I personally prefer Season 3: Tennant has come into his own as The Doctor, the characters of Who & Martha are well-defined; the Master's portrayal by Simm was exceptional, and the trilogy was THE BEST of all the continuations in the new series to date.
As Stan Lee would say,
NUFF SAID!
KR

... you know this is The Impossible Question, right?

(WARNING: The following contains spoilers for all three seasons -- except for the series finale of series three, because I don't know how that one ends anyways. But for the rest: BE WARNED!)

I can say this, at least: Season Two was _not_ my favorite. I find that I prefer Rose Tyler with Nine than with Ten -- after all, what initially drew me into the series was the relationship between the characters, as played by Billie Piper and Christopher Eccleston; and, while I have actually come to think of David Tennant as "my" Doctor, it's still Rose and Nine that I best love to watch together, not Rose and Ten. (And I must add this: I am SO GLAD that Rose was seperated from the Doctor when he was Ten, because, as painfully, awfully horrible as that was for Ten to lose Rose, I don't know that Nine could have ever gotten over it. Or, at the very least, it would have been too horrible for ME to get over watching the Doctor, as Nine, lose Rose. Ten's Doctor obviously loved Rose just as much as he did when he was Nine, but, to me, there seemed more ... emotional interdependence on Rose when the Doctor was Nine. Which you can argue is a bad thing or a good one, but I'm getting WAY off topic. Forgive me; it's been a *wild* day.)

(... I also enjoyed Rose's character journey more in Season One than in Season Two, though she definitely develops in both; but again, let's not go off on another tangent, right? )

So, while there are a lot of good Season Two episodes that are my favorites -- New Earth, School Reunion, The Impossible Planet/Satan Pit, and the beautiful Love and Monsters (not to _mention_ the special The Christmas Invasion, oh oh *oh*!)-- it is definitely not my favorite season. I get stuck, however, trying to choose between Season One and Three.

Season One is the season that made me first fall in love with the Doctor; it's the one season where we're given Eccleston's Doctor; it's the season where we meet Rose (not to mention Captain Jack Harkness!). However, I have _really_ liked a lot of Season Three episodes a *lot* (Smith and Jones, The Shakespeare Code, The Lazarus Experiment, Human Nature/The Family of Blood, Blink, and of course Utopia and The Sound of Drums, and I bet that The Last of the Time Lords will join the list when I FINally get to _see it_. Oh, and the Christmas special, which I've only seen once and really need to watch again -- was awesome, even if this one _didn't_ quote The Lion King). I really like Tennant as the Doctor, and I agree with you when you say that it's in Season Three that he really comes into his own. The character development for the Doctor has been fan*tas*tic, consistantly so, and I fell in love with Martha's character at long last in The Sound of Drums. ("I'll _do what I like_!") And the bringing-back-of-Captain-Jack was just _perfect_, oh so perfect on _so_ many levels ...

But Season One! My introduction of the Doctor! CHRISTOPHER ECCLESTON! _AND_ ROSE!! And my all-time favorite episode, "The Parting of the Ways!"

... alright. Season Three is my favorite, and I'm voting for it. But Season One, when I met the Doctor for the first time -- "Hello, Rose Tyler. Run for your life!" -- will *always* have a special place in my heart.

But, but... what about the other series (series, because it's a British TV show and we have series, not seasons ) prior to it being revived?

Yes, I'm being awkward

I personally don't have a favourite... I'm neutral

It's two things, for me -- one is the fact that I've never connected with older TV/films like I have with newer ones. I'm a rabid Next Generation/Deep Space Nine Trekkie, but the original Star Trek series has no interest for me; I love "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" but fear the original "Willy Wonka." (This would get off-topic, but -- seriously, that Gene Wilder flick is *one* disturbing movie! ;-D) I've just never been an old-movie/old-show buff, simply because I tend not to "connect" to them the way I do the newer stuff. Which isn't a slam against the older stuff -- some people love the classics and have little use for modern cinema and shows, which is also fine ... different people click with different things, after all.

But the other thing is that I simply haven't _seen_ the original series, and so can't make a judgment one way or the other. I just watched "Unearthly Child" last night, and was fascinated (it was, in a very weird but very real way, essentially watching _history_) -- but that's it. That's all I've seen thus far. And I do want to watch at least a few episodes from each Doctor's story arch, if only to see exactly where the Doctor (in Nine and Ten forms) is coming from -- because, as the Deviant Artist said, if you love the Doctor, you have to take him in ALL regenerations, not just Nine and Ten.

But -- while it's not quite like the difference between "Star Trek" and "Star Trek: The Next Generation," I think you _can_ think about the new series by itself, if you like. As long as you don't forget where the Doctor came from! ;-)

OK, now I feel old!

I grew up with the old series So they're not 'old' to me (I hate the new Charlie and Chocolate factory film, btw - with Jonny Depp? iThat was seriously distrubing to me )

(*is a jerk*)

Okay, I was trying SO hard to make my last post come out right, and it so utterly did NOT. I sounded like a right rude moron, no? I think what I was trying (so very unsuccessfully) to say is that the series I first met the Doctor through was the Davies series, and so that's the series that "resonates" with me. There's also simply something about Davies's writing that clicks for me, and I don't know that I'd necessarily get the same connection to the original series that I get with the, ah, "regenerated" one that's on now. (*grins*) I do intend, as I said, to give a few episodes from each Doctor's character arc a try, simply so I get a better sense of where this character is truly coming from (I can't think of any other 20th/21st-century character that has as rich a history as the Doctor, and I love the guy enough to want to *get* a little bit of that history) -- but I don't forsee my falling in love with it to the same degree as I have the Davies series (and "Torchwood," for that matter).

Even though they are basically the same show, kind of, in a way. Expect when they're not. But they ARE.

I think what I was also trying to say is that a lot of shows and films from the 60's, 70's, and 80's (even the 80's, even though that's the stuff that _I_ grew up with, that's my "era") often don't appeal to me ... and I would go further with that thought, trying to make my original point clear, but I'll probably just end up sounding like more of an idjit than I already did. And do. So I'm gonna stop talking now.

Sorry, Spook. I didn't mean that in the way it came out! It all made sense in my _head_, but when I was actually trying to EXPLAIN it ...

(And I don't know why, but while Gene Wilder's Willy Wonka disturbs me -- or, the movie did, at least (I actually liked his character) -- I _adore_ "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" with Johnny Depp. I actually think it had more to do with the actor playing Charlie -- the kid who played Charlie in Wilder's kinda made me nervous, but I _love_ Freddy Highmore.

Rose T it didn't come out wrong there is no way to discuss Doctor Who with people who didn't experiance the original series while growing up and NOT come out of it feeling old it's the name of the beast.

I agree with so much of what you have said. I'm also in the camp of liking Rose better with CE than Ten. While I really adore Rose as a companion and I really like Ten slightly better DW than CE {only cause Ten is more into it} I really thought I liked the chemistry between EC and BP better. I think the idea of Ten and Rose but in actuality I didn't think it was as good on TV. I think they came off as TOO much in their own little world, which people in love aften do.

I really did enjoy Ten mourning Rose and enjoyed poor {kickass} Martha getting the brunt of that. ITA Ten came into his own S3

It's too hard for me to pick a season. It's easier to pick arcs. I think the last 4 eps S1 with Captain Jack is as good as Doctor Who gets.

S2 had School Reunion {with the brilliant Sara Jane!!! and K9!!!!} Tooth and Claw and Girl in the Fireplace. Great Who!

S3 Had Shakespeare Code, Human Nature, Family of Blood, Utopia, Sound of Drums and possible my Fav DW ep ever {which is so odd as it's a Doctor Light ep} Blink. I'm I wrong to really want Sally Sparrow as a companion?!!!!

So I guess if you are looking at number of brilliant eps S3 wins As far as old series, It's been too long to remember exact stories where. I really need to rewatch some of the old stuff.

On and the Off topic. I LOVE and am disturbed by the original Willy Wonka. I didn't see the Depp version even tho I love Depp and Burton. There are some things the SHOULD NEVER be remade and IMO the original was one of those.

Uhhhh, when did I become Mod for this board? I didn't realize till I went to edit and found the delete button.

I ditto this. You didn't come out wrong at all - I was just because I grew up with Who and so it just doesn't feel like an old-time show to me. I found it because now there are people that didn't grow up with it - and when that happens, you begin to feel your age . But not in a bad way I didn't think you sounded a moron. You made sense, actually



See, that's age for you! I told you I modded you a while back, when we got porn spammed and I needed someone that would be around when I wasn't (Yeah, I by-passed all the rules and regs about how to choose mods But that's a choice I get to make occasionally ).

I do confess, I didn't tell you in an obvious way though, so you probably missed my message


Back On Topic... I still can't decide which of the three new series I like best... I think I like the last half of S2 and the first half of S3... Can we choose half series?

Alright, I feel much better having read your posts, thank you! I was really just trying to say, "Hey, I know the new show better than what's come before it, so that's what I'm thinking about in terms of favorites," but instead of just SAYing that, I went a bit off on a tangent and ended up putting my foot in my mouth several times. Glad you guys got what I was trying to say, though -- especially since it came out rather the wrong way! ;-)

Vinity -- I'm with you on arcs, because there are storylines I love from each season, and it's easier to decide which arcs are my favorite than to settle on a favorite series! The last five episodes of S1 with Captain Jack (and the whole Parting of the Ways bit, which I _love_ -- that is, indeed, Who at its greatest), the Impossible Planet/Satan Pit/Love and Monsters set in S2 (not that L&M had anything to do with the story arc of IP/SP, but it did at least come immediately after it, so I'm counting it!), and Human Nature/Family of Blood and then Utopia/Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords (Gawd, did I love those last three -- heartbreaking, but utterly *amazing*) ...

Also: as much as I loved "Blink," and quite enjoyed Sally Sparrow -- if I could choose any previously-introduced character on the show to be the Doctor's newest Companion ... it would be Elton, hands down. That line he ends with in L&M just sums up the show for me, and I tear up every time:

"You know, when you're a kid, they tell you it's all grow up, get a job, get married, get a house, have a kid, and that's it. But you know ... the world is so much bigger than that. It's so much darker, and so much madder. And so much better."

Yah.

Spook -- it's the exact opposite for me, lol ... I'd go with the first half of S2 and the last half of S3! (... on the other hand, there is so much in the first half of S3 I love, the Christmas special and Smith and Jones and Shakespeare Code (one of my all-time favorite things ever in the history of the world) ... maybe I really will have to change it to ALL of S3!). This is harder to choose between than it sounded ...