Watching Doctor Who

As most of you know there have been ten different television-based incarnations of The Doctor (soon to be eleven). The original show ran from 1963-1989 (7 Doctors during that time), then there was an American-made film for television (loved the Doctor, thought that the film itself was not the best ever…), and then the new series that began in 2005. Now, I’m sure that you all know that the current series is designed rather like most American television shows, in that the episodes are about an hour in length (when you include advertisements). The Classic series wasn’t like that. One story could last up to twelve episodes (in the case of The Dalek Masterplan), with a cliff-hanger generally at the end of each one. Now, granted that the current series does include some two-parters, but it’s still not quite the same thing. So, I offer you a basis for comparison. (Yes, this would be another one of my lists. Oh, and for the record, I am not including multi-doctor episodes in the tally of any other than the reigning Doctor at the time.)

1. William Hartnell - 1963-1966
29 Stories/134 Episodes (25 minutes each)

2. Patrick Troughton - 1966-1969
21 Stories/119 Episodes (25 minutes each)

3. Jon Pertwee - 1970-1974
24 Stories/128 Episodes (now in color)

4. Tom Baker - 1974-1981
42 Stories/178 Episodes (if you include Shada)

5. Peter Davison - 1982-1984
20 Stories/69 Episodes

6. Colin Baker - 1984-1986
11 Stories/31 Episodes (45 minutes each after The Twin Dilemma, then back to 25 minutes each during Trial of a Time Lord)

7. Sylvester McCoy - 1987-1989 (and 1996 film)
12 Stories/42 Episodes (and the film)

8. Paul McGann - 1996 film
The American Film (and many audio adventures)

9. Christopher Eccleston - 2005
13 Episodes

10. David Tennant - 2006-2010?
39 Episodes, 4 Christmas Specials, 3 other specials…

11. Matt Smith - 2010-?

The Doctor, William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, Doctor Who

Here we see the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theater with another Doctor Who-related video. This time around they’re attempting to sing the names of all eleven Doctors while standing in front of one of their “Edinburgh TARDISes.” (As seen in a couple of their previous videos.) They even throw in the Doctors from the Curse of Fatal Death, a spoof written by a certain Steven Moffat you may recall. Clever hand puppets, aren’t they? I’m quite amused by their stated reasoning for liking Matt Smith. Yes, a Doctor with two single syllable names certainly makes it easier to work said name into a song. What could they possibly come up with next? An ode to K-9? A marathon of Companion names? Personally, I can’t wait to find out.

Enjoy!

The 11 Doctor Whos Name Song:

Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theater, Doctor Who, Matt Smith

(Like me, Mooker Strabinski is glad to have the good Doctor back on television. Oh, those terrible drought years! Do you have a My First Doctor story that you wish to share? Please e-mail it to me by using the “Contact Me” link near the top right of the blog. Thanks for telling us your story, Mooker!)

My First Doctor: by Mooker Strabinski

I first saw Dr Who in or around 1977, on PBS, out of Chicago. I remember watching it with my brother, staying up late one Saturday, since my parents were out.

When the theme music came on, we looked at each other. I had never heard anything like it, and from that first episode, we were hooked.

Jon Pertwee was my first Doctor, since new episodes were never shown here. I believe that the first episode that I saw was Day of the Daleks.

Someone at PBS seemed to favor Tom Baker, as he is the only Doctor that I saw for quite a few years to come, in many, many reruns.

When PBS pulled the good Doctor from their lineup, I was beside myself. Unable to watch anymore, and there was nothing that I could do about it. It wasn’t until I finally got BBC America a few years back that I was able to catch up. I was without the Doctor for nearly 15 years…the horror, the horror.

Image Source: BBC Doctor Who Site

My First Doctor, Jon Pertwee

As I’m sure you all know by now, I tend to spend a fair amount of time surfing around on Youtube. There’s just so much stuff to look at over there. Today I bring you two videos for the price of one.

The price of one, being “free” in this case…but you get the idea.

The first video isn’t available to be embedded, sadly, but I can offer you a link. In 1979, British television played a spoof called Doctor Eyes. Can Doctor Eyes and Gloria survive the planet Chromokey? It’s a bit of silliness, but worth it for the giggle.

My second video offering today is from the 1985 Children in Need special. All you have to do is watch one of the special guests to know that it’s 1985. He’s dressed a wee bit like Rose’s dad in Father’s Day. Also, I’ve never really thought of the TARDIS as a clown car, but watching this video brings the image to mind. It’s more of a class reunion than a special scene or anything. Still, it’s worth watching for the memory jog. Enjoy!

Doctor Who Children in Need 1985:

Doctor Eyes, Doctor Who, Children in Need

Remember how I mentioned the other day that I am now the proud owner of a box of Doctor Who coolness? Well, let me give you a better idea of what I’m talking about. (All hail Michael for giving this stuff to me.)

Okay, here’s a sort of top view of the magazine stack. I’m currently in the process of organizing all of this. Hey. I’m a Librarian. What do you expect?

This side view gives you a better idea of how big the stacks actually are. …And a lovely picture of part of my knee.

In case you were wondering, that is in fact Jon Pertwee’s autograph. Yes! Now I have both the 2nd and the 3rd Doctors’ autographs.

I even received three 45s of coolness. Now I just need my husband to fix that speed on my record player.

Anyway, at some point I obviously need to have a contest, as I have a few duplicate Classic Who magazines now. I’ll have to come up with something fun. Perhaps for the 2nd anniversary of this blog in November. Hmmm…

There you go. This way we are guaranteed bits of flashback fun during the Who drought.

Doctor Who, Jon Pertwee

Okay, this one is for The Vig. It’s a follow-up to my question about which companion costume you’d choose. This week I’m wondering: Which of the Doctor’s outfits would you like to wear? There are ten Doctors to choose from, and some of them even have a few different outfits to choose from. So, what will you choose? Are you a fan of the tenth Doctor’s blue suit? Do you have a secret yen for celery on your lapel? Perhaps you prefer a cloak and a frilly shirt. Let me know. To help you jog your memory of our Doctor’s stylish choices I am including links below. (No chance of wandering off this time, sorry. Just stick with our ten versions if you please.)

Doctor…who? (I get that a lot…)

• The First Doctor
• The Second Doctor
• The Third Doctor
• The Fourth Doctor
• The Fifth Doctor
• The Sixth Doctor
• The Seventh Doctor
• The Eighth Doctor
• The Ninth Doctor
• The Tenth Doctor

I actually have a thing for waistcoats, so is it any great surprise that I have chosen the eighth Doctor’s outfit? Actually, I think I’d look quite nice in it, and not merely because I’d have to get it custom made to fit me. (I’m five feet tall, for those of you who don’t know.) Mind you, I’d have to learn how to tie a cravat, but that would be a small price to pay.

So. Who’s outfit did you chose?

8th Dr. Image: BBC

As you can probably tell, I have been surfing around on YouTube again. Once before, I offered you a video that included all of the Doctor Who intros blending into one another. That video was very well done, but it didn’t have the time to present you with more than bits and pieces of each intro. This time I bring you the intros of the first three Doctors in their entirety. I have included both the 1970 and 1973 versions of the Third Doctor Intro. You may note that you can see the lineage of the first two Doctor’s intros in the 1970 version of the Third Doctor intro, whereas the 1973 version has a whole new look to it that will carry through into the Fourth Doctor’s sequence. Listen closely to the differences between each version of the theme tune. Enjoy!

The First Doctor Intro:

(more…)

YouTube, Doctor Who

I thought that it might be fun to do a Thursday Thirteen this week, so I offer you Thirteen people who have played The Doctor at various times. I know that there are more folks that I could add (Peter Cushing for example, though technically he played “Dr. Who.”) but I had to stick with thirteen. Anyway, I hope that you enjoy my list.

13 People Who Have Played The Doctor (in no particular order)

1. Christopher Eccleston (9th Doctor)
2. Mark Gatiss (The Web of Caves)
3. David Tennant (10th Doctor)
4. Hugh Grant (The Curse of Fatal Death – The (Handsome) 12th Doctor)
5. William Hartnell (1st Doctor)
6. Paul McGann (8th Doctor)
7. Tom Baker (4th Doctor)
8. Sylvester McCoy (7th Doctor)
9. Patrick Troughton (2nd Doctor)
10. Richard Hurndall (The 1st Doctor in The Five Doctors [William Hartnell had passed away])
11. Peter Davison (5th Doctor)
12. Colin Baker (6th Doctor)
13. Jon Pertwee (3rd Doctor)

Thursday Thirteen, Peter Cushing, Christopher Eccleston, Mark Gatiss, David Tennant, Hugh Grant, William Hartnell, Paul McGann, Tom Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Patrick Troughton, Richard Hurndall, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Jon Pertwee

This is pretty much what it says on the tin. 43 years, 10 Doctors, 5-and-a-half-minutes. For those of you who are not particularly familiar with the classic series of Doctor Who, here is a video that covers some of the important and amusing bits from each of the first ten Doctors. It’s sort of like a visit to the department of backstory, actually. The Doctor has been fighting the monsters for a very long time. (Great job with the vid, bishopzero!) Enjoy!

Doctor Who

Look what I found. This is a video containing all of the Doctor Who title sequences complete with title music. (Not each entire sequence, rather more of a continuous melding of once sequence into another.) Someone by the handle of “royalmarriage” over at Youtube put this together, and I think that they did a great job. They even included one of the 3rd Doctor sequences that I had completely forgotten about. For those of you who have not seen much of the classic series, this video will give you a better idea how the opening titles, and title theme, have changed throughout the years.

Doctor Who, 3rd Doctor