I shall be celebrating this evening the birthday of the world's greatest sf/fantasy tv series with my customary viewing of the very first episode from way back on this day in 1963: An Unearthly Child.
Any fans here who might celebrate in a similar fashion? I always find time to watch this one 25 minute episode whether or not I can squeeze in other choice examples.
I'm only familiar with the reboot series that started around 2005. Maybe I'll watch one of the recent Doctor Who Xmas specials tonight. After all Xmas is only a month away?!
I'm only familiar with the reboot series that started around 2005. Maybe I'll watch one of the recent Doctor Who Xmas specials tonight. After all Xmas is only a month away?!
Wow.
If you don't want to risk looking at any other Classic Series episodes, for fear of primitive BBC video taped family sf/fantasy adventure, then try and find at least an online version of An Unearthly Child. The one first ever episode. Ok, we regard as virtually sacrosanct, but I feel it's so early and primitive (in Hollywood and therefore US terms) that you might view it as atmospheric and fairly 'real'. The very first ever take-off from (then) present day Earth will look shit to you, but otherwise you will get the very first moment of a tv classic.
If I can find some early episodes online, will do. I really liked the docudrama "An Adventure in Space and Time". Maybe I'll watch that.
As long as you remember that pre- 2005 DW was a more primitive affair you'll be fine. The very first episode is actually helped by being black and white, and not over reaching itself too much. It's simply a drama for the most part, and damn fine atmospheric one at that. And you get to see the real thing that AAiSaT depicted.
Do you know that there are more posts - atm - on the Doctor Who Day thread than the Thanksgiving day thread??!
paul the earliest episode i recall is one with insect men. I think that was Hartnell's series. I also recall his blonde assistant pictured in the paper and one of the insect men, in black tights, insect top half, PR Photographed waiting at a bus stop.
Do you know that there are more posts - atm - on the Doctor Who Day thread than the Thanksgiving day thread??!
paul the earliest episode i recall is one with insect men. I think that was Hartnell's series. I also recall his blonde assistant pictured in the paper and one of the insect men, in black tights, insect top half, PR Photographed waiting at a bus stop.
Despite being obviously later than the very first episode it's much more primitive. An Unearthly Child doesn't over reach itself. The Web Planet most certainly does! Fans call it a brave attempt, I call it a bad decision. The kind of scenario that only with the advent of George Lucas could such an undertaking be done. Even Harryhausen on First Men in the Moon knew his limits even with his resources. Still we love it!
Thanks paul. I looked up google images for Web planet and hey presto - PR picture of insect man at bus stop with two humans queuing behind. Pic in the newspaper then was b/w of course.
And its official - Doctor Who day is bigger on fsm than Thanksgiving day!! Perhaps we should have a bank holiday each year and spend all day hiding behind cushions !!??
Because Paul posted about this on both boards here, I realized that I posted on the music board a response to this one. It's like a freaky time and space travel dichotomy!
I can't say I've ever warmed up to the earliest Doctor Who incarnations. I first rencountered the show in the eighties with the American broadcasts of the Tom Baker years, and going backwards has always been harder for me. Except for some of the Pertwee years, esp. Inferno. But the oldies are imminently watchable in ways that, for example, Lost in Space is absolutely NOT.
As a matter of fact Sean, I was trying to keep what was a music discussion and other stuff separate. Sometimes I overstep the mark and think 'DOH!' (That's James Henderson Finlayson's "DOH", not Homer's). So although I was celebrating Doctor Who's anniversary, I was of course making a case for the series and the theme separately. The tune belongs on the 'other side' whilst the other...
I've always been aware that some US viewers of early Who might struggle with the stagey video productions that we were used to. It's quite a distance from what you watch as sf, mostly because basically the likes of Star Trek, Outer Limits and those Irwin Allen productions were virtually Hollywood movies.
Fortunately the post-2005 return has brought in a lot of people who now accept the old stuff as part and parcel of something that always had the potential of the more expensively made product, and like us, can see past the cheaper production values. There are some great plots, performances, ideas and wonderful iconic sf/fantasy creations in there if you know where to look!
Absolutely, Paul. I've been battling a cold and spent much of yesterday geeking out on Hartnell and Troughton youtube clips (and then watching The Android Invasion, so no, I can't get off the Tom Baker bandwagon!).
Yes, I wish Who had been part of my American childhood, as, for example, AstroBoy and Gigantor were. Then I'd have no tribble at all with the early eps. (oops, mixed my SFTV metaphors there.)
But as to Timey-Wimey, I'm with The Other Doctor....
Absolutely, Paul. I've been battling a cold and spent much of yesterday geeking out on Hartnell and Troughton youtube clips (and then watching The Android Invasion, so no, I can't get off the Tom Baker bandwagon!).
Yes, I wish Who had been part of my American childhood, as, for example, AstroBoy and Gigantor were. Then I'd have no tribble at all with the early eps. (oops, mixed my SFTV metaphors there.)
But as to Timey-Wimey, I'm with The Other Doctor....
Nothing wrong with a Tom Baker bandwagon! He will always be one of, if not THE greatest Doctor. He always seems to come second whenever there's a poll. This means of course there's always that flavour of the month, but there's that stalwart that never goes away, which ultimately means Tom is always really voted best. I say that as a Pertwee fan.
I'm glad you dip into the early ones. There are lots of stories that actually transcend the production values of the period, in terms of those plots/performances etc.. But it still makes a difference if you grew up with it. Doctor Who was always considered a children's show. This despite the fact it was always shown outside the kid's (in the UK) slots.
Here, when I was growing up, the kid's hour was after school during the week. So.. 4-5.30pm. And eventually Saturday mornings. Saturday and Sunday around 'teatime', which is really between 5 and 6.30, was sort of 'family viewing'. On Saturday we got Doctor Who, and Sunday we got the Classic Serial, which was an adaptation of Dickens or a classic novel.
The production values were typical BBC, i.e. cheap. If Doctor Who had been American it would have had at least been Irwin Allen territory, in terms of production and what's the word these days?... Demographic? But in other words, family drama as opposed to purely kid's tv. It was those cheap production values that made folks think 'kids tv'.
I really liked the docudrama "An Adventure in Space and Time". Maybe I'll watch that. 
