I was beginning to see a good few threads from us newbies asking questions so thought it might be a good idea to have them all in the one place and any kind who master can answer them for us

So for a start -

Has there always been little clues left throughout the episodes in other series (eg - Rory's badge, no ducks in the pond) or is this something Moffat has brought in? I don't mean story arcs (crack e.t.c) but more little slight clues which makes people think

Bad Wolf, I think... although I never understood it.

I always thought bad wolf meant like the main villian of the series? The big bad wolf? Or I might be thinking completely along the wrong lines

Hey Kc, brilliant idea. I am a newbie myself and just started a thread today.

I enjoy watching WHO but get annoyed by the fact that I could get so much more out of it. It seems that although new fans can watch, there's much more to every detail due to these having their origins in the Classic Who serials.

I really welcome the thread. Hope the vets and hardcore fans can assist us with their Who knowledge!

Yes, but weren't there references to it throughout the series?

Yes. Same with Torchwood in series 2 and Arthur Saxon in series 3.

Most of the references to classic Who really aren't all that intrusive. Knowing about them adds to the experience, I would think, but not knowing about them shouldn't spoil it.

There's been something in each series of NuWho, some more obvious than others.

Series 1 had the words Bad Wolf popping up thoughout time and Space, Series 2 it was mentions of Torchwood.

Series 3 you had to spot references to Saxon (though these actually began in Series 2).

Series 4 was more like Series 5 where there wasn't just a repeated word or phrase but a combination of things. Some words/phrases were repeated but you also had certain people appearing in the background in different episodes, a seemingly throw away line in Ep1 being answered in the Finale or a recurring plot point mentioned in a few episodes.

It did take people a little while (well 2 or 3 episodes) to catch onto Bad Wolf but now each episode is examined in such detail that I'm sure at least some of the stuff people think are clues are just errors or irrelevant.

I wonder how long it'll be before the writers start throwing in stuff just to drive us folk on the forums barmy.

Moffat: OK props guys. I want one large poster hung upside down in each episode. And make the writing illegible so the forum geeks go cross-eyed while they're standing on their heads.

Arthur Saxon?

Harold's cousin.
Didn't you spot all the references to Arthur Saxon?!

To be fair to the production teams since the new series started, there has been a lot of explaining going on for newer fans. For instance, during the Sontaran story, The Doctor explained about the probic vent, The Cybermen were quite explained,as was The Master.

Not everything is though, if you didn't know the Macra in Gridlock had been in the series once before you would have thought they were a new series creation.

RTD did it to some extent in series 4 by introducing visual metaphors and parallel scenes for parts of the finale in other episodes. e.g. Chasing the wasp to the pool where it disappeared under the water - following the bees to the medusa cascade. It's worth comparing Donna's Planet of the Ood hearing their song scene (which she can't take) with that of her mindwipe scene.
He also had in each episode aliens reproducing themselves by use of humans.
(This season we're getting air/gas production in each episode.)

I noticed right from Silence of the Library that SM has great knowledge of 'Lost' and how it's put together. There are some visual and story metaphors there for the dark smoke monster, hatch, and much more. I'll lay odds that it's the Lost influence that's responsible for the fine detail.

Season 4 had repeated mentions of the Shadow Proclaimation, that was the only repeater I really noticed there.

Season 5 is Silence, and the crack of course.

There was also all the stuff about the bees disappearing, and the planets being lost.

Yep, but no-one had mentioned the Shadow Proclaimation so I thought I would