I hope that the new Doctor proves to be a big success and that the new series thrives. Dr Who is my favourite TV series ever (after STARTREK) and I always thought it was a disaster when they took it off the air (although to be honest the whole of the 7th Doctor's seasons are probably best forgotten - with the exception of Rememberance of the Daleks.). I hope Micheal Grade does not interfere with it now he is back at the BBC as he cancelled the show originally.

Was suprised at the choice for the new Doctor as personally I thought they would use RICHARD E GRANT after he had been used in the web transmission.

Whatever they do they better not just forget the past and what has gone before (sorry!) and I hope they get permission to bring back the Daleks (but not Davros please!!!)

There's no chance of that this time - he's publically come out and said he doesn't care about the new Who series - as long as he doesn't have to watch it :) And anyway, his position as Chairman means he can't directly affect BBC Programming.

Plus, technically he didn't cancel it himself - he only played a part in the 1985 hiatus, and the series still came back after that! (And, depending on who you listened to - the series wasn;t cancellin in 1989 either - it just wasn't being made :))

Ah - I disagree there. While the McCoy stories were never as good as the stories in the past, I think there are several stories that deserve merit - such as season 26 (excluding Battlefield - and a 'remix' a la the Curse of Fenric SE would do wonders to the story)

I was never happy with the idea of REG as the Doctor - he, like Alan Davies and Rowan Atkinson, was just too obvious a choice for a Doctor. To this extent, Eccleston is a perfect choice - after all, when you look at the pre-Doctor careers of Pertwee (radio funnyman prior to Who), Tom Baker (temping as a bricklayer!) and Davison (TV Vet), they're the kind of person you wouldn't immediately guess to be a Doctor.

I agree here - with the original series it took 6 seasons before we saw the Doctor's home planet, and 11 seasons before it got a name!

From what I've heard (albeit from tabloids), the Dalek woes have been sorted, so meaning that they would seem to be ready for the new season. However, personally I hope it stops there - what's the point in having a new era; a new Doctor and a brand new series if you're just going to bring back old monsters? However, the sad fan in me would like them to include the Brigadier some how - if not in his first season then further on :)

Incidentally, while people complain about McCoy, two thirds of his stories did have original monsters :)

I hope this all works out. Just so long as they don't change the theme music I'll be happy. Okay, that's not strictly true. Flying Daleks????

BTW, ken1701e, is that the original Star Trek you're referring to or one of the spin-offs? I loved the original series. Even the acting boulder. :lol:

I'll definitely be giving the new series a go. God knows we could do with a sci-fi hit of our own again :)

It's impressive that the series has been given a 13 episode order rather than the traditional BBC 6 episode seasons of late. At least there should be time for some decent development.

I think as far as the Daleks (and Cybermen) go, I'd like to see them return in some capacity, surely they're iconic to the series and as much as it SHOULD be updated, there are certain things that should always be there. ;)

Actually I meant STAR TREK in general but especially NEXT GEN and now ENTERPRISE.

Phillip I stand corrected about S.McCoy. Thinking back, yes he did have some of the most original villans it is just a shame that just as his character was becoming interesting they scrapped the series (for want of a better word).

Cannot wait for the new series to start!!

Indeed.. It'll be interesting - over the last 6 months I've been watching every episode of Who in order (and realised a few interesting things), and I'm up to Trial episode 12 at the moment, so it'll be interesting to see what I think of McCoy (I've always liked him if anythign as he was 'my' Doctor :D)

Do you think it'll be serialised as in the old days, or will it be 13 stand alone episodes?

A bit of both - there are 13 shows, of which 6 form 3 2-part stories.

However, the 'story split into several episodes' element will be lost, with the season looking more like that of Trek or Stargate.

I think that's a shame. Part of the fun was the cliffhangers at the end of each episode.

I agree - I'm a frim fan of the orginal 25 minute episodes with cliffhanger.

However it's fair to say that the international Cult TV market can't really sustain 25-minute episodes - in order for the US market to be interested you need something that will fit an hour-long slot.

However, to be fair, we don't know just what is planned outside of these stories - perhaps there's an ongoing narrative, with 'mini-cliffhangers' between stories (like they did mainly in the Hartnell era, and occasionally with Troughton and Davison).

Talking of the cliffhangers.

I'm a big fan of the old classic Flash Gordon serials. I've got one series of them on DVD, you should see 'em, at the end of each episode there are some right corking cliffhangers :D

Buster Crabbe. I remember him. Every Christmas, each morning on BBC2. It's like the old monster movies. I know I keep harping on about the Monster Legacy box set, but it's an absolute joy to have them all in one place. I was gutted last Christmas when the Beeb didn't show them all late at night like they used to.

Aren't those the Flash Gordon sets that go for about £8 in the sales? :)

I'm not familiar with that set, what is it ?

They are indeed the Buster Crabbe ones by the way, still probably the best version :)

It's all the old Bela Lugosi/Boris Karloff/Lon Chaney Jr monster movies, i.e. Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man etc. A total of 15 films in all.

Or cheaper ;)

The boxsets go for £7.99 each, which contains the whole 13 episodes. On the other hand, I got mine from Music Zone, instead of a boxset I got the 2 separate volumes for £2.97 each :)

The only trouble is that whilst I could get one of the serials, the other one, they only had one of the two volumes :(

And no one seems to carry the third serial :(

15 ?? Wow.

In many respects you can't beat the old versions. They create a whole atmosphere that the newer versions can't get with all the CGI and prosphetics involved.

You're right. I watched Dracula the other day and, bearing in mind it was made in 1931, the scope of it is just incredible. Chills up and down my spine. I kid you not. ;)

I like my newer movies, but there's something about the B&W era that's just so enduring. It's the same with most genres at the time. I'm a big fan of Jimmy Stewart as well, It's A Wonderful Life and Harvey, great movies, even moving into the colour era you had movies like Rear Window. When you look at some of the blockbusters today the CGI is just absolutely overpowering. Sometimes all you need is a simple story, well told. One of the reasons I love The Usual Suspects and movies like that.

That's not to say that I don't like FX extravaganzas though. I love the LOTR trilogy as much as the next person ;)

I'm right with you there. One of the best movies of the past decade, in my opinion anyway, was LA Confidential. No cgi there - that I'm aware of!

Hi Philip

McCoy is your Doctor? I remember watching since Jon Pertwee started (I was almost 7) and I have been told I watched it before then.

My favourite Doctor has actually always been Peter Davidson but I couldnt tell you why if you asked me, after him it would have to be Tom Baker.

Least favourite is McCoy I am afraid although I am prepared to realise that he was not exactly given the best of times to work through.

Ken :P

Davidson was the Doctor that I remember watching. Couldn't really stand either Baker (Colin) or Sylvester McCoy though. Sadly my Whovian memories of childhood are clouded by the McCoy era being the freshest in my mind :(

Who is thie Davidson character of which you speak - never heard of him :)

And McCoy was my Doctor - however my first memories of Who were a few flashes of Colin Baker's last season (which I only realised in retrospect when I rediscovered the series). However, I never really watched it, but I always remembered his theme tune, and watching it on TV (although I never remembered any specific stories) and the first real memory I could directly attribute to Who was the beginning of Survival Part Two - if only because I had taped it on a video with an episode of Knightmare!

Oddly enough I remember vividly watching the Hartnell stories on BSB back in 1990, and then I've only caught it occasionally, and only got into it properly in 1998 (after picking up the BBC Television Companion book on a whim that year! :))

Ok so in haste I spelt his name wrong but the 5th Doctor has been and always shall be my favourite

I grew up with Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker. Not literally. You know what I mean! And Mary Tamm. Mmmmm. Sorry, I've just lowered the tone again, haven't I? :P

While he'll never be my favourite Doctor (that'll always be Troughton), I've recently come to like the fifth Doctor - perhaps it was just such a nice contrast after the fourth's mammoth run, but as I was slogging through Season 18 (which is a very poor season) I realised I was really looking forward to him, and he didn't disappoint.

Well, she has to have a fan somewhere :) I always preferred Lalla Ward as the second Romana myself :)

:lol: Yep, that was me. I saw her in a car advert recently (although, thankfully, it wasn't the one that goes "Zoom, zoom, zoom"!) and she's still rather sexy. :rolleyes:

Well I did wonder that as I typed it. I went with Ken's spelling though ;)