looking forward to the rest. It a few moments of trying too hard, of the sort that are pretty usual to any pilot, but all the characters seemed really promising and I liked them lots, plus we got a brief bit of Twelve. I'll be interested to know what you think - & given your big heart for the Whoniverse I can't see any reason why you wouldn't enjoy it very much. I do hope it survives beyond 1 series - the BBC is in such a precarious position, it makes me wonder. (My favourite was April, who everyone else says is the most boring character, so that's a bout par for the course with me. :-D)

[jjpor]

Yep, it could have been like Adam Adamant or something, and no doubt would still have some sort of following, or legend, or people writing dissertations about Dalekmania, but certainly nothing like what actually occurred. And as you rightly point out, Patrick Troughton, while undoubtedly still being a fairly well-known character actor (it sometimes seems he was in just about everything during the 60s and 70s), never would have got the chance to work his magic

[lost_spook]

Our lives would be sad and empty! Although otherwise there is nothing wrong with being like Adam Adamant Lives!. It is a thing of improbable joy and happiness and evil washing powder and therefore fabulous. As would the Hartnell era alone have been. If anyone had ever found it again.

Ha, yes, we are often on adjoining pages, except for those occasions where we even find ourselves sitting in the same paragraph (Seven and Ace are the bestest!!). *waves at your from across the margin*

I'm not entirely sure it's very Torchwood - I think because it's got a dark edge and is emphasising that and its older teen target group people are saying that. As someone said above, it's very open about ripping off Buffy for the 2010s. ("Like a Hellmouth?") Or at least, one whole episode and nobody had any sex or drugs, it can't be TW. :loL:

Even though you tend to have more actual Opinions about the Right Way of Whodom than me, I think in many ways you like more of it! I can't see you hating Class, but, of course, there's only one way to

[gaiamix]

Yeah. I agree. That was an important anniversary too! Happy "birthday" Second Doctor. Well, it's more of the Second Doctor ERA's birthday, and the Doctor's... First-Regenerationday.

Without Regeneration, the series' helm could've even have passen to Ben\Michael and Polly\Anneke. Susan could've return. "Doctor Who" or "The Doctor" would just be a title passed down from person to person.

[jjpor]

Interesting question: what do Time Lords celebrate? Birthdays, regeneration days, or neither? Maybe they only bother every decade or so.

That's an interesting thought, actually - what if the producers had wanted to carry the programme on but without hitting on the idea of casting a new Doctor? There were certainly options, as you point out, but whatever we ended up with would have been very different from the Doctor Who we know.

[gaiamix]

The first incarnation celebrates their birthday, the second onward celebrates the day they've regenerated into their current form.

Instead of the Doctor taking a new form, other people would become the Doctor. So without regenerations being invented, I imagine the current show would involve Anneke as Polly being BAMF and helping people, with a sidekick that she's training to become the next Doctor. Maybe Jackie Lane would've returned as Dodo at one point.

[jjpor]

The first incarnation celebrates their birthday, the second onward celebrates the day they've regenerated into their current form.

That makes a lot of sense to me.

Polly being BAMF sounds like the kind of thing I'd like to see, tbh. ;) Write the fic! Write the fic!

[a_phoenixdragon]

I still haven't seen Class myself...but reading this makes me wanna go back and see that episode again. What a pivotal moment in Who history!

*HUGS*

[jjpor]

The *most* pivotal? Certainly the second most pivotal, I would say, because An Unearthly Child is absolutely magnificent and unique.