Doctor who is cheesy

Looking back from the safety or otherwise of , this might seem like a farcical decision, especially since UK television at that time didn't have the same quickfire cancellation culture that is prevalent in the industry today. Why on Gallifrey would the BBC cancel a series that has since reached the pinnacle of geekdom, while also boasting a strong mainstream presence as the network's premier franchise?

In order to understand the reasons behind Doctor Who 's cancellation, it's vital to consider the difficulties faced by the series throughout its classic run, as for every victorious peak there was an equal and opposite low, whether viewers could see it at the time or not.

Doctor Who first found popularity in December of with the airing of The Daleks , a story that almost doubled the show's viewership during its 7-episode duration. But the first time Doctor Who 's future was called into question came in when it was decided William Hartnell could no longer continue in the title role due his deteriorating health mixed with rigorous production demands.

With their lead character set to depart, the BBC considered dropping the series altogether. Of course, this eventuality was fortunately avoided thanks to the novel concept of regeneration introduced by producer, Innes Lloyd, and script editor, Gerry Davis. With Patrick Troughton stepping in to the main role, Doctor Who 's success continued, but when Troughton decided to move on for fear of being typecast, Doctor Who 's future was thrown into turmoil yet again. Ratings had fallen somewhat during the Second Doctor's final season and the BBC was switching to color for a brand new era of television.

Thankfully, the likes of Dicks, Derrick Sherwin and Barry Letts reinvented the Doctor for a this emerging era, casting Jon Pertwee as a new, action hero Doctor in a run of adventures based strictly on Earth Despite improved ratings, Sherwin has asserted that cancellation was also a threat following Pertwee's debut season but, as the Time Lord himself did at the end of every episode, Doctor Who somehow managed to avoid certain doom.

Throughout the s, Doctor Who enjoyed unparalleled success with both Pertwee and his successor, Tom Baker, and although some viewers did drop out with the arrival of Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor, the figures weren't low enough to generate any serious concern. Series 9 - Peter Capaldi. Series 10 - Peter Capaldi. Series 11 - Jodie Whittaker. Series 12 - Jodie Whittaker. Anonymous December 23, at AM. Hannah Long December 29, at PM. Anonymous January 10, at PM. Unknown February 20, at PM.

Edwin June 20, at AM. Anonymous July 22, at PM. Hannah Long July 22, at PM. Mike September 30, at AM. Hannah Long September 30, at PM. Whovy January 14, at PM. Hannah Long March 3, at AM. Anonymous March 13, at AM. Hannah Long April 7, at AM. Sabconth March 24, at PM.

Anonymous April 7, at AM. WhoFan April 8, at PM. Hannah Long April 9, at PM. Series 7 is a series of two distinct parts, with a halfway split seeing the departure of Amy and Rory and the arrival of the new companion Clara. My cherry-picking suggestion here is to see The Asylum of the Daleks first which sort-of introduces Clara.

Then see The Snowmen which picks up the Doctor after he is sadly separated from Amy and Rory and sort-of introduces him to Clara. Moffat does some clever meta-textual stuff here, which you can only appreciate fully if you're a completist but those two episodes still stand strong even without fully getting the meta-text in the background.

Series 7 finishes with the Big Event episode of Who so far, the 50th anniversary special The Day of the Doctor , broadcast 50 years after the first episode. Naturally there's a huge amount of references for the fans in this episode, which unites both Tenant and Smith's Doctor, together with John Hurt's sort-of Doctor.

It still stands alone for pickers, so don't let the lack of background stop you watching it. Before you do, however, catch the minisode: the The Night of the Doctor on youtube.

It's a remarkable coup of story-writing to get so much into a seven minute episode although it does help to know that Paul McGann played the eighth Doctor, the one that immediately preceded the New Who period. With series 8, Peter Capaldi takes on the role of the twelfth Doctor, and brings a darker, less charming Doctor to the scene.

Not everyone liked this take on the character, but I do as it reminds me of My Doctor the 3rd - Jon Pertwee. It also is my favorite full-series arc, with some great character development and interplay between the Doctor and Clara. For cherry pickers, however, I'd pick out Into the Dalek , Listen , Kill the Moon , and Mummy on the Orient Express , but ensure you see the others before you see Mummy on the Orient Express since that last episode gains a lot from getting familiar with Capaldi's Doctor.

As I write this, the latest Doctor Who episode was Last Christmas , the latest Christmas Special, which is also a pick for its wonderful mashup of Alien, Santa Claus, and another movie you'll recognize. So how about Classic Who? There's lots of Classic Who, but if you're going to explore it, I should pick out a couple of places to start.

Unlike New Who which goes for single or double episodes, Classic Who had short serials of half hour episodes. I would start with City of Death , which has the iconic Tom Baker as the fourth Doctor, Romana as a Time Lord companion, and a script that clearly shows it was part-written by Douglas Adams.

After that I have to point you to some 3rd Doctor since he's My Doctor , and pick out Carnival of Monsters , written by Robert Holmes, generally rated as the greatest of the Classic Who writers, and features Jo Grant who was the companion I best remember. Wikipedia has staggeringly detailed descriptions of Doctor Who and all its various episodes, again showing the perhaps troubling dedication of Whovians.

You see Doctor Who is only secondarily about entertainment, it's primary purpose was always to scare the living daylights out of small children. I may be too old now to get behind the sofa, but I do remember how much I enjoyed it. It has a different appeal to most of my other picks, so is worth it if only for a change of pace. Who embraces those aspects and, much like the Doctor does with his companions, doesn't ask you to try to make sense of them, but to just come along for the ride.

Isn't it on BBC America? Joined Apr 21, Messages 2, If I'd come into the "new Who" without having grown up on the old ones, I doubt it would have held my interest to be honest. Jennifer P Registered User. Joined Apr 3, Messages Why do I watch it?

Because it's GOOD Because it runs this interesting knife's edge between campy and frankly terrifying watch Blink Because it breaks every rule their is Because the creative team doesn't care about whether something works in terms of physics or science Of course, some people aren't going to like it.

I'm not going to judge people for thinking it's this campy, poorly written stuff that makes no sense. It's all just timey-wimey stuff anyway. Joined Dec 20, Messages It goes ''ding'' when there's stuff. So there's definitely an appeal there. That's basically why I watch it. And you can also try www. Joined Aug 26, Messages Lots of good points in the previous posts. I think mostly it's the nostalgia.. I must say I had to quit watching The Doctor while David Tennant was leading, I just didn't find them appealing and Tennant gets on my nerves for some reason.

However, if you haven't seen season 5 yet and I've heard season 6 is even better, but I've not had the chance to see it , then definitely watch that season before passing any judgment. Season 5 is by far the most epic storytelling of any show I've watched in quite some time.