Classic Who
August 6, 2014 9:42 AM - Subscribe

I have had a request that Wednesday Who could be accompanied by a Classic Who watch, going all the way back to an unearthly child.

So, questions:

Would anyone be interested in that?
How regular should the posts be?
Should we wait a bit until some of the classic rewatches are completed?
(or even when/if wednesday who catches up to the now?)
Any other thoughts on it?
posted by Just this guy, y'know (6 comments total)
 
I like the idea, but watching every classic Who serial at the rate of one a week would take a few years. And to be honest, it may not be desirable. What's streaming on US Amazon and Netflix doesn't constitute a best-of (I imagine UK options are better; certainly at least the same serials streaming in the US are streaming in the UK, I would think), but it could be a good place to start. I figure people who buy the discs are probably hardcore and relatively few. (I have The Daemons on disc!)
posted by kittens for breakfast at 4:35 PM on August 6, 2014


Maybe it would be better as a curated Classic Who Club, along similar lines to the summer/horror/cult Movie Clubs currently running on FanFare?

That way you could pick out good and/or available episodes/serials; and you can mix it up so that (for example) McCoy fans don't have to wait for years to get to any of his episodes.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 5:54 PM on August 6, 2014 [1 favorite]


Hulu Plus has a surprisingly large portion of Classic Who, but does have commercials. Some people have been known to pay for Hulu Plus and then torrent the episodes, which is something of a cheat. They should probably turn the Hulu episodes on in the background, muted, while they're at work, so Hulu knows they're being watched. Or something.
posted by rikschell at 7:07 PM on August 6, 2014 [1 favorite]


Also, I have watched about half of Classic Who (trying to pick out the better episodes, along with as many as possible that lend to continuity, either later in the series or in terms of introducing companions, enemies, etc.) in the last year or so. I don't think a once-a-week rewatch is all that feasible. Anyone who gets into it will probably want to burn through at least 2 serials (4-6 hours) a week. Anyone who doesn't get into it may well find even 2-3 hours a week a burden. Trying to keep many people with different life schedules on one TV schedule seems challenging.

What if it were just a massive list of all episodes (a la Orange is the New Black season 2), and people could watch and comment at their leisure? If there was ever a binge-watch show (or a show that people have binge-watched in the past and still want to comment on) it's this one.
posted by rikschell at 7:18 PM on August 6, 2014


There are 159 Classic Who stories extant, plus the Film Of Which We Do Not Speak (not including peter cushing films). if you watched one story (not episode, story) every week, it would take a little over three years to reach Christopher Eccleston.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 9:09 AM on August 7, 2014


I tried to do my own rewatch a few years back, but it's a tough slog. Not that the classic Who is bad, though. Not at all. Low budget and occasional dated bits aside, it's a lot of fun. But those missing episodes really and truly kill your momentum. Yes, you have the option if watch the recreated episodes. But those are painful like homework. And if you try and skip ahead, you keep getting lost. A trip through the highlights might be better.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:38 AM on August 16, 2014


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