The Classics?!?

I must be getting old. I'm having a lot of "You darn kids get off my lawn!!" feelings toward the New-Whovians lately.

Starting at the 34 second mark...the young lady refers to "Blink" as "the classics." Another kid talks about "Ellington", the Ninth Doctor.

Doctor Who is quickly becoming the "trucker hat" of television series.

It's an ebb and flow. You have to understand Doctor Who is basically uncontested in terms of US Science Fiction right now, so you've got a lot of fans who are ultimately ignorant of the show's rich history.

For the ones that stick it out, they're in for a even bigger treat once they discover that fact. I find it amusing now that I originally just wanted one or two examples from each Doctor's run to give me a sampling of Who's history.

I now have 5 Hartnell Adventures, 3 Troughton Adventures, 6 Pertwee Adventures, 6 Tom Baker Adventures, 3 Davison Adventures, 2 Colin Baker Adventures, and 2 McCoy Adventures. With many, many more to come.

I would agree Blink is "one of the classics", but it shares that distinction with the likes of Genesis of the Daleks and An Unearthly Child.

While I would also personally consider "Blink" to be a classic, I mean that in the sense of it being an excellent episode, whereas I think that girl was using "classic" in the sense of it being an "old" episode. And if she considers NuWho Series 3 "old," I dread to think what she'd call the Hartnell episodes. Ancient history, I bet! XD

See, the thing that gets me about brand new Who fans is that I can't imagine anyone not knowing that Doctor Who has been around for a long, long time. If someone gets into the new series but chooses not to watch any Classic Who, that's their choice and I don't mind, but I just can't grasp the idea that a person wouldn't even know that Classic Who exists. I didn't get into Who until the new series, yet I always knew it existed. Though I suppose that's because I've always been a fan of sci-fi and comics and the like, so I tend to know about a lot of those kind of shows and movies even if I haven't watched them. Thus when I did finally start watching Who, I knew I had a heck of a lot of catching up to do--and boy did I ever! I've seen every possible episode, even reconstructions, and I'm so glad I watched them all. Like I said, I don't expect every new Who fan to do that, but they should at least be aware that the show has been around for longer than 7 years.

And in regards to that one girl who said "The stories keep getting better," well I guess I must be watching a different show than she is! (Season 7 is looking up so far, but I'll reserve serious judgement until a later date.)

What I find sad is reading threads like ' fav doc, best companion, episodes, etc' on boards, and the great majority of replies are all Nu Who only.

For me, if I hear someone say 'I'm a fan of DW', that to me means being familiar with the entire series, not just the new version.

Now if they were specific and differentiated between classic and new series, I'd have no problem with it. I have a friend who has a few ST TNG items at his restaurant. Customers that see them will ask 'Oh, you like Star Trek?' and start talking Trek with him, but he is very quick to point out that he ONLY likes TNG. It shocks the fans that assume that most people like the original series, but that's why he makes that distinction instead of just saying he's a fan in general.

Biggles wrote:

And if she considers NuWho Series 3 "old," I dread to think what she'd call the Hartnell episodes. Ancient history, I bet! XD

I know several people who would not watch a Pre-Pertwee episode simply because they are in Black and White.

And those that can't watch even the later classic Docs because the FX and production values aren't equal to what they expect from Nu Who.

I know several fans who consider anything before the current Doc to be 'classic', and the current Doc to be 'new'. I remember when Tenant left, and some of my friends refused to even watch another Doctor, because Tenant was the only one they ever knew.

On the other hand, think of it like this. We have 49 years of wonderful history in the 'Who-niverse'. That's ALOT of tv, books, comics, audios, every type of story imaginable. It's alot to expect someone to be familiar with all of it. Yes, it would be nice if they saw a few stories from each Doc. But at least they get to be part of this wonderful fandom, without having to invest the time/money in it that we few die hard fans do. They get to feel part of the group, and us 'hardcore' fans have to understand that most of them will never get as far into it as we are. So it's ok with me if they don't want to watch the classics, I just wish they would take that step and realize all the great stories they are missing.

For example, lately I have been following the Big Finish audios, and I find them incredibly compelling. Just as good as the 11th Doc stories on TV. But sadly they go unheard by the majority of NuWho fans. Sad, but hey, more for me.

So the question is: Is Doctor Who a hipster show? I hope not. Have a Jelly Baby, and let's enjoy some classic stories. Brave heart, Tegan!!!

Yep, I was New to Who in Nineteen Eighty-two!!

I was 'New to Who' in 2005 and yet I still feel disheartened that these people have never had the honour of watching a classic Doctor Who story. And by 'classic' I don't mean post-2005. I wasn't around back in the glory days but God knows I wish I had been.

BBC America should have special airings of Classic Who and air commercials for it during New Who episodes.

jaredofmo wrote:

BBC America should have special airings of Classic Who and air commercials for it during New Who episodes.

Who do we contact with that idea!!!

I think even a lot of classic DW fans do not know about the Big Finish audios. I only found out about them myself a few years ago.

Glad I decided to take the plunge. It's what keeps my DW needs happy. Like the classic series, gives me my serial cliffhangers, the Docs and companions I grew up with, and with a lot more continuity, crossover, and mature story plots than we get with Nu Who.

With the audios, I can definitely understand unfamiliarity with. Not widely publicized, and since there are so many out there, it's a lot of cost and effort to tackle even a Doc or two... much less all the companions, spin offs, and now lost stories...

But the tv series though, Netflix makes it much easier for someone to experience classic Who with most of the dvds available for rental.

I remember back in the late 90s hunting down the latest BBC Books. There was only one store in town that carried them. And they only carried them because there was me and one other guy in town who would buy them. So if I got there first, I bought them all, and if he got there first, well, I was out of luck.

Also, in summer, we went to visit my cousins in Michigan. Because they lived in a larger city, their mall had a Suncoast. So I would save up a bunch of money and buy as many Who VHS tapes as I could. I didn't really do too much online ordering back then.

Basically, back in those days, Who was a whisper. A small cult show, gone but not forgotten. The torch was being carried by Paul McGann, whose Doctor was tragically only shown on TV. His adventures continued however, in books and comics. And, they were mind-bogglingly complex too. Parallel dimensions, alternate timelines, re-writing stuff almost before it happened. The 8th Doctor books should have come with aspirin tablets. And we loved it.

Frankly, the catching up on the Classic series may seem daunting for new fans. One reason: not airing on general television.

Would any classic fans be mad if they did re-edits for the timeslot? Nothing drastic, just like, perhaps, making two half hour parts into one hour-length episode.

Just shot a tweet off to BBC America on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/JaredofMo/statuses/244946197423464448

I think most of these new fans would be bored by classic stories.

kcooper76 wrote:

I think most of these new fans would be bored by classic stories.

And confused. Those that can't grasp Moffat's arc episodes couldn't handle having to remember plot details across 4-6 episodes on a regular basis

One friend I have converted to NuWho refuses to watch any classic stuff due to special FX. This is a prevailing attitude I'm afraid. For those who are so inclined, Netflix is a FANTASTIC source of classic Who on DVD. Even on their streaming section, they have the following stories:
The Mind Robber
Spearhead from Space
The Ark in Space
Pyramids of Mars
The Key to Time (all except Stones and Armageddon, which are DVD only)
Horror of Fang Rock
Leisure Hive
The Visitation
Caves of Androzani
Curse of Fenric
and more. The disc section has almost all of the eps available as well.

Cruel Angel wrote:

kcooper76 wrote:

I think most of these new fans would be bored by classic stories.

And confused. Those that can't grasp Moffat's arc episodes couldn't handle having to remember plot details across 4-6 episodes on a regular basis

Sorry, finally decided to join this discussion. Having been a fan of the 'Original' Series, and loving the 'Revival', personally, I don't care if they are just "Nu Who' Fans, as long as they are fans.

And yes, if you guessed I was going to jump all over that comment of yours, you are correct. Moffats convoluted, complicated, mess of 'Story Arcs' have nothing to do with the well written episodes of yester-year. I would rather watch the entire Season of 'Trial of a Time Lord' for a 4th time (a very well written story, that stretches out over the entire season) than one of Moffat's Bloated, simplistic, childish 'Arcs'.

[quote="bret_owen99"][quote="Cruel Angel"]

kcooper76 wrote:

And yes, if you guessed I was going to jump all over that comment of yours, you are correct. Moffats convoluted, complicated, mess of 'Story Arcs' have nothing to do with the well written episodes of yester-year. I would rather watch the entire Season of 'Trial of a Time Lord' for a 4th time (a very well written story, that stretches out over the entire season) than one of Moffat's Bloated, simplistic, childish 'Arcs'.

Same here. The wife and I got into Who thanks to Netflix three years ago. Started watching with Eccleston and were hooked.

Have since started from the beginning watching/reading every episode from the beginning and the Hartnell/ Troughton stories have been far more enjoyable and well written than anything Moffat has been doing.

I like Moffat's single serving settings, but yeah I agree his story arcs are a mess and ham fisted. I still wonder what happened with Series 3. Worst finale, but absolutely brilliant build up to it throughout the season. Not too overt, but not so subtle that you miss the connections until they're explained to you. It seems like that was the only series post-revival to really have a successful go at a seasonal storyline.

Scary wrote:

I was 'New to Who' in 2005 and yet I still feel disheartened that these people have never had the honour of watching a classic Doctor Who story. And by 'classic' I don't mean post-2005. I wasn't around back in the glory days but God knows I wish I had been.

These are YOUR glory days. I only discovered the show in the early 1980's and was so fascinated by learning about the black and white era, it had a sense of mystery. Sure, your generation has everything at their fingertips with the internet, but that means you can search out the older generations of fans and listen to what it was like for them with no toys, or dvds with commentaries.

To quote Dr Tyrell to Roy Batty, "Revel in your time!"

jaredofmo wrote:

BBC America should have special airings of Classic Who and air commercials for it during New Who episodes.

I think BBC Home Video is missing an opportunity by not running a spot plugging the classic DVD line during the new episodes. If CO/UT can afford the ad time, can't they? Maybe as we get closer to the 50th anniversary, we'll see more of an effort made to promote the DVD catalog.

mattmanw54301 wrote:

One friend I have converted to NuWho refuses to watch any classic stuff due to special FX. This is a prevailing attitude I'm afraid. For those who are so inclined, Netflix is a FANTASTIC source of classic Who on DVD. Even on their streaming section, they have the following stories:
The Mind Robber
Spearhead from Space
The Ark in Space
Pyramids of Mars
The Key to Time (all except Stones and Armageddon, which are DVD only)
Horror of Fang Rock
Leisure Hive
The Visitation
Caves of Androzani
Curse of Fenric
and more. The disc section has almost all of the eps available as well.

Well, your friend is a sad case if all that matters is visual effects.