Dr. Who is a terrible show

[Velotican]

One further point I'd add then is the show is designed, at least since 2005, with several points you can get on-board from as a neophyte to the show. The Christmas 2012 special is the most recent of these. There are two key points to each of these jump-on points:

1) The show's very long continuity is not disregarded and the newbie is aware that the Doctor has a major history to him, but the specifics of that history aren't necessarily important now; all that's important is that sense of history and a deep past.
2) The plot starts fresh with no major dangling plot threads that are required knowledge to understand the current storyline.

This also applies to the Sonic Screwdriver. In the canon, it didn't even exist until the Second Doctor invented it and not every Doctor has wanted to use it. Consequently, as its inventor, the Doctor is naturally going to repeatedly upgrade the hardware to perform ever more esoteric tasks. Even the recent arrival of the "red setting" is a long-dangling plot thread tied up. At this point the Screwdriver can be reasonably interpreted as an extension of the Doctor himself.

Maybe this is helpful?

 

[kilteroff]

Bahahahahhaha

I didn't mean to, I honestly was writing my post while you wrote yours, it was just a funny happenstance that I couldn't NOT capitalize on ^^ no offense. Dammit now I want a chili-cheese-chutney-friedegg-sammich D:[DOUBLEPOST=1369622628][/DOUBLEPOST]Velotican that does actually help a little, I don't mind a deus-ex as long as it has a decent explanation, which you provided, ty

A lot of my frustration is that I wanted to like this show so badly. My gf is hyper into it and I've been a giant nerd my whole life, figured it'd be the easiest thing in the world to like.... I was hyped! Every single episode just got worse and worse though, to me. By the end I was just angry and confused; "this show is soooooooooooooooooooo bad wtf do you like it!??!"

I'm not anti bbc america who doesn't like Top Gear.

 

[Velotican]

Given your particular interest in wanting a more substantial explanation for why the Doctor is the Doctor, it seems that sense of a past you don't know about isn't enough to satisfy you. In that case, I will make the rare recommendation that you should start with Classic Who. It will give you a far broader context of the show to work with. The show has an extremely thick canon.

The early episodes are victims of an older culture that had yet to realise that television could leave legacies, and so many of the earliest episodes are lost to wiped tapes. Start with the Third Doctor.

At that point, his race have recently got fed up with him constantly breaking their laws by interfering in history all over the place and have exiled him to Earth. (Oh, yeah, the Doctor's a career criminal in his culture by having the audacity to travel through time in the first place, that fact's been glossed over throughout the entire modern run because until very recently it was totally irrelevant! Nevermind that he eventually got pardoned... repeatedly.) As part of the punishment he was forced to regenerate from Two to Three and has been robbed of the knowledge required to pilot the TARDIS. You'll find it's very different from the modern show, yet not that different. Doctor Who has this habit of being able to be almost totally redesigned yet still be recognisable as the same show. You'll notice that with each new Doctor, as the production team have typically used that change as an opportunity to retool the show for the new actor(s).

Also consider that the show had a very limited budget back then. Novel use of visual effects is one of Classic Who's hallmarks. Even modern Who doesn't have anywhere near the budget you'd expect from a US production of equivalent significance (read: Star Trek) and has to improvise a lot.

 

[Lambert2191]

I'm English and I don't like Doctor Who. Don't really care that others do though.. but I guess I've never really tried to get into it.. a bit like Star Trek in that regard.

 

[kilteroff]

Interesting. I might do that, I appreciate sustained arcs (it's why babylon 5 was so amazing (post season 1)). Him being exiled is all news to me, sounds interesting. The budget / quality of set and effects in the new show has been bothering me as well. I understand on the old show, obviously, just like Star Trek TOS; but when new Star Trek comes out it doesn't still have foam monsters..

 

[GPuzzle]

Also, my first post was a joke. Sarcasm is something I can't create nor notice.
Self-depriciation humour, on the other hand...

It's just a matter of taste and how well you expressed yourself.
Initially, you were a head-on bash to the series.
Now, you are a comprehensible person.

I actually have something similar to you.
Code Geass.
I can't get why so many people like it!
It just is an anime about a revolution whose main symbolic leader is an arsehole.
If you had written your last post shortly after, I would probably be more kind-hearted to you.
A personal explanation is better than a "a Terrible Show".
See?
It's about how you write things.
Virgodess signature is preety good explaining what I said.
Also:
TumblrWh0res.

 

[Velotican]

The relatively low budget is because the show is funded by the BBC, which is funded by taxpayers. It still gets a disproportionate amount of attention in the budget due to being one of the few exportable products the BBC actually makes.

 

[kilteroff]

BBC is publicly funded?? News to me. Pardon my ignorance but I was under the impression there were only like ... 3 native television channels over there, with BBC being the crown-jewel that operated like channels over here.[DOUBLEPOST=1369624536][/DOUBLEPOST]

Also, my first post was a joke. Sarcasm is something I can't create nor notice.
Self-depriciation humour, on the other hand...

It's just a matter of taste and how well you expressed yourself.
Initially, you were a head-on bash to the series.
Now, you are a comprehensible person.

I actually have something similar to you.
Code Geass.
I can't get why so many people like it!
It just is an anime about a revolution whose main symbolic leader is an arsehole.
If you had written your last post shortly after, I would probably be more kind-hearted to you.
A personal explanation is better than a "a Terrible Show".
See?
It's about how you write things.
Virgodess signature is preety good explaining what I said.
Also:
TumblrWh0res.

Lol I'll live, I'm not a delicate flower. Don't get me started on modern anime.

 

[Henry Link]

I loved the older Doctor Who from the 70's despite it being as low budget as it was. I tried to watch a couple seasons of the new Doctor Who and I just couldn't get into most of them. They changed way to much of the story arc. No more Gallifry, Doctor Who is the last/only time lord left. I don't know... I just can't seem to get into the new ones that much. My favorite Doctor is still Tom Baker.

 

[GPuzzle]

Meh, my top 3 of anime is basically One Piece (first one I was introduced to), Cowboy Bebop and FLCL.
Other than those, anything by Ohba/Obata (Death Note and Bakuman) and Studio Gainax's EVERY SINGLE ANIME are the ones I liked.

 

[Velotican]

Your information is quite out of date, although that was true once.

The BBC has been publicly funded since its inception. The funds are acquired through a "TV Licence" - individuals wanting to use a TV had to purchase a licence to legally receive broadcasts. This made sense back when TVs were first invented but makes a lot less sense today until you remember that the BBC itself was a pioneer concept in television. At the same time, this structure has meant that the TV owner was invested in the BBC, and so traditionally the BBC has been seen as simultaneously having to answer to and serve the British taxpayer. This would be a major motivator behind Doctor Who's heavy focus on the UK audience first and foremost, by the way. The details can be found at the TV Tropes page.

The UK had three TV channels until 1982, then four until 1997, then five until 2008-2012, actually, when analog TV was retired and digital became mandatory by default. We have roughly 70 channels for free these days. Additionally we've had access to optional cable and satellite channels since the mid 80s and optional free digital TV since the late 90s. Other than the BBC all these rival channels are standard commercial stations you'd find anywhere else in the world with the appropriate agendas.

The one huge upside in that funding model is the fact that the BBC channels have absolutely no commercials except for their own content and only after a show, never during it. An hour-long show at the Beeb actually is an hour long, not 45 mins with padding.

 

[kilteroff]

I loved the older Doctor Who from the 70's despite it being as low budget as it was. I tried to watch a couple seasons of the new Doctor Who and I just couldn't get into most of them. They changed way to much of the story arc. No more Gallifry, Doctor Who is the last/only time lord left. I don't know... I just can't seem to get into the new ones that much. My favorite Doctor is still Tom Baker.

Yea seems like that's more up my alley, I'll give it a try.

 

[Gaston]

I loved the older Doctor Who from the 70's despite it being as low budget as it was. I tried to watch a couple seasons of the new Doctor Who and I just couldn't get into most of them. They changed way to much of the story arc. No more Gallifry, Doctor Who is the last/only time lord left. I don't know... I just can't seem to get into the new ones that much. My favorite Doctor is still Tom Baker.

He's not tha "last" one. The time lords are still alive, they are just waiting. They sort of have become bad guys to Earth, considering how they tried to use it to get out of the time lock.[DOUBLEPOST=1369663267][/DOUBLEPOST]See. I love Doctor Who. Mostly because that has been in my family for years, lol.
I understand why some people don't like and I don't judge them for that. People have gotten way too judgmental in this world, which is why I think it's gotten bad.
Kilt, I honestly hope there is a way for you to like Doctor Who.
If it's the newer version I understand.
If you have ANY questions about the Doctor Who story line just Pm and I'll do my best to answer.

 

[Jyric_Qaewyn]

I am personally a massive fan of doctor who, although I will concede that since Moffat took over it got worse and this series has been ****. The best episode's are the classic series and series 1 of the revival. These had the best, original plotlines with few Deus Ex Machinas. There was a man who ran doctor who for a bit called John Nathan Turner. He made the show a lot less reliant on the sonic and, at the time, K9. (The DW community managed to stop him from changing the TARDIS into something that isn't a police box though). If you want to see the best of doctor who, find a copy of City of Death or Caves of Androzani. They're generally considered to be the best episodes.

The Moffat series are aimed at kids. That's how it is. I still watch them but I'm waiting for someone else to take over.

 

[Exedra]

I am personally a massive fan of doctor who, although I will concede that since Moffat took over it got worse and this series has been ****. The best episode's are the classic series and series 1 of the revival. These had the best, original plotlines with few Deus Ex Machinas. There was a man who ran doctor who for a bit called John Nathan Turner. He made the show a lot less reliant on the sonic and, at the time, K9. (The DW community managed to stop him from changing the TARDIS into something that isn't a police box though). If you want to see the best of doctor who, find a copy of City of Death or Caves of Androzani. They're generally considered to be the best episodes.

The Moffat series are aimed at kids. That's how it is. I still watch them but I'm waiting for someone else to take over.

Weren't there rumors of someone taking over, and Moffat not being producer?

 

[kilteroff]

Ugh, forgot about K9. All discussion so far considered, it's still just impossible for me to take any scene with him in it seriously, I go have a smoke or something.

 

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Ugh, forgot about K9. All discussion so far considered, it's still just impossible for me to take any scene with him in it seriously, I go have a smoke or something.

I think you are missing the point about Dr. Who...

You aren't supposed to take it seriously. It's a cheesy, campy b-rated sci-fi series with garbage cans and plungers for bad guys. Who can take that seriously? That was all they could afford for SFX when it first started, and it got its popularity because of the campy SFX. So when they rebooted the series, they had to keep that aspect of the series, or they would alienate their entire target market audience.

The fun of Dr. Who is that it doesn't take itself seriously. It is so utterly and completely out there that it's gone from bad to hilariously funny. I mean, hell... look at Baker's doctor. He never even bothered to take himself seriously, much less anything else. And he was an absolute riot!

It is the TV equivalent of junk food. It's not healthy, it's not filling, but you just can't resist going back for another handful because it's just that tasty.

Like it or not, I don't really care which. But I think you're missing the whole point about the series.

 

[kilteroff]

I think you are missing the point about Dr. Who...

You aren't supposed to take it seriously.

Dude I get looked at like I'm Stalin when I talk about my dislike of the series, if I'm taking it too seriously I'm not alone...

 

[Gaston]

Maybe you are. Maybe you're not. The base of the fact, is that you don't like it, and that's your opinion. You have given reasons why you don't like that. So no one should be a brat to you about that.
I like Doctor Who, does that mean that everyone who doesn't like it is gonna be a jerk to me (I hope not)? No they should. There is really no rhyme or reason for this, there is no fact or proof, it's a I like you like scenario. Nobody should be a brat/jerk/idiot to someone just because they like something that you hate.
I won't look at you like you're Stalin, You wanna know why? Well.... I haven't seen pictures of him yet, so I don't know what he looks like. Lol.
But I won't cause this is your opinion. If someone thinks he's missing it, oh well. If he is, he is. Let's just all agree to disagree, we can still chat about it and how bad some parts are and everything, but please don't argue with each other.
(This is my toning down speech before the argument, wanted to see how it turned out)

 

[steelblueskies]

aside from the guinness record length, or initial airing slated for the same time as the kennedy assasination it's pretty off and on. even in the old material it tended to waffle.

for my part one always tends to seek some entertainment medium which isn't godlike, simply voluminous and unending(with a quality level somewhat above simply churning infomercials in the background). i think the current season is doing the derp pretty hard personally even compared to the new revival who to date. some of those were fairly good as seasonal arcs, quite aside specific episodics like rose( which was quite good, in much the same way the american ff3 celes throws herself off a cliff attempted suicide was "emotional/good" at its time).

but then i find most of the longer running shows have some fatal flaws aside from who as well, like star treks casual sex obsession which always seems more non sequitur than plot.

red dwarf is a bit too brusque and blatant with its attempts at humor, and plot is on par with the work of monkeys at typewriters on acid trips.

the stargate franchises had a bad tendency to rewrap the same package and resell it(though brownie points for self deprecating acknowledgement in sg-1's "200").

"who" is certainly not as illogical fluffykins as say, grimm. and at least from casting to casting tried to maintain internal consistency.(another reason current seasons derping it up to me).

its not a gameshow or reality tv so thats a plus.

its not in the tryhard sexual revolutionism of most of the book remakes by a certain channel network like the conversion of southern vampire diaries(true blood), or game of thrones.

it is not worse than most anime fantasy/sf.

meh. good sf/fantasy plot device plus inherently nonviolent/indirectly violent protagonist ala macgyver and effort at a "romp" style to each story while shooting for cross episode/cross writer arcs through a season.

just remember how much stock people put in superbowl commercials, and your rationalized comparisons should settle in a good place. those commercials usually have a bigger budget.