"Old School Doctor Who" Disappointing.

soldier4242

I decided to go back and see the original "Doctor Who" episodes. I am so hooked on the new episodes I just had to see where it all started especially since I have had a lot of people tell me that the old school episodes were way better.

I was majorly disappointed. I expected the special effects to suck and boy did they ever. I just though the writing to be top notch.

I have only recently finished "The Three Doctors" so hopefully it get a whole lot better very quickly but what I have seen up to this point is a real let down.

The plots are extremely contrived and full of holes.
The acting is horrible even when compared to other shows of its time period.
The characters make terrible decisions which often times don't even make any sense.
The episodes are over stuffed with filler. For example you will spent several minutes just watching a car drive from one place to another. It happens a lot.
The second doctor acts like an idiot. I am honestly not making that up either I wish I was. He is the JarJar Binks of the doctors so far. The villain Omega blatantly asks "Are you sure the two of you have the same level of intelligence?"
It wasn't even an act to trick Omega either the second doctor is a disgrace to the name and I wish he didn't exist.
The first doctor was not the intelligent insightful person you would expect either. The third doctor is much better.

So my question is if you are one of the diehards that actually thinks the old doctor who episodes are better than the doctor who we have today what are you basing it on?

The new episodes have better acting
Better writing
Better directing.
The stories are far better thought out and executed.
The new episodes have more thought provoking topics.

I think the old episodes must have been romanticized. Does this show just sky rocket in quality at a certain point that I haven't reached yet?

verptwerp

Thanks for sharing your experience ...... and here I was feeling badly that I hadn't watched them yet ......

For me, it's like comparing the earliest episodes of Star Trek against the Star Trek movies ...... everything HAD to get better, didn't it ?

But oh, those first episodes were AMAZING to a little kid !:

soldier4242

I think they can still be worth watching. My brother and I stopped taking the show seriously very quickly and we had a blast making fun of the episodes. I also see a lot of potential in cutting out the sound and dubbing in new voices.

southpaw211

I haven't gone back and really watched a lot of Classic Who. I watched with Tom Baker when I was a kid and they aired it on PBS and it always seemed scary to me, in a HR Puffinstuff meets Land of the Lost kind of way. We have been watching each of the episodes that BBC America has aired of "The Doctors Revisited". The only ones that kept my interest were Jon Pertwee (3rd) and Peter Davison (5th). Truth be told, I was just excited because I knew that was the episode where Adric bites it, and I pretty much hated that kid the minute he stepped on screen.

We are enjoying the specials and are mostly amused by the cheesiness of them, but I will take the current installment over Classic Who any day.

Now the old Mr. Bean episodes on the other hand - I can watch those with my little girls and we belly laugh through the entire episodes. Comedic gold!

soldier4242

I am holding out hope that once I reach the Tom Baker phase that the show will get a lot better. I have actually had people tell me that after the show lost Tom Baker it has just sucked. He had better be amazing is all I have to say.

CollegiateGrief

It was never AMAZING or anything... you kind of have to appreciate it for what it is, or not. Current Doctor Who is a top caliber sci-fi show, the classic series was always, I think, just sort of endearing.

It's much more simplistic. I don't know. I enjoy a few episodes here and there, but I think since I never watched it as a kid, it will always just be sort of an "Aww... nostalgic Who! How cute." to me.

I think anyone who claims it's actually better than new Who is just old and clinging to their childhood :ohwell:

But let's be honest, new Who was pretty rough there for awhile too.

southpaw211

But let's be honest, new Who was pretty rough there for awhile too.

Yes, the "absorbalax" episode almost ruined E.L.O. for me! That episode still gives me shudders, I don't care if a little kid designed the monster or not - unless he also wrote the episode, there is no excuse for that kind of junk.

My husband will not watch the 9th Doctor episodes - he thinks Eccleston was terrible. I don't think his delivery was right for the part, but that season turned out a couple of really worth episodes.

CollegiateGrief

But let's be honest, new Who was pretty rough there for awhile too.

Yes, the "absorbalax" episode almost ruined E.L.O. for me! That episode still gives me shudders, I don't care if a little kid designed the monster or not - unless he also wrote the episode, there is no excuse for that kind of junk.

I saw one of those "Still a better love story than Twilight" with the guy and his girlfriend after she was just a face on a slab of concrete and thought....

Nope. We've finally hit the limit of the "Still better than Twilight" meme.

soldier4242

I actually enjoyed the beginning of the absorbalax episode. I thought it was need to see the world from the point of view of a regular group of people and I thought it was neat that they formed a band. What destroys the episode is the way it all ended.

southpaw211

Agreed. It was fine until we got to see the monster running around with everyone's faces sprouting out of him. The last time I was amused by a disgusting, gelatinous, flies buzzing, farting monster was when they turned Chet into that thing in Weird Science. And that weird line at the end about their love life - WTF was that all about? :::Shudders::

I do really love ELO though.

soldier4242

I am normally a fan of the dark endings but for this specific episode I think it would have been better if the doctor was able to save these people. The humor of the episode was overwhelmed by the tragedy of it and the tragedy of the episode just didn't work because of the way the story was told. They spent so much time developing these characters only to have them all destroyed.

I think it would have been much better if the doctor laughed the villain off. He could have been like "Irreversible? Maybe if you don't know someone as clever as me. My people had your people figured out ages ago."

Then the doctor could totally own this stupid *kitten* alien and it would have made for a much better ending. These characters could be brought back in future episodes. The ending they went with was just ridiculous and unsatisfying.

CollegiateGrief

I am normally a fan of the dark endings but for this specific episode I think it would have been better if the doctor was able to save these people. The humor of the episode was overwhelmed by the tragedy of it and the tragedy of the episode just didn't work because of the way the story was told. They spent so much time developing these characters only to have them all destroyed.

I think it would have been much better if the doctor laughed the villain off. He could have been like "Irreversible? Maybe if you don't know someone as clever as me. My people had your people figured out ages ago."

Then the doctor could totally own this stupid *kitten* alien and it would have made for a much better ending. These characters could be brought back in future episodes. The ending they went with was just ridiculous and unsatisfying.

I completely agree, that would have made the whole episode so much better. The beginning WAS good, I loved the whole Scooby Doo scene with the Doctor and Rose.

tacticalhippie

I watch Classic Who as I am cleaning.
So I haven't really got into it much.

I have to admit, the past part of this Series with Clara was a big let down.
I can't quite pin it down...
It was all "in your face" no story build up, not a lot of character development.
I guess it was good because you could drop in at any episode and sort of know what was going on.
But at the end of the Series, even my mini Whovians were not impressed.

soldier4242

I guess the big question I have now is where are all these advocates for the original series. I know I have seen them on MFP and I know I have met them in real life and before I had seen these old school Doctor Who episodes I just assumed they knew what they were talking about. I thought I was missing out. I knew I loved these current episodes a lot so I figured that if the old school stuff was better I was in for a real treat.

Maybe it's that they want to be seen as people who are "true" fans and they want to make it sound like they are tapped in to a deeper understanding of the doctor because of these older episodes. They might be counting on the fact that most people won't go back and look at those older episodes.

I still hold out hope that eventually the show will hit its stride and become something great. I have yet to hit an episode that I would call good much less better.

TribeHokie

Hmm...I myself have been seriously considering going back and watching classic Who (especially since the roomie is paying for Netflix!), but after watching the first Aztec episode I started rethinking this plan. Your review makes me rethink even more. Let us know if you end up coming across something good in the vault!

Gabrielm80

A lot of the really good episodes are not on netflix streaming. I have yet found davros or a master one on streaming. There were some gripping episodes I can recall but not one is on netflix. Most of the ones I pull up is I kinda remember that but who cares about that one. Where is the doctor trapped on the dalek ship or davros rising from the dead? Where is the master and the doctor?

soldier4242

I am still holding out hope for the Tom Baker episodes. He is to this day the longest running incarnation of the doctor. He is often called the best doctor. It is possible that he is simply the most romanticized of old series doctors of perhaps that is the point where the show first started to get good.

CollegiateGrief

A lot of the really good episodes are not on netflix streaming. I have yet found davros or a master one on streaming. There were some gripping episodes I can recall but not one is on netflix. Most of the ones I pull up is I kinda remember that but who cares about that one. Where is the doctor trapped on the dalek ship or davros rising from the dead? Where is the master and the doctor?

There are just SO MANY series. I've picked a few to get the discs of on Netflix hoping they'll be better than most of the streaming ones.

I do love me some Pertwee though. My favorite classic Doc.

maab_connor

A lot of the really good episodes are not on netflix streaming. I have yet found davros or a master one on streaming. There were some gripping episodes I can recall but not one is on netflix. Most of the ones I pull up is I kinda remember that but who cares about that one. Where is the doctor trapped on the dalek ship or davros rising from the dead? Where is the master and the doctor?

i think that's part of the problem w/ The Doctors Revisited. they're choosing crap episodes. w/ the exception of showing Hartnell's Doctor in the first-ever episode, i have yet to agree w/ their choices. there were some real gems over the years, stuff that has shaped and formed the Doctor into who/what he is today. seeing Davros again with 10 was so much more chilling when you'd seen him before, when you knew who and what he was. the writing on the new Who is superb and they fill in the holes well for new fans, but having that basis gives a richer show experiance.

there's also the fact that television, and what audiences expect from an hour-long drama has changed DRASTICALLY over the years. and the Doctor has reflected that. from the black and white monster movie-esque weekly show of original Dark Shadows and Hartnell's Doctor, to the car chases of French Connection and Pertwee's Doctor, to the buddy-show of Dukes of Hazzard and Baker with Sladen (the twist of having a modern woman in the adventures rather than the lab), all the way up to the darker anti-hero of Watchmen and Eccleson, the eccentric genius of Criminal Minds and Tenant. Smith is more like watching YouTube for sloths and cats, you're never sure that he has any clue what he's doing, but it's entertaining to watch. LOL

we're no longer an audience who will put in the time for willing suspension of disbelief. so you see a zipper? ignore it, that is a giant lizard! now we don't want to have to ignore and imagine, that's what SFX are for. and i think that if you're willing to put in a tiny bit of imagination, then the originals are still magical. except for the ones that are crap.

soldier4242

I would not be able to accept the zipper if a modern film maker were to do that but if I am watching something older than of course I will expect the effects to be below the par for today.

I did not think the writing would be so bad and I did not expect the acting to be so bad.