THE DOCTOR...is in

[Rick Keeney]

It's a completely different experience.

So we've noticed. And we're accepting. Ben watches his favorite modern episodes, but not exclusively. He'll make specific requests for specific classic doctors. Refreshing, he is.

[Steve Evil]

I've always loved Troughton. Keep in mind, there were no video recording devices at the time, and episodes weren't meant to be watched in a bunch. One does notice an awful lot of filler in the longer ones - but Troughton was a treasure.

[Steve Evil]

It's like watching any sf or horror films from the era - each has its value.

[Rick Keeney]

Brothers and sisters the DOCTOR WHO costume party for Ben's 6th b-day was a smash. No less. More later.

[Rick Keeney]

We played "Pin the Plunger on the Dalek." not kidding

[markabaddon]

It has been fun to expose my kids to Dr. Who but it was surprising to see how prevalent it is across the younger generation. Many friends of both my kids watch Dr. Who, with some focused more on the older version, and others on the newer ones. Mine have watched mostly the new series, but I can never tell what will or will not scare them. Blink, for example, I expected them to find scary, but I never expected The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances to terrify them as much as it did.

Keeney, I am glad Ben's party was a success

[Steve Evil]

I've always maintained children have different fear centres. Things we think should scare them don't - while things we find harmless absolutely terrify them.

[Ezra Lb.]

Ok I know I'm late to the party but I happened to have stopped in a small town book/video store this morning and had a nice unexpected score. I snatched a new copy of the complete first season box set with Christopher Eccleston at a ridiculously low price. He only did the one season, right? Anyway I have a long weekend with the Memorial Day holiday and I'm whooped from being on the road so it looks like a lazy Dr Who weekend playing catchup.

The last serious Dr Who watching I did was years and years ago when the Tom Baker version was being run on the local PBS station in Atlanta, channel 8. I saw one of the David Tenant episodes (Pompeii) when I was laid up in the hospital early last year. I've heard nothing but good things about the reboot so I'm really interested to see what they came up with. I'm too cheap to pay full price but good things come to those who wait and are pure in heart.

I've always maintained children have different fear centres. Things we think should scare them don't - while things we find harmless absolutely terrify them.

Absolutely. I remember once as a little kid going almost into hysterics at the sight of a tumble weed in our backyard and refused to go outside until my Dad removed it. I guess it was the way it seemed to move by itself. Also I think adults forget what it's like to be small in a world where everything is bigger than they are. I once read somebody who said that one real source of terror is when ordinary objects act in extraordinary ways. One of the creepiest scenes in HP Lovecraft is in Colour Out of Space when the guy looks out the window of the haunted old farm and sees the trees moving with no wind. Aye yi yi...

[Moderator]

Or the kid saw the OUTER LIMITS episode with the frogs, rocks and tumble weeds...

(I forget the title and am too tired to look it up.)

[Steve Evil]

Going by my own faint memory, and observing younger siblings and kids at school, I seem to remember. . .monsters were not frightening. Not in themselves. I loved dragons and minotaurs and things that snarled - anything that looked like a pet, or a recognizable animal, no matter how vicious, did not bother me. Anything with a set of eyes almost. . . if it was a recognizable animal.

Whereas something inanimate, or supposedly inanimate. I think that got to me. Especially things that could eat or absorb people. A tiger or a bear - no problem. But household furniture or garden plants? That was freaky.

(And cheapness of special effects never mattered - I would be entirely absorbed in the fiction. That the actor was fine didn't matter, the character was suffering).

[robochrist]

Hmmmm. I dunno: in the dim recesses of my own early childhood, I seem to remember being REALLY afraid of monsters. Not living "monsters" in nature, mind you; I was fascinated by monitor lizards and the such. But the ones on film and the ones I imagined definitely creeped me out. Skulking in the dark, lumbering beneath your feet, hearing them in the distance without being able to see them: oh, yeah. That was SCARY!

I remember, before I was 5, someone a bit older had to tell me about the "boogeyman". It was in a New York tenement. I was on the 4th floor or something like that. I looked down the stairwell and heard footsteps. Couldn't see anyone. Just heard the footsteps way below and nothing else. My own mind created the LOOK of its form. That was IT! I did a quick U-EY, rushed back into the apartment, and locked the door behind me. Oh, yeah. I was afraid of monsters.

[Steve Evil]

Well, I suppose we all were to an extent, but I remember certain monsters were scarier than others.

Classic Who is a perfect example. It used to be on TVO, right after the kids shows, so everyone my age in southern Ontario was at least passingly familiar with it. Everyone laughed as they got older, but when we were kids, it was considered a very scary program. I used to be terrified. There were always things lurking in the shadows. . .As a grown up, I could see the strings and the rubber and the foam, but as a kid, there was something out there, and it was after me!


At the same time. . .it was strangely thrilling.

[robochrist]

You've probably long known this, I only read about it myself recently, that Quatermass creator Nigel Kneale hated Doctor Who because it was horror directed at a children's audience. He didn't agree with the premise when they approached him about writing for the show in its early days.

[Ezra Lb.]

Oh yeah, Ezra is primed to kick back this weekend in a comfy chair with a beverage of choice and check out his new boxed set of Season 1 of the Dr Who reboot and what does he encounter to thwart his will and harsh his buzz?

SECURITY LOCK

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

Ok I guess I new such things existed. But I didn't notice it when I purchased it and the cashier either didn't notice it or wasn't aware of it so I tasted frustration. But my DVDs were safe! Safe from everyone. Including me. What a relief!

Foolish question but what's the point of this? It wouldn't prevent shoplifting and surely a seasoned desperado would make short work of it. And if they think they're discouraging kids from lifting videos, well think again. I went with a friend to the cinema and happened to mention it and when we got back to her place she mentioned it to her 12 year old son who took out a small screwdriver and was in, in what...a minute? With very little damage to the case. The actual DVD case not damaged at all.

What did we learn from this episode? Pay attention. And how much of a hard on retailers have for non-biodegradable plastic.

[Rick Keeney]

"Yogurt is rubbish!"