I am aware of this show and did watch a few episodes on PBS back in the '80s... featuring Tom Baker. I understand that there have been 11 actors that have played the character in various television formats. What would be the best way for me to watch this character's adventures from the beginning? I would think that there would be way too many episodes to have a dvd collection.

I don't know I would start with the most recent series only because the production values are fairly good. Then work your way backward.

Darin -- as a lifelong fan of the old show, I would still suggest starting with Series 1 of the 2005 relaunch, starring Christopher Eccleston. It's truly the best entry point for new fans today, I think. Watch all of Series 1, then decide whether to go forward or flash back. If the latter, I'd suggest sampling one episode from every Doctor except Tom Baker, whose long tenure demands a smattering:

1. An Unearthly Child (the first episode)
2. Tomb of the Cybermen
3. Terror of the Autons
4a. The Brain of Morbius
4b. The Talons of Weng-Chiang
4c. City of Death
5. The Caves of Androzani
6. The Mark of the Rani
7. The Curse of Fenric

The DVD are available on Netfix, many of them can be streamed. There's still quite a few holes in the collection, with a few dozen complete serials not available on DVD yet (plus numerous missing serials from the first two Doctors). For whatever reason, Jon Pertwee seems to have the most unreleased stories (all exist, although some only in B&W). Tom Baker is getting fairly close to being complete.

Here's one of the many episode guides on-line.
http://www.shannonsullivan.com/drwho/1doc.html

Continuity is generally pretty light. The 60s feature a lot of cliff-hangers going into the next serial, so there's often a feeling of coming in the middle of things, but ignore that and you'll be in the swing of thing within a few minutes. From the 70s on, the stories tend to be stand-alone. The first season of Tom Baker (Robot, Ark In Space, Sontoran Experiment, Genesis Of The Daleks, Revenge Of The Cybermen... and the follow season's, Terror Of The Zygon) bleed into one another, but without cliff-hangers. A couple of the seasons have an over-arching story (The Key To Time and Trial Of A Time Lord), so those need to be watched in order.

The way I got into the Classic Doctor was starting with Tom Baker's first serial "Robot" (4th Doctor). I then backtracked to Jon Pertwee (3rd Doctor). Then did the 80s (5th-7th). Then watched what I could of the first two (I eventually found all the audio of the missing adventures). This was done via the usual illicit channels. But since then I've been buying up the DVDs.

By the by... when watching the older serials, if you find yourself drifting, it's probably a good idea to take a break. Some of them are quite long and there's a lot of plot-stretching "excitement" that happens because of it. Some of the serials can get pretty tedious if watched in one sitting as you watch the Doctor get caught and escape several times in the middle episodes. Not a problem when you watch a couple of episodes at a time, but sitting through all 10 episodes of "The War Games" in one go can ruin an otherwise enjoyable serial.

Thanks all. I'll start with the Christopher Eccleston series as advised.

That's the absolute best way to get into it. The production values of the old series can be a bit off-putting, especially if you have the misfortune of hitting one of the done-on-the-cheap serials. My first exposure to Doctor Who was in the late 70s with "The Horns Of Nimon"... which explains why my second exposure to Doctor Who was Eccleston.

Darin, fyi, Steve recently started an "I am watching Doctor Who" thread to discuss the Eccleston series as he goes along -- if you felt like jumping in alongside it might be fun.

Oh. Well maybe this thread should just be combined into this one then. I'll admit, I didn't check to see if there was a suitable Dr. Who thread already.

Would I be right in surmising that Dr. Who is, generally, a more cerebral science fiction show?

I'd say it's more cerebral than say the average science fiction show, but at it's core it's still pretty much just an adventure series.

God, no. It's not cerebral at all.

It's just the most fun that can be had on TV.

Doctor Who is sci-fi adventure show for the whole family, which is smarter than it needs to be... well, most of the time. Probably about Raiders Of The Lost Ark level of clever. It plays the various formulas well, has a really witty lead, and skewers the odd cliche from time to time to great affect.

I watched another British sci-fi show back in the 1980s called "The Tomorrow People." It was made by a company called "Thames." The episodes I was watching in the 80s were actually filmed from 1973 to 1979. Having also watched some of the 4th Doctor episodes on PBS, they struck me as similar. Sort of like a sci-fi soap opera.

Darin, I'd teak Stephen's list a bit but go with the following:

1. An Unearthly Child (the first episode)
2. Tomb of the Cybermen
3. Terror of the Autons
4a. Genesis of the Daleks
4b. The Pyramids of Mars
4c. The Talons of Weng-Chiang
5. The Caves of Androzani
6. The Mark of the Rani
7. Remembrance of the Daleks

The Tom Baker was definitely the best of the classic series but the others had high points as well. The Baker era does demand a few selections.

Seeds of Doom is getting a DVD release in October !!

Seeds of Doom was one of the more disturbing ones for me growing up...not just for the mulcher, but for all the talk of amputations and Arnold's lost humanity.

That was some scary shit.

And Harrison Chase does a great Christopher Walken impression.

I think that's also one of the first 6 parters that really works. I like how they split up the story into a two-part set-up in the Arctic, then it changes setting and unfolds like a typical four-parter.

A question for the British, was the Kevin Bishop Show just the most fucking awful, unfunny thing on television?

This seems like a pretty easy one, Karen Gillan tarted up like Katy Perry and frolicking with scantily clad girls... so why do I want to shut off the volume so fucking much.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfI-ZHZ2eRM[/youtube]

More comedy that makes you want to turn off your sound just to watch Ms. Gillan half-naked.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_cahQdr9So&feature=related[/youtube]

Okay, I've got the Eccleston season from 2005 on DVD and will start watching it this evening.

One of the tropes of the old series that I find myself missing in the new, is the use of film outdoors and video tape indoors! To this day, that is how I see the world...outside is film, inside video...


I know, that's strange....

What's funny is that they now shoot it in digital video, then process it to look like film.

If you get the 4th season box set, DON'T watch the deleted scenes. They haven't been processed, and from that moment on, the show will look to you like someone shot it with their Flip camera.