Thanks for your help, guys. I think it'll be series one. I have slight OCD when it comes to these things and I like to be thorough with things. We'll see what my boyfriend says, we'll be watching together.
I havn't seen any episodes prior to series one (mainly because despite what the diehards say, they're awful) and there really no need to.
I watched one episode that was randomly on TV some night. Since I then had only heard about Doctor Who and didn't know anything at all about it, I can't say which episode or season, but it was old. We had a really good time laughing at the aliens with suspiciously human legs stumbling around.
I've not been here for the last five days or so, so I might've missed the boat here... BUT! Series 5 is a new start, and the most confident, exciting and all-round
fun place to begin. Its first episode - The Eleventh Hour - gives away no spoilers for the last four series, and acts as a one-stop guide to
everything that's important about the series. Rose is an episode that I really liked in 2005, but watching it nowadays I think it's a lot more of a mixed bag. Each series has a steady pulse of greatness, and among them are moments of astonishing brilliance and also a couple of more strained moments. Series 5 is the very strongest, with the most brilliance and the least chinks in its armour, and it's
tailor made to pick up brand new viewers. Each series, so far, has been more confident than the last, but series 5 is the jewel. So, yes. Series 5. Always series 5.
My main problem with series 1 is that Rose is a bit of a weak point, and it's followed shortly by Aliens of London and World War Three, which are also kind of weak. All directed by a fella called Keith Boak, who never returned - allegedly because nobody got along with him, and his vision simply didn't fit. Eps 1, 4 and 5 are the weakest of the series, and it's hard to look past that. Series 5, meanwhile, eps 1, 4 and 5 are arguably the strongest, so you've got a much more confident beginning.
Favourites!DOCTORS:
1. Smith
2. Tennant
3. Eccleston
Funnily enough, while Tennant is "my" Doctor, Smith is my favourite. This sounds a little arrogant, perhaps, but I do see a fair bit of myself in Smith's portrayal - obviously not intentional, but while I'd be a little in awe of Tennant's Doctor, I feel a little bit kindred with Smith's. I'd get on well with him.
SERIES:
Series 5
Series 4 (Plus specials!)
Series 6 (Part 1)
Series 3
Series 1
Series 2
The best bits of series 2 are absolutely fantastic, but it's a bit of a mixed bag - New Earth, The Idiot's Lantern, Love and Monsters and Fear Her are episodes I've never quite got along with, whereas I'm relatively indifferent too to School Reunion, The Rise of the Cybermen, The Age of Steel... ack. The best bits are brilliant, though. The other two two-parters absolutely marvellous, and then Tooth & Claw, The Girl in the Fireplace... grand.
As a general rule, though, each is better than the last. I'm in awe of series 6, so far, but it's not quite as fun as 4 and 5, so I've placed it just below for now. Absolutely sterling, though.
BEST EPISODES PER SERIES:
S1: The Unquiet Dead - The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances
S2: The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit - Army of Ghosts / Doomsday
S3: Smith & Jones - Human Nature / The Family of Blood
S4: Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead - The Waters of Mars
S5: The Eleventh Hour - The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang
S6: The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon - A Good Man Goes to War
A hell of a lot of Moffat.
BEST VILLAINS:
S1: Gelth.
S2: Ood.
S3: Weeping Angels.
S4: Vashta Nerada.
S5: Prisoner Zero.
S6: The Silence.