Not David Tennant
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any more crowded… “VWORP! VWORP!” I fell in love with Doctor Who when I was about 8 years old, sometime in 1986 or 1987. It aired around 5:30 PM in winter, just as the sun was setting and it was getting dark. The rich history of the show (even then at 25 years) was enough for me to completely lose myself. During the 1990s, after the show was cancelled, I quickly became a fan of the black & white era of the show. There was an aura about it. Retro, campiness, but also atmosphere and often surprisingly poignant and exciting moments. The amount of missing material also meant it was a jigsaw puzzle waiting for fans like myself to piece it together.
Unlike the majority of fans, I prefer William Hartnell to Troughton’s Doctor. I also thoroughly enjoy the historicals along with the sci-fi. However, today’s TARDIS crew have stepped right out of one of the sci-fi classics of the series, Dalek Master Plan. The companions are Steven and Sara Kingdom (though her status as a companion is debatable… oops I’m going nerd on you!). Anyway, as many of you might have guessed based on my tastes in Star Wars, I am a classic Who fan, and could never get into the new series. Still, I hope this strip will be received in the right humorous spirit as always.
I hinted on our Facebook page that Leanne and I are in a bit of a pickle. As a result we are selling everything we can, including all our remaining Star Wars action figures (at least seven lots on eBay starting on Sunday). Currently I have a bunch of buy it now auctions for various other oddities, mostly action figures and the like. Please help us as we prepare for the seemingly imminent government shut down. And before any smartass tells us Leanne will get paid, please understand that it only works like that for government employees. Leanne is a government contractor and if you aren’t permitted to come in, you don’t get paid. We went through this already last year for three weeks. Only now, if this goes through, we’re going to be hurting even harder!
So, I can live without Star Wars action figures after all. Anyone want to help me find them a new home?
Here’s the link to our eBay.
I’ll be honest. The only Classic Who I’ve seen is the first season of Hartnell, the first episode of Planet of the Giants (S2E1), and The Three Doctors. It was cheesy and campy and I wish I had time to watch more of it. (I also wish Netflix had more than just random series from random seasons.)
I’m still working my way through the series, but I’m excessively fond of Hartnell myself. Hit him again, Doctor!
Yes please hit him again. 🙂
No mention of the actors who have appeared on Doctor Who and the trilogy?
gah! I hope the shutdown doesn’t happen – congress truly is a bunch of wankers.
On the plus side, so happy to see Steven and Sara – and love how Luke shouts “Doctor Who!” Thus receiving the wrath of whovians everywhere 🙂
Hello, I was just wondering if you are planning to attend Celebration 7 next month? I was hoping to get a sketch done.
YES! DOCTOR WHO!
You should do a thing where all thirteen Doctors circle the Death Star and do what they did to Gallifrey… except, of course, they fail, because the Rebels are supposed to blow up the Death Star. I’ll leave that up to you if you like that idea.
I like David Tennant, but all the Doctors are pretty awesome. Wish there were more classic episodes on Netflix, because I need to get better acquainted with the old Doctor Who. BTW, the reason you couldn’t get into the New Series is probably because you only watched the first five episodes. I might be wrong about that, but if that’s true and you only watched those ones and decided it wasn’t your taste, they do get progressively better.
I’ve tried bits and pieces of the Tennant era. I can understand why people would like the New Series in its various incarnations so far, but it’s so far removed from what I grew attached to that it just didn’t feel right for me. I have seen some of the highlights. There is the odd thing I like. Heck, I really liked the Sarah Jane Smith Adventures episode with Matt Smith and Katy Manning. But I have to be honest, I liked the 30 minute cliffhanger format and the less rushed pacing. I also like classic Dr Who exactly for some of the reasons many people don’t. I like the quirky dodgy effects. It forces you to use your imagination a lot more. I like retro stuff and don’t like the idea of the Doctor having relationships. So the New Series just isn’t my cup of tea. It doesn’t mean it won’t appear in BMS. I’m not a fan of Firefly either, but I have friends that love it, and I love my friends. I certainly respect what all sci-fi shows and films have offered to the broader scope of science fiction and they will have a home here at BMS as far as I’m concerned. We try to be unbiased. Even though Hartnell and Tom Baker are my favorite Doctors, if I was really showing favoritism I would have had Hartnell with Ian and Barbara and Vicky. I don’t actually like Steven much (shouts too much), and Sara Kingdom is a trigger happy, cold-hearted brainwashed bitch. 😉 However, choosing the Dalek Master Plan period was very deliberate and readers will understand later.
Cool. Yup, I really need to get on Hulu.
One thing Hulu won’t have is the reconstructions of the missing episodes. They are brilliant. Especially the ones that use the surviving telesnaps and audio, vs the animated professional ones. I’d much rather see stills from the actual missing episode along with the audio. Anyway, I am a geek on that the B&W era. I think you can find them on Youtube or else you can search the internet for a “solution”.
What do you think of the Eighth Doctor movie? I really need to see that one too. Actually, the ones I think I really need to see are the first two Hartnell serials. RIP William Hartnell.
I didn’t like the Fox movie. Paul McGann was good casting, but the film had none of the charm of the original series. Some people like it, and that’s fine. But for me its only link to Doctor Who was the name and the Police Box.
Regarding the Hartnell Era, you’ve probably already heard that An Unearthly Child can put some people off. Although the first episode is brilliant, the subsequent 3 episodes are not the most inspiring. You need to stick it our for a few stories, and keep in mind that Hartnell’s portrayal of the Doctor quickly softens after the first three stories. From The Aztecs on, he is able to start making the character warmer, more quirky and less intimidating. He really starts becoming recognizable as the Doctor new series fans know during the Season 2 story The Rescue when he stands up to Koquillion and at last takes on the role of the lead protagonist, something that was Ian’s role up until then.
Also, you get to see Ian and Barbara develop over the course of the first two seasons which is, for Leanne and myself, one of the best things about this era. We also really like some of the more comical and clever stories like The Romans and The Space Museum (the first episode is brilliant sci-fi), which a lot of fans hate because of the humor or pacing. But I think it’s important not to take the show too seriously, at least not this era. It needs to be treated as its own thing. Doctor Who evolved as a series and the character and background of the Doctor evolved from being one thing to being something else. It doesn’t mesh together perfectly by a long shot, but taken in the context of its time and outside of the huge universe that would follow, the Hartnell era is an endearing and charming predecessor of modern Doctor Who.
I don’t think I’ll have trouble with One the way people sometimes have with Nine’s episodes. 🙂
BTW, the worst Doctor Who movie of all time (glad I haven’t seen it!) was Dr. Who and the Daleks. That’s right, DR. Who. So bad, Peter Cushing left it out of his memoirs.
You couldn’t be more wrong. Peter Cushing considered the role of the Doctor one of his favorites, if not his favorite role. He mentioned in at least one of his autobiographies. I also really enjoy the Doctor Who and the Daleks movie (the second one not so much). It’s a separate universe from regular Doctor Who, but it’s charming and has Terry Nation’s same exciting plot line as the BBC version. I think the technicolor version of this story is wonderful. I have no idea where you got the impression you did about Peter Cushing’s opinion but as a long term super fan of Peter Cushing (I own a signed copy of his children’s book “The Boise Saga” and all the biographies on him) I can promise you that you’re wrong about his opinion at least.
Yes, he’s called “Doctor Who” instead of the Doctor, and he’s just a crazy scientist human, but I guess it helps that I’m a huge fan of Peter Cushing so I automatically give him a bit of a free pass in anything he does. However, if you really didn’t like Doctor Who and the Daleks, I’m not sure you will have the patience for the black and white Hartnell era either. To get the most out of it, you need to be able to enjoy and accept the parts that are more comical and kid friendly, even when it doesn’t fit well with later WHO. It has to be appreciated in its own context as a slightly different entity. OTherwise, you’ll just be another fan who won’t be able to appreciate The Romans, or The Space Museum. The Romans is so good because if you have been watching all the stories in order up to that point, you should hopefully really enjoy the comedy with Ian and Barbara because you watched them develop, become attached to each other, and enjoy some down time without having to save the world.
Oh, you do know about that. 🙂
Well, I’ve just heard bad things about it. My main problem is that it doesn’t line up with the series and they changed stuff. I have seen some Hartnell and I like it. I think I will have the patience for it. 🙂
I think the biggest mistake fans make is expecting or needing the Cushing movies to be in the same universe as the series. Even eras of the main show differ wildly as the show evolved. It’s like comparing homo habilis and homo erectus in evolutionary anthropology. They’re both hominids, but they are separate species and should be judged on their own merits. You can twist and bend all eras of Doctor Who to try and make it fit together as a whole, but it will never be perfect, and I think it is just best to treat each distinct period of the show in a separate context. As for the Cushing movies, they are a bit of fun and at least a optional retelling of the Hartnell stories “The Daleks” and “The Dalek Invasion of Earth”. They don’t hurt Doctor Who in anyway and, if anything, have become more endearing, charming and quaint as the years have worn on. I argue, it doesn’t matter if the Cushing movies don’t fit. Not everything needs to fit. Sometimes its just nice to have some additional material to enjoy alongside the original canon.
Cool
The reason for Daleks Master Plan-era Hartnell wouldn’t have to do with it being one of the few times in the black and white era that the Doctor could steer the TARDIS, would it?
I would love to bid on your EBay items (especially the MOTU) but, alas, I am also selling my childhood on EBay to pay bills.
The good news is that I have made over $800.00…
Wowsers! Well done. That’s a LOT of childhood.
Unfortunately Diapers (and the like) are quire expensive so in can honestly say my Childhood is going to shit… 😉
Heh, personally I’d have loved to see the Eleventh Doctor step out. 😉 Mostly so he could bring a certain red head with him.
I’ll admit I’ve only watched the first four episodes of the original series, but I do plan on watching more at some point. Still got the Sarah Jane Adventures to see of the new stuff. 🙂
I admit, Amy Pond is easily my favorite of the new companions. If you guys want to see Amy, just say so. As for Clara… I think the only way she will show up is if she is stepping out of an airlock. Oh I liked the War Doctor thing. That to me was an interesting concept and great casting. I could do something with him… hmmm….
With you there on all accounts.
Ooooooh. You know you always can get me with the Eleventh and Pond. Pleeeeeease get them in! 😀
Oh please can you do that strip? The one with Clara going out the airlock? And then it can become Doctor Who again and not the “Clara and the Doctor Show”.
Back on main topic – thank you for this whole set of strips; it’s a hoot, a stretched out Christmas present for nerd-kind.
Sigh, so many wonderful cameo crossovers, and no sign of my favorite red and silver garbed, egg ship flying, nano nanoo shouting, joke cracking, Mork,from Ork, who we all know would lend a hand, or a finger….
I’ll see what we can do, just for you, Rich. And no, that’s not sarcasm. 🙂
As a fan of several doctors, I agree w rod about the classics tugging my heart strings. I grew up watching the 80s doctor who(s) and while I like the new ones, it just isn’t the same.
It would have been real meta if it were the other First Doctor – of “Doctor Who and the Daleks” fame who stepped out. 😉
You mean Peter Cushing’s “Doctor Who”? That would have been interesting, since it would be a way back into the series for Grand Moff Tarkin.
Or cause a lot of confusion. 😉
Hahaha… Ok two things, first, yay and thank you rod! Second, my daughter (age 13) upon reading this strip, noticed that, In this universe, any old man, with a black crooked cane ….is a force to be reckoned with, and Luke should not have taken, lightly. (Something, something, something…..dark side….)
I’m wondering if there is/will be a similar gathering of all these characters’ villainous counterparts on the Death Star II. And if so, how they would get along. Some of them don’t play well with others no matter who they are (I’m looking at you, Daleks!).
Also one of my favorite Doctors!
Retroactive edition to the Hoth storyarc perhpas?
http://twistedsifter.com/2015/02/japanese-army-brigade-builds-giant-star-wars-snow-sculpture/
Hartnell ranks fourth in my favorites list (Behind Tom Baker, Matt Smith and Paul McGann [thanks to the Big Finish Audio adventures]) and right about equal with Capaldi.
I was so absolutely happy to see Hartnell as the Doctor in this strip! So many people think of Tennant when they say “The Doctor”, but to me, that isn’t true.
And I do consider Kingdom to be a Companion. I also consider her to be the first Companion to die for the Doctor.
So you don’t think Kararina was a companion? I’m not saying I think she is either. I think both of them are just guest stars. But Katarina, in some people’s minds, has a greater claim. Though, anyone who actually watches the reconstruction of The Myth Makers will see that Katarina was pulled out of nowhere at the end of the last episode.
Given the way my head is right now, I forgot about Katrina. I tend consider nearly all of the characters who travel with the Doctor as Companions, though I feel that Katrina was an incredibly weak character. Quite often I try to stay out of the fandom discussions because Doctor Who is very important to me and how I manage my anxiety at times.
I don’t blame you. I think we have a lot in common there. I know way more about it than most people realize and I can get defensive really quickly. I just think that period under John Wiles was a total mess (production wise and bleeding into the stories too). I love Dalek Master Plan though. It’s cartoony campness balances well with the really dark stuff that happens in that story and makes it palatable. But yeah, Katarina was a waste of space, but I do blame John Wiles for that. He had no idea what he was doing with the show and wanted to turn it into something completely different, which is why I believe Hartnell fought so hard with him. Wiles was responsible for kicking Maureen O’ Brien out of the series, whom I loved as Vicki. Then he introduces Katarina… decided within three episodes that they can’t be bothered finding a way to make her work, introduced Sara Kingdom, and then kills her off too. Talk about traumatic. The worst thing for me was that Vicki was the real victim.
Longtime lurker, me – just popping up to say that although Tennant’s my Doctor, I loved the “Doctor Who” strip. (imho, as much as I love the guy, his era is a bit overrated.)
My hat’s off to you for (a) bringing in the Hartnell Doctor, and (b) showing him effectively using a cane against a Jedi with some panache- or at least gettin’ a good jump on ‘im. Way to go with some good old school ultra-violence-
Wait, “ultra-violence;” isn’t that actually what Little Alex and his crew do…?
Which means if we’re drawing in from all over here….
Ha, and in the spirit of all this parody, I imagine a scene where the BMS team asked Christopher E. To come be the doctor in the strip, only to be abruptly turned down….as he turns away and adjusts his destro helmet. Lol. I think when it comes to doctor who, it’s hard to top the original.
Yeah, he sure went onward and upward. 😉
what’s wrong with the first Doctor? i love all 13 of them!