Doctor Who: The joy and sense of discovery of watching the series in random order
By James Aggas
Sometimes, Doctor Who fans can worry too much about watching the series in order. But watching any stories at random can lead to a fantastic journey of discovery.
In this day and age, we tend to worry about watching TV series in order. It’s not surprising. Over the past twenty years at least, shows have relied more and more on continuing storylines, major arcs and significant character development, so watching a series in order is guaranteed to help with that.
This extends to Doctor Who in this day and age. For Russell T Davies, watching the show in order helped to understand significant character development, while during Steven Moffat’s era, there was a stronger focus on long-term story arcs. You don’t need to watch the whole of the New Series completely – there are a number of fresh jumping-on points, particularly with the beginnings of new showrunners. But it can help to watch the show in order.
But sometimes, you can find plenty of joy from watching the show in random order, too. Especially with the Classic Series.
Stories like Genesis of the Daleks are absolute classics. But why wait to watch it when you can just dive in?
(Image credit: Doctor Who/BBC.
Image obtained from: official Doctor Who website.)
A sense of discovery
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As a fan who grew up during the Wilderness Years, the only way that I could watch Doctor Who stories was by catching up. Mostly, with stories already out on VHS. Now while we live in an age where you can watch most of the series in order on streaming services, or have entire seasons come out on Blu-ray, back in the Nineties, stories came out in any order. One month would see the release of a Fifth Doctor story, the next month the First, the next month the Fourth etc. Even on UK Gold – the one channel in the UK that showed Classic Who – you’d never get to see the stories in order.
But there was a real joy to watching the series in that order. Especially when all the Doctors were brand new. It meant that you had this huge wealth of history and never knew what to expect. You didn’t know what the Doctors would be like, what companions they’d have, or what the stories would be like. There was a real sense of discovery when watching it this way.
And then, of course, you’d be intrigued by the entrances and exits of every Doctor or companion that you watched. When you discovered a Doctor you enjoyed watching, you then wanted to know the beginning of their story, as well as their ending. (Of course, it was a long time before I was able to find out the ending of my Doctor’s story.) You also wanted to know how they met their companions, and why those friendships came to an end.
A vast history
Of course, there would be references to previous stories and encounters that would go over your head. Especially during the Eighties, when the show had a rather strong focus on continuity, at times. But even that had its appeal. It was another reminder of the vast history that the series had.
I’m not saying that you can’t or shouldn’t watch the whole series in order as much as possible. I tried it a few years back, and it was quite the journey. It was interesting to see the Doctor’s development, especially in his earliest seasons, when he wasn’t quite the hero that we know now.
But at the same time, watching stories at random can still be a real joy, especially with the Classic Series, and can help to give you a taste of the show’s huge history.
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Have you watched either the Classic or New Series in random order? Do you think it has its merits? Or do you prefer to watch either series in order as much as possible? Let us know in the comments below.