As any fan knows November 23rd is the date on which our favourite science fantasy series began way back in 1963. I always celebrate by watching the first episode, to the part amusement/part despairing of my long suffering wife. It's only 25 mins after all!
Of course a few more choice episodes throughout the history might be squeezed in too. Anyone else care to celebrate and tell us how?
Meanwhile a special message from a very special Doctor:
Or to paraphrase the original Doctor, the great William Hartnell (with wine glass in hand, facing directly to camera in the first Christmas episode The Feast of Steven) "and a happy Doctor Who Day to all of you at home"!
An Unearthly Child scheduled today as usual, and a rewatch next Tuesday in the UK northern town of Halifax, in the company of that first ever episode's director Waris Hussein.
I've been in the mood to watch SPACE SEED (Fourth Doctor).
Not only is it among my favorites, even though The Doctor doesn't really save the dat, but it has my favorite Dr Who score, by Geoffrey Burgon.
On the route of my daily constitutional, there's a tree-and-plant-covered house owned by an eccentric woman who always wears a surgical mask. A sign outside the house reads "Scientific Research Site." Every time I walk by that house I think to myself, "All plant eaters must die!!!"
Was just watching the Xmas Special that introduces Tennant's Doctor with my kids this evening. (They have only really seen Eccelston's and Whittaker's doctors so far)
It would be a Happy Doctor Who day if I hadn't read the news today that series 12 could be the end for Whittaker.
I've been in the mood to watch SPACE SEED (Dourth Doctor).
I hope that your 1963 obsession touches upon Doctor Who and the Daleks which were both born in that year, Jim!
My Hartnell-era Dr Who collection consists only of "The Sensorites" and "The Three Doctors."
The Sensorites is fairly turgid. It suffers from one of the most common problems of that Doctor Who era - glacial pacing in a padded six episode story.
You're far better off with the four parters, particularly the historicals - namely 'The Aztecs' and 'The Romans'. There are some gems amongst the officially 'lost' stories, too.
Here in the US, I'm watching my way through Doctor Who chronologically. I've watched all of William Hartnell, and I like him well enough. It was amazing to see the origins of the series, and to watch interviews with cast and crew, particularly producer Verity Lambert. A real firebrand with a head on her shoulders. I'd like to have met her. I think a spinoff series with just William Russell and Jacqueline Hill might have been enjoyable. What a classy couple on and off screen! I then watched the heartbreaking An Adventure in Space and Time and took a little break.
I also watched the two Peter Cushing movies chronologically when they would have been seen by contemporary audiences. They reminded me more of Amicus's At the Earth's Core than Doctor Who.
I'm currently pushing through the Second Doctor, Patrick Troughton. The slideshow episodes are so hard to get through, but I prefer them to the animated episodes. Such a shame so many episodes were destroyed, and so wonderful that fans preserved the audio at least. Troughton's style is surprisingly different from Hartnell, but with the exit of so many of the creators, the whole show now seems more in line with the current series. I grew up with Tom Baker, so he's sort of my carrot on a stick to work through the lost episodes!
I've been in the mood to watch SPACE SEED (Fourth Doctor).
Not only is it among my favorites, even though The Doctor doesn't really save the dat, but it has my favorite Dr Who score, by Geoffrey Burgon.
You should be referring to the 1976 "The Seeds of Doom" serial - not that 1st season Star Trek episode which introduced Khan!
I'll have to turn in my Dr. Spock ears!
"Funnily enough", as the Brits constantly say, even though I refused to consult a search engine--or even get up and read the title of the dvd on the shelf in the other room-- to confirm the title of that Dr Who serial, I insisted on relying on my ever-failing memory, which of course betrayed me.
That shot from Spearhead From Space begins my favourite five year period in which Jon Pertwee was the star. 'My Doctor'. I was at the best age 9-14 years old, and the first time I watched for The Doctor himself. He treated the show seriously, not without humour at all, but played it straight without the clowning of many of the others. As a kid I can't ell you how much I looked up to my hero under his watch.
John Culshaw is of course THE Tom Baker impressionist. Quite brilliant. Even Tom is impressed!
The Christmas Invasion is one of my favourite two Christmas Specials. Plenty of threat, suspense and with large dollops of Pertwee era stuff including Spearhead From Space. A great start for a new Doctor. The other is another Tennant, The Next Doctor. Two Doctors... almost, a great lady villain and not only Cybermen but in the Cyberking the best giant robot ever seen on tv! And very nicely scored by Murray Gold, the music in that sequence makes it a pure monster movie moment.
The Sensorites is actually reasonably good. A bit Star Trek in that the aliens are an intelligent race interacting with the human cast instead of just monsters, but yes, apart from The Daleks and the first story, the best stories in Season 1 are without doubt the historicals. Not only are Marco Polo and The Aztecs beautifully written by a man who knew his stuff, but his scripts gave the cast their best work and it shows especially in William Hartnell's performance.
I remember At the Earth's Core on release. On the UK kids hour movie review show, Clapperboard, Peter Cushing actually states he hadn't done a nutty professor role before! Naturally I was aghast at this remembering well the two Dalek movies. Love 'em both, saw them on release. My opinion is the first tv serial is better than the movie, but the second movie is better than the tv serial.
Ian and Barbara are without doubt two of the very best companions.
Those audio visual reconstructions get better all the time and are our only way to see lost classics. The Marco Polo one is fantastic for what it is, helped immeasurably by the production's own format: the onscreen map - easily duplicated by the recon graphics - and Marco's narration. The Massacre (last wonderful John Lucarotti script, Hartnell a revelation!) and The Wheel in Space are also highly recommended.
Jodie Whittaker leaving would make it for me an even happier Doctor Who day every day!
Finally, DR Spock? Didn't know the famous paediatrician had strange ears. Ooops...
I second your opinion concerning the brilliance of actor Jon Pertwee as Doctor Who. But I am also very fond of Patrick Troughton as the second Doctor Who and I am disappointed by the lack of releases from his era. They haven't located anything new yet. There are so many stories from that era I am eager to discover:
season 4 The Power of the Daleks The Moonbase The Faceless Ones The Evil of the Daleks
season 5 The Ice Warriors Fury from the Deep The Wheel In Space
I second your opinion concerning the brilliance of actor Jon Pertwee as Doctor Who. But I am also very fond of Patrick Troughton as the second Doctor Who and I am disappointed by the lack of releases from his era. They haven't located anything new yet. There are so many stories from that era I am eager to discover:
season 4 The Power of the Daleks The Moonbase The Faceless Ones The Evil of the Daleks
season 5 The Ice Warriors Fury from the Deep The Wheel In Space
season 6 The Invasion The Space Pirates
Virtually all classics. I remember Evil onwards on broadcast (watched episode 2 on Friday the 23rd..). Despite my earliest memory being the Hartnell story The Chase Episode 6, I was watching Batman for the first few Troughtons! That and the fact that as a little kid I wasn't allowed to watch Doctor Who for a while "because it's changed and you'll not like the new man"! Lol.
Which reminds me, my list of episodes last Friday were An Unearthly Child, Evil 2, The Silurians 1 and Talons of Weng Chiang 1, with an extra episode two of the last just before bedtime. Classics all. Only had time for the first four Doctors, but they are THE Doctors in my book.
Although I grew up during the Tom Baker era, and I enjoy the Pertwee era with reservations--though I absolutely cannot stand Jo Grant, though I don't mind Katy Manning--it is the Troughton era that has become my favorite. I love the very look of those 1960s black & white serials, I like every one of his companions/assistants, and Troughton's upbeat bundle of energy never fails to entertain. Plus, the Cybermen were never more menacing than during that time, even when they were still getting the voices/look/portrayal down "pat" (no pun intended).
So if one must choose a favorite era of Dr Who, I will have to go with the Troughton era (with all respects to the Tom Baker era, which was my introduction to it all).
Although I grew up during the Tom Baker era, and I enjoy the Pertwee era with reservations--though I absolutely cannot stand Jo Grant, though I don't mind Katy Manning--it is the Troughton era that has become my favorite. I love the very look of those 1960s black & white serials, I like every one of his companions/assistants, and Troughton's upbeat bundle of energy never fails to entertain. Plus, the Cybermen were never more menacing than during that time, even when they were still getting the voices/look/portrayal down "pat" (no pun intended).
So if one must choose a favorite era of Dr Who, I will have to go with the Troughton era (with all respects to the Tom Baker era, which was my introduction to it all).
Aw, but Jo is so cute. Love the bit in Sea Devils where all the burly sailors kneel down either side of the gang plank as she 'glamorously' walks down it.
Best thing about the Troughtons is often the atmosphere. Watching Evil the other night I was also impressed with Troughton's close-ups. Despite his pixie-like exterior he manages to look quite sinister at the same time. Thick black eyebrows and craggy face. Unique, and really set the pattern for many Doctors to come, almost the template. My original reaction to Tom on broadcast of Robot 1 was "oh not another Troughton". Obviously we saw another pretty unique character there too.
Pertwee of course was chosen because of his comic work, only to play it relatively straight. I wish there such contrasts today. Even that bloody woman is doing a Tennant (or rather a generic New Who Doctor), breezing around, and with not even a hint of Tennant's gravitas. She's the first one without a hint of it, and isn't I'm afraid the best start for a female interpretation. Serves them right. Should keep it male. Doesn't say much for tv producer's faith in strong female leads when they go and hijack a male one. I'm with Barbara Broccoli on this.
It will forever be a mystery to me as to why Jo constantly lugs around that damned handbag in The Sea Devils. She never opens it, and it is never remarked upon in the commentary track, and she never had it any of her other stories.
Why?!?
Manning was dire in that arts and crafts show she presented shortly after she left Who; I felt so embarrassed for her.
