Your Daily Dose of Doctor Who

Tomorrow is the anniversary of Doctor Who's first episode, aired in 1963, and as planned, it will begin a major journey for Siskoid's Blog of Geekery - daily reviews of each episode, in order, from 1963 to today. Like the Star Trek project that started this blog, it should take about two years. As ever, if you're not a fan, you can still come by for additional, non-Who content. As for Reign of the Supermen, it'll end its daily publishing with #400 this Thursday, and then find itself in its new weekly slot every Saturday. Because plenty more Supermen in the wide world of comics. So before we really get into it, I thought I'd talk about how each Daily Who Review would be structured:

First off, the episode title, a quote I liked from the episode and a picture. A nice, easy opening gambit. Then...

TECHNICAL SPECS: This will tell you what format I'm experiencing it on, which is especially important for the lost episodes. If there are any recreations, either as photonovels or reconstructions available on the Internet, I'll point you in the right direction. I'll also note when the episode originally aired.

IN THIS ONE... A very brief synopsis of the episode, to help you get your bearings.

REVIEW: Where the magic happens. It is my hope that watching the episodes in order, yet with the benefits of almost 50 years of hindsight, will yield some interesting observations and even reevaluations. I must tell you I've already written the first five, and I don't feel like I'm regurgitating reviews I might have read before, which is a load off my mind.

THEORIES: Sometimes, Doctor Who can be ambiguous, especially as the show evolved. Does it all fit into a coherent continuity? And if so, how? This is where we use the benefits of hindsight to explain inconsistencies, ferret out themes that have been evolving over time, and establishing timelines in Doctor Who's messy history.

VERSIONS: Some stories do exist in multiple versions, either edited into full-length movies, or with brand new CGI, or even as influential and different novelizations. This section will examine these, leaving no version of an episode behind.

REWATCHABILITY: The final score, from Low to High, and a brief evaluation. Same thing I used to do for Star Trek. Rewatchability is a value based on both quality and historical importance.

STORY REWATCHABILITY: Episodes are usually part of a single larger story, so this will be an evaluation of the story as a whole, which is how people usually watch Doctor Who anyway.

Note that if any category is irrelevant (Theories, Versions and Story Rewatchability), it will not be included.

So here's hoping you're ready for the next couple years! And more importantly, perhaps, that I'M ready for it!

Comments

De said…
Sounds fun! Looking forward to it.
snell said…
I have a friend who insists that, for the first three series, you should include a ctagegory of Hartnell Flubs. I smacked him.
Siskoid said…
No section, but the best ones will rate a mention, certainly.
waarschuwing said…
Thanks for acknowledging the end-30s among us who have enjoyed lots of bad sci-fi and comics in their youths, but alas no Who. Which makes enjoying commentary on 50 years of backstory, well, pretty tough.

The above plural should probably read as singular form, but it is just more comfortable to me to do it this way.

Luckily, I believe I'm also being reassured there will be enough crumbles of weird space explorations and Silver age madness ahead to enjoy on a weekly basis.

And where's that Incal entry? I'll never understand how's that not a comic, other than the fact that it wasn't originally published in the US on a weekly basis.

Appreciate the effort of doing Who for 2 years though.
Siskoid said…
Did I promise an Incal entry? What I read, I read from a friend's books, and he's long gone. Makes it hard for scanning.
waarschuwing said…
No, you never did, but I kind of requested it when you were looking for mini-series to reread. So to be honest, I was stirring you up a little by suggesting you promised anything. Still, would be great if you did, as it is a phenomenal piece of work.

But ignore it, that was not anywhere near the heart of what I was trying to say. Just keep on writing about whatever gets your juices up, and I'll be reading it. Cheers.

P.S. You replied incredibly fast btw.
Randal said…
I am so looking forward to this, and, of course, the implied reviews of all the novels, audio plays, spinoffs and comics! Because, that's what you're doing right? That shouldn't take more than six years tops. Seven at the most. No more than eight, for sure.
Michael May said…
YAY! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay!
Siskoid said…
Waar: One thing focusing on as tv series daily means, is that I can do more varied comic book content. With Superman every day, "variety" meant going the other way.

Randal: While I considered it, that's not really in the cards. If you go back through This Week In Geek, I think you'll find a capsule review of almost every audio and novel I've ever ingested.

Michael: Glad you approve!
Randal said…
*puts hands in pockets and kicks the dirt*

It's not the same.
Siskoid said…
Buck up! We may find in 2 years that I am INDEED insane.
Señor Editor said…
Superman every day was good, though! I'm a total Dr. Who noob. Never saw one episode of the show. But I'll probably read it anyway!
Señor Editor said…
Also, you're probably the hardest working blogger on earth. 2 posts every day? Damn, man. Good job!
Siskoid said…
That should read "on this blog alone" since it's not my only output (sigh).

You tend to run a little dry on any long-running series, so making Superman weekly probably saves it from a drop in quality.