I saw a teaser for this when I was watching Battlestar Galactica the other day, and it looked cool. I've heard of the show before (something about time travel? different versions of the same character or something?) and it sounded interesting, but I've completely forgotten what it was about. So what's the deal with this show? What's the premise? Is it about the adventures of a guy named Doctor Who, or am I being hopelessly naive? (for the longest time I thought the name of the ship in Firefly was "Firefly")

"Doctor Who" is the name of the program. The lead character is referred to as "The Doctor".

Just as a general comment, I'd never watched any of the previous twenty-five seasons of Doctor Who, and I had no problem following along. Evidently there is canon mythology, but the show seems to work whether you know anything about it nor not.

The Doctor is a 'Timelord', which is more or less what it sounds like. He travels through time and has strange adventures, and occasionally fights his arch-enemies, the robotic Daleks. Everything else is pretty much gravy, near as I can tell.

Don't call him Doctor Who or I'll have to smack you. Seriously.

The basic premise of the series is that the Doctor is a Timelord who travels through time and space, usually with a companion or four, in a ship called the TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimensions in Space). Any time an actor wants to leave the show, the Doctor regenerates into a new body (and personality). The episodes about to air on Sci-Fi will feature the Ninth Doctor.

It should also be stated that the premise of the series is wonderfully introduced in the first two episodes of the new season, which are being shown together. Everything you really need to know is in those two hours.

This FAQ is going to suck so, so bad. Cross your fingers Sars doesn't ask for it until about a hundred years from now.

There is quite a bit of canon (and fanon). Anyone who really wants to familiarize themselves with the background can check the extensive information on Wikipedia (but beware of potential spoilers).


...and his arch-enemy, The Master, and his arch-enemies, The Cybermen, not to mention The Rani, the Autons, and the Sontarans ... then there is Sil (who not so much an "enemy" as an annoyance).

Hey, let us do all the hard work of answering the questions, you just compile.

One bit of information is that the show hasn't been too big on continuity over the years. I can think of at least two origins of the Daleks, two explanations for the sinking of Atlantis, and two candidates for the Loch Ness Monster. At that's just what's been on screen. There's a ton of spinoff media out there, though that generally tries to obey what's already been established.

So basically it's a British Quantum Leap? Because I think I could be on board for that, but I saw aliens, and unless it's The Fifth Sense I'm not huge on aliens.

And how do we already have an ep thread?

StickyKeys, yes there are aliens at times. Basically, because of the TARDIS the show can be set pretty much anytime the writers want (past, present, future) or anywhere.

There is already an episode thread because the season that is going to be on Sci-Fi has already aired in the UK and Canada (and maybe some other places). In fact, the next season is due to air soon in the UK.

I admit to knowing very little about the series -- I know the premise, but not much beyond that.

But, I do have to ask -- does this version have the dog?

I wouldn't describe it as a Quantum Leap type show. . The stories tend to be anything from futuristic space events, a Charles Dickens era murder mystery to contemporary political WMD controversary parody.

Since the TARDIS can go anywhere in anytime, it's more like you get your familiar friends who can go anywhere and get into all sorts of trouble, with aliens, historical figures and other related weirdos.

It's kinda a comedy, kinda a drama, kinda a space adventure and all vastly openended.

Okay, so I'm hearing that this has a million seasons out already. Is it like BSG where it was reimagined and we'll see that? We'll be shown season 1, but where is everyone else? Is this on DVD and if I get the DVD, will I need to watch anything else? Like a miniseries or something?

StickyKeys, no need to worry. The series about to air on SciFi isn't a reimagining like BSG, it's essentially a continuation of the original show. The original ran from 1963 to 1989 when it was taken off the air and it was revived only for a tv movie in 1996 made for the US and aired on Fox, which failed to take. However you do not need to have seen any of this to watch the new series. TPTB (ie. Russell T. Davies, et al) created the new show with the assumption that they would have a whole generation of new viewers who would need to be introduced to the show. Everything you need to know is given to you within the context of the show. Viewers of the old series will no doubt get more of the "in" jokes, but new viewers won't get lost.

Also in regards to where the show is, the season about to air on SciFi is about a year old and has already aired in the UK and Canada (dvds are available in both countries). The second season will begin in the UK in April, whether it airs on SciFi will depend on how well the first season does over here.

Yes, it's on DVD. No, it's more Star Trek: TNG than BSG reimagined. It's a continuation, but you don't need to be familiar with the original stuff. Although, honestly, it helps. Plus, there are some stories that are great. Though there are a bunch that deeply suck.


I've never thought so. The whole actor is concealed, including the eyes. Plus, the voice is heavily distorted. For that matter, with the Daleks, even the body shape is different. You don't get much more alien than that without a large CG budget.

The first episode of the new series is aimed at attracting new viewers. It's based around the human girl Rose, who gets caught up in the life of the Doctor, so the audience gets introduced to his world alongside her.

A lot of episodes from the 1960's were completely destroyed by the BBC (taped over I think), and are no longer available to watch.

It's not camp exactly--not like, say, the ABC "Wonder Woman" series set in WWII was camp, but a gentle non-mocking of its subjects kind of camp. It can be a bit camp, but never undermining the characters or the story, if that makes sense.

I think new Who is a family show much the same way "Smallville" is/was, in that there's stuff for the 8 year olds, and there's stuff for the 80 year olds. It's meant to appeal to more than just the narrow 14-20 male range, because it's meant to be family viewing. Which means it has to work on several levels, which gives it a keener edge at times, in terms of complexity of the scripts and stories.

That said, RTD's Doctor Who does have an excellent mix of humour, wonder, drama, and a broad scope which can accomplish both ends of the spectrum easily, without feeling out of place. And Gattis, Moffat, Shearman, and Cornell's eps actually I think are at times stronger individual scripts than RTD's, but RTD definitely is the one who nails the overall character arcs and sets up the 'verse.

In my mind, the closest 21st century parallel is Farscape. That was a show that gave you a classic Tex Avery Warner Bros. style animated episode that mnaged to not feel out of place. That takes mad skillz, and the new Who team have that same kind of mad skillz when it comes to covering a broad range of human emotion and stories, all within the same framework.

The series premise means you can go anywhere and anywhen. That means you get historicals, science fiction, aliens, ghosts, oddities, angst, and everything in between. There really is nothing quite like it. Which is how it's survived 27 TV series, 80+ audios, loads of books, webcasts, stage plays, and 43 years of fandom.

When you say "Companions" is that in the Firefly sense of the word?

"Companions" are the people who travel with the Doctor in the TARDIS. The Doctor has historically been rather asexual, with segments of the fan base getting very upset whenever it is hinted (or shown) that he has romantic feelings. So no, NOT in the Firefly sense.

Honestly, Who is like nothing else. One week it can veer towards a historical gothic tale, the next it can be out in space with aliens, then it's a critique of modern culture, then it's a family drama. It kind of defies categorization entirely. Like the Tardis's broken circuit, it's a true chameleon.

EllycatinOz-
SOLD! That endorsement (along with Jacob's recaps) means I'll be making a couple dates with Dr. Who. He better be a gentleman.
My question: how many of the episodes are just stand alone stuff? I like my tv to have season-long stories and the action to have consequence. I don't mind fluff as long as it's fluff with continuity.

Wow, how to answer that one? This is a case where you almost have to look at the season as a whole. I watched it as it aired in the U.K., and many of the episodes appeared to be stand-alones, sometimes even just "fluff"... BUT the final two-parter brings back so many of those seemingly inconsequential storylines, making them far more important than they'd seemed at the time. If you stick around to the end, you'll be amazed by how incredibly well it all ties together.

And, without getting too spoilery, I'll leave you with two words: "Bad Wolf".

Here's a question -- how are the effects? I am mostly familiar with the Tom Baker era of DW (and some before him, though not much after) and I'd have to think that the crap-tastic effects would be one of the things that new viewers wouldn't care for.

Don't get me wrong, the production values add a lot of charm to the old shows for me (big masks, use of actual TV equipment as spaceship sets, VERY obvious chroma-key) -- in fact, I am often pleasantly surprised at how well the show did with limited budget and technology. But with shows like BSG on the air . . . I just think that it better be good. And melodramatic, of course.

And PLEASE bring back Davros. I LOVES me some Davros!

ETA: I wanted to point out that the old show was really a horror sci-fi show at its height. I recall seeing a restospective in which a lot of British celebs were chatting about how they had to watch it from behind the couch when they were kids, it was so scary. When I was watching it, in the late '80s (in OLD reruns), I remember the robots in "The Pyramids of Mars" and pretty much everybody except the giant rat in "The Talons of Weng-Chiang" were very very creepy.

Sorry to get off the topic of the new show, but the old one was extremely formative for me -- snif!

I have to agree that it's not exactly up to par. I'm not saying they're bad, they're just not designed to be the hyper-realistic effects of BSG. If I had to place them, they're about at the level of Farscape, probably a little bit better in some areas.

But, as Braxton Hicks said, that's really part of the charm.

So it's like season one of Veronica Mars, then? I'm definitely on board now.

So what about the DVDs? There are so many available here in the states but they all have obtuse titles like "Doctor Who: City of Death- The Tom Baker years 1974-1981"

If I wanted to "catch up" (although 23+ seasons and all the rest make that an impossibility) how would I know which discs to rent? Which stories, actors, the order, where to even begin? I notice that there are boxed sets of specific stories, is that the way to go?

Additionally, on the TARDIS, is it a spaceship as well as a time machine? You all say "anywhere, anywhen" so that implies yes but just for clarification. What's with the phone booth I've seen on various DVD covers? Does the Doctor work for someone in his Timelording duties, or does he just gallivant around doing whatever? Like, are there missions?

I'm excited to see this as I've read the reviews, and I'm a sci-fan who's never seen this show, which seems wrong somehow. I'm just so confused.

EDIT: Also, who's Captain Jack (Besides Johnny Depp) and what's with the scarf?

IIRC, yes.

The TARDIS has a device called a Chameleon circuit that allows it to blend into any environment that it materializes in. When he materialized in 1960's London, it broke and stayed stuck in the form of the blue police call box it turned into back then.

Occasionally, he's worked for the Time Lords and the White Guardian in the old series.

In the old series not necessarily. More like adventures. I'm not sure about the updated version.

Hmm. I'd say you should go for a variety of stories & Doctors. You may want to watch the "The Beginning" DVDs, when they come out at the end of the month. I think they hold up fairly well today, despite the fact that they're 40+ years old. Besides those, well, "City of Death" is quite good. "The Caves of Androzani" is a favorite of many, plus it contains a regeneration--a concept that you may want to familiarize yourself with. But, if you have Netflix, feel free to just pick one at random. You don't really need to worry about a viewing order with Doctor Who.


Captain Jack is this guy that the Doctor and Rose encounter in the season that Sci-Fi is about to show. He doesn't show up until the final third or so of the season, so don't worry about it now.

The 4th Doctor (Tom Baker) wore this really, really long scarf; one might say that it was his trademark. And since Baker stayed in the role for so long and was so popular, especially here in the U.S., the scarf has become one of the show's icons, alongside the TARDIS and the Daleks.

Yes -- they should be organized by story. The Doctor invariably materializes in the middle of some situation, fixes it by use of his superior mind and inferior companions, and then disappears at the end. This makes the stories more or less stand-alone, once you have the premise in mind. I'd suggest that you pick a few of the stories from the Tom Baker era -- he was the longest-running and
(for many, meaning me) the most influential. I'd suggust "Genesis of the Daleks", "Horns of the Nimon" and "Talons of Weng-Chiang" -- but just because those are the ones that I remember. I don't mean to start a war here about which seasons were the best. So . . . just pick a couple at random, and you'll get the flava.



The TARDIS travels in both time and space, by dematerializing at one point and materializing in another -- how is not explained except in the most obtuse manner possible. It's not a spacecraft in the usual sense (no rockets). It is much larger on the inside than on the outside. Theoretically, the outside can change its shape/appearance in order to blend in with its surroundings, but that capacity on the Doctor's (antique) TARDIS is broken, and it is stuck in the form of the police call box you have seen. It is hinted (maybe stated?) that the Doctor's TARDIS is stolen/salvaged, and he is constantly "fixing" it. (In the old show.)

The Doctor is often referred to as a "renegade" member of the Time Lords, an alien race from the planet Gallifrey. The Doctor mostly freelances, but is occasionally given assignments by the other Time Lords (or he is arrested by them, or he runs for President of their government, etc.). He has an unstable relationship with the folks back home. (I understand that this, in particular, may be different about the new series -- though I don't know.) One of the main companions from the Baker era was a female Time Lord named Romana.

How's that for a random assortment of facts about a show that's been off the air for 17 years from my memory?

ETA: Well, everyone beat me to it.

I think it's actually somewhere between the two. My understanding is that you're Gallifreyan. You have some kind of innate understanding/perception of time. You can go to Timelord academy and actually train to become a Timelord, much the same way we're all humans who have a small understanding of the human body, but if we want to become surgeons, we have to go train for it. Of course, some new book or audio could come out tomorrow and completely fuck this theory up.

And if you're new to Dr Who, please do not watch Horns of Nimon. It's terrible. Most of its entertainment is unintentional. Watch it in a few months, once you're familiar with how good the show can be, before watching it at a particularly low point.

Edit: typo.

I've heard something about the Ninth Doctor? Is that spoilery, or are there more than one doctor?

No, that's not a spoiler. That's regeneration. Regeneration is what some smart person thought up back when the first bloke (Bill Hartnell) left. Turns out, the Doctor is an alien. When his body gets too worn out/damaged/irradiated/poisoned, he kind of... changes. Into someone completely new. New actor, new personality. The original series showed the adventures of 1 - 7, the '96 telemovie showed 7 regenerating into 8.

The new series picks up with 9. Due to one scene where he examines himself in a mirror, and the comments he makes, it's possible that he regenerated fairly recently. We never find out why and when, but it could be linked to the story of the season.

Here's a link that goes into detail, but beware of spoilers!

Honestly? I would recommend that you don't try to watch any of the old series - at least not until you've become hooked on the new show.

Although it's not a total re-imagining, like 'Galactica', the whole feel of the show is somewhat different to the original. It's more ironic, more savvy and more 'meta' - a thoroughly modernised reworking for audiences brought up on sophisticated shows that play with genre, like 'Buffy' or 'The Simpsons'.

The original show (which is brilliant in its own way), was always more of a conventional sci-fi serial, aimed at kids. It was fairly low-budget, and although the writing and acting could be top-notch, it didn't have the same 'wink' to the audience that the new show does. I guess that's the difference between TV in the 70's and 80's and TV nowadays.

I would definitely sample the new show, which is, by far, the most sophisticated version, and then if you find yourself sucked in, look at some of the excellent suggestions given above.

To which I would definitely add 'The Three Doctors' and 'Terror of the Autons' - love a Pertwee era Doc...

Just read the New York Times pseudo-review of the new series and right off the bat, the reporter mentions that Christopher Eccleston (the 9th Doctor) apparently LEFT the series. So...the guy who's playing the Doctor will only be around for this season airing on SciFi then? And, is there a tenth Doctor now?

I'm not sure if this is considered a spoiler or not, but I didn't wanna take the chance lest I confuse anybody.



It's in the Site FAQ, which you need to read before posting. The fact that it was in the NYT means it's not a spoiler.

SiriuslyLupin, yes to your spoilered question. I'm not sure how much of a spoiler it is. I think that fact was "leaked" to the British press at the time the fist episode aired there, so almost everyone knew it going into the series.

David Tennant is the 10th Doctor. He was in "The Christmas Invasion" which aired this past December, and the new season about to start on the BBC.

This may seem a silly question, but when is it on? I haven't seen the promos on Sci Fi and my TIVO schedule doesn't post it. What day and time is it supposed to be scheduled in the US?

I couldn't even find the old series on my local PBS station.

The SciFi Channel run of Doctor Who will begin on Friday, March 17 at 9pm Eastern / 8pm Central, when they will show the first two episodes back-to-back.

The regular timeslot for a "first-run" episode will be Friday nights at 9pm Eastern / 8pm Central. There will be other timeslots for repeats of the previous weeks' episode as well. Check the SciFi Channel website for those details.

There are currently only two PBS stations still showing the original series. One is in Iowa and the other is in Maryland. Up until 2004 there were a few more stations, but their contracts were not renewed when their rights expired as BBC Worldwide Americas was apparently attempting to sell the rights to the original show along with the new series. No one bit, and it's believed in some quarters that this was the catch that prevented SciFi from picking up the new series last year. That condition has apparently been dropped now, but there's as yet no word on any other outlets being allowed to show the original series.

For anyone wanting info on the classic series without getting spoiled for the new season I'd recommend this page:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/index.shtml

It's the official site for the classic series and so long as you don't follow the link to the "New Series" you should be spoiler free. For example, there's an Episode Guide link that will only bring you to old episodes. You can also look at "photonovels" which are photo and text reconstructions of old stories from the 1960s, and there are Clips of old episodes on there too, and online video documentarties about the making of the old series. Each episode entry also contains clips as well as essays on relative continuity for that episode (like the history of the time lords, and how come all the aliens speak English etc.)

For the new series, It's worth having a look here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/video/index.shtml

It's where the BBC are archiving their trailers for the whole series. There's one (or more) for each episode so I'd just look at the ones marked Series Trailer, Rose, and The End of the World for the moment.



NOW, for new American viewers asking what the new series is about I'd say this:

It's about Rose Tyler, a 17 year old high school dropout raised on a housing project by her single mother. She's bored, bored, bored by her aimless life and dreading a future that holds only a succession of menial jobs and a directionless relationship with directionless boyfriend Mickey. She spends her life just *waiting* for something to happen ...

...And then the Doctor arrives! He's got a brain the size of a planet, a sardonic sense of humour and a tendency to blow things up. He's an alien whose arrived on Earth to save it from an invasion by another race of hostile aliens and has a love-hate relationship with the human race. He loves the human condition so much he puts his life on the line for us time after time, but is often frustrated by man's inhumanity to man (or, indeed, to alien). He's extremely secretive about his past, however, and won't answer questions about where he's from or even what his name is. He's also incredibly lonely.

On the spur of the moment, he invites Rose to come with him and see all of time and space (Did I mention his ship also travels in time?). Together they tour the universe, but how long can it last before the Doctor's dark history reaches out and threatens his present? And how long can Rose ignore the consequences of her choices for her mother and Mickey?

To answer the 1st question, it's not so much a BSG/Ron Moore style reimagining as it is a RTD style refocusing, where one picks up the essential basics of who and what the Doctor is, what it means to be a companion, and the world and risks that he lives with. Through the season the scope is widened bit by bit. By design, it requires no background watching to catch up.

This season already is out on DVD in Canada (can be imported into the U.S.), and will be in the U.S. at the close of the Sci-Fi run. (See Doctor Who Video FAQ for more info.) As I recall, when it came out in the UK, they were quick to release bare-bones UK dvd editions, followed by a more lavish complete season set.

I'll give an American neophyte's view of the series.

I never watched any of the previous seasons of Dr. Who (though I think I had glimpsed an episode or two on PBS). When the new series began, there was so much buzz about it online that I downloaded the eps off of the torrents and enjoyed them tremendously.

I never had any problems following the new series. It's clearly structured so that someone who has never seen any previous season can follow along without any problem. As someone else posted earlier, they begin the season by introducing the human character of Rose. As she is just your regular, run-of-the-mill modern day human, she is unware of timelords or aliens. All of this is new to her. As she is introduced to the Dr. Who universe, the audience is as well. To have no knowlege of previous Dr. Who canon isn't a hindrance due to this structure. Yes, it's clear that things from past series reappear in the current season, but they are always introduced in a way that quickly brings the new audience up to speed.

I wouldn't tend to classify it as a BSG-like reimagining as current BSG took the premise of original recipe BSG and completely restructered it. My impression is that the new Dr. Who pretty much leaves the structure of original Dr. Who intact and only recasts it, reinvigorates it, and updates it.

Someone commented on original canon Dr. Who fans preferring The Doctor as an asexual being without any romantic feelings. From this, I wonder whether they were often bothered by the new series as the impression that the Ninth Doctor gives off is neither asexual nor devoid of romantic feelings. True, nothing directly contradicts this take on the character, and yet circumstantially this isn't the impression I as a new viewer took from the series. And, I believe the writer/producer has said that he deliberately introduced more of an emotional element to the show to appeal to modern audiences. To be a bit more specific, there is a strong emotional bond between The Doctor and Rose that, while it may be interpreted as devoted friendship and not sexual, doesn't take much imagination at all (virtually none) to view in a romantic light.

My impression is that the new season's lead, Christopher Eccleston, is a very talented actor who brings many layers to the character of The Doctor as he easily slips between light hearted comedy and authoritative intensity. He manages to not appear 'oh wow! hot!' on first impression ,and yet he really grows on you with time and leaves behind a sense that he's a really attractive man. His Doctor can be wonderfully silly and sarcastic or lonely, stern, and grave. I think his is a case of excellent casting, and he carries the season on very able shoulders.

The female lead 'Rose', played by Billie Piper, is very appealing. The young, adventurous heroine seems created to fit into the same template as the likes of Buffy Summers or Veronica Mars as she jumps from 'ordinary girl' to regularly saving the world (though I personally find her more appealing and easier to identify with than Buffy. But, then, I have Buffy issues). Piper gives strong performances and is well able to keep the audience on her side. Rose isn't Mary Sue perfect. She has flaws and blindspots, but she is clearly presented as a heroine.

There are other characters who recur in the season, most prominently Rose's mother Jackie, her boyfriend Mickey, and Captain Jack Harkness, self-proclaimed conman and bi-sexual intergalactic slut (so much for simply being a kid's program). Capt. Jack is portrayed as an American and lovable bad-boy who, unlike The Doctor, has no problem carrying guns and blowing shit up, and who is to be the lead in a Doctor Who spin-off series.

Yes, the show has a very obvious camp factor. A great percentage of the time the show is meant to be comedic and humorous while also having serious undertones (much as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Farscape were meant to be comedic, scary, and serious at the same time). Special effects-wise, I would agree that Doctor Who is usually on par with Farscape (so the effects could be better and could be worse, but are often unique.) I wouldn't begin to compare Doctor Who with BSG, not because of quality but because the tone and intents of the two shows are so radically different that they are completely different creatures. BSG casts itself as very serious sci-fi where humor is extremely rare. Doctor Who is at least as much comedy as drama. I often had the impression that some effects and aliens in Doctor Who are meant to be cheesy as an homage to the older Doctor Who series (especially when they are bringing back aliens from the original series) or because the alien is meant to be absurd. In general, I found the campiness to be endearing and part of the sci-fi-horror-dramedy nature of the show.

Time travel aside, I also wouldn't compare this Doctor Who to Quantum Leap, as these two series also approach these things in entirely different ways. I tend to concur with whoever compared Doctor Who's approach with Star Trek:TNG. In fact, tone-wise, I would think the Star Trek:TNG episode where Data and Picard end up meeting Mark Twain to be very much in the 'feel' of the current Doctor Who. Also, unlike Quantum Leap which was always about near-present time travel, Doctor Who travels from historical periods (Victorian London, WWII London, the 1980s, etc) to thousands of years into the future, and the series almost always has aliens involved in some capacity. I wouldn't really say that one series is/was more adult than the other, but I do think the two series are very different in both content and tone (though both series are/were capable of doing either comedic or dark episodes).

Anyway, as someone introduced to the series by this latest season, I found the series to have a great deal of merit if you like Whedon-esque type sci-fi. The new Doctor Who blends humor, horror, drama, and character development. However, I would also contend that the Doctor Who outlook is different than Whedonverse. Doctor Who isn't as wide-eyed idealistic as Rodenberry's Star Trek as it is often quite critical of human nature but (to me) it also doesn't seem to be as nihilistic as the Whedonverse, grave and dark as BSG, or militarily structured as SG1.

Lots of off-topic nattering and nitpicking deleted. For the second time in two days.

Guys, this is the Questions For New Viewers thread. It exists to help people ease into the show, which is what we want. It doesn't exist to debate and chatroom and write essays about how old Rose is or how to spell Torchwood or whatever the hell. It exists to excite new viewers about the show.

If there's something with which you really take issue, please be brief in offering your correction, or if it's a matter of opinion and not fact, take it to the appropriate thread. The shorter the thread, the more interesting it will be for new viewers, and more convenient, dig? All in our evil plan. Think twice, post once.

laward has an excellent newcomer intro to the show. A lot of us old fans were able to hook family and friends on the series for much the same reasons. That's a feat the old series never managed.

Only thing I'd add is that the people who made the new series grew up loving the show. They're clever enough to have recognized the old show's faults so they made a conscious attempt to fix the faults and yet pay homage to what worked. If you're an old fan, you'll notice some insider jokes here and there that take you back. But new viewers just get a hint that something more went on before. You'd expect a 900 year old character to have a history.

This series is really easy for new viewers to get into. Explanations are offered for all the important things including what that blue box is (including its cultural heritage in 1950's Britain... such boxes haven't been in use for a generation or more), who the Doctor is, and who the villains are. Time travel is an important part of the show but even that is explained (i.e. the consequences and possibilities of time travel).

It's not an apocolyptic show, but has far more than just humor in it. It can be fun, sad, silly and scary, sometimes all within the same hour of television. It's not an angry show but it can make the political or social commentary when it wants to.

After the season, if new viewers are hooked there are some good Classic series DVDs on the market. Genesis of the Daleks is due out in June and provides the backstory to an important villain (and a one-off explanation in a New episode). The old Key To Time series (from 1970's with Tom Baker as the Doctor with the long scarf) is available as a boxset from Amazon. Key To Time is good in that it is the only other time in the show's history that they made a season arc. It's low budget and a tad silly, but the Doctor and companion Romana (a timelady and somewhat his equal) had a good rapport. If you compare Key to Time and Series One you can see what the favored Classic elements were and what faults were improved upon in 2005.

Oh and if you have kids, try TIVO'ing an ep for them (or letting them watch live). A lot of us have found the kids just adore the show. But they may squeal, hide behind you and accuse you of torturing them with scary stuff but refuse to let you switch it off. Watching with a little one is a special pleasure to behold. You don't appreciate the so-called "family viewing" aspect of Doctor Who until you do that. Without kids it just seems like some inventive SciFi.

I had read somewhere that the Doctor can only regenerate himself 12 times before he dies. How does that work?

That is correct. In a classic series story called "The Deadly Assassin," it was established that Time Lords can regenerate twelve times. Once their thirteenth and final "life" reaches its end, they die.

The only canonical place that I've seen something like that was in the TV movie, where The Master (The Doctor's longtime nemesis) became a sort of snake being after being executed by his captors.

Jacob, you can email me if you want to set up a Ask Tubey-esque way to do this.

Now that the show has started, I think we can start by opening the thread.

If the question has already been answered, don't answer it again. Email me corrections or refinements.

If the answer to a question sparks your brain up, take it to the appropriate thread.

Please keep this thread as clean as possible -- it's open as a courtesy to new viewers, not as an opportunity to demonstrate your brilliance.

All the other threads are for that.

I am completely new to this and have been trying to catch up by reading the threads, but there is so much history and it is difficult when people start talking about time containment field surrounding The Doctor’s home planet with a weird name that has been destroyed twice (or something).

Anyway, my basic questions are these:

* Why is he called "The Doctor" if he is a "Time Lord"? And, why isn't the show called "The Doctor"? Is it simply because we really don't know who he is, or is it something deeper? I have seen the name “Captain Jack”. Is this The Doctor, or a completely different person we haven’t seen yet?

* Why is he 'helping humanity'? I have gotten the impression from some things I have read that he loves the human race, but I am not sure why he does and how he decides who/where/when to help.

* Along those lines - he always has a human companion with him? Is it always a female? When one dies, does he get another one of those as well? Or do they just decide to stop traveling with him?

* I have read there is a specific number of times he is regenerated (and has no control over his appearance) when his body wears out or is destroyed. How is this done? And can he ever look like a human woman, or is he inherently male? [Which, I am assuming since he is alien that he looks different than humans. Maybe he doesn't?]

* The Tardis (or TARDIS?) can influence the brain/speech patterns and travel through time and space. Does it have other neat tricks?

1) "Captain Jack" is a separate character from the Doctor, and will be appearing in a few weeks. As for the Doctor, he comes from a race known as the Time Lords. No one really knows why he is called "the Doctor".

2) Much of the time, the Doctor juist happens to be in the right place to help someone. Occasionally, his people have sent him to do specific things, or confined him to Earth.

3) For all but one Tom Baker serial, the Doctor has at least one companion with him, and sometimes up to three. Some were of other human-looking species, and one was a robot dog. They come on board for a variety of reasons, and leave for a variety of reasons. Some have left to be with someone they met, or because they tired of the travel, or occasionally because they died. Some get kicked out as well.

4) There is no given explanation as to how regeneration exactly works. (In practical terms, it's a CGI or effects shot that lasts a minute to a few minutes). The process for him is not instantaneous, and there's often a period of adjustment. But as far as we know, he'll always regenerate into another male. There have been some who speculated that he could regnerate into a she. Anatomically, Time Lords differ from humans mostly in non-visible ways, such as having 2 hearts.

5) The TARDIS, if working properly, can also change it's exterior shape. Most of the time this ability hasn't worked, and when it has, the new shapes were worse then the Police Box.

Doctor Who because it tends to be a common reaction to his name. "The Doctor? Doctor who?"



The latter. Jack turns up in the last third of this series.



The UK/US TV film from a few years back told us that he was in fact half human but pretty much everyone ignores this as utter rubbish (if I have to admit the film as canon then I'm just going to pretend he was lying). Basically he loves the human race because he just... does.



Companions are usually, but not always, human. They tend to be female but there have been a number of male companions as well. Mostly they decide to just stop travelling with him for various reasons but every now and then you get a death.



Time Lords get 12 regenerations. Evidence points to at least some of them being able to control the appearance of each regeneration. Possibly The Doctor hasn't managed it because his regenerations have pretty much always been because of imminent death and he just has to go ahead and hope for the best rather than planning it properly. This is also why they tend to go wrong a lot. Time Lords look like humans so he isn't really a bug-eyed monster or anything. He may or may not be able to regenerate as a woman but it's doubtful the BBC will ever let us find out.



Yep. Keep watching <g>