CaptainYesterday posted:

2016 has come, and so the hiatus begins. Series 9/Season 35 had its triumphs and its less-than-popular outings, and the general consensus was 'could have been better' (even thought it won the Golden Tomato for Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Horror television). Clara was erased from the Doctor's memories and left the show flying on a TARDIS with Me/Ashildr, a character whose enjoyment depended on your feelings for the actress. There will be another series of the show for 2016, including a Christmas special. Filming has yet to begin, so there is no timetable for airdates yet. Also coming this year, the young adult spin-off Class will air on BBC Three for eight episodes. I'm sure that will get its own thread by the time it airs, but you can talk about it here for now. What do we do while we wait? Well, mostly discuss audio dramas released by Big Finish, which I will get into at the end of this post. There's also cool/strange fan art we find and share, and the usual jokes:

-The Ambassadors of Death (twang)
-Robert Mugabe's secret pile of the missing 97 episodes
-Quotes from the show used to describe this very thread
-That picture of Tom Baker haunting behind Nicolas Courtney
-Colin Baker (catch-all)

Then we all wait for news to come from the BBC about ANYTHING Doctor Who, because we've had every possible argument about the Trial of a Timelord.

The previous thread can be found here. Now for the formalities.

NO SPOILERS
By edict of the moderators, this is a SPOILER-FREE ZONE. Other than backstage stuff (hiring people), DO NOT POST SPOILERS. AT ALL. Even if Queen Elizabeth II, Barack Obama, and Vladimir Putin have a three-way press conference on every channel to reveal life on Mars and also that Martha Jones is a Rutan, DON'T POST IT HERE. If you must post about spoilers, go to the spoiler thread. Episode titles can be spoiler-y, so use discretion when discussing episodes yet to air. For example, 'Hide' doesn't spoil anything, but 'OH poo poo IT'S THE DALEKS' does.

WHERE DO I START?
If you want to start with the revival, you should start with The Eleventh Hour. This doesn't mean to disregard the 9th and 10th Doctor's stories, but it's the easiest way to get caught up. If you want to watch the original series, there are plenty of places to start. You COULD start with An Unearthly Child and watch everything in chronological order. You could also watch individual serials of all the Doctors and determine which you like the best. Keep in mind, don't shotgun a whole Hartnell or Troughton in one go, or else you'll get complacent. Those 60's episodes are meant to be seen one at a time, and if you only just rented the DVD, wait a few hours between episodes.

The most popular serials for the original series you can jump into are:

First Doctor: An Unearthly Child, The Aztecs
Second Doctor: The Tomb of the Cybermen, The Enemy of the World
Third Doctor: Spearhead from Space, Carnival of Monsters
Fourth Doctor: Pyramids of Mars, The Robots of Death
Fifth Doctor: Kinda, Frontios
Sixth Doctor: Vengeance on Varos, Revelation of the Daleks
Seventh Doctor: Dragonfire, Remembrance of the Daleks

WHERE CAN I WATCH DOCTOR WHO ON TELEVISION?

Original Series:
UK - Drama, Horror
USA - Retro TV, some PBS stations
Canada - you're out of luck
Australia - Syfy

Current Series:
UK - BBC One (first run), BBC Three, Watch
USA - BBC America (first run), most PBS stations
Canada - Space
Australia - ABC1 (first run), ABC2, BBC UKTV, Syfy

WHERE CAN I STREAM DOCTOR WHO?
Netflix has the current series up to Last Christmas and selected original series episodes. If you're in the United States, Hulu Plus has 413 original series episodes up, and I'm not going to go in-depth about the ones they don't have.

SHOULD I BUY THE DVDs AND BLU RAYS?
Just for the bonus features alone.

THE TOXXUPATION THREAD
It's back! Just remember the rules - no spoilers for last series, but he does know that Clara leaves, there are a bunch of two-parters, and the Zygon episodes 'apparently [sucked]'. He knows what happened for the first 8 series of the current run, and doesn't really care about the original series.

A BRIEF GUIDE TO BIG FINISH
There are hundreds, probably thousands of Doctor Who and Doctor Who-related audio dramas released by Big Finish Productions. This is not a post telling you what audio dramas to listen to, because everyone has an opinion that is different from everyone else (some people possibly like Minuet in Hell, but I doubt it). This is a post telling you the basic info on the different series of titles there are. I'm only covering ongoing ranges, since devoting a paragraph to the Stage Plays seems a bit silly. If you're wondering why I'm about to spend a good portion of the OP about audio dramas, you are clearly new to the Doctor Who thread.

Monthly range
Since 1999, Big Finish have released, on a consistent basis, mostly standalone stories featuring the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh (formerly including Eighth) Doctors. Up to 209th(!) release next month.

The Fourth Doctor Adventures
Tom Baker gets his own line of releases.

The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield
Sylvester McCoy plays a supporting role to Bernice Summerfield, a companion introduced in the Virgin New Adventures line of books.

The Eighth Doctor Adventures / Dark Eyes / Doom Coalition
Paul McGann's Doctor also gets his own line. Goons love 'em.

The Diary of River Song
In a world where Bernice Summerfield already has an audio range, the suspiciously similar character River Song might be an unwelcome addition to Big Finish. The reception seems to be positive, though.

The War Doctor
Holy cow, Big Finish got John Hurt? You bet they did, and the Time War is heard for what might be the only time.

The Tenth Doctor Adventures
In slightly less astounding news, Big Finish got David Tennant and Catherine Tate to reprise their characters. Considering they are both in the prime of their careers, this range may not be regular.

The Companion Chronicles / The Early Adventures
This is important: THESE ARE NOT AUDIO DRAMAS. These are "enhanced audiobooks" for the most part, which means that one person does all the parts while another gives narration, but also contains sound effects and music cues. The Companion Chronicles usually feature just one actor, while the Early Adventures feature small casts.

Spinoffs
There are a ton of these, ranging from good (I, Davros) to who gives a poo poo (anything involving a companion from the audio series).

Finally, it is worth noting that no Doctor Who story has taken place in 2016, and the year has only been mentioned once, in passing. This will probably change.