So - I have been killing brain cells with Trailer Park Boys. It is a great show to just have on in the back ground while trying to look productive playing Final Fantasy Brave Exvius on my phone.
Two questions:
WHERE is it supposed to take place?
WHY is it always warm enough for short sleeved shirts, never raining, and never snowing? Does it not get winter time in Canada?
Where, google to the rescue Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Which is right next to Halifax.
Why, they are in jail while the weather sucks. That is the running gag each season begins with them getting out and ends with them going back. There is a Christmas special that takes place before the first season and they are not wearing short sleeves in that one.
Iām gonna second Eccleston. Itās the start of the reboot, so production values are good and itās introducing the new viewer to what itās all about. Thereāsā not hours of tedious backstory or exposition and thereās still enough to keep old fans interested.
Then, if you dig it, Tom Baker gets some of the best stories. Genesis of the Daleks is perfect oldWho. Some of the other stuff dates a bit and suffers from the 1970s a bit, but personal favourites of mine would the āHorror of Fang Rockā (Victorian era locked-room mystery and The Brain of Morbius* (Hammer horror) Stuff like āTalons of Weng Chiang**ā has dated and suffers badly from yellowface and Asian sterotypes, but is a fun Sherlock Holmes thing.
And Iāve got some love for Davison, too. Castrovalva, Kinda and Snakedance were all fun. But even with this, it still is a kids program and the cliffhanger episodic nature can make it drag if you binge it.
*
MORBIUS! I will defendā¦
**When itās spring again, Iāll bring againā¦
I am like on season 9 and they havenāt been in jail in awhile. It is just stunning that it is pretty much always nice weather and not a spot of snowā¦
That is a good one.
However be warned the pacing isnāt great even in some of the good stories. Lots of corridor running and the 6 show stories like that one can feel drawn out.
OOOh a must see if only to understand the backstory for the short Night Of The Doctor
Yeah, itās much better if you drip-feed rather than binge. Thereās a really solid hour of telly in there,but with recaps, filler and corridors the 2+hours can get a bit much.
And there are some we wish we could just forget.
Start with Tom Baker, for the classic series. Keep in mind that the classic series isnāt necessarily contiguous, so you can jump in at most points and do okay (not get too lost). The Key to Time season was a continuous story and it was kind of great (the script editor was Douglas Adams and he wrote some great episodes during that run, like the Pirate Planet, which is such an amazing episode).
And if you start with the reboot, just start with Eccelston and go from there. The stories build on each other more than they do in the classic series.
Personally, Iām also a big fan of the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton) and the Third Doctor (John Pertwee). The Pertwee era had some great political stories and he was essentially stuck on earth for some of that. The Mutants was a great sort of anti-imperialist story:
But 3 can be a dismissive dick at times, though. But itās worth it for some of the stories they tell in that period.
Based upon the advice here, I think Iām gonna start with the reboot, at Eccelston; then when Iām done, Iāll go back and watch the originals.
I feel bad for Slyvester McCoy and the show runners for that era. It seems like from some of the documentaries there was just lots of anti-doctor who sentiment at that timeā¦ Iām sure it didnāt help that they had a stated aim of overthrowing Thatcherās government (which if you didnāt know that, often felt a bit misogynistic, with all these evil women coming for the Doctor). That era was just shot thru with issues like bad pacing and bad editingā¦
They tried, though. I mean, they even attempted a Ballardian story:
I kind of like the Rani and feel she didnāt get good enough stories. She could have been great.
I think thatās a good strategy! There are some great stories in the series.
I agree with all of this except your 4th point. I think Chris was a great doctor. I realized this rewatching with my daughter. Upon first watch I thought that Tennant and Smith were way better. Going back thereās something they never quite captured the same way.
I guess thatās one of the wonderful things about Dr. Who. So many interpretations.
I liked McCoy. I thought he was good. Plus, he wasnāt Colin Baker, which was a big plus.
And he had Ace.
Me too. He just got some bad material and I get the sense (again, from the documentaries on the DVDs, at least) that the BBC was really wanting to just get rid of the show by the time he came along. I donāt think they liked the political angle that the show runner had and I donāt think the show was getting great ratings at the time.
As for Colin Baker, I think the problem there was less him, and again, more of the writing/production end of things. If you remember, it was during C. Bakerās era that they wanted to kill the show and there was a general outcry about it. He was basically shit canned and didnāt even show up for the regeneration. Also, having poor Peri with her terrible american accent did not help.
Ace kicked ass, for sure. She was clearly meant to appeal to the punkers in the audience!
My biggest problem with Colin Baker was that he wasnāt Peter Davison.
Also, I still covet this - despite the Baker outfit being so terrible:
Although the 4th Doctor might be a bit more professorial:
