"I'm the Doctor.", "Dr. Who?"

[The Straight Story]

“When they made this particular hero, they didn’t give him a gun, they gave him a screwdriver to fix things. They didn’t give him a tank or a warship or an x-wing fighter, they gave him a call box from which you can call for help. And the didn’t give him a superpower or pointy ears or a heat ray, they gave him an extra heart. They gave him two hearts. And that’s an extraordinary thing; there will never come a time when we don’t need a hero like the doctor.”

- Steven Moffat

Food for thought.

[yodermon]

1. love the Who revival

50th anniversary episode rocked last night BTW

[Vashta Nerada]

2. One of my favorite quotes from Doctor Who:

"Books! They're the best weapons in the world! This room's the greatest arsenal we could have - arm yourselves!"
-- The Tenth Doctor

[The Straight Story]

3. Just watched that one not long ago (the werewolf one)

Still trying to catch up to current day (almost done with season 4).

Love Torchwood as well.

[Gothmog]

4. I love this show

I was a big fan of Tom Baker (the 4th Doctor) and was glad to see the series revived. The 50th anniversary show was great

[dionysus]

7. did you notice his cameo at the end? i have the authentic 12 foot long Baker scarf... :)

[exboyfil]

9. The part I waited for while watching with my daughters

I interpreted him being the Doctor in retirement (being curator of the museum). The part about revisiting his old regenerations - perhaps that is an aspect of elderly Timelords we know nothing about (apparently Romana could change her appearance without using up regenerations). A good way to bring Baker in though. Moffat did not do a bad job tying up continuity (the miniepisode showing the unusual Paul McGann - John Hurt regeneration and the start of the Hurt - perhaps Eccleston regeneration but don't take that for granted). The show had the feel of The Three Doctors as Hurt reigning in his later incarnations (a little bit ironic since they are older than him - just don't act like it).

I did like casting Hurt as a transitional figure - he added weight to the role.

Overall pleased with the episode (I have not bee really following the new Doctors but my daughters have been). It is funny since I did absolutely nothing to encourage it (I like my daughters to find their own way about things). Who would have guessed they would become fans as well. I put away childish (ie expensive) things when I became a husband and father.

[dionysus]

10. i've been collecting all the Baker DVDs (all 41) for the last 2 years. i could never find story 80.

not online, not anywhere. not on amazon, or the BBC store.

I went to the mall last night, and since winter has finally hit us, I donned the baker scarf.

wouldn't you know, on an off chance I checked, and FYE had a single copy of story #80! my collection is complete!! (could it be because story 80 was about zygons, as well as this special, and they did this as a tie in release I wonder?)

tenant was a great doctor, smith was really good too. I wonder how the next doctor will be received... he's 55 years old. let's hope it doesn't drive away the young fans.

there's been older doctors in the past so hopefully it will be ok.

to be honest I have not much interest in the other older doctors as Baker was the one I grew up watching the reruns on PBS. plus it'd totally break the bank to collect all of them. plus, BBC used to tape over old masters and I believe some of the old, old stories are lost forever

[exboyfil]

18. I remember seeing Terror of the Zygons around 1980

It doesn't do you any good now, but I think Daily Motion has it (which I think is legal streaming commercial supported? but I may be wrong). I am not really interested in watching the older Doctor Whos (actually not that interested in the current ones except my kids are). The memory of watching the shows is better than the shows themselves (applies to most things for me actually).
They were fun and he is the best Doctor by far (and Sarah Jane is the best companion).

[MattBaggins]

41. Was the best companion. She passed away

[exboyfil]

45. I listened to her autobiography

and enjoyed it. Don't usually spend time with celebrity biographies but I enjoyed this one. It is available through audible.com.

[MattBaggins]

46. She was the greatest of the companions

People seem to miss that when talking about their favorite Doctor or companion. Know one ever talks about how important they are as a team. Quite often it was the companions that played off the Doctor and made them really shine. Tom Baker was the best Doctor because of Sarah Jane as much as his own acting.

[Gothmog]

20. I have the key of time box set

My kids gave this set to me. I have now hooked two of my kids on this show

[Gothmog]

21. I hooked my youngest with Blink

It is fun having two kids hooked on this show

[daleanime]

57. Definitely the best bait....

after 5-6 minutes their hooked.

[Gothmog]

58. I found a great Doctor Who shirt at WDW

It has a TARDIS with
Stay Calm and Don't Blink

[dionysus]

61. to me, walking dead, thrones, and dr who are the best shows on TV hands down, in no particular order

[exboyfil]

62. I have the same list

Would like less skin in Game of Thrones though. My daughters turned me onto Torchwood which you might want to check out (first couple of episodes are not very good though).

[econoclast]

12. Insanely jealous!

I was at a giant craft fair in NYC recently and asked every knitwear vendor there if they had a "Dr. Who style" scarf. Sadly, none did. Worse, they all looked at me as if I was speaking Klingon or Elvish or New Jerseyian. (mixing metaphors I know)

"Who's Dr. Who??????" "What kind of scarf????"

Heavy sigh. The world is going to hell in a handbasket.

[dionysus]

13. fear not!

http://www.bbcshop.com/doctor-who/doctor-who-official-bbc-fourth-doctor-scarf-/invt/dw4scarf

they also sell a half size version but i didn't want to be like that

you can also find homemade ones on ebay but the price is even higher than the BBC made ones...

[econoclast]

14. AMAZING!!!!! Thank you!!!!!

[Gothmog]

19. Yes but he came back as a later version of the Doctor

I am looking forward to the Christmas show and how they handle the regeneration since the current Doctor is the 13 or last Doctor (the War Doctor is one regeneration and David Tennat used up two regenerations. Moffat acknowledges that the 12 regeneration limit applies

[dionysus]

23. but wait, wasnt the war doctor the doctor before he ever regenerated? potential loophole?

[pokerfan]

30. Did you watch the minisode?

The Night of the Doctor is basically a prequel to Day of the the Doctor but not required, It does however answer your regeneration order question. Six minutes long...

[dionysus]

32. i did not sir, i am now.

[pokerfan]

35. Pretty funny pun in there..

"Will it Hurt?"

[dionysus]

36. watched, twas awesome!

[MattBaggins]

43. I'm a Doctor

but probably not the one you expected.

[Gothmog]

40. No, there were 8 regenerations before the War Doctor

If you renumber the Doctors, the War Doctor would be number 9 and the current Doctor would be number 12 with David Tennant's Doctor using up two regeneration. All of these regenerations count and Moffitt has admitted that he will have to around the 12 regeneration limit for the next Doctor. The Master was out of regeneration in the 1996 movie but was able to regenerate a couple of times after his execution. The Master cheated or broke this rule a couple of times.

[Gothmog]

54. Here is a great interview of Neil Gaiman who has an opinion on this issue

According to the person who wrote some of the best episodes of this show, Time Lords can regenerate more than 12 times but with consequences http://www.doctorwhotv.co.uk/gaiman-talks-12th-doctor-regeneration-limit-52305.htm

[sabbat hunter]

33. moffat is like the Doctor

he lies...

You really think he is going to reveal his future plots?

[xmas74]

34. When River gave him her regenerations

I'd wondered if maybe that would come into play at a later date.

[Vashta Nerada]

39. That's my guess.

[xmas74]

42. Did they ever say how many she had left?

We saw two-one as Amy's childhood friend Melody and one as River. We should assume that the friend was a regeneration and we know that Alex Kingston's character was one.

[Vashta Nerada]

49. There's that one episode where she was a little girl and started

regenerating. Then the one with Mels regenerating into Melody Pond.

So that makes at least two. I have no idea who little girl Melody regenerated into.

[xmas74]

56. There could be what, possibly ten?

Maybe less-she was a bit crazy at times.

[politicat]

60. DH & I have been discussing this.

He thinks the Sisterhood of Karn is significant. They have access to the elixir that seems to not only control how regeneration happens, but also has extended their control over it. They clearly have a major conflict with the Timelords that I think might relate to the transition from a mystical control of time to a technologist concept. Their elixir seems to be a regeneration reset button.

My opinion draws from the older series, that the limit seemed to be culturally imposed rather than a biological limit -- a social regulation instead of a natural law. With Gallifrey out of the picture (or more precisely, into the picture), the social regulation is only self-imposed.

DH's theory is that the Karn elixir did a regeneration reset on the fourth, effectively putting him at 1 (meaning that 5 is 2, 6 is 3, 7 is 4, 8 is 5) and then again when they revived him after death in Night of the Doctor. Which makes 8 the first gen, War doctor 2, Northern Ears is 3, Skinny Spaceman is 4, and Madman in a Box is 5.

Or... River Song sacrificed an unknown number of regenerations -- at least 2, given the pleural, perhaps as many as 10. Those could have stacked.

Considering Who is the Beeb's bread and butter, I'm pretty sure they will find a way to alter the limit.

[Warpy]

52. That thing has bored so many knitters to tears, very real tears

and has contributed mightily to rampant alcoholism among knitters who have attempted to please significant others who wanted one. All that pain in the neck garter stitch and it goes on forever and forever.

[IllinoisBirdWatcher]

5. What a wonderful and beautiful analysis of The Doctor. Verity was sly from the beginning.

As a child of the golden age of speculative fiction I already had so much good stuff in my head before I discovered The Doctor here in the US at the beginning of the Tom Baker incarnation (although Jon Pertwee is still my favorite Doctor).

Verity Lambert and her team really knew what they were doing. Their love, humor, and positive view of things came through brilliantly from the beginning - even as the cardboard sets and jerky-moving tin Daleks often betrayed the low budget status.

Just like another producer, Gene Roddenberry, who also had some of the worst sets in TV production, the Dr. Who team had a vision of the universe that has lived on because of the fans. Probably easier to do at BBC than at an American commercial outlet.

Steven Moffat's quote is perfect. Thank you so much for posting it.

[Gothmog]

37. Did you see Adventures in Time And Space?

The BBC did a show about the first couple of years of the show. I really enjoyed this history. Verity Lambert was amazing.

[IllinoisBirdWatcher]

47. Yes, actually watched it twice :)

I was and still am a fan of Verity. Her vision for her "childrens' show" lives. Was way into Dr. Who when we first discovered it in the 70's.

As a speculative fiction fan (I hate the misnomer "science fiction&quot from the summer leading into 6th grade I read everything I could get my hands on. There were so many women who had to hide or masquerade. A favorite early author was Andre Norton who turned out to really be Alice Mary North, a librarian. The great male teen coming-of-age, The Outsiders, was written by S. E. Hinton. Both of these "authors" had the obligatory "biographies" on the book jackets. Of course, once her books became classics, Susan Hinton was able to reveal her true self... and has a cameo in the film version of The Outsiders as a librarian.

But the best fake mail in speculative TV fiction has to be D. C. Fontana who was the lead writer for Gene Roddenberry's original StarTrek in the 1960's. It took a while for Dorothy Fontana to actually get the credit she deserved.

When I started teaching in the late 1960's it was the school librarian (who became my dearest life-long friend) who taught me to learn about the authors' lives to really understand the meaning of their books. I've been trying to pass that forward now for over 40 years.

TV and Film are the same. Just a little harder with book writer, screenwriter, producer, director, actors to discover whose message is really coming through. But fun to investigate.

Sorry to turn this into an epic, but the week's celebration of The Doctor was such a trip for me.

[Scootaloo]

6. The triumph of intellect and romance over brute force and cynicism

[progressoid]

8. +1

[Nye Bevan]

11. Hmmmm. He was pretty quick to blow away an Ogron with a laser gun

in "Day of the Daleks" (1972). And there have been a few other not quite so non-violent moments. But yes, most of the time he eschews weapons.

[ananda]

15. "I'm the Doctor.", "Dr. Who?" ...

... Fantastic!

Allons-y !!!

[Rosco T.]

48. Oh for heavens sake...

GALLIFREY STANDS!

[rdking647]

16. been a fan since the pertwee years

stopped watching during the davidson years but im back

[Township75]

17. You will be DELETED!

!

[laundry_queen]

22. Love him.

I have about 80 episodes saved on my DVR...gotta get to watching them all. (again.)

[Blaukraut]

24. My daughter actually turned me back to Dr. Who by lending me her Hartnell episodes

Now I'm more hooked than she is. I do prefer the new episodes. They seem to pull you in emotionally more so than the original doctor(s). So far, David Tennant is my favorite. His regeneration just about killed me! The 50th anniversary special was amazing.

[sakabatou]

25. But they also gave him an awesome metal theme song (video)

[nadinbrzezinski]

26. And it was a BBC production meant for kids

not an American studio. Very much a different culture. McGyver was intended to be a similar character. It changed after the original writing team was replaced, to increase ratings.

[dionysus]

31. thanks for your vast knowledge on this subject you know absolutely nothing about.

McGyver was a time and space traveling Time Lord...

[Richard D]

27. It's never "Dr." Always "Doctor Who".

I feel sorry for non-Whovians. It's just such an amazing ride.

[diabeticman]

28. Awesome show

Very power at times. And fans show their love by making these type of videos

[pokerfan]

29. dupe

[Tikki]

38. Can't wait to see Peter Capaldi…he is going to be grand.

Tikki

[cynatnite]

44. I do enjoy Dr. Who. Started it way back when I was half the height I am now...

I am rather fond of Torchwood, though. Captain Jack Harkness is my hero.

[Wolf Frankula]

50. The Doctor. Doctor Who? Exactly!

Yes he can get violent. But usually he triumphs by out thinking his opponents. He's a hero with brains, who uses them.

Wolf

[TheMastersNemesis]

51. I Have Virtually Every Episode Shown In Denver On Video Since The First VCR Was Sold

I am retired and could watch Dr. Who for a month or so continuously. Also have all the new DVD series to date except for the most recent. kCould have one heck of a Dr. Who party. I could be missing a few episodes not shown in Denver. Both public stations have shown the series. It is pretty expensive to buy the rights.

Also met Peter Davison when he was here in Denver years ago, Also saw Troughton in an old horror flick playing a police man recently on METV if I remember right,

[mr blur]

53. Doctor Who: 50 Years of Humanism (video)

For 50 years, "Doctor Who" has been a beacon of burnished humanism. Throughout its half century, it has consistently and boldly stood up for the dignity and respect of all. Here, I try to capture some of that essence. By interweaving quotes and images of every Doctor, and addressing subjects from the worth of every life, to the necessity to stand up to oppression, to the reality of pain and suffering, to the indispensability of skepticism, I hope I have, in my own insubstantial way, paid homage to not only one of the greatest science fiction shows ever made, but also one of the most meaningful voices in humanism. Enjoy.

[scarletlib]

55. Thank you for this Awesome Doctor Who thread

I have always loved the Doctor. Now I feel I have an even deeper understanding of him.
Also a big thank you to everyone who posted the video links.

You have made my day.

[JesterCS]

59. I absolutely love Dr Who

I didnt start watching until about a year ago, and then its only been the newer one.. Since Eccleston