To contrast with the New Doctor Who thread. I've recently started the E-Space trilogy, looks great so far! After that, I can't wait to start Battlefield, which I picked up recently.
You can never go wrong with the Seventh Doctor and Ace. Original series at its best (he says with incredible bias).
If I start posting in this thread, I'm liable to go on for awhile... I love the original series, particularly the first four Doctors. After that it's never quite the same, though I still enjoy the show. Low-budget it may be, but it's imaginative and enjoyable and almost unique in the flexibility of the format. Are you guys collecting the DVDs? I am, though I've taken a break from it in the last few months. The black and white episodes in particular look outstanding, they've cleaned them up so well. It's my intention to get every last story on DVD one of these days and replace my VHS collection. Right now I've got just about the entire original series, with a mix of VHS and DVD, and a few off-air tapes from way back when. My favorite show ever. I enjoy a lot about the new series, but it has yet to match the original in its heydey. Great stuff.
Battlefield has gone down a lot in my estimation recently. If you're looking for really good Seventh Doctor/Ace stories, the only really strong ones are Ghost Light, The Curse of Fenric (especially the extended version on DVD) and Survival. And probably The Greatest Show in the Galaxy as well. How much of the original series have you seen, Sage? I've seen every existing episode, and heard the audio for all the rest that don't exist. I think the only story I don't have in one form or another is "The Awakening" from Davison's third year.
That was the first Classic DVD that I bought 3 years ago which was good enough to change my preference of Doctor Who era by the end of part 1. Since that time I've amassed a collection of over 50 stories, mostly Tom Baker and Jon Pertwee but a few Patrick Troughton ( I wish more of Pat's still existed ), Peter Davison and a couple of William Hartnell ones as well. I got the region 2 rerelease of the "Key to Time" box set this past Monday and after someone gave me a link to a site that has all the old stories available to watch without the hassle and risk of downloading I've also watched the following recently, "The Krotons" "The Ambassadors of Death" "The Mind of Evil" "Colony in Space" "Terror of the Zygons" "The Android Invasion" "The Seeds of Doom" "The Masque of Mandragora" Next I will be getting the "Dalek War" box set that consists of "Colony in Space" and "Day of the Daleks"
I'm working my way through the stuff I've got on DVD to review for my blog. Just finished Earthshock and hopefully gonna start Robot tonight. Its been a good while since I last saw that. Nope, its got Frontier in Space and Planet of the Daleks in.
Yeah that's I meant, I was typing quickly as I've gotta go out shortly and must've got my episodes mixed up.
Yeah I thought it might be that, putting Colony and Day together would be a really odd boxset choice I'd like Day of the Daleks to come out on DVD soon though, for a distinctly average Dalek story I quite enjoy it.
Honestly? Maybe 2 minutes of Full Circle. I'm going to start watching it after lunch though. I'm excited about giving it a try, I'm always respectful of a franchise's beginnings, and I hear that the old series is just as good as the new one. Gee, why don't you brag about it then Shane?
Hey, just trying to let you know YOU'LL NEVER BEAT ME!!! BWAHAHAHAHA! Ahem... I mean, just trying to give you a point of reference for discussion. Yeah, that's it.
Buying DVDs here, but usually on the cheap a couple of years after release rather then as they come out. I'd take Rememberence over Survival and Greatest Show personally, but Fenric is easily the best of the McCoy era IMO. I almost pooped myself with awesome at the 3/4 cliffhanger when I saw it for the first time.
I haven't gone after the remaining audio stuff yet. That's about it, though. I've had the fortune of living in one of the last areas in the US that still aired the original series on Public Television (until earlier this year, when it became too expensive and they decided to go with just airing and re-airing and re-re-re-re-airing series three of the new show). I started watching it back when I was in high school and in the years since I've managed to get through every remaining adventure (except for about half of Davison's Dalek episode, which was lost when the station's signal crapped out that night and since that airing Terry Nation's estate has kept the rest of the Dalek stories unavailable). On top of that I've seen some of the incomplete stuff on either VHS (Tenth Planet, The Ice Warriors, the Invasion, Shada) or DVD (Missing Years boxset). My favorite Doctor is, and always will be McCoy. First episode I ever saw part of was Time and the Rani, while the first one I fully watched was Dragonfire. So as much as I may love Troughton, Tennant, Baker 2, or any of the others, for me Doctor Who is at its best when it's the Seventh and Ace (with their fantastic rendition of the opening theme).
If I were to recommend my favorites among the missing audio stories, I'd say Marco Polo, The Dalek Master Plan, Power of the Daleks and Fury From the Deep. The Massacre is very strong, but I think too much of the story needs to be visual to work, given Hartnell's dual roles. It's hard to follow exactly what's going on. That's what I generally do, which is why I'm behind on my collection. Sometimes I get a newer one as a used copy of Ebay, which is fine with me. I got the Trial of a Time Lord set that way for $26. Well worth it. My problem with Remembrance lately is two-fold. My biggest gripe with the plot is the presence of the Hand of Omega, this mythical Gallifreyan superweapon. How exactly did the first Doctor steal such a thing, when he presumably left Gallifrey by stealth after stealing a TARDIS? Did someone just leave it lying around for anyone to find? And then why abandon it for 500 years of his life, even if he does return to 1963 not long after he left it? But then why leave it on Earth, where it's presumably less safe than in his TARDIS? Why the mock burial in the graveyard? Ok, he wants the Daleks to get it, but their human allies would have tracked it down sooner or later. So much of the story surrounding the Hand and the Doctor's actions regarding it don't make sense to me, and that cripples an otherwise servicable story. And then there's the generally goofy tone of the whole thing, and the poor acting from the regular actors, as well as the guy playing Mike. The characterization is poor from Gilmore and the two scientists, even though their acting is quite good. The story is certainly a step up from the previous season's efforts, but still not as good as later McCoy efforts would be, not in my opinion.
I'd recommend Evil of the Daleks too. Its quite interesting to listen to from the standpoint that it was going to be the last Dalek story.
Fair points. I'll admit that I might be biased because Daleks vs Daleks is cool, Davros isn't stinking the whole thing up like every other Dalek story after Genesis and because I love the whole Doctor 7 scheming bastard stuff.
I agree with you there. Those are certainly all points in the story's favor. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad story, I just have too many questions when I watch it to really suspend my disbelief and just enjoy it. I've been working on setting up my own Doctor Who review site this afternoon. Not much there yet, but I'll be adding to it on a hopefully regular basis. Please come visit and comment! http://andeh1.wordpress.com/
So, I watched some of Full Circle, and I can say that I see how some people like Old Who more. I still like New Who more, but I really do like Old Who. It's a little campy for my tastes, but that's acceptable because of the time period it was made in. Baker kicks aft though, probably tied with Tennant for my favorite Doctor.
That makes a refreshing change to read as many Nu-Who fans don't even seem to be aware the show existed pre-Tennant.
The old series can be campy, but a lot of the time it suceeds precisely because the actors take it seriously and play it straight. It's the only way to make such outlandish material work. Tom Baker is all kinds of awesome. I love his angry speech to the deciders when they're experimenting on the marsh child and it dies. He's very good in Full Circle.
