there is a new doctorin the tardis it is....

[andersonh1]

That's the same type of attitude that galled me with Lord of the Rings. They loved the book so much they wanted to make a movie out of it... but then they go and change a ton of details. At least with Doctor Who, the format of the show allows for constant reinvention without it looking like a reboot.

IMO, that's not fair, the LOTR movies are the first live-action adaptation, it's not a reboot of a franchise since LOTR wasn't a franchise anyway. I didn't care for the books, which nearly cost me viewing the movies, but once I did, I was hooked.

I love the books and I'm very much a book purist when it comes to LOTR, so while I found a lot to enjoy in the movies, all the alterations irked me. And there are a ton of changes, far more than can be explained away by adaptation from one medium to another.

But my point with that was that when I listen to the DVD commentaries and watch the documentaries, the director and script writers talk about how much they love the books and how much of a genius that Tolkien is, etc. Then they rewrite half the book when adapting it to the screen. Legolas becomes the KeWl action hero, for example, while Gimli becomes the comic relief character, spouting jokes every other line and looking like a goof.

If the source material is so wonderful, why change so much of it? That's my point.

With Doctor Who, thankfully constant change of cast is a regular feature of the show, so whenever a new Doctor or companion is introduced, it's not jarring. And continuity with older episodes is loosely maintained, so while discrepancies occur, it's not a big deal. We've managed to avoid the total reboot so far.

[138 Scourge]

I was wondering that myself. He's my fellow Doctor Who/Robot Heroes fan

...which reminds me...

http://www.whoblackpool.com/figures-toy ... 4_760.html

I'm particularly a fan of the Cyberman, Dalek, and Dave figures. Who turned out the lights?

I'm excited about the new Doctor. I'm a big fan of Tennant's take on the role, but if he says it's time to go, who am I to argue? Seen a little bit of this new fella's acting, and I think he'll do. Besides, when he starts up, we'll be in the Stephen Moffat-controlled era of Who, and c'mon, that's gotta be a good thing. I loved Russel T. Davies' run, and have to give the guy high marks for making the new show happen, but, man, Moffat? That guy knows his stuff, too. This next season's gonna be fun.

And I know it's been quite awhile, but how awesome was the last Christmas special?

[andersonh1]

I haven't seen much of the Christmas special yet. I caught bits of it on YouTube, but I've generally been able to see newWho whenever Sci-Fi shows it and my mom records the shows. I did like the "next" Doctor though... nicely played in the scenes that I saw. I imagine we'll get all of this year's specials as a box set at some point... series 4.5 maybe?

I've been getting back into a classic Who watching mood. I just bought the Hartnell story "The War Machines" on DVD. Tremendous improvement in picture quality over the VHS release, with some good extras. And even though it's far from my favorite story, I got "Black Orchid" with Peter Davison as well. That one's worth it just for the commentary, in which Peter Davison and Janet Fielding have a great time poking fun at the story while Matthew Waterhouse and Sarah Sutton barely manage to get a word in edgewise.

[138 Scourge]

I haven't seen much of the Christmas special yet. I caught bits of it on YouTube, but I've generally been able to see newWho whenever Sci-Fi shows it and my mom records the shows. I did like the "next" Doctor though... nicely played in the scenes that I saw. I imagine we'll get all of this year's specials as a box set at some point... series 4.5 maybe?

I've been getting back into a classic Who watching mood. I just bought the Hartnell story "The War Machines" on DVD. Tremendous improvement in picture quality over the VHS release, with some good extras. And even though it's far from my favorite story, I got "Black Orchid" with Peter Davison as well. That one's worth it just for the commentary, in which Peter Davison and Janet Fielding have a great time poking fun at the story while Matthew Waterhouse and Sarah Sutton barely manage to get a word in edgewise.

I've been watching a bunch of the classics lately myself, thanks to getting a VCR and a friend of mine kicking his VHS's over to me when he upgrades to DVDs. Though, of all things, my favorite lately's been that collection of footage from lost episodes. Particularly the episodes of "The Enemy of the World" that survived. There's a cook in there who is one of the funniest supporting characters I've ever seen. Ol' Griffin the cook, that fella needs an action figure. So does the Kandyman, but I'll leave that alone for now.

For some reason, I just love Black Orchid. I'm a sucker for the episodes in which the Tardis crew runs into a non-supernatural-type intrigue. Plus, the indian fella in the suit coat with the big crazy lip, I love that guy. And the double Sarah Sutton roles...it just entertains me that they ran into Nyssa's exact duplicate.

[andersonh1]

Though, of all things, my favorite lately's been that collection of footage from lost episodes. Particularly the episodes of "The Enemy of the World" that survived. There's a cook in there who is one of the funniest supporting characters I've ever seen. Ol' Griffin the cook, that fella needs an action figure. So does the Kandyman, but I'll leave that alone for now.

Is that the "Lost in Time" set? That's an awesome DVD collection, with all those 'orphan' episodes, and clips that were censored out of Who by overseas broadcasters, and even some offscreen home video footage that they've matched up the sound with. Cool stuff.

Yeah, the cook from Enemy of the World is great. I'd buy the action figure.