Who-bits: Damn, This Series Has Been on FOREVER!

[Broomstick]

Because there's nothing on the TV but royal weddings and tornadoes, and I'm bored with those topics, I went up to YouTube and found a couple of interesting Who things.

For example - the themes and title sequences from 1963 to 2011. Holy crap! I remember back to when the second Tom Baker one was brand new!. And several I've never seen before:



In various threads we've discussed the various incarnations of The Doctor. For those who might not know exactly where these guys were, or when they appeared, I offer the following except from River Song's "Spotter's Guide" (I asked to see the whole thing but she just smiled and said "Spoilers")



On a related note, here are all the regenerations:



And we can't forget the companions and friends:



Here we have The Master in all his incarnations:

[Raxmei]

Man, I remember when I was a kid too young to understand what the episodes themselves were about the opening theme was terrifying. By the best of my recollection it was the first five Doctors on tv. The current theme music sounds more musical. The old themes sounded strange, wrong, and scary, which I still find striking.

[Crossroads Inc.]

Say what you will about the TV movie... But It's theme kicked ass, It rocked hard and I'll always have a soft spot for it.

[The Yosemite Bear]

so I'm one of the geezers of this forum, and still that show is older than me, and I love it.

[mr friendly guy]

Awesome finds Broomstick. I am quite impress that with the themes they also used the 2nd Pertwee and Baker themes since these actors were the longest to play the title character and had 2 themes each.

[Broomstick]

I also found a couple of spoofs on line that I'm assuming the rest of you will enjoy.

Spoof #1: The Fatal Death. I think they really captured a certain absurd essence here:


Spoof #2 - this one actually has David Tennant in it... but he's not playing The Doctor this time. This one is just plain silly.

I think this makes the Tennant the first actor to play both The Doctor and his companion.

[Raxmei]

On topic for this thread, I suppose. Time Crash. Tennant (10) meets Davidson (5).

[Broomstick]

Want to know what was weird for me watching "Time Crash"? It's in color. During the Peter Davison years I still only had a black and white TV, I hadn't upgraded to color yet. Really, that was the very first time I saw Davison in color.

Gosh, I feel so old....

[Eternal_Freedom]

Having watched the regeneration video Broomstick posted, I am reminded of why, in retrospect, I disliked Ten as a doctor. Namely, the rather pathetic ending just before his regeneration. Standing there in tears whimpering "I don't want to go" makes him seem just so childish.

Made even worse when compared with the Three/Four, Four/Five, Five/Six and Nine/Ten regenerations.

"A tear, Sarah Jane? Where there is life..."
"It's the end. But the moment has been prepared for..."
"It feels different this time..."
"You were fantastic...and you know what? So was I."

Those just strike me as far more dignified and Doctor-eque than "I don't want to go."

The only other one that objected was Two, and I think that was justified gven it was enforced by the Time Lords as a punishment for doing the right thing.

[Crazedwraith]

What struck me was the music. It all low key until you hit Ten and then there are bombastic horns and drums blasting all over the place.

Plus no-one else found it necessary to blow up the TARDIS in a burst of apocalyptic fury while regenerating.

[PREDATOR490]

Interestingly I can remember all of the opening credits before except Colin Baker and I didnt even see this show until LONG after it was cancelled. Seven remains my Doctor though simply by being the first I saw, the best opening theme and the last I saw before it ended spurring me on to watch the rest.

Never got round to watching 1 & 2.
Didnt like B/W (Yeah I grew up with colour TVs.... bite me.)
3 - Decent enough although I have this to blame for my extreme fear of spiders for a long time
4 - Most people like Tom Baker and his long run kinda holds true to his staying power
5 - Ehhhh, starting to slump now and dealing with the shadow of Baker
6 - Fuck off. I HATED Colin Baker and barely saw any of his episodes. Either through simply avoiding them or repression of the memories
7 - 'My' Doctor and still my favourite. Combination of being the first one I ever saw and having some darker elements to it.

8 - Ummm... there was an 8... ?
American version of Doctor Who brought to the big screen.... didnt like it. Especially since 'My' Doctor gets whacked in the most insanely frustrating way possible to accomodate it and went fucking nowhere.

9 - Of course he was good but the series had ample time to prepare and MAKE him good.
10 - *Sigh* Ok, David Tennant lasted a long time just like Baker and managed to be decent but oh boy did it become a snowballing pile of shit that results in End of Time.
11 - So far so good but this season will really determine if Smith has the staying power.


Theme wise: Seven and the Movie sound better than any of them frankly.
Movie version just makes it more... 'epic' movie like so that works by default with the 'EPIC' return to the screen after decades
Seven sounds sinister and dark... with a little wink from McCoy to deflate it a bit.

[Molyneux]

Having watched the regeneration video Broomstick posted, I am reminded of why, in retrospect, I disliked Ten as a doctor. Namely, the rather pathetic ending just before his regeneration. Standing there in tears whimpering "I don't want to go" makes him seem just so childish.

Made even worse when compared with the Three/Four, Four/Five, Five/Six and Nine/Ten regenerations.

"A tear, Sarah Jane? Where there is life..."
"It's the end. But the moment has been prepared for..."
"It feels different this time..."
"You were fantastic...and you know what? So was I."

Those just strike me as far more dignified and Doctor-eque than "I don't want to go."

The only other one that objected was Two, and I think that was justified gven it was enforced by the Time Lords as a punishment for doing the right thing.

I think that the end of Ten was really David Tennant's goodbye as much as the character's - he's been a lifelong fan of the series and all, and unlike Eccleston, I've heard that he loved playing the part.

I don't get the Tennant hating; he had some slow episodes, but I always enjoyed how he played the Doctor. Eccleston was my first, and Tom Baker will probably always be my favorite, but Tennant had some of my absolute favorite episodes and will always hold a place in my fanboy heart.

[Broomstick]

Why did Tennant leave the show? The writers just wanted a new Doctor, or something else?

[Crazedwraith]

BBC Article

He wanted to leave, or at least thought he should, he wasn't forced out.

[Parallax]

Having watched the regeneration video Broomstick posted, I am reminded of why, in retrospect, I disliked Ten as a doctor. Namely, the rather pathetic ending just before his regeneration. Standing there in tears whimpering "I don't want to go" makes him seem just so childish.

I am in full agreement. His regeneration really brought out his real characteristics - a selfish, weak git. Scared out of his mind, lacking in dignity like his previous selves.
I never liked the 10th Doctor (though most of that has to do with RTDs childish scripts) but this really hammered it home.

[NecronLord]

In defence of 10, unlike all the other examples where he's conscious, there's no one there he needs to reassure or be brave in front of - just himself, alone.

And he used a regeneration all of five episodes ago fighting the daleks, too. Which, incidentally, bugged me more; that he'd go through that whole rigmarole just to remain without changing - seems a bit... forced.

[Parallax]

I actually think a worse (or better) example was Waters of Mars.
One moment he's all "I am Time Lord Triumphant! Fear Me! Mwa ha ha!"
He catches sight of an Ood, gets the merest hint of his impending demise and suddenly his knees are buckling and he's close to bawling like a toddler.

The 10th Doctor, especially compared to his previous selves, really was weak.
If anything, you could almost classify him as a bully - lording over those he could and making grand threats and warnings. Yet when push came to shove, he was a coward and unable to face his own mortality in anyway.

Compare him to the 7th Doctor. The 7th was, so far, the darkest and most manipulative incarnation - yet he never let his power go to his head. He never, ever went on a power trip (like the 10th did as mentioned above) or was selfish, running away from his own end. The 7th eliminated both the Daleks (Skaro solar system? What Skaro solar system?) and the Cybermen (You want this statue thing so bad? Have it. Oh dear, you went boom.) and yet never ranted like a bad James Bond villain.

[Johonebesus]

I think that the end of Ten was really David Tennant's goodbye as much as the character's - he's been a lifelong fan of the series and all, and unlike Eccleston, I've heard that he loved playing the part.

Was it Tennant's goodbye, or RTD's? It was Tennant's decision to leave after all. I wonder if his father-in-law convinced him he shouldn't do more than three full seasons.

I think some people like Tennant because he was more "Doctor-ish" than Eccleston. That was certainly true for me. I liked Eccleston's acting, but somehow he just never really clicked as the Doctor to me. I guess I just couldn't get past his appearance and accent.

Was Deleware theme ever used on air?

[Ahriman238]

The 10th Doctor, especially compared to his previous selves, really was weak.
If anything, you could almost classify him as a bully - lording over those he could and making grand threats and warnings. Yet when push came to shove, he was a coward and unable to face his own mortality in anyway.

Eh? 10 was pretty melodramatic, but not as bad as 4 or 5. Coward? He sat with Satan (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) and was prepared to ride down a Black Hole with him. He never hesitated for self-preservation. Bully? The closest things I can think of were ousting a PM for shooting some aliens in the back, and telling the Kroloteans that if he didn't like what they were doing he'd stop them.

Unable to face his own mortality in any way? He chose to sacrifice his life for another man. True, he didn't face that end in the calmest, most dignified manner, But he still chose to die for someone else, even when he could have left Wilf (as he was begging the doctor to do) and been shot of doom prophecies.

I am in full agreement. His regeneration really brought out his real characteristics - a selfish, weak git. Scared out of his mind, lacking in dignity like his previous selves.

Parallax, we need to get one thing straight. NOBODY has less dignity than Colin Baker. Frank Avruch has more dignity than Colin Baker.


I honestly have mixed feelings, sure most of the End of Time was shit, and the Doctor's griping and the self-indulgent montage were horrific. But... After everything, after saving the world, the Doctor chose to die to save one funny old man. An old man who begged the Doctor to save himself. That just screams 'Doctor!' to me. And if this version of the Doctor dreaded his mortality more than other versions, he still chose this. [fill in appropriate cliche about courage overcoming fear to do the right thing, not living a charmed life without fear.]

[aussiemuscle308]

The best dr who theme is Doctorin' the Tardis by KLF (aka the timelords). it's on youtube and it was a number one charting hit.

also, you see the mashup of Who and Trek? pretty funny.

[The Yosemite Bear]

so if the daleks are back, constantly getting eleiminated, what happened to the Thal?

[NecronLord]

Compare him to the 7th Doctor.

A bit unfair isn't it? In terms of professionalism and competence, none before or since can compare, save some appearances of 8 in the EU (because they were writing him like 7)

[Parallax]

Compare him to the 7th Doctor.

A bit unfair isn't it? In terms of professionalism and competence, none before or since can compare, save some appearances of 8 in the EU (because they were writing him like 7)

This is true.
However, I was talking about character/personality.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Also, what was up with Ten's infuriating desire to save his enemies?

He offers to save Davros, the being who imprisoned him, killed countless people in Earth and the other planets, and vey nearly destroyed the entire goddamn universe and Ten offers to save him? WTF?

[NecronLord]

Also, what was up with Ten's infuriating desire to save his enemies?

He offers to save Davros, the being who imprisoned him, killed countless people in Earth and the other planets, and vey nearly destroyed the entire goddamn universe and Ten offers to save him? WTF?

Never mind that, he expends the effort on Davros, rather than Dalek Caan.