When Will BBC-America Break Open the Vaults & Play the Old Original DOCTOR WHOs?
@mythociate (21437)
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
July 27, 2012 4:46pm CST
I'm sure (because I've heard, but not seen) that the old DOCTOR WHO is 'disappointing' (at least concerning special-effects, if not for less-clever writing ... I dunno);
But can't BBC-America trust that some of its viewers are of an intellect that appreciates the thespians' labor?... Or is the 'America' in the tantamount to putting 'Kids' or 'Junior' in the name of a channel (i.e. indicating that the programs played are for a lower caste of intellect than the original 'BBC')?
I'm bored with 'the most-recent Doctors;' if I were the king, the BBC or BBC-A would've sent me all the previous DOCTOR WHO episodes already! 
1 person likes this
8 responses
@burrito88 (2774)
• United States
4 Sep 12
As one of the other posters said, Netflix has a number of older Dr. Who episodes available. With a Roku box or similar device, you can watch them for $8 a month.
@burrito88 (2774)
• United States
6 Sep 12
I guess I'm in the opposite situation from you. To save money, I cut back on my cable access, so I lost BBC America. I went down to basic cable and I might have dumped cable altogether and bought an antenna except that I live in the Pocono Mountains and I'm not sure if the mountains would block my over the air TV signals. Because I knew I was cutting back on cable, I bought a Roku box for around $70. I hooked that up to my TV and I;m able to stream Netflix from the Internet to the TV using the Roku and a wireless connection from my network router. That's allowed me to see some of the BBC America shows that I've missed. (Luckily for me, when the cable tech came to reduce my cable to basic, he screwed up. He put something in the line to block cable channels to the TV in my living room, but he missed the cable running to my bedroom and sun room. That gives me access to some of the standard cable channels in those rooms but I would stll need to subscribe to a digital cable plan to get BBC America. I'm not ready to add $80 a month to my cable bill to get that channel and a few others that I would mind having.)
@mythociate (21437)
• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
6 Sep 12
Party time! Excellent! Roo-Roo-Roo-Roo-Roo-Roo-Roo! 
@mythociate (21437)
• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
5 Sep 12
That's great for those kinds o` people. The people who HAVE NetFlix etc. I am not such an one. My access to BBC-America is through their broadcasting; why don't they broadcast the old DOCTOR WHO? (at least late at night)
@anklesmash (1412)
•
24 Oct 12
There not really broadcast that much on TV in the UK they tend mainly to broadcast the newer episodes as they probably believe not many people will want to watch the older episodes with less good special effects. The only ones I have ever watched have been on Netflix and I thought they were really good.The rubbish special effects just added to their charm,and in reality were pretty good for the era they were made in.You could also buy some box sets online I'm getting some for Christmas.Though there are some episodes you won't find due to the film being lost.
@mythociate (21437)
• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
24 Oct 12
Then why doesn't PBS play `em? No requests from their main donors?
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
21 Oct 12
Naturally there would be disappointing now due to the lower quality of special effects, but what else can you expect? The series started around 50 years ago, so there has been a tremendous improvement in the technology surrounding special effects. I watched a great number of the early episodes at their first television showing and was very impressed. However, I was watching them at a time when that level of special effects was the best available and it is what we were accustomed to. To watch some of the episodes now would seem very different, and they would not seem anywhere near as realistic as they originally did.
@mythociate (21437)
• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
24 Oct 12
I never watch for the special effects! The TARDIS could go through that vortex suspended by a shiny piece of string, for all I care; what I'm watching for is the story, the crushing forces making The Doctor more-&-more human!
@Fishmomma (11377)
• United States
28 Jul 12
I have been busy watching the old episodes like the last poster. Some of the old ones I hadn't seen in a long time and its great to see what I might not have noticed the first time.
@mythociate (21437)
• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
30 Jul 12
That's one thing I like about DOCTOR WHO: fans who become writers can always fish-out some 'loose end' no one really noticed in the older episodes and outline an entire new season around 'how The Doctor ties it up!'
@serialmommy (639)
• United States
17 Jan 13
With the rising popularity of Doctor Who in the States, Netflix has started putting the classic Doctor episodes on streaming. So if you can't watch them in another way, you can get them that way.
@mythociate (21437)
• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
30 Jul 12
Maybe that's the reason they don't replay `em: they might think that we weak-minded Americans might be led into believing that the new DOCTOR WHOs are a documentary, dramatized by the old DOCTOR WHOs.
And I just remembered: Aren't there old DOCTOR WHO videos on the BBC "DOCTOR WHO"-website? (might be something good to "Search the Web" for)
@serialmommy (639)
• United States
27 Jul 12
I know that there is quite a bit of the original Doctor Who available on Netflix. They have the most recent ones (starting with Doc 9) set up like a t.v show, but the others are available like movies to watch. We only watch t.v. through Netflix and I have found that it's a great way to find different programming than what is available typically. I love how I can just go on a tangent and watch 8-10-12 episodes in a row with no commercials or anything else. The "to be continued" episodes don't have a super long wait time, just as long as it takes for the next episode to load. Netflix is how I was introduced to Doctor Who, and honestly, if it weren't for the new Doctors, I probably wouldn't watch it. I always associated Doctor Who as something my uncle and my dad would watch, not me. I was pleasantly surprised that it is as good as it is. I haven't gotten up the courage to watch the older episodes yet, but I know that I will, probably once I've exhausted all of the new ones.
@ElicBxn (63252)
• United States
27 Jul 12
They are out there - but I think they are enjoying the money they are making from people having to BUY them.
Of course, those of us old enough and fans enough have been watching it since before it got taken off...
We have most of them on video tape!
