fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2209 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2208 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

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So, I'm a fan of New Who, but I've seen it all a few times over and really want to explore Old Who as well now. I've seen lots of little bits and pieces on youtube, and heard Old Who fans talking about stories and characters that sound awesome, and I really want to become familiar with it too. So I've been trying to get into it, mostly with Four and Five's era.

However, the main problem I've found is...It. Is. So. Sloooooow. And not just that the plot progresses slowly, but there are long slow sequences where NOTHING happens, the pacing is glacial without suspense or character moments or emotions to give it direction, the scenes where stuff DOES happen are slow and unexciting, the dialogue scenes are slow to the point of being stilted, and very little background bits seem to happen in between important scenes. It's not that I think the stories are bad, it's just that I get so impatient I can't watch it for more than a little bit at a time and so it takes me forever to get through them.

Now, I'm pretty sure this is just a combination of me being too used to the schizophrenically fast pace of modern TV and me not really knowing the Old Who characters very well. If I got emotionally invested in the characters, I'm sure I wouldn't care that much about the slow pace (I'd probably even like the breathing space and change of style from New Who!). After all, I do like even the duller episodes of Star Trek TOS because I enjoy the characters. Unfortunately, it's hard to get emotionally invested in the characters when it's so tedious to watch their episodes, so it's kind of a catch-22.

So, please, could you guys take pity on me and my modern-television-scrambled brain and recommend some Classic Who serials that are both good AND are comparatively fast-paced and intense, to ease me into the experience of watching that style of TV? I'm sure that once I get a chance to get used to it, it'll be a lot easier, I just need some kind of hook first...

I also won't say no to recs for some of the best serials in general if you can't think of any fast-paced ones specifically :)

I really liked watching the first few serials with the First Doctor. I definitely sympathize with you because I can't seem to get into a lot of the older sci fi shows for being so slow too.

I understand your issue with the pacing, I'm just old enough to remember all TV being slow and rather enjoy going back and watching old shows precisely because the pace is less frenetic, but it can be jarring compared to most modern stuff.

I'd suggest sticking to serials that are short (three or four parters) and maybe watching them with a break between eps rather than powering through them.

If it's Four and Five you're interested in I'd say the first Four stories are pretty decent and you'll know Sarah Jane from the new series so may feel more invested in her story (also Harry is lovely and you get the tail end of UNIT action which may encourage you to go back to somem of Three's serials), so Robot is a good place to start.

I also think the Four-to-Five regeneration sequence is good (Keeper of Traken, Logopolis and Castrovalva), at the risk of spoiling, they feature theh Master and you might find that interesting compared to Simm's portrayal. Also you may then want to go back and watch Delgado's Master during the Three era.

(I think Three rocks -you may have guessed- but some of the stories are really slow so I'm not sure they're what you want just yet)

Actually I tend to encourage new watchers to go with Seven's era first, especially the Ace stories (so from Dragonfire on). I think they generally have the best momentum and most consistency from story to story.

I came here to write a few paragraphs but all I can say this ^^^ this. I've watched all of (including reconstructions, admittedly) Classic Who and this is great advice.

"I think Three rocks -you may have guessed- but some of the stories are really slow"

Either our sensibilities are different, anon, or I've repressed any of the "really slow" Three eps -- most of Three's adventures with UNIT usually involved lots of things that went BOOM! every ten seconds, at least that's how I remember it, LOL.

I was thinking of the non-UNIT ones really, but to be completely fair it might just be me missing UNIT!

AYRT

Completely reasonable response, IMO! I miss UNIT too. Nu!Who UNIT is...yeah. They treat it as though the agency is the kid on the short bus, which is....so *not* how UNIT was, in canon.

Well, to be fair, UNIT was only douchey and incompetent in Aliens of London/World War III and The Sontaran Stratagem/The Poison Sky. They seemed pretty competent and positive in Planet of the Dead and Power of Three (and Eleven was a lot less blow-off-y towards them than Nine and Ten, although that might have been because he liked Kate.)

Hmm. When you said "fast paced", the first one that jumped to my mind was the Second Doctor's serial "Tomb of the Cybermen". The plot is very fast-paced, has a big cast with lots of well-differentiated characters and interwoven threads, and a lot of stuff starts happening right from the get-go. It's structured quite a bit like an old-fashioned adventure film, and the dialogue is nice and sharp, with lots of it, and goes along at quite a fast clip for its time (and funny! Two is very talkative and devastatingly clever and funny).

Mind you, it's got lots of blatant fake-out cliffhangers and silly '60s fads about what the future will be like, and the costumes and effects are barely above amateur-theater-grade, but I take it that's not the stuff that bothers you? (Plus it deals with that pretty well by playing to their strengths and not relying on the silly stuff much.)

I'd also recommend Remembrance of the Daleks, from Seven's era. Again, has multiple prominent characters/plot-threads, a lot of action that isn't terrible or clunky, and lots of funny bits, and Ace being a BAMF and Seven playing everyone like a champ. It's a tad repetitive, IMO, but the climax and the payoff is really, really, really good and makes me chuckle when people groan about how "dark" the New Who Doctors have "became".

Anything with Three. The Doctor is stranded on Earth, and fights all the classic DW villains (who were classics even back then) and is generally awesome with UNIT. Also. UNIT. Don't go by what they've shown in the new series, Nu!Who UNIT sucks so hard. So. Hard.

Also, the Key to Time (Four and Romana -- YOU CANNOT GO WRONG) arc, though it lasted a full series/season might not meet your criteria, the episodes themselves are fast-paced and generally "going somewhere" (i.e., moving in the direction of assembling said Key) with a nice bit of turnabout at the end. "Deadly Assassin" (also Four) is also quite good and fast-paced...and features The Matrix a good thirty years before the movie(s) of the same name!

Also, anything with Seven and (companion) Ace. Definitely not slow-paced there! Battlefield, def. watch that one. Ghost Light had mixed reviews (still does), but eh YMMV. Oh, and Ace? Blows stuff up. Consistently. I think you and Ace will get on faaaaaamously, nonny!

I really like "The Pirate Planet" serial, it was written by Douglas Adams! It's part of a much longer story arc but stands on its own pretty well I think.

I like Four's run in general, I think he has a lot of personality and carried the show along better than his predecessors, with whom I had the exact same problem as you. I struggled through one serial of the first Doctor and was dreadfully bored. Two and Three have proved much easier to watch though. I think the later you come in to the series the better paced it might be.

In fact, for that reason, I wonder if you might try starting even later in the series, and then working your way back once you encounter stuff that has you hooked? I haven't seen any Classic Who beyond Four so I can't give you any recs, but it seems worth a try!

[ SECRET POST #2209 ]

Classic Doctor Who recs?

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