Does Dr. Who get good?

[shmokes]

Finally started watching Dr. Who (the 2005 reboot).  A few episodes in and it has been just awful.  And the actor playing the Dr. (guy from 28 Days Later) overacts badly.  Does it get better?  Don't get me wrong . . . I loved Xena.  And recently I enjoyed Legend of the Seeker.  I don't mind a bit of cheese.  But so far Dr. Who has me wondering if it is at all worth while sticking with it.  Does it get significantly better?

[protokatie]

Go to becoming a Torchwood fan. I may own my own life sized replica of a Tardis, but torchwood was a much better made series than the recent Dr Who.

[patrickl]

Finally started watching Dr. Who (the 2005 reboot).  A few episodes in and it has been just awful.  And the actor playing the Dr. (guy from 28 Days Later) overacts badly.  Does it get better?  Don't get me wrong . . . I loved Xena.  And recently I enjoyed Legend of the Seeker.  I don't mind a bit of cheese.  But so far Dr. Who has me wondering if it is at all worth while sticking with it.  Does it get significantly better?

Guess it's  matter of taste. I didn't like the episodes with David Tennant much, but I recently started watching season 5 where they have a new doctor played by Matt Smith and I quite enjoyed the first few episodes.

I don't think either David Tennant or Matt Smith have been in 28 days later, so maybe you are talking about something compeltely different though. Or are you thinking about Robert Carlyle who played in "28 weeks later"? He plays in Stargate Universe. I kinda like that too. Although I do fast forward through the "emotional" scenes (which probably make up a third of the show)

[shmokes]

Christopher Eccleston was the doctor in the first season.  He's in 28 Days Later.  Also . . . I meant to post this in Everything Else.   

[Ed_McCarron]

I was wondering why this was in P&R... Then, I realized its probably just as religious as Mac vs PC...

[RayB]

I complained about the reboot too some years ago, and people here told me it was meant for kids. So... there ya go. It's a kids show! 

[danny_galaga]

Oh wait, you mean you actually liked the old seasons?

 

I've personally never understood the appeal of the show.... I tried watching it as a kid, tried again as an adult, tried a third time when I bought the pinball.  Just never did it.  Always figured it's gotta be for stoners or something, because 20 minutes of every episode involve the Doctor standing 10 feet away from a trashcan that does nothing but wave around a spray painted toilet plunger while nothing happens.

It's a commonwealth country thing, you'll never get Dr Who, and we'll never get NFL...

[Howard_Casto]

Not true.  I've always enjoyed Dr. Who... both the old and new series. 

The thing you've got to understand though is the show is NOT science fiction... it's fiction fiction.  None of the "science" or plot devices ever make sense.  That's what makes it fun though... especially considering every other sci-fi show takes itself waaaay too seriously.  That being said it's also the shows biggest downfall, with the resolution to the episode often being "clap your hands if you believe in faries".

All of that aside... the first season is a tad rough... it does get better.  Also some people don't like the doctor of the first season.  I did, but many didn't.  The show doesn't really hit it's stride until the dalek army is re-introduced. 

Also the current season is very good.  The plots are even more stupid (if that's even possible) but there is some actual emotional content and a general plot stringing the whole season together. 

Oh and Sarah Pond......... we like Sarah Pond......

[Bobulus]

It's not for everyone. It's a family show, so it's not a 'gritty' scifi show like say, the new Battlestar Galactica, but it does have something like forty seasons of the old show to build on, so it'll never really run out of stories to tell.

For what it's worth, the pop culture references get toned down after season 1, and in my personal opinion the quality improves a lot when the head writer changes in season 5.

Also the current season is very good.  The plots are even more stupid (if that's even possible) but there is some actual emotional content and a general plot stringing the whole season together.

Thing I liked about the new season was that there are fewer Deus Ex Machina endings. If the Doctor is going to do some crazy 'science' stuff in the 3rd act to save the say, it's at least going to be set up in the 1st act. One of my gripes with the Tennant era is that some episodes end with him doing something that has never been mentioned before in the episode, like, say, the ending to the Davros story.

edit: It's worth mentioning that it's probably less the actor overacting badly and more the Doctor being an extremely eccentric character. Though he may change personalities a bit as different actors play him, he's always comes off as a bit of a mad man in a blue box.

[SNAAKE]

why would you waste your time on such mediocre(mostly crappy) show

how about you try these instead.
dexter(whoa!)
prison break
breaking bad
spartacus
burn notice

[falcon NL]

Oh and Sarah Amy Pond......... we like Sarah Amy Pond......

Fixed 

I truly love the season 5. Matt Smith really gets that unique weirdness about the doctor, and i really injoy watching him.

[SNAAKE]

and i really injoy watching him.

no homo

[RayB]

Oh wait, you mean you actually liked the old seasons?

 

I've personally never understood the appeal of the show.... I tried watching it as a kid, tried again as an adult, tried a third time when I bought the pinball.  Just never did it.  Always figured it's gotta be for stoners or something, because 20 minutes of every episode involve the Doctor standing 10 feet away from a trashcan that does nothing but wave around a spray painted toilet plunger while nothing happens.

I really wish this board had a "Like" button.  Oh well, +1 on my way to 10,000 posts. 

@Howard: Fiction-Fiction ?? Really?!  So one day we can look forward to the FyFy channel.

[SirPeale]

how about you try these instead.
dexter(whoa!)
breaking bad
spartacus
burn notice

Fixed.

[shardian]

Tom Baker fan here. I loved watching when I was a little kid no matter how ---smurfy--- it was. One time some mobile museum came to my town full of Dr. Who props. It was awesome. They even had the robotic dog - it was running around. I loved that dog.

Anyways, I've seen a few eps of the Eccleston series. It was okay, but the production value was horrible for this day and age.  There was a multiparter with Tenant where they were on a space station getting sucked into a black hole. It was actually pretty good and had pretty good production value...for Dr. Who at least.
The only thing about it that I didn't like was Tenant. He just wasn't a good doctor.

[shmokes]

I've never seen the old Dr. Who episodes.  I mean, I remember it coming on when I was a little little kid, but I never watched it. 

why would you waste your time on such mediocre(mostly crappy) show

how about you try these instead.
dexter(whoa!)
prison break
breaking bad
spartacus
burn notice

I've seen every episode of Dexter and Breaking Bad.  Both are really good.  My wife watched Spartacus (while I was studying) so I'd periodically walk through.  Can't complain about the gratuitous nudity.  She said the show was okay.  I watched a couple episodes of Burn Notice when it first came out.  I seemed like goofy fun, but I wouldn't dream of putting it in a list with Dexter and Breaking Bad.  Has it substantially improved since it began?

[AtomSmasher]

Dexter and Breaking Bad are two of my favorite shows currently on tv and definitely worth watching.
Spartacus is mainly about gratuitous violence and nudity, although I have to admit it continually got better throughout the season.  I'm curious if it's going to have a second season since I know it was at least delayed due to the main actor undergoing cancer treatment.
Burn Notice is still just goofy fun, entertaining to watch, but no where near the caliber of Dexter or Breaking Bad.
Prison Break had an entertaining first season, but none of the other seasons were very good.

As for Dr. Who, the first half of the first season of the reboot was really bad, especially the premiere episode.  It definitely gets better as it goes along, but is still fairly hit and miss on each episode.  One episode will be brilliant and the next will be written horribly.  Overall I'd say the pluses outweigh the minuses and that it is a show worth watching.

[shardian]

Burn Notice is a formula show in the truest sense...but it is very entertaining. It is a good break from the over serious, serialized stuff.

[Ed_McCarron]

One episode will be brilliant and the next will be written horribly. 

I think you just described ALL of british TV.

[SNAAKE]

how about you try these instead.
dexter(whoa!)
breaking bad
spartacus
burn notice

Fixed.

prison break is good lol.......

Id say better than burn notice and spartacus. they dragged it for too long though. should have ended with s3.

I watched a couple episodes of Burn Notice when it first came out.  I seemed like goofy fun, but I wouldn't dream of putting it in a list with Dexter and Breaking Bad.  Has it substantially improved since it began?

BN is not in the same league as BB and dex. and no BN didnt improve. I think it got worse with the new guy "jesse". watchable at best.

[Grasshopper]

Thing I liked about the new season was that there are fewer Deus Ex Machina endings. If the Doctor is going to do some crazy 'science' stuff in the 3rd act to save the say, it's at least going to be set up in the 1st act.

I totally agree with the Deus Ex Machina comment although the final episode was a bit of a let down in that respect.

Although I'm a Dr Who fan, I actually stopped watching during the David Tennant years because the writing had become so bad. But I started watching the new series just to find out what the new Doctor was like and ended up seeing every episode. There are still a few duff episodes now and then. But overall it's been a huge improvement.

I think one of the problems with the reboots is that they've made Dr Who too powerful. In the 60s and 70s the Doctor was basically just an ordinary flesh and blood guy (albeit an alien) who was very intelligent and had access to advanced technology.

Of course the original series were full of pseudo science and mumbo jumbo (as are all sci fi shows) but it didn't really matter because we always knew there were strict limits on what the Doctor's technology could achieve. The Dr had to outwit his enemies using his wits.

In the new series it's almost like he's stopped being a scientist and become a wizard with magical powers instead. An example of this is his sonic screwdriver. In the 70s it was, as its name suggests, little more than a screwdriver. In the new series he uses it like a magic wand, and can make it do pretty much anything he wants.

[shmokes]

I disliked True Blood from the very beginning.  My wife liked it a lot, though, as did a bunch of my friends.  But as the series went on, one by one they all came around to my point of view.

I think I've mentioned this before in another thread, but if you haven't seen it you absolutely should get Carnivale.  It only lasted two seasons, but it's one of the best shows ever made.  Better than anything mentioned in this thread so far.

[patrickl]

I disliked True Blood from the very beginning.  My wife liked it a lot, though, as did a bunch of my friends.  But as the series went on, one by one they all came around to my point of view.

I thought the first season of True Blood was pretty good. Season 2 not so much (it just got too weird), but season 3 is better again.

I watched a few episodes of Eureka. In a way it's a more down to earth and "scientisty" version of Dr Who.

BTW my favorite TV show is The Big Bang Theory.

[NiN^_^NiN]

What no leverage fans?

thats my favourite show at the moment until burn notice comes back

Gotta love the man bruce campbell in that show 

[Howard_Casto]

I like leverage.... but I understand that it isn't really a quality show with quality writing.  I just enjoy it because there isn't anything else like it on tv.

The show started out really strong.  Until you realized that each episode would essentially be the same with minor elements mixed around.  But it's good in an A-Team kind of way.

[danny_galaga]

Tom Baker fan here. I loved watching when I was a little kid

same here.

The only thing about it that I didn't like was Tenant. He just wasn't a good doctor.

This I'm surprised about. A lot of guys don't seem to like him. A lot of chicks do, and I bet the female viewing demographic increased because of him. I personally think Tenant is next best after Baker (Tom, not Colin). I guess I'm more in touch with my feminine side 

I must admit, I hadn't thought about how much of a demi-god he has become until some of you guys pointed it out. All of the old series he was a much more regular guy, the 'mechanic' of the TARDIS...

[CCM]

I've tried a few times to get into Dr. Who and just couldn't do it. 

I thought Carnivale was a great show, just ended too soon.  Deadwood is still my all-time favorite HBO show.

I think Supernatural is one of the more entertaining shows currently on TV.

[RTSDaddy2]

I started a thread on the Doctor on Everything Else when Matt took over, which quickly became a "Who's your favorite doctor" and must have gotten lost.

I would tell you yes, make sure you see Matt Smith and Karen Gillan as the Doctor and Amy Pond...but even if you don't like the first few episodes (and I would dare say episode 2 "The Beast Below" is a rare gem), you gotta hang in there until you get to "The Hungry Earth," and especially "Cold Blood."  Those two episodes set the stage for the rest of the season....and it was a slam-bam finale, that left my wife in tears and both of us rejoicing at the end of the "Amy Pond - the girl who waited" storyline.  Matt and Karen have both signed on for season 6 of the new series, and I just simply cannot wait to see what happens next.

Matt definitely understands the Doctor's eccentricies (sp?) and near madness, and as the season went on, it just became so much fun to watch him.  Karen Gillan as Amy Pond is as perfect a match for the Doctor as there ever was...getting to see her character grow over the course of 13 episodes was amazing; Pond - dear, sweet Pond, now fully understands what she got herself mixed up in, though at the beginning of season 5 I would say she had no idea.

A lot of people will tell you David Tennant was the best of the new doctors, but I'm not quite so sure about that now...Matt's  right incredible, in his own way.

[saint]

I'll give it a shot, I haven't seen the new season yet (think I'm 1.5 seasons behind now), but anything that doesn't include Rose makes me sad

NO SPOILERS PLEASE!

[Ed_McCarron]

I'll give it a shot, I haven't seen the new season yet (think I'm 1.5 seasons behind now), but anything that doesn't include Rose makes me sad

NO SPOILERS PLEASE!

Karen Gillan is easy on the eyes.  Oh, and the butler did it.

[Epyx]

Lifelong Doctor Who fan (Canadian)...first watched it in the early 80s (1980-85) on a station called KVOS TV 12 which was a joint Vancouver/Bellingham tv station. They took all the available Dr. Who episodes and put the stories together in movie format (which I loved). I would watch them at 1am Sunday morning every week. They would run through every available episode from the 1st doctor to the 5th and eventually 6th when those were added. 

Tom Baker was my favourite and still is but I love the reboot as well. I also love Torchwood , then again I love pretty much all things British.  What the old series lacked in special effects it made up for in storylines.  The new series has decent effects and still has great season story arcs that tie the season together. Is it a kids show? Yes it is but then again we are mostly all grown men still playing arcade games lol...so does it matter?