Way off topic but I finished the new season of Dr Who and I finally get it.
Now I wanna dig into the back catalogue. Any favorite Doctors/seasons?
Also, you could put like 5 proffies the new sonic screwdriver. The fact that it looks like an ergonomic mouse was not my favorite part.
Favorite doctors: Tom Baker, Matt Smith, David Tennant, William Hartnell, John Hurt, Ncuti Gatwa
Favorite villains: The Master, Weeping Angels, Maestro
For most people, I would probably recommend starting with the modern episodes (2005-present) and just watch those, if you really like it, go back and start from the beginning.
Note that even with the modern Dr. Who, there are entire seasons with only “meh” episodes, so it takes some patience to get to the good ones. IMHO, the newest season has a higher-than-average ratio of good-to-bad episodes.
Just like some of our other favorite franchises, it can’t all be gold.
I really liked “Dot and Bubble” this season, but the wrap up on “73 Yards” was an eye roll even if I was fascinated by the rest of the episode. I got pretty emotionally caught up in it all.
Time travel is my least favorite sci fi convention, but the character of The Doctor got me hooked. The idea that a lo-fi prop can be used in a high tech way is fun.
Thanks for the lists I’ll start working my way through.
One of the benefits of the older seasons (before 2005) is that they had a great variety of writers, many of which are famous in their own right. Some of those episodes have much more coherent stories and resolutions than some of the hand-wavy endings in some of the recent episodes.
On the other hand, when you have lots of different writers, you get little or no continuity between episodes instead.
Time travel is one of my favorite things about scifi, but only if it’s done well, and honestly, that’s not Dr. Who… Back to the future, Babylon 5, DS9:Trouble with Tribbles, Tenent, Looper, Loki, Legends of Tomorrow and so many others do time travel better.
All excellent. 12 Monkeys. I don’t know how many times I watched the HG Wells Time Machine movie, although I don’t know if that’s good or just nostalgic at this point. Maybe it just feels like cheating sometimes, or laziness. But when moments like the forward/backward time sych sequence in Tenent happen, it’s riviting.
I wonder how it will play out in Deadpool. The TVA is, IMO, a high point in the Disney/Marvel era.
*Disclaimer, yes I own a Sonic Screwdriver, used to own two, and yeah I’ve Trick-or-Treated and cosplayed The Doctor. 
Favorites, well, most of 'em. Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Sylvester McCoy, John Hurt, Christopher Eccleston (the only other doctor I miss other than Tom Baker), David Tennant, Peter Capaldi, and I’m OK with Ncuti Gatwa. *I won’t go into favorite villains or side characters because there’s just so many.
Companions list is Carole Ann Ford, Jackie Lane, Anneke Wills, Elisabeth Sladen, Louise Jameson (heehee), K-9 (and all three voice-over actors John Leeson, David Brierley, Roy Skelton of course), Lalla Ward, Matthew Waterhouse, Sarah Sutton (to a degree), Billie Piper, John Barrowman even though he’s a bit “too cheeky”, Catherine Tate, Kylie Minogue (yes that singer), David Morrissey, Bernard Cribbins (because he just nailed the role), Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill, Mrs. Alex Kingston, James Corden (yes James f’n Corden!), Jenna Coleman (beauty, brains, and pulled at the heart-strings), Matt Lucas (hilariously well done), and Millie Gibson.
*Neve McIntosh, Catrine Stewart, and Dan Starkey also make the “companions” list.
As for favorite seasons there’s some that honestly weren’t all that but yeah, watch them all. You’ll be glad you did. 
@profezzorn Definitely I agree on that villains list except Maestro. Daleks, well because Daleks and Cybermen. Do the Ood count as baddies, goodies, or just “involved observers”? *TImothy Dalton as a timelord was EPIC!
Companions…I see that’s a big thing!
Well now that there are some answers I have tons of questions. 
I’m holding out on answering more because
(this image should be allowed because it totally applies here heeheehee)…
If you’re gonna buy or download a bunch of Doctor Who you may as well shop for Red Dwarf too.
Ha, im not a total smeg head. Seen that one.
Favourite Doctors: Jon Pertwee, Peter Davison, Paul McGann (he only had one full TV story but he’s done huge amounts of incredible work on audio). For the New Series my favourite Doctor is Matt Smith.
Favourite Seasons: For the Classic series I really enjoy all of Davison’s run (with a couple of exceptions), Pertwee’s is the most consistent in quality and Hartnell’s was way more enjoyable than I expected! New Series, Series 5 is absolutely top tier. There’s not a single episode I dislike in it.
If you want to try the rest of the New Series (I keep saying new - it’s 19 years old!) I’d say start with Series 1 and Christopher Eccleston. I’m not a fan of Davies’ first run a lot of the time, but I will admit it does a good job of introducing the show to a new audience.
For Classic, there’s a number of jumping on points:
Going right back to the very start with Hartnell is always an option (be warned - the first episode of An Unearthly Child is incredible, the other three are absolutely appalling and I’d recommend skipping them and going straight onto The Daleks).
Pertwee makes a good jumping on point too as it’s the first series in colour and was something of a soft reboot. It may be a bit strange as he’s stuck on Earth, so doesn’t get up to much in the way of exploring space and time.
The other option is Tom Baker’s era. His first few series are really solid, he very quickly breaks away from the more Earthbound stories of Pertwee and of course, many people consider him to be The Classic Doctor.
Finally, the Classic show is much, much lighter on continuity. It’s easy just to pick up random stories without missing anything so long as you know the basic premise that The Doctor’s an alien travelling around time and space with one or more companions fighting monsters. Looking up a list of best stories for each Doctor and watching those (in any order) is a viable way to get a feel for it.
New background for shop days.
Favorite sonic screwdrivers? Tardis interiors?
Big Finish have done tons of stories, given Paul McGann a whole new lease on life as the Doctor and done wonders for Colin Baker. His TV run was plagued by so many problems and he didn’t get a fair shot. He’s now my second favourite audio Doctor!
TARDIS interior - that’s tough. I have a fondness for the late 80s one (Davison’s last season through to the end of the classic show), McGann’s in the film is stunning, late Smith/Capaldi’s is beautiful and I adore Ncuti’s. I’m not sure I can choose definitively!
Favourite Sonic Screwdriver - probably Matt Smith’s, although I do like The War Doctor’s. It’s a nice blend of Classic and New. Eccleston/Tennant’s is good and would have come out on top if not for the coral pattern on the grey/cream section.
I completely skipped from the point they did Clara wrong until the current season. I felt bad I missed Whittaker, but I’ve since gone back to watch that season. Still not watching the end of Capaldi–not because of him, but for many of the reasons #9 won’t come back.