Doctor Who: Which Doctor should I start with?

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

I think all depends on whether you want to be an aging elitist twit who looks down on everything new or if you want to be a petulant child that can't sit still for five minutes to appreciate the lost excellence of the past.

If you want to be the former, go for one of the Doctors before 9.

If you want to be part of the latter, go for 9, 10 or 11.

I'm kidding of course, but in all truth, it depends on how well you handle the old episodes.

Personally, I couldn't enjoy them, but you may be able to. And it you can, you'll have a better grip on the series, though you may not enjoy the new seasons as much. If you want to start there, I can't really advise you, though everyone points to Tom Baker as one of the greatest things of all time.

If you're like me, start with 9. Christopher Eccleston was fantastic and while Tennant is my personal favorite, his run makes FAR more sense if you've seen Eccleston.

You could also start with Matt Smith, but you'll be missing some great 9 and 10 stuff.

 

[The Harkinator]

It will one day be possible to properly see them again. They're using the audio to remake the lost episodes as animated ones.

Have you seen the Recreations of the missing episodes for The Invasion?

On topic, I would say that you should start with Christopher Ecclestone as the Ninth Doctor. Apart from him being my favourite Doctor his episodes are really good and they got an entirely new generation back into Doctor Who.

If you are curious about Classic Doctor Who, then do get the episodes. If you have to get any one of them, get Genesis of the Daleks. A truly excellent Tom Baker story that shows how the Daleks were created and introduces their creator Davros.

I'd say for Baker, just get all of the episodes of his first season. From Robot to Revenge of The Cybermen you get a good feel for the show along with the best Dalek Story(Genesis) to date.

Sadly I've not seen any of the new stuff made from old audio material.

But I've got the Key to Time season of Tom Bakers. 4th Doctor and Romana I are really funny together and there are some great episodes.

 

[The_Echo]

Start with the 9th. That is, the "New Who" that started in 2005. Eccleston is a good Doctor, and easily my favorite under David Tennant (bearing in mind I'm woefully behind on my older Doctors).

The old series hasn't exactly aged well, and as far as I can tell will only appeal to people who are already fans. The newer series is more accessible and probably more likely to keep your interest. You also won't really feel like you've missed out on anything.

 

[vallorn]

Watch from 9 onward and if you want to suplement that with the older series (Baker Pertwie, ETC) then go right ahead.

Also yeah as a lot of people have been saying. The old and new series's are VERY different.

Oh and while watching 9 and 10 you owe it to yourself to watch Torchwood (preferably in chronological order by release date with the main show as it makes more sense that way). You could also give the Sarah Jane Adventures a go if you want something Dr Who(ish) made for kids (it also pops up a little in the end of the Tennant seasons).

and bring pleanty of courage to the Steven Moffat episodes in the 9th and 10th Doctor's runs. I realy realy mean it.

 

[klown]

Watch from 9 onward and if you want to suplement that with the older series (Baker Pertwie, ETC) then go right ahead.

Also yeah as a lot of people have been saying. The old and new series's are VERY different.

Oh and while watching 9 and 10 you owe it to yourself to watch Torchwood (preferably in chronological order by release date with the main show as it makes more sense that way). You could also give the Sarah Jane Adventures a go if you want something Dr Who(ish) made for kids (it also pops up a little in the end of the Tennant seasons).

and bring pleanty of courage to the Steven Moffat episodes in the 9th and 10th Doctor's runs. I realy realy mean it.

What is Torchwood, and when you say chronological order by release date, do you mean episode by episode?

 

[EmperorZoltan]

Start with Tennant, end with tennant. There's really no need to get into the backstory by watching earlier doctors; he's an alien and he has a time machine.

If you're not sure, I highly recommend you start with (new) season 4, episode 8: Silence in the Library. TV really doesn't get better than this. I challenge any classic Dr. Who fan to show me an episode as good as this.

 

[vallorn]

Watch from 9 onward and if you want to suplement that with the older series (Baker Pertwie, ETC) then go right ahead.

Also yeah as a lot of people have been saying. The old and new series's are VERY different.

Oh and while watching 9 and 10 you owe it to yourself to watch Torchwood (preferably in chronological order by release date with the main show as it makes more sense that way). You could also give the Sarah Jane Adventures a go if you want something Dr Who(ish) made for kids (it also pops up a little in the end of the Tennant seasons).

and bring pleanty of courage to the Steven Moffat episodes in the 9th and 10th Doctor's runs. I realy realy mean it.

What is Torchwood, and when you say chronological order by release date, do you mean episode by episode?

Torchwood is a more "Adult" spin off set in Cardif. It works best if you watch it between seasons of Dr Who so the first David Tennant (10th dr) series THEN Torchwood Series 1 then Tennant series 2 THEN Torchwood series 2.

This way you avoid any spoilers between the 2 series's and both make more sense.

and only watch Children Of Earth and Miracle Day if you enjoy crying everywhere.

 

[klown]

-snip-

Oh okay, I got through all of the 9th doctor, and just started episode 1 of Doctor David. So I should finish all of this season, and then look at Torchwood season one. Thanks for all the answers so far!

 

[Sean Hollyman]

Christopheer Eccleston, definetely. Gives you a good start on the modern DW.

 

[klown]

Watch the first season of the eleventh doctor, then go back to ninth and watch in order including rewatching the 1st season of eleven. After watching all episodes to the whatever the current one is, go watch Torchwood. Make sure to watch at least the first 2 episodes because the fist episode is extremely meh.

Why would I watch the first season twice? This seems very inefficient for time.

 

[Arkitext]

Don't.
I've been trying hard to get into Doctor Who and it's just not possible. Every single time I start warming up towards the show it does something incredibly stupid. Spare yourself the time, it will only aggrevate you.

You definitely can't take Doctor Who too seriously.

If you've got a Sci-Fi scale where one end has a focus on storytelling, with Science as a tool to get you to intersting places and events, and on the other end, you have stories exploring the implications of a very real and factually accurate technology/science. Well, Doctor Who is so far down the storytelling end, it's often been described as modern Fairy Tales, with all the grim realities that pop up in such stories (innocents get eaten alive all the time in Fairy Tales after all).

I mean, depending on how you look at it, most scientists agree time-travel is Impossible, and never will be possible because that's not how time works. But as we know Doctor Who is a Time-Traveller, and it really goes from there. If you like your Sci-Fi to be logical, and make sense all the time, Doctor Who will only infuriate you, it's not for everyone. But as far as storytelling is concerned, the good Doctor will take you to more varied locations and situations than any other character in the history of Television.

I mean, who else do you know who's defeated Cyborgs, Romans and Satan (without using weapons)?