The Doctor Who Thread

[Mojo]

Originally Posted by Demdike

In my opinion Paul McGann is the Doctor more than Christopher Eccleston, even though Eccleston made more episodes, he now disowns it which is wrong.

I have actually read and listened to many more McGann adventures than Eccleston.

Totally agree. I thought McGann was an excellent Doctor. It's a pity he only did the crappy tv movie - I would have liked him to have kicked off the new series. Sometimes I get the impression that Eccleston thinks all this Doctor Who business is a bit beneath him.

A multi - Doctor story would be a neat idea.

[Hawkmonger]

McGaun has been such a sport to the fan's over the years, even though he never seem's to get as much attention as the other familiers.
Shame, the BF audio drama's featuring him are always excelent.

On a slightly different note, has anyone ever read the Virgin New Adventures series and it's spin-off? The Past Adventures I think they where called.
A bit before my time so would love to see some re-prints.

[Susan Foreman]

Strange as it sounds, but Paul McGann is actually the longest serving Doctor from First Appearance to Replacement. (In strict terms of duration, from the moment they began until the moment they were replaced, this is the most ironic list. Those Doctors which contributed the least to the show were technically the official Doctor for the longest.)

1 Paul McGann - 8 years 10 months
2 Sylvester McCoy - 8 years 8 months
3 Tom Baker - 6 years 9 months
4 David Tennant - 4 years 6 months
5 Jon Pertwee - 4 years 4 months
6 Colin Baker - 3 years 6 months
7 Peter Davison - 3 years 1 month
8 William Hartnell - 2 years 11 months
9 Patrick Troughton - 2 years 5 months
10 Matt Smith ... ongoing
11 Christopher Eccleston - 3 months

Of course, there are other things to look at. For example:

'The Longest' in Terms of Actual Duration of TV Appearances. (This list assumes that 'one episode' is roughly equivalent to the 24 minute format - and bearing in mind that when a standard episode has its opening titles, end credits and recap removed, they can run nearly as short as 20 minutes. The asterisked Doctors have had some equivalency conversion done on this basis.)

1 Tom Baker - 178 episodes
2 William Hartnell - 135 episodes
3 Jon Pertwee - 128 episodes
4 Patrick Troughton - 119 episodes
5 David Tennant - 105 episodes*
6 Peter Davison - 74 episodes*
7 Colin Baker - 44 episodes*
8 Sylvester McCoy - 42 episodes
9 Christopher Eccleston - 26 episodes*
10 Paul McGann - 4 episodes*
11 Matt Smith - Ongoing

'The Longest' from First Contract to Last Episode. (This list factors-in when an actor was first signed up for the role, and ends when they last appeared on screen - therefore more accurate to the realities of their service to the programme. However, Colin Baker complicates matters with the hiatus, but this is offset against the long gap between him leaving the show and his 'fake' regeneration. The long periods of the cancellation of the show is once again excluded, however Paul McGann's tenure starts with his official casting.)

1 Tom Baker - 6 years 10 months
2 Jon Pertwee - 5 years exactly
3 David Tennant - 4 years 8 months
4 Peter Davison - 3 years 4 months
5 William Hartnell - 3 years 3 months
6 Sylvester McCoy - 2 years 9 months
7 Patrick Troughton - 2 years 8 months
8 Colin Baker - 2 years 8 months
9 Matt Smith - Ongoing
10 Christopher Eccleston - 1 year 3 months
11 Paul McGann - 4 months

'The Longest' on TV whilst in Production. (This list is probably the most technically correct answer. It shows the length of time each actor was in the role from the moment he first appeared on screen, to the broadcast of the episode in which he was replaced - therefore the length of time they were 'officially' the Doctor in the minds of the public. However, it excludes the long periods between 1989 and 2005 when the show was effectively cancelled since this wouldn't be a true reflection of an actor playing an 'ongoing' character. One thing of course which does skew the list slightly is the fact that the 6th Doctor went on hiatus, and then was not regenerated using Colin Baker himself.)

1 Tom Baker - 6 years 9 months
2 David Tennant - 4 years 6 months
3 Jon Pertwee - 4 years 4 months
4 Colin Baker - 3 years 6 months*
5 Peter Davison - 3 years 1 month
6 William Hartnell - 2 years 11 months
7 Patrick Troughton - 2 years 5 months
8 Sylvester McCoy - 2 years 2 months
9 Matt Smith - Ongoing
10 Christopher Eccleston - 3 months
11 Paul McGann - One Night!

[Demoncrat]

Rewatching Dalek Invasion of Earth again, as mate demanded i show him a Hartnell story. Now these are Daleks! No colour scheme other that the "leader" is black (all others are grey), am dying to see what he makes of its length ( i love me the long stories....). he enjoyed The 3 Doctors/Colony in Space etc, even though he grew up with the chap with the scarf......

[RedEyeTheCylon]

The missing episode of A Whole Scene Going with the behind the scenes footage from Daleks - Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. has now officially been recovered and is in the process of being returned to the BBC.

There's an interesting article here which gives the story of the recovery and there are a few clips available to watch: Telecine » A Whole Unseen and Unseemly Scene Going On

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Hawkmonger

On a slightly different note, has anyone ever read the Virgin New Adventures series and it's spin-off? The Past Adventures I think they where called.
A bit before my time so would love to see some re-prints.

I like the New Adventures.

When they started they tried to be too adult and have sex and swearing which was a bit ill advised in my opinion. However i enjoyed reading them all.

Unfortunately i sold all my Virgin novels around the year 2000.

I have them all on Kindle now though.

Worth tracking down if you can.

I still have all the BBC original eighth Doctor and their past Doctor novels but never read them as i have all those on Kindle too.

[Susan Foreman]

Originally Posted by Hawkmonger

On a slightly different note, has anyone ever read the Virgin New Adventures series and it's spin-off? The Past Adventures I think they where called.

I think you are referring to 'The Missing Adventures', as they were known in the UK

These were original novels that happened between the televised adventures

I preferred them to 'The New Adventures', because I found it easier to identify and visualise the companions that I had seem on television/video/dvd. I mean, I have no idea what Benny or Chris Cwej look like, sound like and what their mannerisms were, so I found them hard to follow

[Hawkmonger]

I'm a HUGE HUGE HUGE fan of the Big Finish Bernice Summerfield Audio Dramas.
Check them out.

[Criterion7]

Asked the gf for a Doctor Who boxset for fathers day. She surprised me by ordering me :
Trial of A Timelord
Revisitations Volume 1
Revisitations Volume 2
Dalek War
Needless to say I was blown away and cannot wait to get them. Also bought a Seiki blu ray player from Wally's to play them on plus the player also plays blu rays from over there.( I'm north american)

I haven't listened to any of the spin off audios though I have a couple ( jago, sarah Jane, gallifrey) any suggestions on which to try first?

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by ArrowFan

Asked the gf for a Doctor Who boxset for fathers day. She surprised me by ordering me :

Are you your girlfriends father?