Doctor Who

Amazing show, with an amazing plot, and amazing enemies. I highly recommend it.

I've watched Doc Who since I was 10 years old, it's the absolute best show on tv, period. Nothing comes close to the scripts, acting and excitement. In my eyes this is the absolute best program in history and always will be - there's a reason it's lasted 50 years and still going strong. Utterly magical.

I started out watching this show just to see what all the fuss was about. After watching two episodes I found that I was hooked. I love the characters, the quirkiness of the doctor and everything. The older ones, even from the new series, do have slightly corny effects, though it is easily overlooked by the great story. The only thing to keep in mind is that companions and doctors DIE! Just found out a week or two ago that my favorite doctor will die after the Christmas special. At least the doctor regenerates into a new doctor.

I used to be a big fan of Doctor Who and I used to love the anticipation and thrills the episodes would bring. Sadly, when David Tennant left the show it all went downhill.

While Matt Smith is NOT as good as David Tennant, that is not the reason that stoppped my interest in the show. The reason for that is Steven Moffat, the new head writer. When Russell T Davies was the writer the show was fantastic, and Steven Moffat did the occasional good scary episode, however now that Moffat has taken over he seems to be taking a different approach, and it's not good...

While series 5 was OK, series 6 (both parts one and two) has been a load of rubbish with a few good episodes inbetween. I am not sure what Moffat is trying to do to the show, but we need a new writer who can produce shows that are entertaining, scary and thrilling.

In series 6 the scripts were poor, the aliens were not used to their potential (for example the hotel one in series 6 where there were weeping angels for about a second of the whole episode) and the companion (Amy or Amelia Pond) is rubbish and the show is all about her.

I still watch the show, out of tradition more than anything but all the other shows I watch are taking over and leaving this show at the back of my favourites. If it gets any worse it will be a shame, but I will probably stop watching it.

Overall I think that the main problem with Steven Moffat's style is that it is simply not what DOCTOR WHO should be about.

Doctor Who contains maybe too much fantasy and not enough truely scientific for the viewers, contains some non-logical features (intentionally)

Spanning three decades, Doctor Who was one of those shows that never failed to pull viewers. With rickety sets, initially poor editing, over-acting from guest stars and low-budget special effects bordering on laughable (green painted bubble-wrap was a favourite in the mid 1970's, and if you look hard enough in the old black and white ones you can see camera shadows on walls and even badly hidden boom microphones hovering above actors), somehow, it outlived the expectations of everyone.

Funny that the first episode had to be repeated because many missed its first broadcast and were desperate to see this bizarre "human" with a time machine. And the rest is part of TV history. Seven lead actors, millions of fans, videos galore, and fan conventions spanning the globe.

So, when life-long fan and writer-producer Russell T Davies had the chance to re-invent the classic for the 21st century, I wonder if he realised just how big it would become?

Initial work established much, including the financial support of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and BBC Wales. But, who would play the universe's favourite Time Lord?

Reports say that Bill Nighy was a hot tip, but Russell T Davies approached Salford-born thespian Christopher Eccleston, star of "Cracker" and Davies' mini series "Second Coming," to play the Doctor.

And what a choice! Eccleston played the Doctor so well that he came very close to eclipsing Bill Hartnell and Tom Baker as the favourite incarnation. His comedic timing, strong acting skills, and insistence that the Doctor should be a Lancastrian, won millions of new fans, as well as bringing the already established "Whovians" out of the woodwork.

Support was provided by former pop star Billie Piper as Rose Tyler, a tough 18-year-old who gets caught up by accident in an attempted Auton/Nestene invasion. Piper's casting raised eyebrows (bearing in mind Georgia Moffat, daughter of the fifth Doctor, Peter Davison, auditioned but didn't make it) as an untrained actress, but proved her skills.

Revival of the infamous Daleks brought many more fans out, especially as it was revealed the Time Lords and Daleks had fought a bloody war (the "Time War," which becomes the longest story thread in the new version of Doctor Who) and the Doctor is the only survivor (until we find the Daleks had an escape plan ). The classic sink-plunger, combined with grating voice, brought a new legion of fans for the most-feared dustbins in the Universe.

The introduction of the former Time Agent Captain Jack Harkness (played by John Barrowman) even brought about a spin-off centering around Harkness' involvement with alien investigators Torchwood (the name being an anagram of "Doctor Who") showed Russell T Davies to be a master storyteller. The man deserves awards galore.

The series (which is cleverly written - listen out for the name "Bad Wolf" in every episode and see how it becomes pivotal in the series finale), ends in a spectacular two-part story where the Daleks launch their final attack on the Earth, which incorporates the most amazing CGI sequence ever seen on British TV.

The very first few episodes of Doctor Who in the early sixties, I find to be very slow moving. Good story lines yes, but it takes ages for something to happen. However, this problem is overcome quickly from here, and Doctor Who was arguably at its best until the mid-Tom Baker years (near the end of the seventies), although good episodes do occur in this period, to the end of the eighties, Doctor Who becomes silly. The show writers are weaker, and humour is attempted, but it more often than not falls flat on its face. This is why it was taken off the air. Back in the day children were scared by this show, but modern children will generally, not be.

The Film in 1996 was Americanised, and in my opinion, not very good. However, from this point on, Doctor Who becomes high budget - no more of the cheap effects that it was known for. For some this is good, for others it takes away the certain charm it had.

The New Series has a much faster pace, and in my opinion, this does not allow enough time for characters to be developed, so when non-main characters die, you don't really care. It is very slick and well done, but it differs from the old series, in that the Doctor is no longer a grandfather figure, and now romantic tension has been brought in. Also, it deals with the assistants personal lives and background much more. One thing I really don't like about the new series is that the Doctor is treated almost as if he is a God, which is rather silly. They should at least make it difficult for him!

The BBC has generally done a good job bringing back Dr Who, with convincing sets, CGI and believable dialogue. Both David T and Christopher Eccleston are up there with the previous Doctors in the acting stakes. I felt a little let down with the second series in that the plots and locations in several episodes (not all!) lacked in originality.

There seems to be too many episodes set on earth in the period 1700 - 2015. I would like to see more alien planets and cultures. I also feel I have seen enough of the daleks and cyber men, they were scary once

but making them more indestructible hasn't really made them that much more scary now.

I expect the BBC is constrained on set design and CGI costs rather than ideas for plots from science fiction writers so hence why alien planets do not feature heavily.

For the future I hope the high viewer figures will encourage a production company with more money to spare to team up with the BBC to allow more expenditure on sets and CGI.

Despite the slight criticisms, it is still one of the best sci-fi dramas around at the moment.

Dr Who was naff in the '70s and '80s and it's naff now. How can anyone find a giant dustbin with one arm the scariest thing in the universe? There's a reason that Christopher Eccleston was playing the Doctor like a goofy children's entertainer - even he couldn't take it seriously.

The effects were poor, but it didn't look deliberate. The acting was OK but the dialogue was pretty lame and the scripts which were meant to frighten and teach were just pedantic.

Next time, hand it over to the Americans to remake because they know how to do sci-fi.