Now that Dr Who is back and running, I wondered how viewers felt about the decision to continue (with a break) his adventures from 1989 rather than simply starting the whole series from day one again (Doctor flees Gallifrey and starts his adventures anew, meeting all his old adversaries for the first time etc).

I really like the new series, but cannot help but think it might have benefited from starting from scratch. It would have eeked out all those rotten old continuity problems and also enabled a few changes to old characters and stories.

next youll be wanting DOCTOR WHO: THE TEEN YEARS :P

They could do that as well, like Enterprise for Star Trek. I like the idea anyway and it would have been different.

Good idea I think as when watching Doctor who, I did wonder what the doctor had been up too while he was off screen for those years

If only they had, but they saw fit to incude the yank fueled nonsense that was the tv movie , allthough given a good script i think paul mcghan would have made a good doctor it just wasn't to be

I think there is a danger of over exposure. We already have Torchwood and the much rumoured K9 spin off so another series would be milking the cash cow dry and possibly alienate the brand in the eyes of the public.

I agree wholeheartedly with you about this, and also the endless repeats of series one, how many times has it been on now? It was this sort of thing that helped to kill Star Trek.
As for starting from the beginning or continuing from the TV movie I would have preferred it just not to have been stated. Why bother? The Doctor could have been introduced, much as he was in Rose, what came before doesn't matter. That could have been revealed slowly as it was necessary. This would have allowed it to be many options eg: a new first Doctor, the first Doctor but when younger, a Doctor before the "First" Doctor, or a new Doctor at any stage in his regenerations but on an alternate timeline, or played by a different actor.
It would also have been the perfect opportunity to get some extra regenerations back.
What if CE had been the Fifth Doctor? and that Peter Davison had been a "Shadow" regeneration (from the watcher)similar to the Valeyard caused by the fact that the 4th Doctor suffered such a Traumatic Death? He could have been purely a temporary measure until CE was able to come onto the scene by whatever method (probably the heart of the Tardis ). This would mean that Doctors 6, 7, and 8 would be extensions of the "Shadow" regeneration and therefore not proper Doctors in their own right.
Probably over complicated but Doctor number 5 is a better place to be at than Doctor Number 10.

I just think less is sometimes more. Quality always wins over quantity!

Well I say bollocks to the continuity "problems" - just ignore them!

I really don't see why people get so uptight about it!

I like that these are "the continuing adventures of Doctor Who" since it means they can bring in the shows rich history, which they couldnt do with a reset.

as to more regenerations, TV wise the 8th & 9th regenrations havnt given us much, which is shame, becasue the 9th Doctor was a good Doctor, hopefully the 10th will last around 5 years.

Yes, there's certainly a rich vein to tap into given the history of the programme. It certainly would be a little wasteful (to say the least) not to use some of it.

I think that RTD's attitude towards the new programme was that he would use the history if he needed it, but he wasn't going to let it get in the way of the story he wants to tell. In that respect, I'd say he was spot on.

as long as RTDs brings in new elements to Doctor Who, then he should use the past elements, and hes used them really well, Dalek was a great episode and it wasnt just a straight copy of previous Dalek episodes.

He has used all the important elements and has referred to key facts but quite rightly so not allowed the new series to become too bogged down with too much from the past which could alienate new viewers.

Absolutely.

He might have made the odd slip-up with the last series, but that was definitely one of his better decisions as far as I'm concerned.

Now, if only he could forget about the Slitheen...

Perhaps Slitheen aversion therapy is what is required!

As others have said, I think RTD and the BBC were 100% right in continuing the original series, without getting too bogged down in the past. To do otherwise would simply have alienated everyone who remembered it (a significant portion of the current audience, whose children probably make up much of the rest) and really have no benefit to the new audience either. The character of the "new" Doctor was establised very well in the last series, without resorting to too much rewritten history.

If you were to truly reset the show and start from day one today, so much of the show's character would be lost as to be unrecognisable. For instance, what would the Tardis look like? Without knowing that the Tardis first appeared on Earth in the fifties, and that the chameleon circuit was broken back then, there's no reason for the new audience to expect it to be a police telephone box. Would you try to recreate that bit of history, just because it's popular, despite the fact that your new audience has never seen a real police telephone box before in their lives? If so, where would you draw the line - would you remake every other formative moment as well? What would be the point, when it has already been done?
Last edited by Boinng : 14-03-2006 at 14:30

I don't need any therapy, I'm already averse to them. RTD, on the other hand...

I read the basic plotlines and story ideas for the proposed 1996 US/UK hybrid series and its the single reason why there should never be a reboot show. I tried to purge it from my brain but the basic idea was the Doctor hunting for his father (who happened to be involved in all the great moments in history, Atlantis comes to mind). He encounters the "Cybs" in a story called "Tomb of the Cybs".. I could go on but its far too awful, even now I still have nightmares about it . How close we came to a disasterous semi-reboot show!

I think I read this in one of the Doctor Who magazine specials. It's been a while so some of my information is probably incorrect.