Poll: Doctor Who, which season should I start with?

[Kallix]

While seasons 1-4 are excellent, if you want to catch up with the latest episodes quicker I could definately recommend starting with season 5. Its a new guy playing the doctor, and a new lead writer, meaning that its basically like starting again. If you've watched no Doctor Who previously, there might be one or two things you don't quite understand, but you can pick it up quickly.

Another reason I'd start with season 5 is that the first episode of that season (The Eleventh Hour) is possibly my favourite episode ever - a lot happens in it and its just really enjoyable. That said, if you're happy to start a bit further back, Season 1 is the way to go - just don't be off with the first couple episodes, I found that that season took a while to get good unlike some others.

I'd also recommend not getting into old doctor who before you've watched all of the new stuff. it hasn't really aged well, so make sure you love the new doctor before going back to it (you don't need to see any of it to enjoy the new doctor who from Season 1).

 

[blazedart]

if you really want to know everything that's going on you could try to watch the old episodes way back when it was the first doctor

 

[Sonic Doctor]

From time to time I see news on the escapist and blogs about Doctor Who, but since this show was never brought to Italy (at least, that I know) I never watched it. Now I understand it seems quite good and I was interested in watching it, but I read somewhere that the first seasons weren't that good.
I would normally begin from the first, but since then some doubts crossed my mind.
So I ask you, which season of Dr. Who is the best to start with or at all, and possibly why should I start with it in particular?
Or, if you are so inclined, why shouldn't I start following it?

edit:
It looks like I knew even less than I thought. So pardon me if I ask: What's the difference between old and new Doctor?
And (but this seems quite obvious from the first comments) can I see the new one even if I didn't see the old one?

For new series that started in 2005, I recommend season one. The current Doctor last season and this is just too mixed up in things that happened with parts that happened with the Doctor before him. But you might as well start with the Doctor even before that Doctor.

Eccleston is really good, it was a shame he only got one season, but at least after him came the Tennant(Who I count as the best Doctor of all time).

But yeah start with season one, you will be much less confused, especially with things that happen in the 4th season.

Eventually you should see how it all began, and for that I recommend the "Beginning collection" I give a link too in my other response below.

With the old series tough it isn't to bad to watch random episodes, but with the new series, you might as well start with season 1. Basing where one watches/starts the series because of who other people suggest is the better Doctor, isn't good for the new series, since all new series seasons and specials from 1 to 6 have things that connect to future or past seasons.

Again, go with season one with the new series.

The beginning and then watch everything in order. All 772 episodes.

you do know that over 100 episodes are missing after being wiped/destroyed

Well he could watch bits and pieces of at least 12 of those lost story archs of the first and second Doctors with the Lost in Time Collection. It has 434 minutes worth of parts from episodes that were lost.

http://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Who-Collection-Episodes-Troughton/dp/B0002OXVF0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1304441568&sr=8-1

I don't know what the OP has, but he might be able to find it on Netflix(wouldn't know because I have never used Netflix) considering he probably isn't at the stage for buying things.

This is also a good thing for the OP to look up.

http://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Who-Beginning-Unearthy-Destruction/dp/B000CNESV2/ref=pd_bxgy_d_img_b

It is a collection of the first three story archs from the beginning in 1963.

 

[TimeLord]

Start with 1960s starting series.

Failing that then the 1998 movie, it's pretty decent and Paul McGann should have a series of his own! It's a shame he only got one movie.
Eccleston is fantastic in the 2005 series 1 and everything after that is brilliant.

 

[Cosplay Horatio]

Christopher Eccselston Season 1. It's all uphill from there. Old Doctor Who start with John Pertwee or Tom Baker...mostly Tom Baker over John Pertwee.

 

[Sonic Doctor]

Season 1 of the new series of course. You won't understand a lot of what's going on with David Tennant's Doctor if you haven't seen the first season, and he's a lot of people's favorite.

If you mean season 1 of the old series... good f***ing luck.

It isn't that hard to start at the beginning with the old series.

http://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Who-Beginning-Unearthy-Destruction/dp/B000CNESV2/ref=pd_bxgy_d_img_b

One thing one must not do is listen to the stupid people that rate things on Amazon, their minds are totally bereft of logic.

Example of a one star review of the Beginning Collection:

As a 5 star fan of the 21st century version of Doctor Who, I found this entire package a waste of time. To me Doctor Who is intended to be witty and energetic, and brilliant.
The Doctor Who portrayed in this package is the total opposite. No one in this cast is witty. The plots are boring and the Doctor is annoying. I think he was meant to be. The crew survives in spite of themselves in these three stories and certainly not because of anything the Doctor does.
Even the 1950's series Superman has better plots even though each story here takes several episodes.
Not remembering a lot about the episodes I watched as a teen, I was disappointed by this package. I was pleased to see in another package that the third Doctor is starting to be more like the modern one, and even the first Doctor as shown in the story The Three Doctors is an improved character.
I was happy to see the historical feature on the DVD set. And some of the comedy skits are entertaining.

Apparently time works backward for this guy, thinking that past Doctors are emulating Tennant and the others when obviously Tennant and the others were emulating their counter parts that came before him. Also the idiocy of basing how the old series should have been based on the new series.

When watching the old series, there are things that people need to keep in mind:

1.) They ran on a horribly small budget, so don't bash or get all negative about special effects.
2.) Understand it isn't going to look like stuff filmed today.(saw another stupid guy that gave bad reviews to several old series DVDs because it wasn't filmed like the new series today.
3.) Going along with the things above, judge it on merits of the year it was created in, also considering the British style of filming back then.
4.)Each Doctor is not suppose to be entirely the same, the point is that he changes with each regeneration.

It think that about covers it.

 

[Zhadramekel]

I'd normally say season 2 since David Tennant is my favourite doctor in the new age but probably best to start from the beginning (meaning Chris Eccleston).

 

[Declaro]

To answer your edit question, the series was cancelled for 16 years from 1989-2005, barring a movie that was an attempt to revive it (the 8th Doctor, Paul McGann). It came back in '05 with Christopher Eccleston, and has been going ever since.

My suggestion is to do this: watch season one of the new series (2005), and so on in order, so that you can catch up with the current stuff. Then, go back. Personally, my favorite old school doctor is Five (Peter Davison), but Four/Tom Baker is usually the go-to guy if you want to try the old series.

Going back to the very first season of the original show is hard, because there's a lot of missing episodes for the First and Second Doctors. By the Third and Fourth, you've got pretty much every episode though, so if you're the type who hates missing an episode, it's probably better to pick Three or Four. The thing about the old stuff is that the special effects are seriously dated, but some people (me, people who grew up with it, and plain ol' nerds) don't mind. If you get really throw off by that sort of thing, definitely save the old stuff until later.

[/nerd lecture]

 

[Wilcroft]

If you're in a rush to watch the new stuff, season 5 is a relatively safe place to start. You'll miss a bit of the recent backstory, but the new head of DW (Stephen Moffat) does a great job of filling in most of the gaps. IMHO Season 5 was the best yet, as far as the new series is concerned.

If you don't mind being a little behind, start with Season One. From there, you'll get 99.9% of the canon history, and will get almost everything. It's a little more to watch, but it's good stuff.

If you're feeling ballsy, go back and find some of the old stuff (Tom Baker and Peter Davison especially). It's a different style from the new series, but still excellent television.

 

[c_westerman13]

if you only watch the new series, definitely start with season 1, as there are arcs going through the whole load of them. the new series' can be viewed as a separate group to the old series, with a few exceptions, as there're mostly only a few references to old stuff.

that said, there's quite a lot of continuity within the old series, even inter-doctor, so its worth watching at least the highlights of each doctor if you're going to delve into the series.

finally, the MFTV movie is, excepting some references and the intro, almost entirely standalone.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

which season of Dr. Who is the best to start with or at all, and possibly why should I start with it in particular?
Or, if you are so inclined, why shouldn't I start following it?

There's actually 33 seasons...

Personally, and if you're a young 'un. I'd start with Rose, the first of the new season. That gives a brief resume of the action.
Little older, try Sylvester McCoy's Doctor, Rememberance of the Daleks - season 25 - was good.
Very old, try and catch snippets of all 11 and see which one you like the best.
Much younger, start with Matt Smith's The Eleventh Hour.

Be warned: Whovians are VERY VERY VERY defensive of their own personal favourite; but as long as you catch the Doctor just after a regeneration, it's all good.

(Well...mostly...there are some true stinkers)

If you just want a taster: Either The Empty Child(9), Blink(10) or The Eleventh Hour(11) are good for seeing what you think.

Going back, 8 was the TV movie, 7's best was probably Rememberance of the Daleks, 6 is disliked, but Vengance on Varos is pretty awesome, 5's best was Time-Flight, 4 had so many good ones, but I'd say City of Death was the best, 3 really has to be Terror of the Autons, Troughton's second Doctor would probably be The War Games and William Hartnell has to really be The Daleks.

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

and finally died (due to some terrible casting and writing during the 6th doctor and other issues thereafter) in the early 90s.

*twitch*

Not quite.

It was scheduled at horrible times, split up, ran out of order and had its budget cut because a certain DG of the BBC hated Science Fiction, and was going out with the Sixth Doctor's ex-wife.

He then boasted about how he'd killed it on Room 101.

He's now a member of the House of Lords.

 

[EvilPicnic]

Thinking about catching up, season 5 (of Nu-Who) is a great place to start, very indicative of the series as a whole, and season 6 has just started airing in the UK.

As the central character and entire cast change with relative frequency (three different lead actors since the series revival) and there isn't that much continuity-baggage that needs to be memorised it shouldn't take long to get up to speed on the essentials.(Crazy human-looking alien time-traveller + hot-fitty female human companion having adventures through time and space...that simple)

If you like it, then go back to season 1 (of Nu Who) to catch up with more of the recent backstory.

And after that is up to you. There are also some decent spin-offs and half-a-century of back-catalogue to work through if you dare...

[EDIT]

He then boasted about how he'd killed it on Room 101.

Such a ****. Colin would have been an awesome Doctor if given a half a chance (and a wardrobe change...)
[/EDIT]

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

And after that is up to you. There are also some decent spin-offs and half-a-century of back-catalogue to work through if you dare...

Without touching on the 200 novels, novellas, annuals, comics, radio plays, audiobooks, computer games...

In fact... http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/dw/theadventuregames/cityofthedaleks

Fancy a point/click adventure?

 

[c_westerman13]

snip

five? good choice, but he's not as good as seven, even with Nyssa and Adric...

snip, again

technically, 31 and a little bit, at the moment

as comparison, i'd vote:
1)the daleks (7)
2)agreed again - war games (10)
3)Time monster (or) invasion of the dinosaurs (6/6)
4)Pyramids of Mars, Logopolis (4 has *way* too many to choose only one) (4/4)
5)Terminus (4)
(1,2,3,4,5 together)Five Doctors) (2)
6)Two Doctors (3)
7)Curse of Fenric (4)
8)Movie - its the only TV thing he was in (1)
9)Empty Child (2)
10)Utopia (3)
11)Impossible Astronaut (2)

 

[EvilPicnic]

Going back, 8 was the TV movie, 7's best was probably Rememberance of the Daleks, 6 is disliked, but Vengance on Varos is pretty awesome, 5's best was Time-Flight, 4 had so many good ones, but I'd say City of Death was the best, 3 really has to be Terror of the Autons, Troughton's second Doctor would probably be The War Games and William Hartnell has to really be The Daleks.

I second this list. All I would change would be The Curse of Fenric for 7, and The Caves of Androzani for 5. It's nice to see Vengeance on Varos getting some love.

OP: There truly is a massive amount of material to sift through, which is both a positive and a negative for the casual fan (if there is such a thing when it comes to DW). Have a glance at this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Doctor_Who_serials

For that reason I suggest one of the more recent seasons, and season 5 (of new-Who) is such a great place to start, as it tends to forge it's own path rather than relying on backstory so much.

 

[Appleshampoo]

I've never watched the origional series, only the reboot and I can honestly say it's never made it any less awesome for me.

Start from the first series of the reboot. It's brilliant.

 

[Declaro]

snip

five? good choice, but he's not as good as seven, even with Nyssa and Adric...

I dunno, Seven just never rang my bell. Plus, I always liked Turlough, with the whole "Oh hey, I'm a companion who's trying to murder you."

 

[lord.jeff]

For New Who, start either with Eccleston (Series 1), or with the first Matt Smith series (Series 5).
The Eleventh Doctor is a kind of break in the series again, whereas 10 directly follows 9 even with story arches.

Agreed, that's exactly what I was planning to tell him. Also don't worry to much about the old series right now, it's hard to track down episodes, a little dated and not necessary to understand the new series, so watch the new one and if you love it go back and watch Tom Baker.

 

[Sethzard]

Definitely Eccleston if you're looking at new who.