Doctor Who

That sounds like a load of bullshit.

Also Jamie totally got cured of his memory loss.

And so will Zoe, once Lyric finds the time.

Wasn't quite awake when I wrote that, felt like ranting about The Seeds of Death.

edited 18th Sep '14 7:43:43 AM by Wackd

Maybe you'd be less disappointed if you stopped expecting things to be Carmen Sandiego movies.

@Wack'd, I feel as though it made more sense as I was listening to it but I will admit it was BS that it wasn't the real Jamie.

Zoe apparently recovered her memories because she was too smart for that. Something about medical sensors knowing she had apparently aged by two years if I recall.

The Blog The Art

I don't necessarily mean the plot logic, I mean the story itself, which just sounds like a desperate attempt at a Troughton's greatest hits parade without any idea what made the stories they're homaging interesting and an extension of Big Finish's oft-reported tendency to sequelize stories for no reason beyond rampant fanboyism.

Like, I'd love a story with a return to the Land of Fiction. And a story where Zoe and Jamie get their memories back. And of course you really don't need an excuse to bring back the Cybermen at this point. But doing all three at once just sounds like a mess with no room for new, interesting ideas to make the story worth telling.

edited 18th Sep '14 8:01:57 AM by Wackd

Maybe you'd be less disappointed if you stopped expecting things to be Carmen Sandiego movies.

To be fair, it was three stories, and the Cybermen only appear in the third story. It was basically a Land of Fiction saga where for the first two stories you think Six and Jamie are just on a pair of unusual adventures in worlds that seem slightly off from actual history.

I will admit that by the third drama it was basically "Pour everything in! EVERYTHING! Cybers, Zoe, Jamie, the Artful Dodger, Dracula, EVERYTHING!"

Besides, it technically still leaves the option for the Doctor going back and finding the real Jamie.

edited 18th Sep '14 8:07:18 AM by MousaThe14

The Blog The Art

There's also a part of me which is like—yeah, it's good Zoe could recover her memories on her own, but it creates this thing where Jamie keeps coming back and everyone's content to just forget about her, which is really damn unfortunate.

Maybe you'd be less disappointed if you stopped expecting things to be Carmen Sandiego movies.

Damnit Zoe's such a good character. I'm going to have to watch Seeds of Death.

So, if I were to watch one serial for each classic Doctor, what would you brilliant people recommend I watch?

Fear is a superpower.

That, my friend, is a difficult question. I will stand here and point out problems with everything people suggest as an answer.

A question to you though is do you want a story which is representative of the Doctor, his era, or just a brilliant story?

Watch The Five Doctors and knock out half of them in one go.

I really did start with the multi-Doctor stories with something like that in mind. I certainly intended to go back and see individual stories, but I wanted a quick tour.

Fresh-eyed movie blog

...yes. All three if possible. If not, my priorities would be Brilliant Story > Representing that Doctor > Representing the era.

I have watched The Three Doctors and sort of enjoyed it. When I was around ten I watched The Tomb of the...no, it was Revenge of the...I don't even know! I watched the Something of the Cybermen when I was quite young, so I really don't remember anything about it.

Fear is a superpower.

I once sat down and tried to do a massive flow diagram of 'What Doctor Who Story Should I watch?' which led to me asking questions like 'What stories are great explorations of Martha?' that kind of mind set led to a lot of mediocre stories being suggested. (But then again, with the right mind set, i you watch an episode for one thing, that episode can become very enjoyable)

It doesn't help that I fundamentally believe some character episodes are deconstructions and should not be watched prior previous establishing characters episodes, and on top of that some episodes are character resolution episodes and should not be watched prior to the other two types.

Regardless. The Three and Five Doctors are showcase episodes and while weren't great storytelling at the time, are great adverts now. Day Of The Doctor will never be that, and I pity the new fan in 2025 pondering which turn of the millennium who to watch and thinking Day would be a good show case.

I could see Moffat writing a proper show case for Children in Need one year and getting all kinds of actors back.

Well then don't put them in the flowchart.

I dunno what version of The Three Doctors you were watching.

edited 18th Sep '14 11:15:50 AM by Wackd

Maybe you'd be less disappointed if you stopped expecting things to be Carmen Sandiego movies.

Anything she appeared in after Series 3.

Fresh-eyed movie blog

@T Paradox, Don't worry, I did the same thing. It's why my first classic excursions were the Three Doctors and the Five Doctors.

The Five Doctors is more showcase than three Doctors which was just a story that jsut happened to have 2 and sometimes 1 would pop in to say something.

@Resetlocksley, Anyhow, since the Eigth Doctor only has the one movie... I suppose you could try and watch it. If you're really really bored. I think most people recommend Trial of a Timelord for Six. the Caves of Androzani is great so you should watch that for Five.

Three has Inferno and the Time Warrior as my personal favourites that are also really good.

The Fourth Doctor is Difficult since he has a long run. Even I've only seen the few highly recommende of his stories like the Deadly Assassin, Genesis of the Daleks, The Talons of Weng Chiang, and The Horror of Fang Rock.

Seven's frequently recommended tend to be Battlefield, The Curse of Fenric, Rememberance of the Daleks (I had to look up the name due to how many "Re- of the Daleks" stories there are), and for the insane, Ghostlight

Two's highly recommended that are also really good include The War Games, The Mind Robber, and Enemy of the World.

For One, it's An Unearthly Child (And most say just the first episode) and The Aztecs.

edited 18th Sep '14 11:35:28 AM by MousaThe14

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Deadly Assassin is deadly boring, and Talons is...I mean jesus. Look at that title. Kinda tells you everything you need to know. The other two are good.

Highly recommend The Brain of Morbius, The Ribos Operation, and City of Death.

edited 18th Sep '14 11:44:50 AM by Wackd

Maybe you'd be less disappointed if you stopped expecting things to be Carmen Sandiego movies.

The War Games could be half as long as it is, though. Lots of padding in the middle.

Fresh-eyed movie blog

I agree the Deadly Assassin is boring, but when people come up with "Good Four Stories" it tends to come up for some reason. And thank you, I forgot City of Death even though it was totally on my mind.

The Blog The Art

City of Death would also be my go to suggestion for Tom Baker. It's a great showcase of his charm.

I still think War Games is worth the run time, but I know not everyone here agrees with me.

Ghost Light, watched in one sitting, is not nearly as impenetrable as its reputation suggests. The Greatest Show in the Galaxy also belongs on this list, as does The Happiness Patrol, and Survival.

Battlefield doesn't really come off unless you've already got some effection for Three's era.

edited 18th Sep '14 11:45:57 AM by Wackd

Maybe you'd be less disappointed if you stopped expecting things to be Carmen Sandiego movies.

Ooh, I can't beleive I forgot Happiness Patrol. That's like one of my faves!

Which is saying something consideirng how little affection I have for three himself. I did like the character around him though.

edited 18th Sep '14 11:51:45 AM by MousaThe14

The Blog The Art

I found the Ringmaster's rapping painfully bad, but otherwise Greatest Show in the Galaxy is quite good.

My parents happened to be around when I watched it, and my mom was constantly identifying the wrong person as the Doctor. Admittedly, Captain Cook is supposed to be a dark mirror of the Doctor, but I think it was Bellboy she later asked if he was "a new Doctor?" Admittedly, he was a guy in outlandish clothes delivering truckloads of exposition.

Also she thought Mags was much more of a Companion type than Ace was. I set her straight about who was the Companion and who was the guest at least three times.

Fresh-eyed movie blog

Why pick and choose? Watch them all. Start with the first episode and work your way through the series. It will take time, and you might not enjoy every story, but you won't miss good episodes the way you would if you skip around.

I never like other people's "best of" compilations. I'd rather watch and decide for myself.

I started a chronological marathon of the series last year, watching every story with orphan episodes and clips where they should be. I'm currently up to Planet of the Daleks. I can honestly say that the only story I've actively disliked up to that point is The Daemons, which a lot of people think is really good. Even stories like the Web Planet or The Chase or the Underwater Menace have something fun to recommend.

Don't be put off by the sheer volume of episodes. That just means you've got a lot of Doctor Who to enjoy.

Interesting, I've heard the exact opposite about what people think of The Daemons. Different circles.

edited 18th Sep '14 1:33:00 PM by MousaThe14

The Blog The Art

So, Scottish Independence and Doctor Who. Moffat and Capaldi would still be British since Scotland is on the Isle of Britain, but would they still be BB Cish?

Fresh-eyed movie blog

All people part of Britain now, and their children and grandchildren, will have a Brittish and Scottish passport and citizenry if Scotland gets independence, so I imagine it will be fine.