I have gotten this question before myself. Where do you start with a show that has 52 years and 35 seasons?
It’s hard enough to catch up if I’m a season behind.
I personally like the choices by the author below but I would also add :
ARK IN SPACE (1975)
The episode I started with, thjough starting with Episode Two after the main titles like I did is not recommended.
It is an excellent story (bubble wrap aside). It gives you all the basics about the Doctor, Time Travel and the characters, it just will explain some of the other nuisances later.
It’s a classic “base under siege” story also. But it has a lot going for it the plottinga nd the writing and the writing is what can hook people on Classic WHO.
The next story after it is “Genesis of The Daleks”. How’s that for a second bite of WHO?
Then you get the Cybermen in the Next story. Not at their best but still solid. Then The Zygons…And the “Golden Age” of Hinchcliffe/Holmes “Gothic WHO” and the Fourth Doctor and Sarah.
It’s a good start.
So, you want to get in to Doctor Who? Well, you’ve made a fantastic, life-changing choice.
But with 52 years’ worth of material to go through, where is the right place to start?
Let’s look at some of the best points in space and time to jump into the vortex as we explore the pros and cons of each story…
1. ‘An Unearthly Child’ (1963)
Of course, the very beginning would seem like a good place to start. This story kicks things off with the First Doctor (William Hartnell) back when we didn’t know that regeneration would be a thing. It starts us in a classroom with a young woman, Susan (Carol Ann Ford), who has knowledge of the extraordinary, but not the commonplace.
Her teachers, Ian Chesterson (William Russell) and Barbara Wright (Jaqueline Hill) follow her home. And where is home? A junkyard. But it’s what is inside that really counts, isn’t it? And inside is the TARDIS.
But here’s the thing: the First Doctor is not a merry man, to put it diplomatically, and he doesn’t take too well to two humans barging in on his TARDIS, or, for that matter, his life.
Pros: You start from the very start. You won’t miss a single reference, in theory.
Cons: You have a lot of catch up to do. It would take around 2 weeks of non-stop watching to catch up, and we’re not sure that even The Last Centurion could go that long without sleep.
2. ‘Spearhead from Space’ (1970)
This is the Third Doctor’s (Jon Pertwee) first story. Aside from that, it is also the first story in colour, which can make watching the classics a bit more palatable for younger audiences.
‘Spearhead from Space’ features the return of UNIT (United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, later just the Unified Intelligence Taskforce), Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicolas Courtney), and introduces companion Liz Shaw (Caroline John).
In the previous story, ‘The War Games’, the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) was forced to regenerate and also exiled to earth by his people, the Time Lords. This total change-of-pace makes it a great place to jump on.
Pros: Stories with new Doctors often do a lot of explanation. Also, it’s still early days – it hadn’t even been around for a decade yet!
Cons: Starting with Pertwee’s Earth-bound era, it’ll take some time for newcomers to really experience the full scope of the show.
3. ‘Rose’ (2005)
The first episode of the show’s 21st century revamp drops you with a bubbly shop girl named Rose (Billie Piper) and a brooding Doctor (Christopher Eccleston). They don’t sound like the best match, but let me assure you, they are.
Pros: This is where a lot of new fans jumped on, with writer Russell T Davies cleverly opting to name the Ninth Doctor’s run ‘Series 1’ rather than ‘Season 27’ so as not to scare off newcomers. Acting more as a pilot than the 1996 TV Movie (which actually was a pilot for a potential US series), ‘Rose’ seems specifically designed so that one does not need to have watched the classic series to understand things, jettisoning much of the baggier mythology. Because of this, it explains all the basics at breakneck speed. It even tells you what TARDIS stands for.
Cons: The story itself is generally not regarded as a classic by fans, who clearly can’t appreciate a burping wheelie bin when they see one.
4. ‘The Eleventh Hour’ (2010)
A blue box is hurtling over London as a floppy-haired young man dangles from its door before disappearing into the distance. If you’re going for bombastic spectacle, it’s a perfect opening.
Cue a young Scottish girl named Amelia Pond who just asked Santa for a policeman to investigate the crack in her wall and perhaps the most charming introduction to a companion in the show’s history.
Even if its actual threat is forgettable, ‘The Eleventh Hour’ is a thoroughly engaging story, establishing a new Doctor (Matt Smith), a new sidekick (Karen Gillan), a new showrunner (Steven Moffat replaces Russell T Davies) and a new “dark fairytale” tone.
Pros: You start with a whole lot of “new” and an accessible Doctor and companion to ease you in.
Cons: Having missed the Ninth and Tenth Doctors’ eras, you’ll be a bit lost when you get to the 50th anniversary year’s episodes.
5. ‘The Snowmen’ (2012)
Following the departure of the Ponds, Doctor Who returned on Christmas Day 2012 with a new title sequence, a new TARDIS set, a new look for the Doctor and a new companion.
While not as immediately accessible as ‘The Eleventh Hour’, ‘The Snowmen’ is certainly the best jumping-on point for fans who want to get up to date with the story of current companion Clara Oswald as quickly as possible.
Pros: It’s a really fun festive story and the ending will leave you desperate to know more about the mysterious Impossible Girl.
Cons: This is not technically Jenna Coleman’s debut, following her surprise appearance in Season 7’s opener, ‘Asylum of the Daleks’. However, a couple of lines of dialogue and a flashback will recap all you need to know.
This one was my least favorite choice, personally.
Today our favourite TV show celebrates its 52nd anniversary!
At 5.16pm on the 23rd November 1963 the BBC premiered (what would be become known as) “An Unearthly Child” and UK television viewers were introduced to the incredible world of Doctor Who for the first time.
A simple policeman in a fog. A strange unearthly girl. 2 School Teachers. 1 Police Box in a Junkard. And a grumpy old man…
A Legend was born.
William Hartnell was the Doctor, a strange old man who could travel through time and space in his police box. Little did anyone know that this was just the first incarnation of a character who would go on to be so iconic for over half a century.
With audiences growing across the whole world, the show is arguably more successful than ever today and long may it continue.
Now on EBay: First Doctor Who Annual Autographed by William Hartnell
Well, it’s not often that something quite as astonishing as this turns up – a signed copy of the first Doctor Who annual, with a dedicated signature from William Hartnell himself – has been listed on eBay by a Kasterborous reader.
Signed examples of this book are quite rare, and as you’ll see from the seller’s story, he’s made some checks to verify the autograph’s authenticity.
Here are the details of the listing:
This is a good copy of the first William Hartnell annual. Inside the pages is an autograph by the first Doctor, William Hartnell, signed to a Peter in 1965. I have checked with online sites and groups such as the Facebook Doctor Who Autograph Collectors Club – DWACC on July 3rd for some verification.
The message reads – “To Peter Here’s to a happy Christmas yours [or from?] William Hartnell Dr “Who” 1965. My mum bought this for me from a second hand book shop or charity shop in Sheerness when she was teaching there in the 80s. I already had all the Doctor Who annuals she got me from there, but this was in better condition than the one I already had, so I kept this. It was months later that I noticed the autograph after a friend pointed it out. It is written in blue pen (that does not indent on the other side of the page).
A New Glimpse Of Doctor Who‘s “Lost” 5th Anniversary, With Peter Cushing
What if Doctor Who actually had a fifth anniversary special in 1968, featuring original stars William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton… plus the War Doctor, played by movie Doctor Peter Cushing? That’s the premise of this amazing art project by Colin Brockhurst.
Brockhurst is selling some “memorabilia” from this story, “The Day of Doctor Who” on eBay — including the above Radio Times cover. Plus a signed “BBC” photo of Cushing, an official-looking button with Cushing’s face, and some TV listings. Here’s how he describes it:
Finally available again, a selection of ephemera relating to the forgotten Fifth Anniversary Doctor Who adventure, The Day of Doctor Who, transmitted on Saturday November 23rd, 1968, and starring William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton and the mysterious ‘War Doctor’, Peter Cushing. Unlikely as it may sound, not a single copy is known to survive, not even a soundtrack…
But the best part is the photoshopped “telesnaps” from the story, which show how Hartnell’s Doctor meets Queen Elizabeth, and then gets drawn into an adventure with the shape-shifting Chameleons, alongside Troughton and the forgotten War Doctor:
A long lost interview, featuring William Hartnell, has been recovered in part by the BBC.
Hartnell was interviewed by Roy Plomley, for the Home Service radio programme Desert Island Discs in 1965. The edition was transmitted on 23 August while Hartnell was at the height of his powers as the Doctor.
The recording was thought lost, erased by the BBC. However it is understood that a 16 minute section has been recovered and will shortly be available on the BBC iPlayer. The recording was available for a short period earlier today, but was removed pending an official announcement.
Desert Island Discs celebrates its 73rd Anniversary today, having been running continuously on BBC radio since 1942. In the programme guests chose the music they would take to a desert island if they were stranded there alone. Jon Pertwee and David Tennant have both also appeared in the series.
Just Imagine what could have happened if I stumbled on Doctor Who on the CBC when I was young instead of Monty Python? 🙂
That was the question asked of Canadian parents 50 years ago on January 23, 1965, when the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) became the first North American broadcaster to air Doctor Who. At this time, only two other markets outside the UK, New Zealand and Australia, had aired the show. Efforts to sell the low-budgeted series had failed in the US where glossier British imports like The Saint held sway. But the CBC was very much like the BBC and low-budgeted, studio-bound productions were common, so Doctor Who found a Canadian home.
The fact the series was in part devised by Canadian Sydney Newman, who had worked for the CBC until the late 1950s, likely was a selling point in its favour.
To mark the debut, the January 23, 1965 edition of CBC Times (long-defunct Canadian equivalent of Radio Times) got into the spirit by publishing a faux memo to the nation’s parents, “warning” them of the impending arrival of “Dr. Who” in their living rooms, illustrated with an image of William Hartnell and a pair of Sensorites.
Broadcasts began with An Unearthly Child, with the series scheduled at 5 p.m. on Saturdays, mimicking the BBC’s scheduling (some CBC affiliates aired it at different times). After episode 6 of The Daleks, however, the CBC took Doctor Who off the air for more than two weeks and when it returned it was in a new timeslot on Wednesday afternoons.
With many CBC stations broadcasting close to the border, some American markets, such as Seattle and Detroit, would have been able to see the show, nearly a decade before the Jon Pertwee-era episodes were finally syndicated there.
Ultimately, Doctor Who was destined for a short run on the CBC. After July 2, 1965, the show was abruptly cancelled after the conclusion of The Keys of Marinus (according to the research site BroaDWcast.org, it’s possible at least one affiliate was forced to pull the show midway through the serial). Ironically, the show was pulled before getting to The Sensorites, the storyline promoted in the original CBC Times memo.
Doctor Who would not be shown in Canada again until 1976 when local broadcasters in Vancouver and Ontario began showing the Pertwee era. The episodes aired by the CBC in 1965 (minus the now-lost Marco Polo, but finally including the long-delayed The Sensorites) would not be seen again until the youth-oriented cable network YTV began showing them in the late 1980s, followed by Space in 1997.
The CBC would play a role in the revival of Doctor Who in 2005, receiving a co-production credit for the first few seasons and airing the show in prime-time only a few weeks after the UK. For Series 1, the network recruited Christopher Eccleston to record special bumpers and intros and promotions for a visit-the-set contest sponsored by TV Guide; Billie Piper (donning an iconic Roots top) performed similar duties when The Christmas Invasion aired only one day after the UK. The CBC also produced its own behind-the-scenes featurettes that aired alongside the main show.
By 2008, however, interest in the series at the CBC (which had similarly supported, broadcast, and then cancelled Torchwood) had waned. With Series 2, the gap between UK and Canadian airings extended to months and the CBC split the season (years before the BBC ever did) between The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit. It skipped the 2007 Christmas special Voyage of the Damned altogether, and aired an international edit of Journey’s End that was heavily criticized by Canadian fans. In early 2009, Space picked up the rights to air The Next Doctor and everything that followed. The CBC continued to air Modern Era reruns for the next couple of years on the main network and its digital network Bold, before quietly ending its run.
The CBC’s original broadcast of Doctor Who has retained some interest decades later due to the fact one story shown in its entirety was the now-lost Marco Polo. However, despite the fact the series aired on affiliates from St. John’s, Nfld., to Vancouver, B.C., to date no copy of this serial has emerged from the Great White North.
You complained, we listened (and then ranked your complaints). Here are the top 15 things that turn Whovians into Daleks… (Radio Times)
You’re a petty bunch I must say.
When it comes to Doctor Who, it’s a thin line between love and hate – and on the internet, they’re basically the same thing.
Via Twitter, Facebook and comments underneath our articles, RadioTimes.com has played host to this anger more times than we’d like to count. And therefore, we think we have a pretty good idea of what it is that infuriates Whovians the most. But what is it? Here, from 15-1, we count down just what it is that turns Doctor Who fans into Daleks…
15. “The sets wobble”
This one doesn’t bother me so much, probably because at my age I remember black & white TV, no remotes of any kind and 7 channels!
I also understand intellectually about “BBC budgets” and I would hope most fans understand about that. The younger generations that had CGI and such all there life may have this problem more than I do. But come on, the Robot in “Robot” itself is great, it’s the effects of it’s “growth” that suck and that’s because they only had CSO (color separation overlay) a crude green screen and 4 Pounds and a wad of gum. 🙂
14.
“YOUTHFUL EXUBERANCE MAKES ME FEEL OLD AND OBSOLETE.”
(see above)
13. Gender changing Time Lords
“TWIN HEARTED SHAPE CHANGING TIME TRAVELLING ALIEN IMMORTALS CANNOT SWITCH GENDER. THAT IS JUST ABSURD.”
I have already spoken on this several times in ad nauseum, My problem is more about Political Correctness and The Doctor himself than anyone else.
12. Hanky panky with Companions
“THE DOCTOR IS AN ALIEN, WHY WOULD HE FANCY HUMANS? IT’S LIKE KISSING YOUR CAT. YOUR CAT WHO LOOKS LIKE KA-REN GILL-AN.”
True, Classic Who never went there, even a little bit and current Who went there A LOT, especially with David Tennant and Matt Smith, but that pendulum has swung back again with Peter Capaldi.
I have no real problem with it myself.
11. Spoilers
“DO NOT TWEET THE END-ING. I HAVE NOT SEEN IT.
I HAVE NOW SEEN IT.
I MUST TWEET THE END-ING.”
Another good reason why I’m not on Twitter. But I wrote an entire blog on this awhile ago.
10. “I’m a real Whovian. My favourite is Smith/Tennant/Baker.”
“YOU ARE NOT A REAL FAAAA-AN. YOU WERE NOT THERE AT THE BEGINNING. IT’S HARTNELL OR NOTHING.”
Complete poppycock!
I recommend for the modern non-fan to start with Eccleston, up to Capaldi. Then if they want more, look at the older show.
It’s like saying, if you want to watch the modern version of Hawaii Five-O you MUST watch the Jack Lord version from the 1970’s.
Utter Poopycock!
9. Dr. Who
“YOU DO NOT ABBREVIATE THE DOC-TOR. ARE YOU WRITING A LET-TAAAR? USE HIS FULL TITLE.”
More infantile nitpicking. So what.
8. “Hello Doctor Who, how are you?”
“DOCTOR WHO IS NOT HIS NAME. DOC-TOR WHO IS THE NAME OF THE PROGRAMME. EXCEPT IN THE ORIGINAL SERIES. AND PE-TER CAPALDI STILL CALLS HIM DOCTOR WHO.”
Apparently people on Social Media have too much time on their hands. Get over it.
7. People complaining about Doctor Who
“WHY WATCH A SHOW THAT MAKES YOU SO ANGRY? YOU NEED TO CHILLAX. CHILLAX! CHILLAX!I COMMAND YOU TO CHILLAX!”
Hey, I watched Star Trek: Voyager for 4 1/2 years! Top that! 🙂
6. Other fans
“I DIS-AGREE. I DIS-AGREEEEEEEEEEEE.”
Come to Gallifrey one sometime, you’ll see Doctor Who Fandom, not just whiny brats. I can disagree with fans, one in particular comes to mind, but I don’t have to be disagreeable.
This ain’t politics, you know! 🙂
5. “Doctor Who is a kids show”
“DOCTOR WHO IS A FAMILY SHOW, NOT A CHILDREN’S SHOW. EVERYONE CAN ENJOY IT TOGETHER. OR ALONE. TOTALLY A-LONE.”
It has always been a family show. But it was made originally for the kids more than the adults, and over time that changed also.
Get over it.
There are plenty of “kids shows” that can appeal to adults to.
4. Reset buttons to wrap up the story
“YOU ARE TOO LATE DOC-TOR. YOUR FRIENDS ARE DEAD. YOUR TARDIS DESTROYED. WE ARE VICTOR…WAIT. STOP. DO NOT TOUCH THAT BUTTON. THAT LARGE RED RESET BUTTON DOES NOT CONCERN YOU!”
Have you ever watched Drama, let alone Science Fiction? Are you that dim??
Welcome to the big world.
Watch Star Trek sometime. 🙂
Hey, is that Bobby Ewing in my shower!?
3. Continuity and paradoxes
“THE DOCTOR FROM THE FUTURE GAVE HIMSELF THE SCREWDRIVER? BUT WHO GAVE THE FUTURE DOCTOR THE SCREWDRIVER? DO NOT SAY WIBBLY-WOBBLY OR I WILL EXTERMINATE YOU.”
The Doctor’s Daughter married a later incarnation of himself and then had a daughter so now he’s own Father-In-Law, Husband, and a grandfather all at the same time!! (sounds like a plot from Coronation Street).
Gee, these people have no appreciation of Science Fiction as a whole do they?
2. Showrunners
“YOUR STORIES ARE INFERIOR TO MY FAN FICTIOOOOOON!”
You know, arrogant fans like this helped get Doctor Who cancelled in the 1980’s.
If you’re that good, then apply to be the successor to Moffat and see how fast BBC Wales shows you their backside.
It’s a business. Besides, your “family show” doesn’t want to see your slash fiction with Madame Vastra and Jenny having a threesome with a Dalek, ok?! 🙂
1. Doctor Who in general
“I HATE YOU BUT I LOVE YOU SO. THIS IS A PARADOX. EXPLAIN! EXPLAIN!”
Love’s complicated, my dear.
Just look at Star Wars: The Phantom Menace or Star Trek V! 🙂
Doctor Who star Jenna Coleman has revealed she will stay with the show for another series – putting an end to rumours she was set to quit.
The actress, who made her first appearance in the long-running science-fiction show in 2012, has starred alongside two doctors in Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi.
Coleman, who got her big break as a young actress in Emmerdale, said she was happy to be filming another series as Clara Oswald.
She said: ‘It’s wonderful. I get a whole other series of stories with the Doctor and I think for me I couldn’t walk away with the story being unresolved and there is so much more to do. (Daily Mail)
I thought it had come to a satisfactory ending. But maybe Clara’s control freak is taking over Jenna (or vice versa?) and she just couldn’t let it go. She wants to be the longest serving companion of the modern age. Ego??
Capaldi, who became the 12th Time Lord last year, said he was ‘excited and delighted’ that she had signed up for another stint as his companion.
He said: ‘I’m thrilled. Jenna has just been fantastic and such a pleasure to work with.’
Oh, her character has gotten immeasurable better since she wasn’t just a Plot Device (“The Impossible Girl”) but the question does need to be asked, can a companion “jump the shark”??
We may find out.
50 years ago yesterday, the first ever companion leaving scene was transmitted. Susan left.
All of time and space in a big blue box. Don’t argue. Settle in for a long TV winters nap because we shant see it’s like for at least 8 months…
For those who can remember December 7, 1989 I want you to cast your minds back to that date.
In Britain it would have been quite a morning (maybe not in the full realization) for a particular group of fans of a TV show, the day after cancellation.
We’ve suffered through this on many, many occasions in our lives and many more are to come.
But today, December 7th, 1989 was the day after “Doctor Who” was cancelled by the BBC.
25 Years ago. My how time really does fly…:)
“Survival” Part 4 had just aired the night before and there would be no more Doctor Who.
Ever.
Accordingly, Andrew Cartmel wrote a short, melancholic closing monologue for Sylvester McCoy, which McCoy recorded on 23 November 1989 – by coincidence, the show’s twenty-sixth anniversary. This was dubbed over the closing scene as the Doctor and his companion Ace walked off into the distance, apparently to further adventures.
You just didn’t know it quite yet.
But you would.
It was over.
After 26 years, it was just over. Like that. You may not have known it immediately, but Dec 7th, 1989 was the end, and it wasn’t prepared for!
Like a death in the family.
But we are Doctor Who fans. We believe in Regeneration!
Something new was brewing…slowly…
When Doctor Who was cancelled in 1989 it temporarily ceased life as a televised experience through its weekly episodic format transmitted by the BBC. However, its ongoing legacy and history was maintained through other forms of storytelling, through other types of broadcast media. The development of these channels significantly involved the transmission of the franchise across traditional and new media platforms officially by the BBC and its license holders and unofficially by fan communities. There was also a convergence with technological developments such as digital video and audio and publication via internet. The fan audience, redefining what it is to be a ‘fan’, has invested its ownership into the Doctor Who franchise and created a further convergence in the way fan consumers become their own producers, sharers and distributors. Finally, the BBC itself has recognised the impact of these convergences in the way it has presented and marketed the new television version of Doctor Who in the 21st Century and employed fans, turned professional producers and writers, to shape the new series.
By the time the BBC announced the return of the television series, those responsible for its continuation had already overseen the brand’s initial transmedia development and, in effect, had laid the groundwork for much of what the BBC would then explore and expand upon.
Doctor Who hadn’t gone away but the way it was produced and consumed had changed and it was now a multi-platform accessible narrative in good shape to enter the era of ‘television 2.0’ where the BBC itself was keen to encourage economic, technological and cultural convergences to create an environment for transmedia stories to thrive. In 2005, the BBC saw Doctor Who as the perfect vehicle to offer multiple points of entry into a franchise, to develop new modes of engagement, and increase fan involvement. (Television Heaven)
But on Dec 7th, 1989, 25 years ago today, it was definitely the darkest before the dawn of the new Regeneration.
So let us reflect on our good fortune, for some day, this regeneration will come to an end as well, for change is spice of life and change is the spice of Doctor Who as well.
So in the immortal words of the First Doctor (and it should be the motto of any Doctor Who fan IMHO):
One day, I shall come back. Yes, I shall come back. Until then, there must be no regrets, no tears, no anxieties. Just go forward in all your beliefs and prove to me that I am not mistaken in mine.
“Will this man influence young minds?”
MY Doctor Who 