In my household we’ve rewatched the latest four specials several times already, and May still feels like a long time away 🙂 So what do you all watch to tide you over until there are new Doctor who episodes airing again?
For a baseline, here are some of the things we’ve sought out to fill the very specific DW flavour of soft science fiction entertainment:
- Old episodes of Doctor who, obviously. Plus the noughties spinoffs.
- It’s almost lazy to mention Star trek, and although we easily and often fall into that comfort rabbit hole I think there are other shows that are more in the Who vein:
- Fringe was an US show that borrows fairly heavily from both Who, X-files, and loads more. I don’t think it’ll be spoilers to say that specifically the image of Zeppelins to signify parallel worlds is an obvious callback to “Rise of the Cybermen”/“The Age of Steel”. And there are a group of characters that seem to be a cross between Time Lords and the Watchers from Marvel comics.
- The ministry of time was a Spanish show about a covert time traveling agency. It has a lot of Who feeling, and time travel of course, but with its own premise that centres it on the rich history of Spain and good humouredly makes fun of Spanish national and regional stereotypes.
- The Lazarus project is along the general outline of The ministry of time — secret time travel authority that keeps history on the straight and narrow — but with its own, convoluted tangle of changing timelines. Only on its second season, this show’ time travel shenanigans nearly did my head in, sort of like Dark when that was still good, but at a breakneck, Mission impossible pace.
Those are off the top of my head. What are your timey wimey or otherwise Who-alike go-to shows?
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My mostly unserious suggestion is Red Dwarf. Especially as a counter to any other dark or heavy series or story arcs.
One of my all time favourite shows.
Back at the 50th anniversary, I started working my way through ALL the DW fiction - TV, audio, novels, comics, short stories that I was aware of in chronological order - using the eyespider lists as a guide. I knew another Whovian with a huge collection, and then started filling in the gaps however I could. You can find just about everything online one way or another.
As a result, broadcast TV episodes were almost secondary. I was reading/listening to/watching the Doctor basically every day anyway. Around 4 years back, I changed jobs to a significantly more demanding one - and had a lot less time available. I was around halfway through the VNAs by then, and have taken the time from then until now to crawl through the remaining ones. Still working on the last ones now.
I have cheated and have read Eight’s comics and heard his audios - and am up to date with the War Doctor and Torchwood and most of the other spinoffs - including Señor 105 etc, and the all the ‘other media’ tales for Twelve and Thirteen too.
I do have a bit more time again now, but I think that realistically, I am going to finish the VNAs - but probably not the Benny ones - and maybe the novels and shorts for Eight and draw a line under it there. There are a LOAD of novels for Eight, though, so that is still going to keep me in touch with the Doctor daily for some considerable time yet.
Neither Fringe nor The Lazarus Project really grabbed me, I have to say. I have not tried the Ministry of Time so far though.
I’ve long held Big Finish Who as the main universe to which TV Who is the EU I like to also follow as an extra treat.
There were video games too (iirc one with actual story).
I am not including most of the games, but have watched a play through of Destiny of the Doctors.
Oh, I must have been thinking of ‘Doctor Who: The Adventure Games’. I … don’t think it merits to watch a playthrough tho.
Ahh, they feature later Doctors anyway, so I wouldn’t have hit them so far.
However, as it happens I have seen a run through of one of them - The Gunpowder Plot - which features some of the best material for the Rutans that I have encountered so far.
The extended universe is pretty overwhelming to me, but I’ve dipped just a little bit into Big Finish to get more mileage out of characters with too little screentime. The eighth Doctor primarily, but also the Paternoster Gang. I become wary when those spin into large continuities of their own, though. I have the TV series for that :)
But what I’ve heard of Big Finish has been really top notch, generally!
There are stories in all the media - comics, short stories, novels and audio that as up there with the best of the TV tales. Of course there are a good many that are mediocre and just plain bad too.
With Big Finish, the best stories tend to be among the earlier ones in any given range. They have given Eight a great run altogether though. And they allowed Six to complete his intended arc well too.
The newish Loki series on Disney worked for me for that ‘maintaining the timeline’ vibe.
Currently working through Old Who and Torchwood. Might hit up Sarah Jane Chronicles or Star Trek next.
Legends of Tomorrow is also very Who-like, and even has Arthur Darvill (Rory Williams.)
A lot of the free streaming services have a free classic Who channel. Turn it on, get a random Doctor.
I’ve started from the beginning, but it’s not scratching the itch like I’d hoped it would, and I can’t just watch one thing constantly, so I’ve been switching between Classic Who and the X-Files ( I noticed some similar story lines in old X-Files and NuWho. The X-Files was very influential.)
I may still re-watch the specials just to bask in the return of how Doctor Who used to feel.
Oh, the beginning beginning? Yeah, that can be tough going compared to modern (or at least post-2005) TV. I enjoy classic Who for what it is, and for the lore, but you need to settle into its slower pace.
As for X-files, I grew up on that before I got into Doctor who. I find it troubling to watch nowadays that the once quaint and silly conspiracy thinking if the show has become mainstream…
Yeah, I went all the way back, had to delete all my Supernatural to fit it on my laptop lol. Worth it, but yes it is slow so I have to change it up. I can’t binge it like I do other shows.
I have watched X-Files since I was a kid, it’s probably a big reason I enjoy Doctor Who, but I do agree. I’ve noticed with this re-watch that I find myself thinking how the worst was yet to come and that fiction had nothing on what happens in real life, but I don’t really find it troubling.
Maybe it’s cause I’ve always been one of those weirdos who say " I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but…"
Oh man I tried to watch The Ministry of Time when it aired in Spain and it is sooooooo slow moving!
Really? As I recall it took a few episodes to introduce characters and the premise, but we fell into its pace pretty quickly. Perhaps it’s time to give it another watch to judge it better…?
Weren’t the episodes like two hours long? I remember it feeling like half an hour’s worth of story spread way waaay too thin. Maybe it just seemed that way compared to Moffat era Who though…
