To add to Bamboozler - for Nuwho, I'd not overlook the Ninth Doctor (the first season of it), as it does kind of set up the relationship between Ten and Rose later on, as well as establish the concept of "themed" seasons. Also establishes the beginning of the Companion becoming .. a little too important, imo, but at least, more important than before.
It starts getting really bad about mid-Smith (after the couple is done with), and the gay stuff starts coming out in sly little bullshit things; so once Amy and Rory are gone, it's pretty much done.
And I second that opinion on the season with Donna.
As for Old Who, years ago, I found a torrent of the entire og run, complete with screenshots and images of the recordings made of the lost episodes. Some are made into cartoons (and I think that project has gone ahead a bit more since then). It's a huge file, but great for a completist. And you should check out Hartnell .. and definitely The Tenth Planet and how weird the Cybermen used to be.
I fuckin’ love Smith and Clara, dude! Don’t do this to me, lol…
IMHO the Clara eps are better than the last… Season and a half of The Pond Show…
So we sort of agree, but sort of not.
u/Tobeornotto I think both I and Rat agree to skip Capaldi and beyond, though. Which is a shame, because… Jenna Coleman stays hot AF (again, subjective of course), but yeah, re the show quality… That’s about its nadir, unfortunately…
For me, it's a shame that Capaldi - it was great to have an older gentleman as the Doctor again - got saddled with such shit writing that it looks like he was deliberately sabotaged.
And Clara was just too much for me, as far as the "extra special Companion" stuff goes; it's also where the old-school retconning starts.
Anyway, to answer your question, this is all rather subjective, but...
Old Who? I would start with Season 2, with Patrick Troughton. There's a few missing episodes, but... It's better than Hartnell, IMHO. Though, if you don't want to miss out on lore/stuff that will get referenced later, start right at the beginning with Hartnell and An Unearthly Child, if you can find it, from way back in '63!!
Stop at the end of Peter Davison/Moffat's era, which is 1980-something... It gets really, really bad, after that (hence the original cancellation).
Re NuWho, which I guess is what you were talking about, I would start with Season 2 (Tennant, but written by Russ-T), and stop at about... 2013/14 Christmas Special (Season 12, I think?), when Smith leaves...
Best period of the show? Season 4 with Donna, and then the following seasons with Smith (Moffatt is now writing), with Gillan and then Coleman as companions. Some of it gets a bit shit, towards the end of Smith/Gillan, and I would argue that the "Specials" between 4 and 5... Leave a bit to be desired, but they are important for "lore"...
As for the show's nadir..? I don't think it has ever been worse than it is now, but honestly Capaldi's first season (12, I think. The first after Smith left) is so... Unbearably bad, IMHO, that the only redeeming feature is how hot Jenna Coleman and the actress who plays Jenny (Katrin such and such? Think she's Welsh) are. There is almost nothing else redeeming about it. :-/
Hope that answers at least most of your question! Happy to say more, though!
As someone else said above, don't bother with Torchwood (RTD's spinoff), though I disagree almost entirely about Gwen. Maybe just because the actress is hot, and, uhh, I have slightly different views of women vis a vis "immortal" gay men. Eh, who knows...
But yeah, even The Sarah Jane Chronicles (Sarah Jane being, arguably, the most important "companion" from Old Who) is better than that shite...
I really don't like John Barrowman, who plays Captain Jack in Torchwood, as outlined above, lol... I saw him at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games opening ceremony (yeah yeah). It was truly atrocious, and he's a truly atrocious person, ahaha.
As someone who has never watched a single episode, is it worth going to the old series?
Where should I start?
To add to Bamboozler - for Nuwho, I'd not overlook the Ninth Doctor (the first season of it), as it does kind of set up the relationship between Ten and Rose later on, as well as establish the concept of "themed" seasons. Also establishes the beginning of the Companion becoming .. a little too important, imo, but at least, more important than before.
It starts getting really bad about mid-Smith (after the couple is done with), and the gay stuff starts coming out in sly little bullshit things; so once Amy and Rory are gone, it's pretty much done.
And I second that opinion on the season with Donna.
As for Old Who, years ago, I found a torrent of the entire og run, complete with screenshots and images of the recordings made of the lost episodes. Some are made into cartoons (and I think that project has gone ahead a bit more since then). It's a huge file, but great for a completist. And you should check out Hartnell .. and definitely The Tenth Planet and how weird the Cybermen used to be.
But but but Clara… 😞
I fuckin’ love Smith and Clara, dude! Don’t do this to me, lol…
IMHO the Clara eps are better than the last… Season and a half of The Pond Show…
So we sort of agree, but sort of not.
u/Tobeornotto I think both I and Rat agree to skip Capaldi and beyond, though. Which is a shame, because… Jenna Coleman stays hot AF (again, subjective of course), but yeah, re the show quality… That’s about its nadir, unfortunately…
For me, it's a shame that Capaldi - it was great to have an older gentleman as the Doctor again - got saddled with such shit writing that it looks like he was deliberately sabotaged.
And Clara was just too much for me, as far as the "extra special Companion" stuff goes; it's also where the old-school retconning starts.
I love that your response pretty much boils down to “Watch it all”… 😛
I could have said that, too, and I did think about it, but I was trying not to, ahaha…
You are right, though. Except re Smith + Clara. I’m not giving you that one, lol. Jenna is just too good, ha.
Are we talking old Doctor Who (pre-1989) here, or the post-2005 revival..?
Because both are... Good, at times. Just in very different ways.
Depends what you're into, and how much, uhh, "campy 60s/70s sci fi" you can handle!
But more than happy to go more in-depth, lol.
Anyway, to answer your question, this is all rather subjective, but...
Old Who? I would start with Season 2, with Patrick Troughton. There's a few missing episodes, but... It's better than Hartnell, IMHO. Though, if you don't want to miss out on lore/stuff that will get referenced later, start right at the beginning with Hartnell and An Unearthly Child, if you can find it, from way back in '63!!
Stop at the end of Peter Davison/Moffat's era, which is 1980-something... It gets really, really bad, after that (hence the original cancellation).
Re NuWho, which I guess is what you were talking about, I would start with Season 2 (Tennant, but written by Russ-T), and stop at about... 2013/14 Christmas Special (Season 12, I think?), when Smith leaves...
Best period of the show? Season 4 with Donna, and then the following seasons with Smith (Moffatt is now writing), with Gillan and then Coleman as companions. Some of it gets a bit shit, towards the end of Smith/Gillan, and I would argue that the "Specials" between 4 and 5... Leave a bit to be desired, but they are important for "lore"...
As for the show's nadir..? I don't think it has ever been worse than it is now, but honestly Capaldi's first season (12, I think. The first after Smith left) is so... Unbearably bad, IMHO, that the only redeeming feature is how hot Jenna Coleman and the actress who plays Jenny (Katrin such and such? Think she's Welsh) are. There is almost nothing else redeeming about it. :-/
Hope that answers at least most of your question! Happy to say more, though!
As someone else said above, don't bother with Torchwood (RTD's spinoff), though I disagree almost entirely about Gwen. Maybe just because the actress is hot, and, uhh, I have slightly different views of women vis a vis "immortal" gay men. Eh, who knows... But yeah, even The Sarah Jane Chronicles (Sarah Jane being, arguably, the most important "companion" from Old Who) is better than that shite...
I really don't like John Barrowman, who plays Captain Jack in Torchwood, as outlined above, lol... I saw him at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games opening ceremony (yeah yeah). It was truly atrocious, and he's a truly atrocious person, ahaha.
Thank you!