[Doctor Who] Differences between Incarnations of The Doctor

[Crazedwraith]

The oldest memory I have of Doctor Who, is being really terrified of an episode with maggots. (i can't remember which Doctor this was. Just that it had killer maggots.) I'd also I think it must have been Tom Baker trying to stop the creation of the Daleks.

Why am I telling this? Well to outline that only Doctor Who I can claim to be familiar with is New Who. Now as far as I can tell, there really doesn't seem to be that big a distinction between the three incarnations of the Doctor presented thus far. They all had pretty similar mannerisms. The hyperactivity, the fondest for human ingenuity and so forth. To me aside from the outfits and a few catch phrases (Fantastic!/Alonse! and so forth) you could pretty much interchange all the incarnations and the stories would pretty much be the same. Whereas, from what I've read on wikipedia at least, in the good old days, it seems like the incarnations were a lot more distinct personality wise.

So my questions are these:
Am I overstating the similarity between the nuWho doctors?

And, for those golden oldies among you, (or those who've just watched more re-runs/dvds than me) how different were the old incarnations from each other? Is it just a matter of costumes and the actor's own flair? OR were they actually very different people? I mean Ten seemed to claim regeneration was akin to death for him which to me constitutes quite a big change but Timelord's are still counted as the same person from one regeneration to the next.


On a tangential note does anyone know which doctor/story it was with the maggots?

[DaveJB]

The oldest memory I have of Doctor Who, is being really terrified of an episode with maggots. (i can't remember which Doctor this was. Just that it had killer maggots.) I'd also I think it must have been Tom Baker trying to stop the creation of the Daleks.

...

On a tangential note does anyone know which doctor/story it was with the maggots?

The Green Death, which starred Jon Pertwee's Doctor. Which, as it happens, is also the first Doctor Who story that I ever remember watching.

[Shroom Man 777]

I get the same feeling Crazedwraith has. The Nine, Ten and Eleven are very familiar. Save for the accents, and how Nine looked way more broody and how Tennant degenerated into over-acting, they feel very much the same person. Is this a good thing? It IS the same person, just with different physical features, it is STILL the Doctor and he can't be too different at all! Or is this a bad thing? Are Doctors SUPPOSED to become totally different, even in terms of personalities, whenever they regenerate?

[NecronLord]

The bew ones are more similar than the old; seven particularly so. Even eight is more distinct in his brief film with seven (pure is the word I'd use) three also very much so.

[PREDATOR490]

1 - Didnt know this Doctor - Never seen this one
2 - Didnt know this Doctor - Never seen this one - Mums favourite
3 - John Pertwee - Decent Doctor for the time. From very distant memory I can recall:
Autons (Decent episode and the first of John Pertwee becoming the Doctor),
Maggots (Dont remember much of that. Liz Shaw was the assistant though) ,
Spiders (Which was actually the pre-lude to Tom Bakers arrival),
Deaomn (Master Episode),
There is another master episode (Incidentally, this was actually the best master of the lot including NuWho.), something to do with a yeti monster in a power station I think ?
Daleks - Something to do with a massive building that had a lighthouse beacon at the top. Some sort of field prevented the Daleks from using their normal weapons so they started using actual guns. As I recall the Doctor teams up with the Daleks briefly before they do the double cross.

The overall jist of the Pertwee years was the Doctor being banished to Earth by the Timelords I think and forced to regenerate from 2 to 3. This lead into the Auton story and Liz Shaw. Pretty UNIT heavy naturally and Pertwee came across as a more intelligent Doctor with a knack for gadgets. (Car that drives by remote control comes to mind). The latter Pertwee run had Sarah Smith show up and carry through to Tom Baker in Planet of the Spiders ?

4 - Tom Baker

Started with I,Robot
Finished with the Master helping the Autons come back with new gizmos. As I recall the Doctor falls to his death from a massive sat dish and sees his future regeneration...

Tom Baker had one of the longest runs and is commonly known for his fantastic charisma at being the Doctor. Good for laughs but had a few 'serious' moments which I think he played well. I.E Genesis of the Daleks he debates wether he has the right to destroy the Daleks. Of course it didnt help either way but oh well. I really like that 'stepped in landmine' scene from that episode.

5 - Jim Davidson

Kinda liked him but his run was pretty shit. Daleks, Cybermen, White Guardian and alot of his stories were kinda wierd. The companions were pretty beak as well.
Tolo - Slimy little shit that should have been booted out before he even arrived
Adric - Got killed by his own stupdity as I recall.
2 Female companions, cant remember them at all.

I would say Jim Davidson was more serious but he still came across as decently intelligent. He didnt seem to project as much but I suspect thats the problem with having him following after Tom Baker.

Died saving his companion as I recall.

6 - Colin Baker

Sorry, fucking hated this guy.
I saw a few episodes and they were morbid, dark and generally annoying. This Doctor was arrogant and more of an asshole.
His 'costume' was an eye sore as well. This is where Bonnie Langford appears and I just stopped watching.

7 - Sylvester McCoy

My favourite Doctor minus having to deal with Bonnie Langford for a bit. Ace makes her appearance with her homemade explosives and the balls to take a baseball bat to a Dalek. Sadly this is where Doctor Who seemed to go to utter shit in terms of consistancy with wierd episodes and eventually getting canned.

As I recall McCoy was once again more about brains than running around. With the added benefit he was more of a teacher to Ace with her calling him the Professor and trying to encourage her to use her brains AKAIK.

8 - No idea who he was

Didnt really like this movie and I would have prefered they divorce it from canon but it appears they decided to roll with it. Didnt get enough of a glimpse of this Doctor to really judge what he was like. I presume the EU goes into depth about him but I dont read it.

I havent seen the entire of Doctor Who and what I remember is sketchy. Tom Baker is the most memorable, John Pertwee as well but near the end of Tom Baker's run starts dropping gradually to the point it dies with McCoy.

From what I recall, the Doctor has always been intelligent with a bit of crazy thrown in but they at least came across as lucid. The new Doctors are all excessively hyperactive and a bad case of over-acting being crazy. Its like a really bad imitation of Tom Baker taking to extreme levels while using actors that are fairly weak at being able to project that kind of charisma AND be able to switch to being serious when the series demands it.

When I imagine Tennant stepping in that landmine all I can see happening is him waving his sonic screwdriver aimlessly to fix it with a caught in headlights or cant be bothered because I have a character shield look. It also helps when the Doctor acts with a bit of dignity rather than sheepishly whine that life isnt fair. Tom Baker faced his regeneration with grace from what I recall.

Maybe others will have better memories of the past incarnations but until I get my collection back I only have memories of watching them from 10 - 20 years ago.

[Temujin]

Granted my experience with classic who is limited to only Doctors 2, 3, 4 and 7; but they were all a lot more different than 9, 10, and what little we've seen of 11.

As for the similarities of the current incarnations, I'm willing to chalk that up to Davies' limited vision for the franchise. Hopefully Moffat and Smith can give this latest incarnation some distinction.

[Starglider]

You'd expect this anyway. Human personality is more much malleable over the first 30 years of someone's life than the last 30. The later incarnations have much more shared experience defining their personalities.

More variety for the companions is a higher priority than more variety for the Doctor. We've had 2 x young clueless-but-plucky contemporary earth girls, 1 x young mostly-competent contemporary earth girl, 1 x slightly older clueless-but-plucky contemporary earth woman. The first five doctors had aliens, marines, kids, androids, schoolteachers, spies for evil gods, robot dogs, prehistoric savages and of course a Time Lady.

[mr friendly guy]

The oldest memory I have of Doctor Who, is being really terrified of an episode with maggots. (i can't remember which Doctor this was. Just that it had killer maggots.) I'd also I think it must have been Tom Baker trying to stop the creation of the Daleks.

You are thinking of the Green Death and Genesis of the Daleks respectively. Generally in classic Who the incarnations were quite different.
William Hartnell's Doctor was a grumpy old man.
Patrick Troughton played the clown.
Jon Pertwee was the "dandy".
Tom Baker was, well awesome.
Peter Davison because he was younger potrayed himself as an older brother.
Colin Baker was just mad and weird.
Sylvester McCoy became very manipulative and mysterious at the end of his reign.

I think for NuWho they try and takes bits and pieces of the previous Doctor's personality and mesh them together, so you will inevitably look similar.

[Stark]

I think much of this sense is just due to Tennant's style of showing a direct evolution from Eccleston. He ended up a self-parody of hamminess, but initially it was dramatically linked. In the past, they generally went balls-out to demonstrate the differences as dramatically and quickly as possible.

[Jade Falcon]

3 - John Pertwee - Decent Doctor for the time. From very distant memory I can recall:
Autons (Decent episode and the first of John Pertwee becoming the Doctor),

Spearhead from Space was the first Autons story.

4 - Tom Baker

Started with I,Robot
Finished with the Master helping the Autons come back with new gizmos. As I recall the Doctor falls to his death from a massive sat dish and sees his future regeneration...

Tom Baker had one of the longest runs and is commonly known for his fantastic charisma at being the Doctor. Good for laughs but had a few 'serious' moments which I think he played well. I.E Genesis of the Daleks he debates wether he has the right to destroy the Daleks. Of course it didnt help either way but oh well. I really like that 'stepped in landmine' scene from that episode.

The Keeper of Traken and Logopolis were Tom Bakers last two, leading into Peter Davison, not Jim Davidson who is a comedian.

5 - Jim Davidson

Kinda liked him but his run was pretty shit. Daleks, Cybermen, White Guardian and alot of his stories were kinda wierd. The companions were pretty beak as well.
Tolo - Slimy little shit that should have been booted out before he even arrived
Adric - Got killed by his own stupdity as I recall.
2 Female companions, cant remember them at all.

I would say Jim Davidson was more serious but he still came across as decently intelligent. He didnt seem to project as much but I suspect thats the problem with having him following after Tom Baker.

The two female companions you might be thinking of could be Nyssa and Tegan Jovanka who both came in at the end of Tom Baker, Nyssa in the Keeper of Traken and Tegan in Logopolis.

[Shroom Man 777]

Hmm... Doctor Destro/Nine was goofy, but I don't recall any over-the-top excessive over-acting bits with him, unlike Tennant. But this is probably because Tennant is a complete fanboy geek while Eccleston is, like, a real actor with some dignity. Smith isn't quite over the top as Tennant is, so far, but he's still very quirky.

[Hillary]

William Hartnell's Doctor was a grumpy old man.
Patrick Troughton played the clown.
Jon Pertwee was the "dandy".
Tom Baker was, well awesome.
Peter Davison because he was younger potrayed himself as an older brother.
Colin Baker was just mad and weird.
Sylvester McCoy became very manipulative and mysterious at the end of his reign.

Hartnell was more than just a grumpy old man, he was positively inhumane in the first series. He would quite happily have fucked Ian and Barbara out of the TARDIS to protect him and Susan (didn't he actually try to do this in the 3rd serial - Edge of Darkness). Ian spent a large part of the show trying to stop the Doctor from behaving like an animal.

I rather liked McCoy's Doctor, especially the second series. It hinted at a much darker past on Gallifrey that was never fully explored due to the show's cancellation. Ace was also ace.

[Night_stalker]

Personally I prefer Nine, but to each their own. Ace deserves a special mention, merely because she helped inspire TV Tropes Crowing Moments of Awesome, thanks to her taking on a Dalek with a baseball bat and WINNING!

[Stark]

A baseball bat... enhanced by a near-sentient stellar manipulator. And it caused superficial damage. Oh wow, how awesome.

By contrast, the recoilless rifles being used by the army instantly destroyed Daleks.

[Crazedwraith]

Superficial damage here has the unique meaning of 'blinding by complete removal of the eyestalk' does it?

[Stark]

Superficial damage here has the unique meaning of 'blinding by complete removal of the eyestalk' does it?

Yes? You can damage the eyestalk of a far superior Time War-era Dalek with massed G36 fire. So... what's so special about knocking the plastic eyestalk off a Dalek so primitive a recoilless rifle completely obliterates it?

I think you better look up the definition of 'superficial'. 'Superficial' damage to a warship can involve destroying its delicate sensors, you know.

[Night_stalker]

She survived it, and was able do it in less time then the group of soliders.

[Crazedwraith]

I think you better look up the definition of 'superficial'.

I did.

su·per·fi·cial
   /ˌsupərˈfɪʃəl/ Show Spelled[soo-per-fish-uhl] Show IPA
–adjective
1.being at, on, or near the surface: a superficial wound.
2.of or pertaining to the surface: superficial measurement.
3.external or outward: a superficial resemblance.
4.concerned with or comprehending only what is on the surface or obvious: a superficial observer.
5.shallow; not profound or thorough: a superficial writer.
6.apparent rather than real.
7.insubstantial or insignificant: superficial improvements.

Blinding by knocking off and entire portion of the Dalek is not insubstantial or insignificant, its not some how unreal and its not minor damage done to the surface of the dalek, its the removal of an entire and important attachment.

And even if it was, how does is make taking on a Dalek with a baseball bat less of a gutsy and 'awesome' thing to attempt?

[NecronLord]

Must we discuss this? Really?

[Stark]

'An entire piece f Dalek' being a narrow sensor stalk smaller than my dick, consistently shown as the most vulnerable part? Lol.

And Ace's violence has always been on the libe between 'brave' and 'stupid'. It was her own stupidity that attracted the Dalek in the first place.

In short, a Dalek distracted and slightly damaged, with no armour breaches and nothing keping it from being returned to the line is hardly 'awesome' when poor old 60s squaddies fought and died and achieved more with far more primitive weapons.

[Gramzamber]

Back on the subject of the Doctors.. people are too hard on Tennant. Yes he could ham it up and pontificate till doomsday, but he was fun. Also, it's the Doctor. Of course he's going to be hammy at times.
Tennant was more let down by some lousy writing (his idiotic attachment to Rose, and his utter lack of dignity regarding his impending death/regeneration).

[Lord Woodlouse]

Back on the subject of the Doctors.. people are too hard on Tennant. Yes he could ham it up and pontificate till doomsday, but he was fun. Also, it's the Doctor. Of course he's going to be hammy at times.
Tennant was more let down by some lousy writing (his idiotic attachment to Rose, and his utter lack of dignity regarding his impending death/regeneration).

Tennant would have been better if he worked as advertised. Especially the "no second chances" line he gives in his first episode. There were numerous incidents where he showed that simply wasn't the case. As for personality, l think they were actually quite different. 10 was far more personable than 9. 10 sat down for Christmas dinner with the Tylers, which 9 would have sooner ejected his companion into the sun than do.

11, so far, seems a touch more alien than 9 or 10. We'll see.

[Gramzamber]

Tennant would have been better if he worked as advertised. Especially the "no second chances" line he gives in his first episode. There were numerous incidents where he showed that simply wasn't the case.

Well I only recall him really going against that with the Master and Davros. The Master is excusable given he's the only other Time Lord.
Davros on the other hand.. telling him he's willing to save him... after all he's done.. that was just pathetic. Especially in light of the 7th Doctor, who under similar circumstances, told Davros to go fuck himself.

[Stark]

The 7th used a trick to get around his own morality by making Davros do his dirty work. All Doctors are moral cowards, due to the nature of the show.

Tennant's wild flipping between 'rar I am grimdark time lord phear me' and 'lol let's all just hug' wasn't his fault; it was writing. Family of Blood was particularly hilarious, since his actions don't even make sense, but it's directly before the awful Sound of Drums nonsense where he basically lets everything happen FOR NO REASON other than he needs a quick tug from his old pal.

[Gramzamber]

The 7th used a trick to get around his own morality by making Davros do his dirty work. All Doctors are moral cowards, due to the nature of the show.

Maybe, but in the end the 7th didn't go on any last-minute "lol I'll save you!" speeches just to show how great and good he is.
Hell, he took almost sadistic pleasure in telling that last renegade Dalek that it's planet was toast and it was all alone until it self-destructed.