Not Writing Related... But Doctor Who's worth it, right?

So.......

Hi....... *waves*

I know it's been a while since I've blogged (Yes. I realize "a while" is a bit of an understatement here.), but I am not here today to talk about writing.

It's a Doctor Who day. :o)

I've wanted to write this all down for a while now because people keep asking (and it's really hard to explain in 140 characters on twitter), so here it is!

Janelle's Guide to Watching Doctor Who & Torchwood In Order
(With Some Extra Stuff Thrown In):

Doctor Who

Torchwood

For those of you are not yet Whovians, here is a brief background on Doctor Who and Torchwood:

Doctor Who follows the adventures (well, maybe misadventures is a bit more apropos) of The Doctor (No. You don't know his name. No. You probably never will. Deal with it. :oP) and his friends (better known as his "companions") in his TARDIS.

What the hell is a TARDIS, you ask?

This is a TARDIS: 

She would make a lovely
TARDIS, don't you think?

The Doctor's TARDIS, disguised
as a 1950s era police box.

Oops! Sorry! Wrong picture!

This is a TARDIS: -->

More specifically, this is The Doctor's TARDIS. Well, sort of.

A TARDIS, short for Time and Relative Dimension in Space, is a ship that can travel anywhere throughout space and time, usually without ripping a hole in the fabric of the universe. Usually.

And it's bigger on the inside.

How cool is that?

Torchwood is a spin-off series of Doctor Who, following Captain Jack Harkness and his team. You'll find out soon enough what that means...

...And what, exactly, The Doctor is.

:o)

Okay... So I'm starting with the new show here. Series One (in case you don't know, in the UK, they say "series" instead of "season", so I'm gonna be all British and use it) of the Doctor Who revamp started in 2005 with Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor (Thank you, Russel T. Davies and Julie Gardner).

Just so you know, as of this post, most episodes of both shows are available to stream on Netflix.

Keep in mind that while Doctor Who is slated in the UK as a family show, there are some episodes that may be a bit scary for some young children. I recommend watching the episodes I notate before letting your young kids watch them. Also, Torchwood is most definitely -not- a family show--it is overall much darker, and very sexual. My 9-year-old daughter loves Doctor Who (and has seen every episode. Repeatedly.) but does not watch Torchwood.

I've tried to keep this #Spoiler free for the most part, but I wouldn't click any of the links until you've seen the episodes before them. Also, be careful if you look things up on the Internet because if you so much as type the name of a certain character, you may get results like "The Death of [Certain Character You Love]." If you have any questions that you want a relatively non-spoilery answer for, feel free to leave a comment or tweet me.

Without further ado, here goes! Enjoy! :o)


DW--Series One:

The Ninth Doctor & Rose Tyler

Watch Series One all the way through. Because I'm a freak who has to see everything in order, I'd recommend watching it from the beginning, but keep in mind, the show can be slow in the first few episodes. It picks up. I swear!! And there is stuff in later episodes you won't fully appreciate if you don't start from the beginning.

Watch for "Bad Wolf" recurring
throughout Series One.

- Rose
- The End of the World
- The Unquiet Dead
(pay attention to Gwyneth in this one...)
- Aliens of London / World War Three
(and the Coroner in this one...)
- Dalek
- The Long Game
- Father's Day (I loved this episode)
- The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances (another favorite, and... Captain Jack!!! <3)
- Boom Town
- Bad Wolf / The Parting of Ways (loved these too)

When you get to the end of Series One, watch this little snippet from the 2005 Children in Need benefit.

Then move on to Series Two and watch it all the way through (look for references to Torchwood throughout):

- The Christmas Invasion (Christmas Special) (first episode with my Doctor... who is "rude. and not ginger." hehehe)

The Tenth Doctor & Rose

- New Earth (First episode of Series 2)
- Tooth and Claw (might be a little scary)
- School Reunion (with Sarah Jane Smith! :o) regular companion to the Third & Fourth Doctor)
- The Girl in the Fireplace (great episode! I love Sophia Myles, & she was amazing!)
- Rise of the Cybermen / The Age of Steel
- The Idiot's Lantern
- The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit (loved these, might be a little scary)
- Love and Monsters (ummm... yeah... not the best Doctor-lite episode... but Moaning Myrtle's in it...)
- Fear Her (makes up for the previous episode)
- Army of Ghosts / Doomsday (Yes. I totally teared up at the end...)



Okay. So now is the perfect time to start Torchwood. The events there pick up where Doomsday leaves off, and they refer to the events at Canary Wharf (Doomsday) in the show. From now on, I am listing episodes in the order aired, whether it is DW or TW. For the most part it doesn't matter how you watch them, BUT if you watch Torchwood, there is crossover at the end of these two series that I'll note as they come up.

Ianto Jones, Gwen Cooper, Captain Jack Harkness, Toshiko Sato, and Owen Harper
I love this cast.

TW - Everything Changes (First episode of Series 1) (Recognize Gwen & Tosh?)
TW - Day One
TW - Ghost Machine
TW - Cyberwoman (make sure you watch Doomsday first!)
TW - Small Worlds
TW - Countrycide
TW - Greeks Bearing Gifts
TW - They Keep Killing Suzie
TW - Random Shoes
TW - Out of Time
TW - Combat

The Runaway Bride

DW - The Runaway Bride (Christmas Special)







TW - Captain Jack Harkness
TW - End of Days

The Tenth Doctor & Martha Jones

DW - Smith and Jones (First episode of Series 3)
DW - The Shakespeare Code (love this one! Especially all of the Harry Potter references...)
DW - Gridlock
DW - Daleks in Manhattan / Evolution of the Daleks
DW - The Lazarus Experiement
DW - 42 (first episode my daughter watched... When it was over, she turned to me and asked, "Is it always this epic?")
DW - Human Nature / The Family of Blood (-very- good episodes, might be a little scary)

Don't blink.

DW - Blink (OMG. Amazing episode! Doctor-lite, but -very- good! One of my favorites! This episode still scares the crap out of me, so I'd watch it before letting little ones watch it...)






So... This is where they crossover. However you watched them up to this point, watch (or re-watch) TW End of Days -before- the next episode!

DW - Utopia / The Sound of Drums / Last of the Time Lords (Epic. Love these episodes!)


So. Now you've finished Series Three of Doctor Who and Series One of Torchwood. Are you hooked? How about a little sumptin'-sumptin' before you move on? You know you want it! ;o)

Here's a fun little clip from the 2007 Children in Need that takes place between the end of Last of the Time Lords and the Christmas Special.

Moving on... :o)

Guest star Kylie Minogue was awesome
as Astrid in Voyage of the Damned!

DW - Voyage of the Damned (Christmas Special)

TW - Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (First episode of Series 2)
TW - Sleeper
TW - To the Last Man
TW - Meat
TW - Adam
TW - Reset (with Martha Jones!)
TW - Dead Man Walking
TW - A Day in the Death
TW - Something Borrowed
TW - From Out of the Rain
TW - Adrift
TW - Fragments
TW - Exit Wounds (I needed tissue with this one. I totally cried. Broke. My. Heart. Right, Branli, Denise, and Candice?)

The Tenth Doctor & Donna Noble

DW - Partners in Crime (First episode of Series 4)
DW - The Fires of Pompeii
DW - Planet of the Ood (Love this episode)
DW - The Sontaran Stratagem / The Poison Sky
DW - The Doctor's Daughter (Love this one... btw... Guess who David Tennant is dating?)
DW - The Unicorn and the Wasp

Shhhh! #Spoilers
(I <3 River Song)

DW - Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead (These episodes freak me the hell out! I totally recommend watching these before letting young kids see them.)
DW - Midnight (Amazing episode. Beautifully acted, and the psychology in the writing is absolutely brilliant.)
DW - Turn Left



Okay, more crossover! These episodes follow TW - Exit Wounds (*wipes a tear*), so make sure you've seen it first because there are TW #Spoilers in DW...

DW - The Stolen Earth / Journey's End (love love love these episodes. But I might be biased here because of all the guest stars...)

Sarah Jane Smith, Mickey Smith, Jackie Tyler, Rose Tyler, The Tenth Doctor,
Martha Jones, Captain Jack Harkness, Donna Noble

This is where things start changing... After Series Four, there were four specials, not another regular series, spaced throughout the year. Also, there's no more crossover (as of yet) between the two shows, so it doesn't really matter which one you watch when...

(Oh. And here's another Children in Need special for ya! Enjoy!)

Which one is The Doctor?

DW - The Next Doctor (Christmas Special) (listed on Netflix as episode 15 of Series 4)

DW - Planet of the Dead (Special #2) (As of this post, this episode is not streaming on Netflix. You can order the dvd or try to find it on YouTube, but the quality on YouTube is really bad)

TW - Children of Earth: Day One (First episode of Series 3) (This series is amazing! Very, very dark, but -really- good!)

TW - Children of Earth: Day Two
TW - Children of Earth: Day Three
TW - Children of Earth: Day Four (Made me cry.)
TW - Children of Earth: Day Five (Made me cry. Again.)





DW - The Waters of Mars (Special #3) (Streaming on Netflix)

DW - The End of Time: Parts 1 & 2 (Christmas Special / Special #4) (Usually streaming on Netflix. I love these episodes. And yes, I -totally- cried. Total. Blubbering. Idiot.)

Okay. So now that you've stopped crying (Come on! You know you did!), watch this special and this special.


Like I said earlier, things change here. Russel T. Davies (the creator of the revamp) left the show in the care of Steven Moffat (you know him--he wrote Blink and some other amazing episodes). And given what happens in The End of Time, you know there will be some cast changes... That said, when you start Series Five, expect the show to look and feel completely different! I still love it, but it took me a few episodes to get used to... Also, there are many overarching storylines, so it might not make sense if you watch it out of order...

The Eleventh Doctor & Amy Pond

DW - The Eleventh Hour (First episode of Series 5)
DW - The Beast Below
DW - Victory of the Daleks
DW - The Time of Angels / Flesh and Stone (Yes. Weeping angels. Even more than before. Just as scary, if not scarier! And we get a blast from the past! :o) Well, our past... Her future.)
DW - The Vampires of Venice
DW - Amy's Choice
DW - The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood
DW - Vincent and the Doctor (Another one of my absolute favorite episodes. Cried in this one too...)
DW - The Lodger (Love this one, too)
DW - The Pandorica Opens / The Big Bang

DW - A Christmas Carol (Christmas Special) (Another one of my favorites! And yup! Totally cried...) 

Look! It's Dumbledore!

Then make sure you watch the 2011 Children in Need Specials--Part One and Part Two. :o)

River Song, Rory Williams,
The Tenth Doctor, & Amy Pond

DW - The Impossible Astronaut / Day of the Moon (First two episodes of Series 6, Part 1) (These might be a little creepy for young children, but I love them.) (Oh. And here's a prequel.)
DW - The Curse of the Black Spot (Another prequel.)
DW - The Doctor's Wife (Absolutely -love- this episode! Another one of my favorites. Written by Neil Gaiman!) (Intro by Gaiman...)
DW - The Rebel Flesh / The Almost People / A Good Man Goes to War (My daughter is a little freaked out by the first two, but I don't think they're scary... And here's the prequel for A Good Man Goes to War)

BBC produced the Miracle Day series of TW in conjunction with Starz, so similar to Series 5 of DW, it has a new feel to the show. And new cast members... It was mostly filmed in the United States, but some parts do take place in the UK. Overall, I did like it, but I also have many issues with it. It's pretty dark, but not as dark overall as Children of Earth. There is also a CG web show called Torchwood: Web of Lies, which I've yet to watch, that's a companion to Miracle Day.

TW - Miracle Day: The New World (First episode of Series 4)
TW - Miracle Day: Rendition
TW - Miracle Day: Dead of Night
TW - Miracle Day: Escape to LA
TW - Miracle Day: The Categories of Life
TW - Miracle Day: The Middle Men
TW - Miracle Day: Immortal Sins (You might just need a box of tissues handy for a certain scene in this episode.)
TW - Miracle Day: End of the Road

DW - Let's Kill Hitler (First episode of Series 6, Part 2) (I think this might just be my all-time favorite episode. Oh. And here's another prequel--Warning! Do -not- watch this prequel if you have not seen A Good Man Goes to War! #Spoilers)

TW - Miracle Day: The Gathering

DW - Night Terrors (might be a bit creepy for young ones...)

TW - Miracle Day: The Blood Line (This is the last episode of TW so far. No word yet on whether or not we'll get another season...)

DW - The Girl Who Waited (Cried again... I <3 Rory.)
DW - The God Complex (My daughter cried--very rare, indeed!)
DW - Closing Time (Craig!! :o) Stormaggedon!! ;o) Loved certain aspects of this episode!)
DW - The Wedding of River Song (I love this episode. And here's a prequel/trailer for you.)





So that was the last episode of DW so far, but it will be back Christmas 2011 with The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe! (And here's a link to the 2011 Children in Need.)

Phew!

That was not easy! But it was fun. :o)

(Huh. You know? I didn't mention the Sarah Jane Adventures... It's another spin-off show, featuring Sarah Jane Smith. You first see her character in the Series 2 episode School Reunion (well, first time in the revamp, obviously). She was given her own show after the warm reception to her return. It's a children's show and supposedly very good. I haven't seen it, but if you are interested in watching and want to know where they cross over, let me know, and I'll help you out!)



So, after you watch Doctor Who & Torchwood, please come back and let me know what you think. And who your Doctor is. ;o) Mine is Ten, and my daughter's is Eleven.

Speaking of my daughter... I'll leave you with The Girl Who Waited (my daughter as Amelia Pond from The Eleventh Hour--her Halloween costume this year):

Heading out to take off with The Doctor...

He said five minutes, right?

Thank you for reading, and like I said before, if you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below or tweet me. I hope you enjoy the shows! :o)

By the way, PLEASE NO #SPOILERS IN THE COMMENTS!!! 

PLEASE!!!

PS - Don't blink. O.O
PPS - Thank you, Denise!! :o)