Doctor Who-My Personal Viewing Guide For New Viewers
It wasn't a simple task to have Doctor Who explained to me when I first asked about it to that Newbury Comics employee nearly two years ago now. Through different life circumstances,my immediate family have become my best and often only friends. Within the last year my mother and father have taken up the task of watching Doctor Who themselves. My father wanted to start from the beginning,but has yet to be able to stay awake for the entirety of An Unearthly Child-for reasons totally unrelated to the quality of the story. My mother has shown a stronger interested in the modern hour long format of the show-citing David Tennant as a personal favorite. Yet when approached by them with the idea of selecting which Doctor Who was the best jumping on point,I was scratching my head because it came to mind that it was easier to understand the show through viewing it than trying to verbally explaining it. As Mister Tennant's tenth doctor might say of Doctor Who,its actually a big ball of wibbly wobbly,timey wimey stuff. Though many Whovians speak of a canonical continuity to the show,the character of the doctor is constantly "getting involved" with altering the course not only of whole civilizations but of time itself-his moral code as flexible as the time vortex he travels through seems to be. In order to make some sense of this on my end,I would like to present to you-as part of my celebration of William Hartnell's birthday anniversary,my own guide for newcomers to Doctor Who. And it views the show as one continuum-not by divisions such as "classic who" and "new who";its all one inside the time vortex to me. This is not going to be a lost of Doctor Who stories that are necessarily classics or fan favorites. In fact some many be considered by some the very worst the show has to offer. What this list will present are stories from all of the doctors which include important milestones for the series-including personal revelations about the doctor himself. Brief descriptions of these revelations will be included with each episode. So please enjoy this list,than seek out these stories and begin your entry into the world of the time lords and the TARDIS. As the character of River Song would say,this does contain some spoilers.
*Includes the explanation of how the TARDIS received it's name-as well as the first glimpse of its "bigger on the inside" nature.
*The introduction of Terry Nation's iconic Daleks,their home world Skaro,their nemesis the Thals and includes enormous back round information on that particular subject matter.
*The first appearance of another member of the doctors race,as well as another time capsule (if I understand it,the TARDIS is a name exclusive to the doctors time machine)
*First appearance of the Cybermen. And most notable for the story that introduced the concept of the doctor regenerating into a new body.
*First appearance of the sonic screwdriver. To any newcomers this is one of the missing stories of Doctor Who. Only available as of now as an audio track on CD.
*The name of the doctors race,the time lords is officially revealed.
*First mention of the doctor had two hearts.
*Debut appearance of the doctors arch rival/nemesis The Master-as originally portrayed by the late Roger Delgado.
*Debut appearance of Omega,the original creator of the space/time vortex for the time lords. Also the tenth anniversary story for the show the introduced the concept of showcasing multiple incarnations of the doctor.
*First mention of the doctors homeworld Galifrey. Also the first appearance of the doctors most iconic companion Sarah Jane Smith.
*First appearance of the Dalek's creator Davros.
*The first Doctor Who story to fully explore Time Lord society,the history of the doctors time capsule TARDIS and the amount of times a time lord can regenerate.
*Debut and origin story for K-9,the doctors robotic dog companion.
*The debut of Romanadvortrelundar-known mostly as Romana,the doctors first and so far only fellow time lord companion.
*Final appearance of K-9 in the original run of the series,as well as the final appearance of Romana.
*The first appearance of the TARDIS's zero room-with yet further detail into the regenerative process.
*The final appearance of the sonic screwdriver during the series' original run.
*The debut appearance of Rassilon,the first leader of the time lords as well as being Doctor Who's 20th anniversary commemorative story.
*First and only story in the original run of the series where the TARDIS's broken chameleon circuit is repaired and it appears as objects other a Police Box.
*Reveals the nature of regeneration of regeneration as being a lottery.
*However controversial these revelation is to many Whovians,the doctor claims in this story that his mother was human. Also the debut of the eye of harmony-the main energy source for the TARDIS.
*The doctor first mentions the time lords being destroyed following a time war with the Daleks.
*Much about the back round of The Master is revealed here,including why he was driven to insanity and the nature of the drumming sound he has heard throughout his many regeneration's.
*The first time the doctor has had full physical interaction with the sentient aspect of the TARDIS itself-including the revelation they are physically joined.
I hope that these 24 offerings will help any of you Whovian's who are asking similar questions as I have to introducing family,friends and co-workers to the complex world of Doctor Who. Of course once one is given the back round to the important facts about the show from these episodes there are many iconic and wonderful episodes of the series (such as The Aztecs,Tomb Of The Cyberman,Pyramids Of Mars,etc) for them to watch after that. Luckily many of these episodes are both educational as to the nature of Doctor Who but are also prime examples of the best this series has to offer. So again to all Whovians and soon to be Doctor Who admirers,at least,a very happy posthumous birthday to the late William Hartnell-the man who first portrayed the doctor over half a century ago now. Thank you! *As a bonus,here's a special video about my collection of William Hartnell era DVD's.
*First appearance of the sonic screwdriver. To any newcomers this is one of the missing stories of Doctor Who. Only available as of now as an audio track on CD.
*The name of the doctors race,the time lords is officially revealed.
*Debut appearance of Omega,the original creator of the space/time vortex for the time lords. Also the tenth anniversary story for the show the introduced the concept of showcasing multiple incarnations of the doctor.
*First mention of the doctors homeworld Galifrey. Also the first appearance of the doctors most iconic companion Sarah Jane Smith.
*First and only story in the original run of the series where the TARDIS's broken chameleon circuit is repaired and it appears as objects other a Police Box.
*Much about the back round of The Master is revealed here,including why he was driven to insanity and the nature of the drumming sound he has heard throughout his many regeneration's.
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