Though I do remember watching some Tom Baker-era Doctor Who as a kid, one probably needs to call me a new Whovian. As I didn’t start watching the new series until Matt Smith took over, I’m even a late new Whovian at that. I actually didn’t watch any of the Smith episodes but started the new series at the beginning with Christopher Eccleston and worked my way through until I eventually caught up a couple of years back. Though I may be relatively new to fandom, I fully embrace the Classic Who series. Back when I had Netfli,x me and the wife enjoyed catching some of the old series and of course I now regularly review Doctor Who here in these pages.
There is still tons for me to learn though, for example I’ve never seen a single series with Colin Baker or Sylvester McCoy (nor the TV Movie with Paul McGann for that matter.) I’ve paid little to no attention to the radio serials or books, and beyond a couple of episodes of Torchwood, I’ve not watched any of the spin-off series. I want to be a bigger fan, I really do, but there’s just so much of it that its going to take me a very long time to consume all there is, and still manage to keep up with all the new stuff. I’ve only been watching for maybe four years and there’s over five decades of material to cover.
For the show’s 50th anniversary, the BBC created a dramatic re-telling of the creation of the series. It details the early days of the show trough the eyes of producer Verity Lambert and William Hartnell. It’s gotten good reviews and the fandom seems to have eagerly embraced it. While I’m still a youngster in terms of my own fandom, I do very much enjoy Doctor Who in all of its incarnations and am very interested in how it began. Which is why An Adventure in Space and Time is my Pick of the Week.
Also out this week that looks interesting:
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (Criterion Collection): One of my least favorite films by Wes Anderson (my least favorite being The Darjeeling Limited). Still, it has its charms and Bill Murray continues his brilliant late-career run as a wonderful caricature of Jacques Cousteau. Criterion has released this film before but it’s now getting a Blu-ray upgrade with some new extras.
Red River (Criterion Collection): All you need to know about this is that it stars John Wayne and was directed by Howard Hawks.
Longmire: The Complete Second Season: I watched the first season binge-like a couple of weeks ago. It’s a very entertaining western crime drama. Nothing I’m likely to put into any of my all-time great lists but a good watch none-the-less. Our own Lorna Miller reviewed the second season.
The Bridge: Season 1: This is the original Swedish drama on which the American show is based. I’ve heard great things about both versions, but me being a snob and all, I’d like to see the original version first.
Jack Irish, Set 2: Guy Pearce stars in this Australian crime drama. I like Pearce. I like crime dramas. This one looks interesting.
Wallander: Season 3: A Swedish crime drama I keep hearing good things about.
The Bob Newhart Show: The Complete Series: I’m a huge fan of Newhart the series, but this show was a little before my time. Everybody I know who has seen it and whose opinion I care about says it’s hilarious.
Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Series 2: More Australian crime drama. This one’s set in the 1920s and looks fabulous.
