Doctor Who

[Wardsweb]

I started with Tom Baker (Doctor #4) back in the mid 70's. I really like Matt Smith (Doctor #11), He brings a freshness, engery and kind of a kid's curiosity to the Doctor.

[hjames]

I think all of us stateside started watching Doctor Who during the Tom Baker era on all those BBC->PBS broadcasts.
I used to stay late at work and watch the weekday rebroadcasts on WETA TV26 circa-1982 and delay jumping into DC rush-hour. By the time the show was over traffic had thinned a bit and I could do the drive home in about an hour instead of taking 2!

[SEAWOLF97]

Another great British show is Spooks (its called MI-5 stateside) - ...

I was impressed with the UK series "The Sandbaggers" , an MI-6 drama ....and so I tried the "MI-5" series ....it just seemed a glossy, waste of MY time , and the viewing stopped after a couple of episodes. YMMV , of course.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sandbaggers

"The overall style is one of gritty realism. The series is particularly grim (though laced with black humour), depicting the high emotional toll taken on espionage professionals who operate in a world of moral ambiguity. The plots are complex, multi-layered, and unpredictable: regular characters are killed off abruptly, and surprise twists abound. The dialogue is intelligent and frequently witty."

The Sandbaggers was created by Ian Mackintosh, a Scottish former naval officer turned television writer, who had previously achieved success with the acclaimed Warship BBC television series. He wrote all the episodes of the first two series. However, during the shooting of the third series in July 1979, Mackintosh and his girlfriend, a British Airways stewardess, were declared lost at sea after their single-engine aircraft mysteriously went missing over the Pacific Ocean near Alaska following a radioed call for help. Some of the details surrounding their disappearance have caused speculation about what actually occurred, including their stop at an abandoned United States Air Force base and the fact that the plane happened to crash in the one small area that was not covered by either US or USSR radar.
Mackintosh disappeared after he had written just four of the scripts for Series Three, so other writers were called in to bring the episode count up to seven. The Sandbaggers ends on an unresolved cliffhanger because the producers decided that no one else could write the series as well as Mackintosh, and they chose not to continue with it in his absence.

[svollmer]

My Mom (uh, I mean, "me Mum"), was a British girl from Peterborough. I think I got my love of Sci-Fi from her. During the summers, my brother, sister, and I would run home daily at 4:00 p.m. for a re-run of Dr. Who.

I'm passing on the tradition to my boys with a lot of BBC America watching. They love Dr. Who (and don't sleep well at night becasue of it), but their favorite British show is Top Gear. Now, if I could only find reruns of "Rising Damp."

Sorry for the off topic comment; now back to "The Doctor."

[hjames]

I'm passing on the tradition to my boys with a lot of BBC America watching. They love Dr. Who (and don't sleep well at night becasue of it), but their favorite British show is Top Gear.

(British) Top Gear - heck yes!!
Wish they'd get some new episodes into the pipe!

[voice of theatr]

Did anyone see the "spoof" of Dr. Who on the NBC sitcom "Community" this past week? Funny reference......

BTW, my favorite current sci-fi TV show (today) is FRINGE on Fox Fridays at 9 pm. Directed by J.J. Abrahms (who directed the most recent Star Trek film--don't hold it against him!), it is really well done IMHO. Leonard Nimoy was in multiple episodes the last couple of seasons but that's not really the "draw" for me---it's just really well written/directed/acted--deals with things like parallel universes (I wonder if Spock has a beard in that universe!), futuristic tech, human/machine hybrids, to name a very few......

[SEAWOLF97]

(British) Top Gear - heck yes!!
Wish they'd get some new episodes into the pipe!

agree ....but wonder why so many UK shows are faves with us,
while so many US shows just fall flat ??

or does the UK just have that many clunkers too , and they
don't get exported ? (ie: we see the best of their offerings ?)

ah yes, that makes sense

[svollmer]

(British) Top Gear - heck yes!!
Wish they'd get some new episodes into the pipe!

I tried the American Top Gear.............once!

[richluvsound]

What did you guys do to my Shameless ?...

In my experience the appreciation of Brit humour and narrative is genetic. I could't imagine someone with Mexican heritage would find English TV so interesting . I am most certainly not meaning to be racist with this statement . But ,I'm addressing the sensible ones aren't I ?

Rich

[RedCoat23]

As my avatar name should have clued you in, I'm an ex-pat living over here. I do like a lot of US shows but I seem to drift back to ones from home...old habits I guess.

Though some US shows just annoy the (fill in your own expletive) out of me.

CSI (in it's many forms). I studied biomedical science at Uni and all this expensive suit wearing, pouting lip, sunglasses-flaunting investigation just rubs me up the wrong way. Totally contaminating a crime scene. When you watch British TV shows like Inspector Morse, Frost, Prime Suspect, Midsommer Murders etc. They show the true glamour of forensic work. Unflattering one-piece suits and wellington boots. Looking more like auto painters than anything CSI pretends is real... /rant-off\

I think that's why British shows are popular - yes we do have dross too - but it's because the people are real/believable in their roles. Not a poster add for a hair or mens grooming product.

Anyway that's my two pence worth

[hjames]

You forgot to mention Cracker ...

CSI (in it's many forms). I studied biomedical science at Uni and all this expensive suit wearing, pouting lip, sunglasses-flaunting investigation just rubs me up the wrong way. Totally contaminating a crime scene. When you watch British TV shows like Inspector Morse, Frost, Prime Suspect, Midsommer Murders etc. They show the true glamour of forensic work. Unflattering one-piece suits and wellington boots. Looking more like auto painters than anything CSI pretends is real... /rant-off\

I think that's why British shows are popular - yes we do have dross too - but it's because the people are real/believable in their roles. Not a poster ad for a hair or men's grooming product.

Anyway that's my two pence worth

[svollmer]

As my avatar name should have clued you in, I'm an ex-pat living over here. I do like a lot of US shows but I seem to drift back to ones from home...old habits I guess.

Full disclosure - I own the Captain Scarlet box set! Now I have to get Thunderbirds and Supercar.

[richluvsound]

I own the Captain Scarlet doll

[brutal]

I started watching Dr Who reruns of all the past Doctors and current episodes with Tom (4th), who was soon replaced by Peter (5th) on BFBS (google it) when I was stationed in Germany 1981-1984. We were too far out to get AFN (google it) and there was a British base close to our housing area so we could get a few German stations and the BFBS broadcast.

I recall watching six and seven, but am totally drawing a blank on #8 who I think only lasted one season. Picked it back up when the show was revived in 2005 with Eccleston. I was crushed when Tennant left the show, but have enjoyed Matt Smith.

[jcrobso]

It seems that most started watching when Tom Baker was the Doctor on PBS. My PBS station then went back and ran some of the previous Doctors.
After Tom Baker the BBC then switched producers for the show and he wanted to take the show in a new direction. The show lost it's edge, excitement and became very dry (aka boring).
The current shows and the people playing the Doctor have been a breath of fresh air.
The plot line is gripping and very intricate, the other caricatures have been marvelous.
The show is a joy to watch!
Question: remember the show were David Tenant was cloned and he had a Daughter?
Were is she? For a while I though that River Song was his daughter, but she is Amy's daughter.