Watch a couple episodes from the second season of the new series (with David Tenant as the 10th doctor) to see if you enjoy it. The first season (to most people I've talked to) is noticeably lesser quality than the subsequent seasons. If you like what you see, then go back and start with the 9th doctor.I'm in the minority, but I enjoyed the first season. I rate Eccleston higher on my list of Doctors than Smith with the exception of the River Song storyline.
Speaking of old TV shows, I was going through my old DVDs of my all-time favorite TV show The Pretender when I came across this joke from Sydney, a character on the show who is a Psychologist:
There's no need to see the old series to watch the modern series. If you don't really know what's going on, it will feel dated and slow.+1 I think the first episode sums up the premise pretty well though. Yeah the older episodes aren't needed, you might miss a bit of a reference to the old show due to not knowing it but I didn't watch it, the only way I knew I missed a reference is my mother was overly happy to see them (she loves the 4th doctor).
The first episode of the new series does a fairly good job of explaining what one needs to know for the series. I agree that the production quality of the first season is weak, but things improve quickly. The only problem I see with skipping to season two is that it starts with some unexplained time lord mythos.
I'd just start with the beginning of the modern series, as it appear most did (myself included), knowing things will be a little cheesy but will improve. If you start to lose interest after a couple episodes, skip ahead to season two.
my mother was overly happy to see them (she loves the 4th doctor).Tom Baker ftw!
Doctor Who is like math. It's a lot of fun, but you're going to get turned off and never like it if you start with the boring stuff.I agree with this regarding anything before season 1 (9th doctor). However if you skip the 9th doctor you would miss the great 2-part episode called "The Doctor Dances", which would be a shame. However I do agree with asrgimli that some of the stuff is too scary for little kids. Even adults don't look at stone statues of angels the same anymore :)
Start with season 2 (David Tennant as the 10th doctor.)
Even adults don't look at stone statues of angels the same anymore :)Yeah, I'm afraid to look away from them....
Billie Piper was the real problem with those early episodes. Eccleston was hurt by proxy.Really? I much preferred Piper in season one than two. She was adventurous with Eccleston, but when Tennant showed up and became whiny and her character development degraded to "lovesick puppy".
So.....
I gather that it would be okay to start with the 2005 series that begins the ninth doctor. Since there was apparently a 15-year hiatus before it, do they explain the basic premise in the first episode? Or do I need to put the "beginnings" disc from 1963 in my Netflix queue?
I'm picky about not reading reviews or watching trailers for anything that I intend to watch. I have even been skipping many of the posts in this thread that I fear may give something away. I just want to know where to start as someone who knows nothing about Dr. Who, but has to rely on Netflix for viewing. Right now the 2005 series is on streaming, so it would be nice to start there, if it will make sense.