The First Time

Ok I apologize if this is something that has been touched on before. What was your first time with the Doctor. For me it was at nine p.m. Saturday night in October 1985. The episode was Terror of the Zygons, and I had no idea what I was watching. The idea that I was seeing a Sci Fi version of Sherlock Holmes occurred to me. It left enough of an impression that I tuned in next week to see... Revenge of the Cybermen. (OK APT got the tapes mixed up) Anyway I was 15 then, and for 25 years I have been watching it. Thanks to a friend with a great internet connection and a DVD burner I was able to see the new series when it began. I have had some of the Peter Haning books, the Marvel reprints of the comics, the odd issue of the magazine, a Marx Dalek, the Bluebird Dalek play set and some of the Crapol I mean Dapol toys (those were a disappointment).

Anyone out there want to tell about there first time.

6TH grade, however many years ago, my friend was reading a target novelesation of time flight. He gave me a brief synapsis of who and that the girl on the front, as it had the photo style cover, was the doctor's companion. Being the good friend I was i proceeded to mock the whole thing saying things like "I bet she is his companion alright wink wink". Finally he ran thru the more indepth lore of the doctor and what he was about. He also filled me in on the tv show on the local pbs WVIZ. I bought my first Target book Doctor Who and the loch ness monster and have been hopelessly hooked since.

When I was about 7 (which was in 1979, for frame of reference), I was given a book about robots, a subject I was intensely interested in. The book was an American reprint of a work originally released in the UK, and as such it mentioned the robots and cybernetic creatures common in a lot of European sci-fi TV and comics, including a show called Doctor Who that featured things called "daleks" (not knowing any better, I read the word as "day-leks") and "cybermen." The book even had an image of the cybermen, which I found utterly fascinating despite the image being only one of hundreds in the book.

It wasn't for a couple of years that I actually saw Doctor Who, though: I stumbled across an episode of (weird coincidence in 3, 2, 1...) Revenge of the Cybermen on my local PBS affiliate in 1981. I remembered the image from the book, and sat dumbfounded as I watched this show that I had only imagined for so long. Instant addict.

In reality, my first Who was a Tom Baker episode, mid-80's. It was halfway through a storyline and they were only showing two episodes a week on our local PBS station. I had no idea who was who (or who was Who) or what was going on.
I didn't see the show again until 1992ish, when the PBS station in the Seattle/Tacoma area showed the entire existing series starting with An Unearthly Child. I just happened to be home alone with nothing to do and turned on the TV. I saw Doctor Who was about to come on. I decided to give it another shot. By chance, I saw the very first episode. I ended up watching it every week all the way through.

Must of been around 83-84. I was in 3rd or 4th grade. Little fuzzy on all of that, but I actually started with I robot as they were just restarting Tom's run on the local PBS station. Standouts for me were that he always figured out what was happening and he always saved the day, even when the day seemed completely lost. I am almost embarrased to admit this, but at one point I actually had an old refrigerator box, cut with two doors in front. I would pretend to be the 4th doc, complete with scarf and little sister in tow as my companion. I had no idea what the heck a jelly baby was, so I carried cut up twizzlers.

Watched through Davis and by the time I got to 2nd Baker, they started over and I went on to other interests, merrily oblivous of the whole Who sub culture. The return of Who sparked my interest and in pursuing information, came across WHONA. Had the internet been a factor, I probably would have gotten into the whole collecting thing myself and pursued the other Who related materials out there. AS it is, quite content with having gone back and reveiwed the old eps and enjoying the new series. Spend my time these days collecting toys for my little one.

I have been reminded of something from reading some of the posts that my first time with the Doctor came a little earlier. Three was a book in the county library that was monster encyclopedia, and in it were listing for Daleks, Cybermen and Ice Warriors, and like mysterylad I pronounced them day-leks. This would have been when I was in 7th grade in 1982, By the time I got to watch the show I had forgotten about the book (it had been stolen by 1985) otherwise I would have remembered the connection between them.

I don't really remember the time (probably early 80s) but I do remember it was an episode of The Robots of Death and it was airing on public television on a late Saturday morning. Ever since then I was hooked.

Exact dates are lost in time, but it was PBS repeats on Sunday mornings of Tom Baker's first four seasons (13-16) throughout the mid-70's. Endlessly looped through again and again, it wasn't until I visited my first "comic shop" in 1984 and my sister bought me the Starlog (Radio Times re-print) 20th Anniversary special magazine that I realized there were other doctors. Watched on PBS through all the classic Doctors (made lots of off-air VHS tapes) up until the early 90's when my PBS dropped Doctor Who. But then came the interweb and by the late 90's I was getting into the telesnap recons, Big Finish, and finally DVDs.

APT (Alabama Public Television) ran through of Tom Baker's run as the doctor twice before going on through Peter Davison, and Collin Baker up to Revelation of the Daleks, and then cycling back to Jon Pertwee, and back through Collin Baker and and McCoy up to the Greatest Show int he Galaxy, then back to the begining with Hartnell and all the way through the series. Once this was over APT ran all the existing Dalek stories.

Started in the new series actually. I first happend across the opening of the Age of Steel on SCIFI. Remember being absolutely mesmerized by the coolness of the opening, but did not finish the episode.

Later, one of my sister's friends started talking about the show and happened to have the 9th doctor and the 10th doctor DVDs. Borrowed them for a bit, then got hooked! Started buying my own sets, then the figures. . .then I happened to cross paths with my previous regeneration and things got complicated. . .

As of today, my obsession with the doctor is only rivaled by my obsession with Ash of Evil Dead fame. . .and that's quite big, considering I've met Bruce Campbell in person and even have a picture of him!

MPT (Maryland Public Television) can't remember what episode but I am 99% sure it was Tom Baker. As a child my dad was flipping the channels found it, likes it and then introduced me roughly 20 years ago to this fantastic series.

shop smart shop "s" mart. Off topic but he is great in Burn Notice too.

Ok, that's different. All hail the King, "Trapped in Time Surrounded by Evil, Low on Gas". Anyway...
I thought I might throw in while we are looking for the first time, how about the worst episode ever. For me that would be "The Web Planet" A story that is not only slow, "Its the only episode I turned off when APT ran it, its a story that would have benefited greatly from more modern costume making techniques, and prosthetics, but CGI would have worked well here to.

I was 5... it was Saturday night... I caught the end of the Hand of Fear part one on Channel 12, cause I was huge into Dark Shadows and that came on after. I thought Doctor Who was odd, just ending without a 'To Be Continued...' What the heck? So next I caught The Horror of Fang Rock, I loved it, it was in the omibus format then I caught The Five Doctors and that messed me up! Four guys calling themselves the Doctor and the one I knew wasn't there? Huh? And then I caught Destiny of the Daleks and started watching regularly and well it was all down hill from there.

I found some Targets in Waldon books in my local mall and then in a used bookstore I found some of the hardback annuals. And then years later in a local used toy store I found some figures and I was hooked!

Christian and I have dated on and off for nearly 10 years. I've always known he was a fan, but me? I never really sat and watched. I'd buy him little gifts here and there and come time to watch the show, I'd shrug it off and go about my own thing, leaving him to his time. I used to always tease him about needing his DW Time. It was like a crack fix.

Well.. when you're with someone for so long and you finally agree to marry the guy.. you have to at last give the other love in his life a chance. A little over a year ago, I sat down with him AT LAST and I watched. First episode we ever watched together was the Season 4 two-part finale.. Stolen Earth and Journey's End. He had been ranting and raving about the absurdity of the hand mutating and growing a second Doctor. And I'd heard so much about this that.. well I decided to sit down and see for myself if it was really as absurd as he had ranted about it being. Sitting through the two-parter, I fell in love. Not just with Christian (all over again, mind you), but I fell in love with Doctor Who as well! This show had everything I looked for.. it had action, humor, romance, and thrills! It was sci-fi and I ate it up. Meeting Ms. Rose Tyler sealed the deal for me... I've been a fan ever since and I've gone on to watch EVERY complete season of the new series as well as some episodes of the classic series as well.

I won't ever forget how special Doctor Who has become in my life and I won't ever forget crying on his shoulder as Rose and the Half-Human Doctor stand on the beach, hand in hand. And I won't ever forget the look on my guy's face when he knew he'd hooked me. This show holds a very special place in my heart and as saddened as I am at David's departure, I really do believe I'll always be a fan of Doctor Who for life!

He should have showed you Army of Ghosts - Doomsday to really impress you. But, turn it off just before Donna appears. It kinda kills the emotional kick in the teeth we get from Rose leaving.

She's seen them. And Erin happens to like Donna, Lord only knows why so shhhhhh! -laughs-

I like Donna too, I didnt think I would, but she grew on me. I just didnt like that we werent allowed to grieve the loss of Rose, I felt like RTD pulled the rug out from under us when he did that, and kept bringing her back.

RTD really follows the Wheodon Buffy formula closely...

Impossible Planet/Satan Pit are my favorite episodes, actually!! Not that I don't sob openly when I watch Army of Ghosts/Doomsday!! I LOVE Rose... crazy mad love her! I even got Christian to see Rose in a new light. He kept being hung up on how awesome Ace was. -laugh- Taking a baseball bat to a Dalek is cool and all, but Rose wiped out ALL those Daleks!

"And the lost girl, so far away from home, the valiant child who will die in battle, so very soon!"

Have you seen Secret Diary of a Call Girl yet? if you get past the naughty bits, there is a very good drama there.

That quote is on my desktop wallpaper that I made.. one of my all-time favorites!

The Ultimate Companion

And I have not seen "Secret Diary" yet.. I admit it looks pretty good, but I've yet to give it a try! I am so bad at trying to remember to catch things when they're on. I even have DVR and I still manage to miss things! Christian just says it's part of my charm.. being so absent minded.

When I was a kid my parents refused to run cable to my bedroom and the only channel that I could pick up without an antennae was the local PBS station. I'd flip on Doctor Who while I pretended my bed was a spaceship. I promptly forgot about it until I saw a link on Slashdot for the leaked pilot for a new BBC scifi show. It all came flooding back and I started watching DVDs of the old show until I could get ahold of the new ones. Bought the first new season on DVD. Got my wife into it. Found WhoNA. Thought I'd buy a Sonic Screwdriver - oh why not a Dalek too. Those cybermen look neat, maybe one of those. Now I need a Doctor... They released a Tardis? New Doctor! Face of Boe! More Daleks! BBC books... Target books!? Classic figures!!!

You know...I'm sure my very first time was with Tom Baker, and very shortly into Peter Davison, back when Doctor Who was on PBS...this was the early/mid 80s, and I was a brand new Trekkie, having truly started that obsession with The Wrath of Khan and catching up with all the original eps I needed to catch up with -- well, it seems that a lot of Star Trek fans were also fans of Doctor Who, and kept recommending it to me...I, also being a fan of time travel and anything British for as long as I can remember, for me it seemed a natural progression. So, I kept up with the Doctor more or less continuously, though the intensity varied. Fast forward to New Who. Naturally, I was curious, and I'd caught a few scenes of Christopher Eccleston, who I thought was great, but he didn't really change things...then I happened to catch The Runaway Bride, and was absolutely blown away by David Tennant, and immediately fell in love with Donna, even then...I was disappointed that she didn't go with him. I very quickly caught up with all of DT's episodes, and still preferred Donna and Martha to Rose...I really only came to like Rose after Doomsday, but that's another discussion...

Anyway, I was, and still am, hooked all over again!

First time for me...would've been and 1979 or '80, back when KTVT in Dallas was on our 12-channel cable lineup in Arkansas, and they were showing Doctor Who with Henry Silva intros and commercial breaks. My first Doctor Who was Brain Of Morbius part 1, and the rest, as they say, is history. I'll happily fess up that a big part of the appeal was an eight-year-old's crush on Elisabeth Sladen. Which I absolutely still have as I'm pushing 38.