I have been a fan of Doctor Who for quite some time. I fell in love with the series after having a friend beat me over the head until I agreed to watch an episode. This spawned a now two year love affair with the show, and subsequently had me beating other people over the head to watch it as well. The most common question I get when talking to someone that has never seen Doctor Who is, “Where do I start?” This is a good question, as there are six seasons and we are about to embark on the seventh. I have included below an episode list that should get you up to speed for the current season. These will fill in most of the major plot devices that will be visited in the newest season, along with episodes that are just so good you shouldn’t miss them.
Most people I talked to when I started watching said that I should start at the beginning of the reboot (Season 1). This is a VERY BAD IDEA. The first season actually almost made me give up on the show. It wasn’t until I skipped to season 5 that I really discovered what the show had to offer me. This is also the first episode that struck me as less under-produced British nonsense and more of a modern show.
Order of viewing:
- Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead (Season 4) – This two parter introduces one of the most important characters to the Doctor Who Mythos: River Song. I should note here that the doctor is played by David Tennant and not the current Doctor (Matt Smith).
- All of Season 5. This Season introduces all of the major villains and how the Doctor/Companion relationship works. It is also the best produced season in the doctor who mythos to date. The story here is amazing and should not be missed.
- Season 6 minus “The Curse of the Black Spot” this episode has a villain-o’-the-week plot and the characters introduced herein are only revisited for 2 seconds later on in the season. Sadly this season wasn’t nearly as good as season 5 in my opinion, but redeems itself in the latter half of the season.
This is not to say that season 1-4 don’t have amazing episodes in them, because they do. David Tennant and Christopher Eccleston brought some amazing things to their respective tenure as the Doctor, but sadly there is also a lot of cheese. But, if you are interested in catching up on what happened in those seasons I will be writing a season 1-4 recap with notable episodes, and a synopsis of the major events happening each season.
If you have any comments/questions/corrections please email me at aaron.geekyKOOL@gmail.com
