This is kind of fun for people who are fully comfortable with the depths of their geekiness: it’s a video compilation of the entire 36-year run of the original Doctor Who series (including the 1999 TV movie that aired on Fox) condensed into a little over five minutes.
(Via)
Fascinating to see how the visual tone of the series (not to mention the production values!) changes over the years…
The interesting thing (I think) about Who is that the show ran for so long and so many people have played the character (seven, in the series’ original BBC run, followed by the guy in that Fox movie and now two — soon to be three, I understand — actors in the current revival series) that it’s entirely possible for a person to consider themselves a big fan of the show without having ever seen a majority of the episodes. I certainly didn’t recognize most of the stuff in that video, and I watched the show for years.
In a related phenomenon, it seems that Who fans tend to have “their” Doctor (i.e., they prefer one actor in the lead role over others), usually the first one they were exposed to, and they don’t care much for the others. For instance, my experience with the series is largely centered around Tom Baker‘s stint as the character. I’ve seen most of the episodes featuring his predecessor, Jon Pertwee, and a few from his successor, Peter Davison, but very little or none of the work of the other four actors who worked on the original series. In fact, I know only one person who has seen them all, and I’m not sure if he has a favorite…
But I’m simply rambling. Watch the video. If you’re any kind of Who fan, it should provoke a few pleasant memories. And if you’re not a fan, well, prepare to be highly amused by monsters made of tinfoil, carpeting, and rice krispies. And no, I’m not kidding… those are actual materials used by Who‘s make-up and propmasters over the years…
Oh, one final, quick note about the music in this video: I’m not usually a fan of “mash-ups,” i.e., two or more songs sampled and combined into something new, but I think the one here works really nicely. The relentless beat and ’80s-vintage synthisizer of “Sweet Dreams” fits nicely with the bizarre, unearthly warble of the series’ theme song. The Eurythmics and the Doctor Who theme… who’d have thought?
