Now it has been 60 years since Dr. Who first aired on television. It is the longest running science fiction program on television with its first broadcast on November 23, 1963 (only one day after the Kennedy assassination).  The original series ran from 1963 to 1989 and the new series was broadcast from 2005 until the present. I am not sure how many people here saw Dr. Who in their childhood.  I don't think it was broadcast here in my area of the U. S. until the 1980's. It would have been great if the William Hartnell episodes had been shown here when I was a child. But I had to wait until decades later to see any classic Dr. Who. 

Here are some of the best Dr. Who moments in a three hour video:

https://www.youtube.com/live/pWQ8IP5YH9U?si=u_LCntNI_n9UTCFI

I listened to The City of Death soundtrack today. I have always liked the television episodes of Dr. Who when they are made into audiobooks.  The audio format works just as well and the linking narration is very enjoyable listening.  There are a number of stories that have been released on DVD that are also available as audiobooks.   The stories are just as interesting as the lost episodes and the audio dramas that were created separately.  I would recommend all of them very highly.

I just finished watching the Doctor Who William Hartnell Season Two set. It is a Blu-ray set so the picture is a little clearer than the DVD releases, and there are more bonus features.. It was so nice to view the episodes from 1964 and 1965 again after seeing them previously on the DVD’s. I love early Dr. Who and the first time I saw many of the episodes was when they came to DVD. My local stations did not even show Dr. Who until it came to public television in the 1980’s and they were not the beginning episodes (at least that was how I remember it).  So I am a latecomer to the series even though I wish I had seen the show as a child.  I guess it is better late than never, and now I appreciate the show more than when it was first shown here.  🙂

William Russell, who played Ian Chesterton on Dr. Who, recently passed away. He was one of the first companions of William Hartnell, who was the first Doctor on the series back in 1963.

I miss the original classic Dr. Who and the early companions on the series.

R. I. P.  Mr. Russell.   

https://m.facebook.com/groups/characteroptionsdrwho/permalink/3727522910829564/?

*dusts off thread*

Some friends recently subscribed to Britbox, the BBC streaming service. It offers 26 seasons of Classic Doctor Who, and I've been watching it with them.

We're about halfway through season 2. (I'd originally seen the very first episode, but very little until Tom Baker appeared as the Fourth Doctor). The stories are pretty entertaining, on the whole, though we occasionally groan at some of the things the characters do (like go off on their own on an unfamiliar planet - "how dangerous can it be?" - even after facing danger on the last planet they were on, or the Doctor lying to Ian and Barbara about an apparent malfunction on the TARDIS simply because he wants to explore the Dalek city).

@stargazer 

I think Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker were the best Doctors on Dr. Who.  I have been rewatching my old DVD’s of the classic Dr. Who that I purchased over ten years ago. They still work fine, and I love their bonus features.  Some of the DVD’s have gone out of print, but most of them are still available.  I bought only three seasons of Dr. Who on Blu-ray, and I haven’t noticed much difference in the picture from the DVD’s.  They also have many bonus features about the stories, which is advantage of the physical media. 🙂

We are now near the end of Season 8, and I like Jon Pertwee as well. The show feels different than either New Who or the earlier seasons of Classic, not necessarily because of the change in Doctors, but because they are generally confined to earth now, rather than traveling through time and space. Also, the Master seems to be in each story arc this season rather than mixing up who our heroes are facing each time.

@stargazer

I think Roger Delgado was the best Master although Anthony Ainley was quite good.  I know there were others that played the character, but I have forgotten them because the first two really were able to perform the role right. 

I love Jon Pertwee’s Doctor. Perhaps he is my second favorite, although only Tom Baker was able to be the best.

I still have the DVD’s which have only one story plus bonus features. I bought only three sets on Blu-ray, but most of the stories I own are on DVD because it would be too expensive to buy them over again.

Classic Dr. Who actually looks better to me than the new series. I like its antique quality and the simplicity of the time in which it was made.

I have been listening to The Genesis Chamber, a three hour audiobook of Dr. Who. Tom Baker’s voice is incredible for audio, which is the reason why he made so many excellent audiobooks. I bought many of them and still enjoy them just as much as the television episodes of the fourth Doctor, which were made during the 1970’s.  I would encourage any Dr. Who fans to give the audio stories a try. 

Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker are easily my favorite classic Doctors. You can't beat Pertwee's wit and acting ability. 

@scientific_archer 

I still rewatch the Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker stories on DVD and listen to the audio versions quite often.  They never lose their charm even after fifty years! 

We've finished Jon Pertwee's tenure as the Doctor and have moved into the Tom Baker era. I really enjoyed Pertwee as the Doctor.

Sarah Jane Smith has also arrived and we're enjoying her role as a companion.

As a trivia note, when my friends were scrolling through the Britbox offerings they came upon a 4-part mini-series in which Tom Baker portrays Sherlock Holmes. It's The Hound of the Baskervilles, aired in 1982.

I have nice memories of watching the Tom Baker Doctor Who re-runs (as my first introduction to Doctor Who) when I was a young child in the 1980s and then watching the ones to follow on from him.  In Australia the series has aired on television since the 1960s - I believe a year or two after it began airing in the UK.  I still have much more of a fondness towards the classic series to the newer series of it - that said, I think three of the actors to play the character more recently, have done a good job at portraying the character with the feel of the original - David Tennant, Matt Smith and Peter Capaldi.

I notice the most recent post @stargazer referred to Sarah Jane Smith.  I enjoyed the spin-off series from the modern series, The Sarah Jane Adventures, which had a similar feel to the classic series (with modern special affects though).  It's well worth watching. 😀 

Oh, and there was also a reference to Tom Baker playing Sherlock Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles in 1982 - I didn't realize how closely that production was made to the Ian Richardson film version which came out in 1983. 😲 

@pete 

Our area of Michigan had to wait until the 1980’s before any Doctor Who was shown.  It finally ended up on public television probably because the other local stations wouldn’t show it. I think the program executives back then may not have understood the series.   So regrettably I missed out on the first three Doctors as a child. I think the show would have helped me to appreciate science fiction and fantasy back then if it had aired on local television.  Now I wish I could have seen it at that time instead of having to wait decades for the DVD’s. Oh well, better late than never. 🙂

@narnian78

Just curious of yourself and other American fans of Doctor Who here.  In the UK and to at least some extent here in Australia there is a phrase "behind the sofa" that is commonly associated with Doctor Who, and has to do with the notion of kids hiding behind the sofa during scary scenes, so that they don't fully miss the show.  The hiding behind the sofa, I appears to have generally been most associated with when the daleks were on screen, but was not limited to them.  Just wondered if this term and the context of it is known and associated with Doctor Who in the US?  Also, did any of the scenes or episodes have that kind of impression on you?

I don't recall ever hiding behind any sofas or anything else whilst watching Doctor Who as a kid, but I do recall more recently, when my oldest child was maybe around 3 or 4 years old (possibly a little bit older), when she heard the theme tune she would run off to her bedroom.  She's 14 years old now and as still only seen a select few of the episodes.  I'm thinking of showing her The Sarah Jane Adventures before she watches more Doctor Who. 🤔