What's the best series of DW ever?

Including the classic AND the new series.

The Eccleston series for me - those Daleks were simply the best! And he was pretty good, too - shame he didn't want to be 'typecast' before falling in a black hole...and being typecast as a, erm, black hole...

Glad it's not just me who holds a high opinion of that series

It's kind of good that Eccleston left after just one series, because now we can dream about how good he might have been and tell ourselves, "Oh, the stories he'd've made - they'd've been fantastic..."

Whereas poor old Ten had to suffer from having his storyline with Rose dragged out for far too long, when in fact the story about his unrequited (or was it) love for the Master was much more interesting. But they resurrected that storyline at the last minute, when it was too late.

See, that's why series three is Ten's best series - because of the Master. If only they'd had Martha leave because she realised that it was the Master Ten loved, rather than her. Instead it was all, "Oh, you never got over the blonde."

(I've been watching Delgado's Master, and that (un?)requited love thing is SO going on. Seriously.)

I mean, did Zoë leave Two because he'd never got over Victoria? No, because that would be silly.

For me, season 14, Philip Hinchcliffe's third as producer. It has Tom Baker at the top of his game, two wonderful companions in Leela and Sarah Jane, and all that wonderful Gothic horror stuff going on, as well as some great supporting characters. Robert Holmes also turns in two of his best ever scripts in The Deadly Assassin and The Talons of Weng Chiang.

I could never my head around the bird in the Tarzan outfit - I could have got my arms around her, but I thought she was thrown in just for some titilation...Tom Baker was the BEST Doctor, but I still go with what I said above...

I would agree that the Eccleston series was better than the ones that followed (though I prefer the latest season) but I think my top five would still be 14, 13 (both Philip Hinchcliffe), 26 (last one of the original run), 18 (last year of Tom), 2 (Hartnell's best) and 5 (the 'monster season' with Troughton).

Season 19. With 12 coming close, and 1 & 7 not far behind that.

The best of the new series for me was Tennant's first year.

Tennant's first year was my least favourite, mostly because of the Doctor/Rose pairing. She was tolerable with Ecclescake, but all the lovey dovey stuff with Tennant got on my nerves.

It's more to do with the hit/miss ratio of the stories than anything else. Only Eccleston's year rivals it for that in the new series for me - and I can't stand Eccleston. So series two wins.

The Rose stuff was indeed annoying because they'd already told her whole story in year one (short-sighted idiots that they were) and didn't know what to do with her - except to make her more irritating and clingy. I only really cared about her again come Doomsday.

'I wuv you Doctor!' 'Er, I...oh wait, sorry, gotta go-out of credit!'

But it was one of the few instances where the usually-fully-deserving-of-the-quotation-marks-I'm-about-to-use "emotional" content actually worked for me.

Sandhopper wrote:

But it was one of the few instances where the usually-fully-deserving-of-the-quotation-marks-I'm-about-to-use "emotional" content actually worked for me.

I prefer my emotional content understated, personally. A word you can never apply to any scene which runs for minutes on end and is swamped by Murray Cheesemeister Gold and his Heartstrings Orchestra...

I'm usually more for understatement too. But I'm quite capable of being manipulated - and don't mind being so - when what's happening on screen is important and actually matters.

When it's Rose crying for the umpteenth time because The Doctor has just gone out of her sight for a few minutes and she hasn't even bothered looking for him in the last place she saw him, or when we're getting the violins for a character who previously "died" only two weeks before and stands every chance of coming back anyway...I'm not so moved.

Sandhopper wrote:I'm usually more for understatement too. But I'm quite capable of being manipulated - and don't mind being so - when what's happening on screen is important and actually matters.

Ah, but it doesn't matter! I am quite willing to be brought into the moment by a superior piece of writing, but the cynical manipulation of the audience you're talking about leaves me cold because ultimately, it's jhust a TV show and that sort of thing just reinforces its artificiality for me and leaves me irritated.

When it's Rose crying for the umpteenth time because The Doctor has just gone out of her sight for a few minutes and she hasn't even bothered looking for him in the last place she saw him, or when we're getting the violins for a character who previously "died" only two weeks before and stands every chance of coming back anyway...I'm not so moved.

Admittedly, Rory's second death was a bit of a non event since it was blindingly obvious he was going nowhere, but I still liked that episode.

Troughton's quiet "I was fond of her too, Jamie" and his speech to Victoria in 'Tomb of the Cybermen' is worth a lot of 'emotional' stuff from the new series.

The Doctor is a gentleman, and gentlemen are meant to have stiff upper lips.

Lucy McGough wrote:Troughton's quiet "I was fond of her too, Jamie" and his speech to Victoria in 'Tomb of the Cybermen' is worth a lot of 'emotional' stuff from the new series.

The Doctor is a gentleman, and gentlemen are meant to have stiff upper lips.

I agree. The new series has sadly bought into the culture of OTT false sentiment which has been ruining this country, I'd say, ever since Princess Diana died and a million people who'd been vaguely deriding the woman for years suddenly decided she was a saint...

The Martha one for Blink, Thingy/Human Nature and the Shakespeare one. Mind you Thingy/Human Nature appealed to me because of the era of comics i collect too. Charles Hamilton will be as famous as Shakespeare one day, whilst George Orwell, who was hugely jelous of him, will be some forgotten also-ran.

felneymike wrote:The Martha one for Blink, Thingy/Human Nature and the Shakespeare one. Mind you Thingy/Human Nature appealed to me because of the era of comics i collect too. Charles Hamilton will be as famous as Shakespeare one day, whilst George Orwell, who was hugely jelous of him, will be some forgotten also-ran.

Not exactly forgotten, but it is a fact that Orwell's gravestone only carries the inscription 'Eric Arthur Blair' and no reference to his more famous nom de plume or to his work.

tony ingram wrote:The new series has sadly bought into the culture of OTT false sentiment which has been ruining this country, I'd say, ever since Princess Diana died and a million people who'd been vaguely deriding the woman for years suddenly decided she was a saint...

I agree.

If people invested as much emotionally in the communities outside their window as they do in fictional characters or strangers in the Big Brother house, the country would be in a far better state.

Of course it would - but you could say that about everything. If the government weren't spending all that money fighting people we could all have a break! I personally think Diana was great - she was the best thing that happened to an out-dated monarchy that clearly has no place in England today - and looked what happened to her. I know full well that she manipulated the media, but so has Mandela; everyone thinks he's whiter than white (no pun intended) and that he's this 'great man'. And Diana didn't blow people up...but anyway! Thanks God Dr Who has gone - at least until he comes back!!

tony ingram wrote:If people invested as much emotionally in the communities outside their window as they do in fictional characters or strangers in the Big Brother house, the country would be in a far better state.

The Misanthropy Society phoned - they're revoking your membership with immediate effect.

Lucy McGough wrote:

tony ingram wrote:If people invested as much emotionally in the communities outside their window as they do in fictional characters or strangers in the Big Brother house, the country would be in a far better state.

The Misanthropy Society phoned - they're revoking your membership with immediate effect.

That's OK, their meetings are boring anyway-nobody can ever bring themselves to turn up.

GBF wrote:Of course it would - but you could say that about everything. If the government weren't spending all that money fighting people we could all have a break! I personally think Diana was great - she was the best thing that happened to an out-dated monarchy that clearly has no place in England today - and looked what happened to her. I know full well that she manipulated the media, but so has Mandela; everyone thinks he's whiter than white (no pun intended) and that he's this 'great man'. And Diana didn't blow people up...but anyway!

I have nothing against Diana, but the hysterical outpouring of supposed public grief immediately after her passing, by people who'd previously spent years painting her a neurotic gloryhound, just seemed hypocrtical and shallow to me.

Thanks God Dr Who has gone - at least until he comes back!!

Hmm, this is not a sentiment one would normally expect to find on a Doctor Who subforum...

Well - I'm being consistent!! Or do you want me to agree with everything?

GBF wrote:Well - I'm being consistent!! Or do you want me to agree with everything?

Everything? No. Anything would be nice...

You monkey!!

Real people are rarely as likeable as fictional characters, tony.


Anyway, best season ever of Who is clearly season 7, just pipping 26 to the post. With 14, 16 and 17 in close succession.

The best season of NuHu was 3, but that doesn't even make it into top 20 all time lol.

I still say the best season of nu-Who to date is five. I'm re-watching it on BBC3 and thoroughly enjoying it.

One of the ones with most/all of the episodes missing... because it becomes an amazing epic in your head when you read the wiki summary, as opposed to the studio-bound plodding with most of the non-main-characters unable to escape the lingering RP in thier accents no matter who they were supposed to be that it actually was

felneymike wrote:One of the ones with most/all of the episodes missing... because it becomes an amazing epic in your head when you read the wiki summary, as opposed to the studio-bound plodding with most of the non-main-characters unable to escape the lingering RP in thier accents no matter who they were supposed to be that it actually was

Oooh, dissing sixties Who-them's fighting words, Mike! I honestly can't think of one story from that era that I dislike (well, except The Dominators, because it's very dull) and the more relaxed pacing is a big part of why-it gave you a chance to really be drawn into the story, as opposed to the modern model of having to keep up with the breakneck pace of a story that's all over in 45 minutes. End what, mey I ask, is wrong with RP? At least those chaps knew how to make themselves understood, not like the unintelligible northern oiks one see on the tellybox these days...

Nothing's wrong with RP in it's proper place, however there was a recent radio show about Sexton Blake that had a clip from a 1930 play with the "cockney lad" Tinker sounding very propaar. And then another bloke talking in the one acceptable working class accent of the time: "i couldn't have dun it coz i ent got a gun and never ad wun!"

Iz yew suggestin' we'm dun't all talk like that? Cos I knows I does!

Tried to rewatch 'The End of Time'. It's still crap. And it's painfully obvious that it was filmed in spring. There's green leaves and blossom everywhere.

John Simm is very good, but all through the Master's resurrection scene I was thinking, "Secret books of Saxon? Potions of death? Lipstick? What is this madness?"

Lucy McGough wrote:Tried to rewatch 'The End of Time'. It's still crap. And it's painfully obvious that it was filmed in spring. There's green leaves and blossom everywhere.

John Simm is very good, but all through the Master's resurrection scene I was thinking, "Secret books of Saxon? Potions of death? Lipstick? What is this madness?"

Particularly when they could have just said he'd downloaded his mind into the ring and then had them clone him from DNA on it.

Lucy McGough wrote:Tried to rewatch 'The End of Time'. It's still crap. And it's painfully obvious that it was filmed in spring. There's green leaves and blossom everywhere.

John Simm is very good, but all through the Master's resurrection scene I was thinking, "Secret books of Saxon? Potions of death? Lipstick? What is this madness?"

Bloody hell, we must be twins!

I too subjected myself to the horror of this last night. Actually, I've been on a two-day Tennant crap marathon, Voyage of the Damned (which I felt like I was one at times the past 48 hours), TSE/Journeys End and then The End of Time last night.

Which is the most craptacular? Well, it's like trying to choose which dog turd you'd like to have served for your breakfast. Either way you're going to be violently sick.

Good God, I'd almost forgotten quite how bad the RTD era really got in its last 2 seasons.

I hate to ask, but what exactly were you doing penance for? It must have been something terrible!

I saw the series 4 sontaran one a few weeks back, and thought it was actually okay, I was wondering if I hadn't been too harsh on those last 2 years after all.... I wasn't!

There is something about 60's Who, the black and white Hartnell and Troughtons seem almost untouchable to me. Untouchable as in...even though there are some really awful stories in there among some real gems it's almost like they're forgivable because it's 60's Who, there was real innovation, and each story was probably made with a budget of 5 shillings and 6 pence. All the black and white stuff has a certain naive charm that i'm just a sucker for, even though it was 'before my time'

However, as a kid of the 70's...

Everything between Spearhead from Space in '70 right through to Horror of Fang Rock in '77 is STELLAR in my book. The remainer of T Bakers era, with the exception of the brilliant S18, was a bit hit and miss. Mostly hit, but still the odd miss. Logopolis is actually one of the greatest TV moments in the history of TV anywhere, ever. So, um, there.

S19 is OK, actually, but then the amount of decent stories between S20 -S24 could probably be counted on one hand. S25 really begins to pick up the pieces and S26 is great.

I like most of the stuff since the return in 2005. Admitedly I probably wouldn't enjoy it as much without watching it with/through the eyes of my eight year old son, but I do, and I do. So, um, there, too. Apart from 'New Earth' 'Fear Her' and one or two others which funnily enough, we both think are crap.

Oh, and the best is either season 7, 10, 11, 13, or 14. Couldn;t possibly pick between them.

You have good taste-I agree with pretty much all of that, though I'm not keen on most of the post 2005 stuff. the first 'new' season I've really consistently enjoyed was the latest one. I didn't mind the Eccleston series but I really couldn't take to Tennant and I don't like Russell T Davies' writing.

Has anyone noticed that Mr Kembel bares a truly remarkable resemblance to Paul McCartney circa 1968? Amazing - apparently, we we all have a double!!

GBF wrote:Has anyone noticed that Mr Kembel bares a truly remarkable resemblance to Paul McCartney circa 1968? Amazing - apparently, we we all have a double!!

You, on the other hand, currently appear to bear a strong resemblance to an Ogri, one of the silicoid monolith monsters from the 1978 Doctor Who story The Stones of Blood by writer David Fisher, which has the distinction of being the 100th story.

tony ingram wrote:

GBF wrote:Has anyone noticed that Mr Kembel bares a truly remarkable resemblance to Paul McCartney circa 1968? Amazing - apparently, we we all have a double!!

You, on the other hand, currently appear to bear a strong resemblance to an Ogri, one of the silicoid monolith monsters from the 1978 Doctor Who story The Stones of Blood by writer David Fisher, which has the distinction of being the 100th story.

Yes, I'll swap you a few stories about the making of The White Album for a few reminices about working on location with Tom Baker circa 1978. I bet it was just as challenging as working with John when Yoko was around.

Ingram - you look like a British, out-of-focus, has-been super jerk, so NUUUR!!

tony ingram wrote:You have good taste-I agree with pretty much all of that, though I'm not keen on most of the post 2005 stuff. the first 'new' season I've really consistently enjoyed was the latest one. I didn't mind the Eccleston series but I really couldn't take to Tennant and I don't like Russell T Davies' writing.

I agree the new Moffat stuff with Matt Smith is much more to my liking, although I don't mind Tennant or Eccleston. Its Colin Baker I have a real problem with. Nothing against the bloke personally, he's a fine actor. But he was ill served by the production team, in particular the script editor at the time. They'd just lost touch with the fundamentals of the show.

Macca - it must have been a good deal worse for you than me and the good Doctor...at least Tom had a sense of humour...

The worst 'Doctors' for me were McCoy and Colin Baker. Davison was watchable I suppose. I thought Eccleston did a good job - and he did a good job playing Lennon a couple of moths ago...

McCoy's first season was abysmal, but I thought his last was terrific, and both he and Colin baker have since been in some wonderful audio adventures. I think both of them were primarily the victims of poor judgment on the part of the production team (whoever designed colin's costume should never have been allowed near it) and some truly atrocious scripts.

kembel wrote:

tony ingram wrote:You have good taste-I agree with pretty much all of that, though I'm not keen on most of the post 2005 stuff. the first 'new' season I've really consistently enjoyed was the latest one. I didn't mind the Eccleston series but I really couldn't take to Tennant and I don't like Russell T Davies' writing.

I agree the new Moffat stuff with Matt Smith is much more to my liking, although I don't mind Tennant or Eccleston. Its Colin Baker I have a real problem with. Nothing against the bloke personally, he's a fine actor. But he was ill served by the production team, in particular the script editor at the time. They'd just lost touch with the fundamentals of the show.

I quite liked some of Colin's stories, but I agree there were major problems, and they had nothing to do with the actor.

tony ingram wrote:McCoy's first season was abysmal, but I thought his last was terrific, and both he and Colin baker have since been in some wonderful audio adventures. I think both of them were primarily the victims of poor judgment on the part of the production team (whoever designed colin's costume should never have been allowed near it) and some truly atrocious scripts.

Yep, S24 was a real low point. At the time I blamed McCoy as I just didn't take to him. When the scripts tarted to improve however, and he played it more 'dark' and 'straight', it actually reminded me of the show I used to love years earlier. Inovatitve, clever, funny, scary and joyous.

i've never bothered with the audios, and realise that I'm probably missing out on some great performances.