h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm about to be tarred and feathered, aren't I? Liking/tolerating Love and Monsters is almost as bad as saying you like one of the Matrix sequels.

The matrix sequels were great as a demonstration in special effects, they were just singurely lacking in anything else

Sequels are so hard to manage

Star wars (though the latter trio of follow ons nicely continued the getting it wrong tradition)
Toy story (both are excellent, the third one became one of only two films (some manly man I am) where I've cried)
There are a few others, but many of those people say they like are just not as good as the original, even if they don't get it completely wrong

'Blink' is SO scary, I had terrified and screaming children leaping into my lap for protection when we first watched it My own, obvs, not some random ones ...

I got the impression that Christopher Eccleston signed up for one series only, as a personal favour to RTD. *I have no evidence to back this up*, it was just an impression, but it kind of makes sense. Christopher Eccleston was well known without being a celebrity - I mean, people had actually heard of him - and the re-launch needed that for the central character BUT I can quite understand that he wouldn't have wanted to get tied in to all the associated stuff which goes with being the actor that plays the Doctor. So, one series only.

AND, David Tennant was already on the rise before he arrived as Doctor Who (go and look at the re-launch issue of the Radio Times - it's not Eccleston on the cover, it's Tennant, in Casanova, with the words 'Doctor Who' next to him in huge letters - what a tease eh?) - he'd already been cast in/filmed Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (and let's face it, the cream of British acting was queuing up to be in the HP films by that point), although none of us had seen it, and (crucially) wouldn't have known who he was if we had. So, (again, another impression, no evidence), I think perhaps RTD wanted him as the Doctor from the off but realised he needed a more established actor for the first series.

I do think about an extraordinary range of things when I can't sleep at night ...

Mol

What the hell does everybody have against The Matrix sequels? They're fine. In my opinion--with the exception of an unavoidable change in actress for The Oracle--they're far, FAR better than the original.

And if it's any consolation Hooloovoo, I agree with you on all points, ESPECIALLY the nightmare that is The Doctor Who Episode That Shall Not Be Named.

Though I don't much see the appeal of Blink. The angels are cool. The episode is dull.

Obvious troll is obvious.

Yes, an obvious troll would be.

I quite liked "The Waters of Mars" during the 'period of transition' - that had some properly scary monsters, a wickedly insidious premise ('not one drop') - and of course Tennant loosing it spectacularly as the moment when the Dr finally goes a bit peculiar and pays the price for his hubris.

I only started watching Doctor Who with the so-called New Who, and I still rather enjoy it. I still haven't watched any of the older episodes.

They've made over 100 episodes of New Who

<BB<

Waters of Mars was awesome. Tennant's acting in the airlock scene was gripping stuff and I thought Adelaide Brookes was a cool character too.

The family of blood double was also had some quite good scenes in it.

Yes, I know you've all moved on from this now, but as I only pop in occasionally I thought I'd post an update.

After finishing up Sherlock on Netflix (there are only six episodes, what?! C'mon series 3!!) I was browsing around to see what else was available. Lo and behold, I believe ALL of the Dr Who's are there.

I glanced at a few of the original titles and noted they are all only 22 minutes long. That's not much. What the hell. So I started in 1963 with The Azteks.

If I had seen that in 1963 (a bit impossible without my own TARDIS), I would probably have been mostly unimpressed. Granted, I don't have other 1963 programs to compare it with, so maybe it was fabulous. But seeing it now, with the knowledge that it has cultural significance, makes it intriguing. How on earth did *that* become a phenomenon? So, I must watch.

If that truly was the first appearance of the Doctor on television, as a series it didn't really explain much. Netflix lists the production years as 1963 for series 1, and I think 1967 for series 2. Four years later? Was it really so popular that it merited a revisit four whole years later? So, as I say, I am intrigued.

And now I think of it, I didn't take the time to read the entry... I think I'll do that before I see series 2. I mean, I'll watch series 2 regardless, but maybe a bit of background would make a difference.

Thanks all!

No, the Aztecs wasn't the first story. You want an earlier one, which introduced the Daleks and apparently caused an overnight sensation.

And there wasn't a four-year gap before a second series in 1967. It was on pretty constantly from 1963. But Netflix might be referring (hazy memory) to the year the second actor to play the Doctor took over.

Other people who know far more than I do about this will be along soon.

I think you probably do have to watch those very early episodes in a context of:

* not only had nobody really travelled in space, but plenty of people hadn't travelled in a plane. Even car travel wasn't as common as it is now.
* there was an underlying assumption by Those In Charge that mere entertainment was insufficient for the masses. So Doctor Who had to do 'history' episodes to make sure there was some education in there.
* there was only one other channel to switch over to.

Mol

Netflix doesn't have any full series of classic Who. It has a handful of stories. It's just split into "series" to make it easier to differentiate between each multi-episode story.

I think you should start from the very next episode. I have watched Dr Who for many many years now, but when it first started (when I was very young indeed) Fahter would not allow it on the tV. So missed out on hding behind the sofa! I allowed my children to watch it though when they were young, and remember one child being very 'frit' of a certain monster who looked a bit like 'Bertie Bassett'.

So have a look at the next episode and decide from there if you like the programme or not. Then perhaps find some older episodes. I would advise against watching the short lived 'cartoon' Dr Who which was available 'on line' some years ago. Not very good IMHO. Also someone mentioned Paul McGann, I thought this particular 'episode' was not very good at all too American. Maybe you could also find the films made of Dr Who starring Peter Cushing (I think but my memory not very good). These seem to have been overlooked in the intervening years. Good luck.

Ah yes, the Candy Man. I was a bit disappointed that he wasn't secretly running Sweetville...

<BB<

Mol, that actually makes a lot more sense. I know British television seasons are shorter than US seasons, but I thought only 4 episodes was a bit short even by British standards. I guess Netflix just has it organized specifically for the ones that they have access/distrubution rights to. Because looking at the listings, Series 1 (1963) is 4 episodes. Series 2 (1967) is five episodes. I guess they only have one story arc for some of the earlier years, so apparently there's still quite a bit missing.

Brolean, this illustrates just how much is missing on Netflix.

http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Doctor_Who_television_stories

Actually, old-style Who was closer to American "seasons" than any modern British drama, lasting 20 episodes or so. Each season would be broken down into a number of separate stories, invariably with a cliff-hanger at the end of each of the episodes (other than the ends of the stories).

For instance, season 12 started in December 1974 and ended in May 1975. There were twenty episodes. Four episodes of "Robot", Tom Baker's first appearance, four episodes of "The Ark in Space", a rare two-parter "The Sontaran Experiment", the frankly brilliant four episode "Genesis of the Daleks", and the fairly terrible four part "Revenge of the Cybermen".

Each season has one producer and one script editor, and each story within the season has one writer and one director.

Each story was usually more or less stand-alone, although in season 12 there was some continuity between them at the beginnings and ends. Season sixteen remains the only one where all the stories are part of a single, overarching plot - the "Key to Time" season, but even then each story can more or less be watched in isolation without missing too much, once you understand that the Doctor is looking for something important.

Old Who suffers most from being, I think, terribly slow compared to the hyper-kinetic full-speed-all-the-time plots we've grown used to nowadays. It was also, it must be remembered, above all, cheap. And that meant padding scripts, padding action, reusing sets, and cheap, unconvincing costumes. And still we loved it, and love it still.