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Being a complete newbie at DOCTOR WHO, i decided the best way to end this ludicrous situation was to begin where and when all began : Scrapyard I.M. Foreman, 76 Totter's Lane on November 23rd, 1963!
And i'm now currently watching serial 15 -- THE SPACE MUSEUM -- and, so far, i have had a lot of fun. The missing and reconstructed episodes were challenging at first, but i'm now used to and have even fun "watching" them : it's like radio with pictures so...what a luxury!
My question is : i'm looking for a DOCTOR WHO COMPANION book as the one Marc Scott Zicree wrote on THE TWILIGHT ZONE. I know of course the impressive website -- http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Doctor_Who_Wiki -- featuring ALL we want to know about the show and even more, but i'm a book people and wonder if an exhaustive study has been written on DOCTOR WHO : THE CLASSIC YEARS. I know Jean-Marc Lofficier wrote THE PROGRAMME GUIDE, but as far as i know, it's "only" about the cast and the plot : no production behind-stories or studies, which was absolutely great at the time, before the internet era but as i stated earlier, i'm looking for an exhaustive work like Marc Scott Zicree or even Marc Cushman have done respectively for THE TWILIGHT ZONE and STAR TREK.
Any tips?
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Okay.
I love reading Doctor Who non-fiction. I probably enjoy it more than even watching the actual show.
Probably the closest thing to what you're describing is The Television Companion. http://amzn.to/2gPLrQp It covers the original series.
I really love the About Time series http://amzn.to/2gBhZJP by Tat Wood and Lawrence Miles. It's more of an analysis, going into what was going on in the culture at the time of each episode and then breaking down each story in detail.
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Neil, you've just made my Xmas: both books feature exactly what i was looking for and they seem ancillary.
Thank you very much!
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Hi, Anabel.
One of the reference books I have on DOCTOR WHO is one written by John Kenneth Muir and published via McFarland Press:
http://www.mcfarlandbooks.com/book-2.php?id=978-0-7864-3716-0
Mr. Muir also wrote critical guides on other series such as ONE STEP BEYOND, SPACE: 1999 plus more besides.
Now some of us FSMers are curious to learn if Anabel has also been derelict in her prime directive
regarding these TV programs + other similar shows. 
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Okay.
I love reading Doctor Who non-fiction. I probably enjoy it more than even watching the actual show.
That's interesting,because I feel the same way about the Big Finish audio stories now featuring most Doctors and their casts. Just don't feel like I have the time to listen to so much stuff. However I do like to read about various developments like Tom Baker and David Tennant finally joining the fold.
I haven't bought a book about Doctor Who for ages, though I used to all the time. I regularly buy the Doctor Who Magazine, right back since issue 1 when it was a weekly. The rest of my reading is the websites.
But hi Anabel, and welcome to you for joining the fold. There's a reasonably sized band of Whovians now on here. How did you come to notice and then take an interest in the series? I'm interested because I love the fact you're watching it from the start, something we all do from time to time. There's a fair amount of Classic Series fans who are very critical of the post-2005 version. I'm an 'all-one-series' (including the Paul McGann tv movie) kind of guy who sees it all as having good, bad and indifferent stories all the way from the start to the modern era. But I love to read about people who have got into DW through enjoying the new series and then discover it's rich history.
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How did you come to notice and then take an interest in the series?
When listening to various Murray Gold's scores for the reboot (?) and remembering a visit i'd made a few years back at the Museum of the Moving Image of London where i saw an impressive Doctor Who exhibition : i then realized how "cult" this show must have been.
I'm interested because I love the fact you're watching it from the start, something we all do from time to time.
After listening to the Murray Gold's scores, i really wanted to watch the new series but i told myself i might loose some cultural connections and/or references with/to the Classic Series, and since those were available on DVD i decided to take the plunge and do again what i did two years ago with STAR TREK : watching a cult vintage tv show in chronological order.
I'm an 'all-one-series' (including the Paul McGann tv movie) kind of guy who sees it all as having good, bad and indifferent stories all the way from the start to the modern era.
So far i'm very happy with most of the serials i've seen -- even if the MARCO POLO one is very, very, very frustrating! -- and the only one i found ludicrous was THE EDGE OF DESTRUCTION.
So ludicrous that i almost quit the Tardis, but when i read the reason of such a pathetic failure, i said "Ok...Let's continue the journey !" REIGN OF TERROR for example is quite good :
i didn't expect such a well-crafted historical complexity dealing with Robespierre and Napoleon.
I know comparisons are misleading, but let's say it anyway : in that case, it's not TIME TUNNEL
But I love to read about people who have got into DW through enjoying the new series and then discover it's rich history.
I'm pretty sure the best way is the chronological way. But, who knows : since it's about DOCTOR WHO, what's the meaning of "chronology"? 
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I applaud you for going through it this way. It'll become a slog, I suspect, at some places.
One place you might want to find a sort of snarky companion for your journey is to go back through the Wife in Space blog, in which a lifelong fan convinces his non-fan wife to watch all the episodes in order.
Oh wait, never mind. I went to the site to copy the link and it's temporarily offline. Oh well.
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As I said, many of we Who fans do what we call 'the marathon' occasionally. Setting the target of doing it all from the start. But at least we are all well familiar with the best, and the latest. Naturally, starting from the earliest you're going to get to seasons 3 and 4, with hours spent watching stills, and also a few cartoons now of course. If you can get through that and be entertained, and still keep going you've certainly earned your credentials as a fan! So I too applaud you.
As you know it's going to be quite a while before you hear Murray's music behind the action and drama. Of course if you find yourself flagging you can always have a break, and zip forward a few decades and watch a couple of David Tennant episodes with your favourite scoring. With your determination it shouldn't interfere with the feeling of development across the history of the series which is the nicest thing that comes with what you're doing.
It should also be interesting what you think of some of the music in the show's first thirty years. I love much of it, and am quite the Radiophonic Workshop fan, but it's fair to say it's a far cry from the grandiose movie-style scores we've had for the last ten years. Something a few Classic Series-only fans will say is no bad thing. Personally I too love what he does, and have several concert tickets to prove it.
But Anabel, make the most of Murray Gold's scores for the next series, as there is a rumour (and that's all it is to be fair) that Series 10 might be his last as composer-in-residence...
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Btw, I couldn't agree more about Edge of Destruction. Many years ago before I got to see it, I read a review that likened it to Psycho, obviously because of Susan with the scissors. The reviewer was right about one thing. Doctor Who with a scissors-for-a-weapon-wielded-by-a-kid is unthinkable nowadays. But Psycho it ain't!
The cliff-hanger where someone Ian his hands around The Doctor's throat is hilarious, while William Hartnell's big speech at the end of the story recounting the Big Bang is is even funnier. Not to mention that all the time a switch was stuck hence all the danger!!!
However, the first episode and the caveman serial is pretty good, and the first Dalek story is an all-time classic. Marco Polo I found wonderful despite the fact it was only stills. John Lucarotti gives Hartnell his best dialogue and therefore performances. Same goes for The Aztecs. Wonderful stuff. Same can't be said for The Keys of Marinus, but wait 'till you get to The Web Planet!! Look forward to your view on that one. Yes, after my last trawl through the First Doctor I found that in his first season that, the first Dalek serial and An Unearthly Child apart, the historical stories were miles better in many ways than the sf ones.
If only they'd bite the bullet and try a purely historical one today, with drama and danger as the main thrust instead of all-action, quick-cut 'sci-fi'. Just occasionally. So the papers can praise it to the skies even if a few kids turn over. It's only for one week.. Instead we get 'Hollywood' Vikings complete with HORNS!! and of course monsters.
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I don't have these books (shame on me), but I've really enjoyed the Doctor Who: The Seventies and Doctor Who: The Eighties, published in the 1990's. One of them was the first purchase I made from Amazon 18+ years ago. (I know, I didn't get the Sixties, they've just not been widely available for cheap in the USA and so I haven't seen much.)
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Between this thread, and Paul's anniversary threads last week, you all have inspired me to check out the Colorado interlibrary loan system for Hartnell Doctor Whos, and I've found a few! I just added the Dalek Invasion of Earth to the queue. (Won't be able to see everthing in order this way, and they may take a while to wend their way to me, but I'm not ready to invest in a bunch of DVDs of wildly varying costs, so it's a good start.)
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Thank you for your recommandations!
It should also be interesting what you think of some of the music in the show's first thirty years. I love much of it, and am quite the Radiophonic Workshop fan, but it's fair to say it's a far cry from the grandiose movie-style scores we've had for the last ten years.
It doesn't matter since it fits wonderfully the mood and "scope" of the show : i really love those atmospheric scores. And i didn't even expect to stumble across Richard Rodney Bennett!
but wait 'till you get to The Web Planet!! Look forward to your view on that one.
Already been there last week! It was serial 13 and i'm now entering serial 16. I'm terribly sorry to say it's a serial that didn't do much for me. Sorry...  Should i blame the irritating "beep-beep" of the giant ants? But i noticed the remarkable voices of Roslyn DeWinter and Catherine Fleming, though. And effective lighting. Sorry again...
So far, my favorite serial is the astounding serial 10 -- THE DALEK INVASION EARTH. Loved everything in it! Do you remember that crazy runaway sequence beautifully scored by Francis Chagrin? Awesome! And that deeply moving ending, with Susan's departure...
Lovely to see you treating the scores with the respect they deserve considering the difference between what was done THEN (budgets etc.) and now. But yes.. there he is, Richard Rodney Bennett. One breath and we could have had Ridley bloomin' Scott involved too!
But I was being a little sarcastic regarding The Web Planet. I regard it as a terrible decision, rather than a brave attempt. As you can imagine, it polarises opinion just that way. But then so does The Dalek Invasion of Earth. I love it for all the right reasons, but it oversteps what they could achieve in a way the first Dalek story doesn't. Not as bad as Web Planet of course... But you know what? Both stories are rightly regarded as classics. I can't take that away from them.
Btw. As far as the first two Dalek stories compared to the movie versions are concerned.. I regard the BBC original of the first serial to be superior, whereas I feel that in the case of the second story I'm afraid I've always thought the film is better. Because it succeeds better at what it's trying to do... Overall.
With The Chase (the third Dalek story), I feel now that Terry Nation looked at the humorous elements of the movies and tried to preempt the movie version only for it not to appear. Shame he gave Daleks themselves comedy roles!!!
So, where in the series are you now?
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HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!
So, where in the series are you now?
The Space Museum : despite its exciting first episode with its nice cliffhanger
it's a disappointing section. The making-of on the DVD says the depiction of the young people it's loaded with "irony". It must have escaped me at some point...
With The Chase (the third Dalek story), I feel now that Terry Nation looked at the humorous elements of the movies and tried to preempt the movie version only for it not to appear. Shame he gave Daleks themselves comedy roles!!!
Actually, i find The Chase quite entertaining, with a nice soundtrack by Dudley Simpson and offers possibly the most beautiful shot in the series so far :
It has good ideas, like the Mary Celeste episode
and the duelling Doctors!
but it's eventually shadowed with the -- very sad -- departure of Barbara and Ian...
The Time Meddler features an exciting and intriguing "historical" setting
and i enjoy very much the further developments of the intrigue. Incidentally, i simply hope for the poor extra that wasn't an ACTUAL board. I can assure you it sounds real, though...
I find Galaxy 4 disappointing despite the underearthed beautiful 16mm print for episode 3
and forthcoming "Number 2 butler" Angelo Muscat as a chumbley
Mission to the Unknown, which some points evokes to me a very famous forthcoming sci-fi saga : space crash in a forest, distress signal, the creation of a Galactic Empire hint...
The Myth Makers is very frustrating because all the episodes are lost, but i've had a lot of fun. Have enjoyed on-going funny arguments between Frances White and Barrie Ingham very much
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2l6f9r_020b_tv
and Humphrey Searle's score is great. I just wonder how they reconstructed this particular shot : looks like it's from a TIME TUNNEL episode
And again, a sad departure : Vicki's
The Daleks' Master Plan is a way too long section that needed a better focused plot. Some good stuff like Tristram Cary's soundtrack, the pre-STAR WARS flavour with that Galactic Empire hinted in Mission to the Unknown
the Forbidden Planet tribute:
or the death of Jean Marsh that looks like a tribute to Terence Fisher:
but some -- very -- bad stuff too, like the embarrassing Christmas episode.
And spookiest stuff in the series so far : Katarina's scream!
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2lra6a_021c_tv
Now i'm currently watching the awesome The Massacre of St Bartholomew's Eve, which is unfornutaley completely lost.
But at least we can hear the brilliant and historically ambitious dialogue by John Lucarotti:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2n0nnv_022cc_tv
So, VERY happy so far !
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WHONIVERSE by Lance Parkin
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'Doctor Who Celebrating 50 Years' by Alan Kistler is a good primer for the new fan- It runs down the show by Doctor and production era/producer, giving a perspective on the show as it waxed and waned.
It concludes with Matt Smith's announcement to leave the show.
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Posted: |
Jan 9, 2017 - 6:33 AM
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By: |
Jim Phelps
(Member)
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I have the first six volumes of the ABOUT TIME series, which I like a lot. However, author Tat Wood imo flies way off the rails in the second edition of volume three. His co-author, Lawrence Miles, himself a bit much to take (he blogs occasionally), actually kept his co-author Wood in check. The volume three with just Tat Wood becomes obsessive beyond belief, and must be read in very small doses, in order to prevent the book from becoming an airborne object.
As for the series, they're even better when the discussion is about the pop cultural, political, and historical landscape of both the show and the United Kingdom.
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