You never forget your first Doctor...


Television

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Scarab Sages

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My first was during a PBS pledge drive. (I hadn't been in my apartment very long and the first season of Star Trek The Next Generation was airing, so it must have been 1988.) They were showing "The Five Doctors".
I was excited because I had heard of Doctor Who before, but had never seen it before. A couple of months later they started showing the Tom Baker stories then the Peter Davison ones.
After the show was cancelled I started purchasing all the episodes on VHS. Took years to complete the VHS set. The last one to come out was "Reign of Terror."
My favorite Doctor is Sylvester McCoy.


The one I mentioned up thread that sacred the bejeezus out of poor little Hitdice was The Sontaran Experiment. As Matt Thomason has said, on later viewings it just looked like space Humpty-Dumpty wandering through an endless series of empty fields.

I think that was always strength of Dr Who: in spite of the cheesy costumes and lack of anything even approaching a budget, the actors delivered their lines with a straight face, and it worked.

Silver Crusade

I had to think hard about it, but I was six at the time when I first saw the Doctor. Tom Baker era, when the PBS station in my area was actually carrying the show. It was a broadcast of Genesis of the Daleks, and I caught it one Saturday afternoon, where they aired all six parts back to back. Talk about blowing the mind of an impressionable young kid! I didn't quite get what I saw, but it left enough of an impression on me to get me to check that station for more of the funny talking man in the scarf.

Favorite Doctor: Tom Baker (though Tennant comes in a very close second, followed by, believe it or not, William Hartnell).


"Victory of the Daleks". Only watched because I was hanging out with friends and they insisted. Have watched continuously since series 6 began, and have seen scattered episodes of Eccleston's and Tennant's run.
Tennant is my favorite Doctor so far, and my favorite episode has been "The Next Doctor".

Silver Crusade

Is this what it feels like when your first Doctor leaves?

;_;

One hell of a send off though.


Mikaze wrote:

Is this what it feels like when your first Doctor leaves?

;_;

One hell of a send off though.

:'(


My first episode of Doctor Who was Genesis of the Daleks on PBS; yet as time went by and I got to see a broader swath of the show, Jon Pertwee and his UNIT team became my favorite era of the show--and that holds true even now.


Blayde MacRonan wrote:
followed by, believe it or not, William Hartnell.

Hartnell was great in the role.

Silver Crusade

First Doctor was Tom Baker. Saw episodes from PBS during the 80's. I hatred they interrupted episodes for pledge drives. Took forever to get to see an entire episode.


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Tom Baker. PBS reruns.

I remember it distinctly, the theme of the show drew me in.

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Danubus wrote:
First Doctor was Tom Baker. Saw episodes from PBS during the 80's. I hatred they interrupted episodes for pledge drives. Took forever to get to see an entire episode.

Oh wow I'd all but forgotten about that. Yeah PBS was great because they had Who but there was definetly annoying practices with their programming. Kids today have it so nice.

Grand Lodge

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KSF wrote:
Blayde MacRonan wrote:
followed by, believe it or not, William Hartnell.
Hartnell was great in the role.

There was a recent movie about the creation of Dr. Who "Adventures in Time and Space". which takes you into the Genesis of Dr. Who with focus on William Hartnell and Dr. Who's original creator Verity Lambert. You can see what kind of stiff upper lip guy Hartnell was when he's given notice it's time for him to go.


LazarX wrote:
KSF wrote:
Blayde MacRonan wrote:
followed by, believe it or not, William Hartnell.
Hartnell was great in the role.
There was a recent movie about the creation of Dr. Who "Adventures in Time and Space". which takes you into the Genesis of Dr. Who with focus on William Hartnell and Dr. Who's original creator Verity Lambert. You can see what kind of stiff upper lip guy Hartnell was when he's given notice it's time for him to go.

I just rewatched that last night. Very moving, by the end. And a great performance by David Bradley as Hartnell.


Mine was Pertwee and the earliest episode that I recall were the Sea Devils. I also remember Roger Delgado's Master was the ultimate bad guy too!

Shadow Lodge

KSF wrote:


There was a recent movie about the creation of Dr. Who "Adventures in Time and Space". which takes you into the Genesis of Dr. Who with focus on William Hartnell and Dr. Who's original creator Verity Lambert. You can see what kind of stiff upper lip guy Hartnell was when he's given notice it's time for him to go.

Where can I find this?


It hasn't been legally released in the States yet


Kerney wrote:
LazarX wrote:


There was a recent movie about the creation of Dr. Who "Adventures in Time and Space". which takes you into the Genesis of Dr. Who with focus on William Hartnell and Dr. Who's original creator Verity Lambert. You can see what kind of stiff upper lip guy Hartnell was when he's given notice it's time for him to go.
Where can I find this?
QXL99 wrote:
It hasn't been legally released in the States yet

Actually, that's incorrect. It has been legally released in the US by the BBC. It was available the day after it's initial broadcast. It's up on iTunes.

Do a search in the iTunes store for Doctor Who 50th Anniversary. Or click here to bring up the iTunes page in your browser.

The "SD" version (720p) is $5, the "HD" version (1080p) is $7. Runs 83 minutes. I thought it was worth the five bucks.


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I think he was talking about the Adventures in Time and Space movie...

Dark Archive

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I swear that my first experience with The Doctor was an animated show, which my memory seems to think involved Four. The Internet, however, disagrees with me, and has the audacity to suggest that such a show never existed.

Discarding that, the first real brush with the series was when Sci-Fi started playing episodes. These were pretty much entirely from Four's adventures, and the first I remember was a story where Four comes down with some alien virus that makes his eyebrows grow really long and white. Research suggests this is The Invisible Enemy. I really didn't get into it until they played The Five Doctors, and that really cemented my love of the show. I loved the interplay between all of The Doctors, and you could tell all of them were returning to a role they loved (except for the guy that played One, of course, but he did a very good job of playing Hartnell's role).

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Kryzbyn wrote:
I think he was talking about the Adventures in Time and Space movie...

So was KSF. "An Adventure in Time and Space" is available on iTunes under "Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Collection." Along with the Doctors Revisited episodes and such.

(*Do be sure to look up "an adventure in..." --- "Adventures in.." is the Cubicle 7 RPG)

Misroi, if you happened to see such an animation relatively recently, it might have been one of the Flash animations that used to be on the Website (or the even more recent David Tennant animated series), but otherwise, sadly, no, there was no Doctor Who cartoon. :)


I remember some reruns when I was a tot. I started watching again when Christopher Eccleston played the 9th doctor and Rose was his trusty sidekick.


Misroi wrote:
I swear that my first experience with The Doctor was an animated show, which my memory seems to think involved Four. The Internet, however, disagrees with me, and has the audacity to suggest that such a show never existed.

There was something called "Scream of the Shalka," which was an online flash cartoon done in 2003 with Richard E. Grant in the title role, as then then semi-official (and since discarded) Ninth Doctor. There's info about it (and possibly the actually cartoon) on the BBC's Classic Doctor Who site.

And there was an animated version of the lost Tom Baker story, "Shada" (lost due to a strike at the BBC), which again was an online flash cartoon in 2003 (with Big Finish involved). This was a complete redo of the partially shot story, with Tom Baker's role recast and the story rewritten for Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor. (The did bring back Lalla Ward and John Leeson as Romana and K-9). There's info, and again I think the actual cartoon at the BBC's site as well.

Could either of those be the ones you're thinking of?

DeathQuaker wrote:
"An Adventure in Time and Space" is available on iTunes under "Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Collection." Along with the Doctors Revisited episodes and such.

Yeah, I should have made that more clear.

Dark Archive

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I'm pretty sure you're right, DeathQuaker. I'm not sure what show it was that I saw back then, but my brain probably attached The Doctor to it retroactively. Memory works in very strange ways.

And is it weird of me to say I kinda enjoyed watching the episode they put together for "Shada," using the original footage with Tom Baker recounting what would have happened? Anything that puts Tom close to the TARDIS again a Good Thing.


My earliest clear Doctor Who memory is stumbling across "The Five Doctors" on PBS in (I'm 99% sure) 1987... and asking my parents why Moe was on Doctor Who! (It was actually Patrick Troughton, and not one of the Three Stooges, of course.) I don't remember if I continued watching it at that time, but I do know "The Five Doctors" was a favorite to rewatch by late 1987...

Logically, I must have been aware of the show before that, but not likely much earlier. Presumably my actual first Doctor was Tom Baker, though I can't actually recall that. But it pretty much had to be him, or maybe Jon Pertwee.

Sylvester McCoy also holds a special place in my heart, as I got to watch his serials when they were "new" (on PBS in the States, that is).

Shadow Lodge

KSF wrote:


And there was an animated version of the lost Tom Baker story, "Shada" (lost due to a strike at the BBC), which again was an online flash cartoon in 2003 (with Big Finish involved). This was a complete redo of the partially shot story, with Tom Baker's role recast and the story rewritten for Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor. (The did bring back Lalla Ward and John Leeson as Romana and K-9). There's info, and again I think the actual cartoon at the BBC's site as well.

Could either of those be the ones you're thinking of?

DeathQuaker wrote:
"An Adventure in Time and Space" is available on iTunes under "Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Collection." Along with the Doctors Revisited episodes and such.
Yeah, I should have made that more clear.

There is another animated one called Death Comes to Time, made in 2003-4, that's not on the BBC site (Saw it on Youtube a while back) and like Shalka is not cannon in part because--

Spoiler:
The Doctor, played by Slyvester Mccoy, dies for real

Silver Crusade

LazarX wrote:
KSF wrote:
Blayde MacRonan wrote:
followed by, believe it or not, William Hartnell.
Hartnell was great in the role.
There was a recent movie about the creation of Dr. Who "Adventures in Time and Space". which takes you into the Genesis of Dr. Who with focus on William Hartnell and Dr. Who's original creator Verity Lambert. You can see what kind of stiff upper lip guy Hartnell was when he's given notice it's time for him to go.

I was told about that. Each time it has come on, I've missed it. However I have it on good authority that it will be back on BBC America again Tuesday during their Dr. Who New Year's Eve Marathon. I'm taking the time to make sure I catch it this go round.


Kerney wrote:

There is another animated one called Death Comes to Time, made in 2003-4, that's not on the BBC site (Saw it on Youtube a while back) and like Shalka is not cannon in part because--

** spoiler omitted **

Interesting. Thanks.


Blayde MacRonan wrote:
LazarX wrote:
KSF wrote:
Blayde MacRonan wrote:
followed by, believe it or not, William Hartnell.
Hartnell was great in the role.
There was a recent movie about the creation of Dr. Who "Adventures in Time and Space". which takes you into the Genesis of Dr. Who with focus on William Hartnell and Dr. Who's original creator Verity Lambert. You can see what kind of stiff upper lip guy Hartnell was when he's given notice it's time for him to go.
I was told about that. Each time it has come on, I've missed it. However I have it on good authority that it will be back on BBC America again Tuesday during their Dr. Who New Year's Eve Marathon. I'm taking the time to make sure I catch it this go round.

If you've never seen it, and have time and access, watch a bit of "An Unearthly Child," the very first Doctor Who episode. They do a nice job of recreating bits of it in the special.

Speaking of which, Waris Hussein has a few words on the special in this Radio Times article (near the end). The guy was only 24 when he directed that first episode.

Silver Crusade

KSF wrote:
Blayde MacRonan wrote:
LazarX wrote:
KSF wrote:
Blayde MacRonan wrote:
followed by, believe it or not, William Hartnell.
Hartnell was great in the role.
There was a recent movie about the creation of Dr. Who "Adventures in Time and Space". which takes you into the Genesis of Dr. Who with focus on William Hartnell and Dr. Who's original creator Verity Lambert. You can see what kind of stiff upper lip guy Hartnell was when he's given notice it's time for him to go.
I was told about that. Each time it has come on, I've missed it. However I have it on good authority that it will be back on BBC America again Tuesday during their Dr. Who New Year's Eve Marathon. I'm taking the time to make sure I catch it this go round.

If you've never seen it, and have time and access, watch a bit of "An Unearthly Child," the very first Doctor Who episode. They do a nice job of recreating bits of it in the special.

Good to know!


Tom Baker
The Pyramids of Mars back in 1978 on PBS.

The "Mummies" stuck with me over all these years.
Watched it again on DVD---still fun if a bit dated.

Silver Crusade

Finally watched "Adventures in Time and Space" and I have to say that I enjoyed it immensely. It was pretty cool watching the portrayal of Hartnell going from not really liking the character to totally becoming the Doctor, which, of course, made it all the more heartbreaking when the end came.

Like many, I found Matt Smith's appearance distracting and totally unnecessary given the otherwise masterful performance by David Bradley. I understand what was being attempted, but it was uncalled for and in my mind incredibly short sighted, as it dates the movie as opposed to giving it a timeless feel.


They've revealed what Capaldi's new costume will look like. It's a bit of a change, as one might expect. Wonder what it means in terms of a tonal shift for the show.

I'm liking it. (Thought I have to say, Matt Smith's final outfit, which you can see Capaldi wearing in another picture in the article, looks good on him as well.)


Blayde MacRonan wrote:
Finally watched "Adventures in Time and Space" and I have to say that I enjoyed it immensely. It was pretty cool watching the portrayal of Hartnell going from not really liking the character to totally becoming the Doctor, which, of course, made it all the more heartbreaking when the end came.

Yeah, it's really quite moving, especially by the end.

Edit to add: There's a larger version of the picture here.

Shadow Lodge

KSF wrote:
Blayde MacRonan wrote:
followed by, believe it or not, William Hartnell.
Hartnell was great in the role.

If Hartnell hadn't been so great, none of the other would have gotten the chance to even be good.

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KSF wrote:

They've revealed what Capaldi's new costume will look like. It's a bit of a change, as one might expect. Wonder what it means in terms of a tonal shift for the show.

I'm liking it. (Thought I have to say, Matt Smith's final outfit, which you can see Capaldi wearing in another picture in the article, looks good on him as well.)

Interesting. It gives me a little bit of a Peter Cushing Doctor vibe, albeit with a cool rather than warm color scheme.


Tom Baker - Revenge of the Cybermen

It was either 1979 or 1980. We were in Florida visiting my grandparents, and it was a Sunday morning, very early. I was 10. I had woken up early and went into the living room and turned on the TV to find something to watch. It was early Sunday morning, with no cable, so my options were very limited. I found the local PBS station, and the Doctor and Sarah Jane were on this space station that was going to crash into Voga, the Planet of Gold. I was fascinated. After we came home, I went looking for Doctor Who on my local PBS, and I was very happy when I found it. And it was even the same Doctor!


Shots from on set of the new costume.

Looking very nice.

Dark Archive

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The red lining feels like a bit of a callback to Pertwee's outfit as well.


My first was the final episode of "City of Death", seen on public TV in Troy, New York in 1980 or 1981.


Corathon wrote:
My first was the final episode of "City of Death", seen on public TV in Troy, New York in 1980 or 1981.

That is a solid place to start. (Apart from it being the final episode, maybe.)


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Misroi wrote:
The red lining feels like a bit of a callback to Pertwee's outfit as well.

This is dumb, but I was just talking to a friend about the new costume, and then suddenly realized and said: "It's redder on the inside."

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