Anyone about to get mad at me for ripping the piss out of the three doctors, I demand all response essays make specific reference to "the wibblywobbly jellymonster" - by that name
I love how episode one immediately escalates to such extreme stakes. Not only does UNIT HQ fall under siege from an onslaught of seemingly invincible jelly blobs, but the Doctor is powerless to stop them, nor is he able to escape, and can only hole himself up inside the TARDIS. So he calls the Timelords and it turns out even they are under fire, powerless to help. For the time, this was probably the most intense thing that could’ve happened in the show, and it’s only there to set the stage for why all the Doctors are in the same room together getting into goofy hijinks. I find this hilarious for some reason.
It’s especially surprising given how slow the beginnings were in Pertwee era stories. Eg compare it to The Silurians which aren’t revealed until part 3’s cliffhanger
The weirdest thing about 'The Three Doctors' is hearing William Hartnell refer to the Time Lords, which he obviously never does during his original run.
I absolutely agree The Three Doctors is the seventies equivalent of popping candy. That’s why I love it. It’s not clever or deep. I really enjoy it based on the chemistry between the three doctors (* insert, hey that’s the name of the show joke from arrested development here*) I agree with the flaws but honestly I like it as a pulpy popcorn experience and nothing more I know that’s not for everyone though and understand your indifference
I was 13 years old when this was broadcast. At the time it was just amazing. 3 doctors all together, it was an absolute event to the young boy who had been brought up on their adventures. Yes, today it seems a bit hokey, but when I occasionally watch it, I am transported back to the wonder of that sci fi mad boy and how much he loved the show back then. A crossover on television? ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,what! What? Never happened before except in the comic book superheroes that I used to read at the time. Fond memories of a special time and event for me. 🙂🙂🙂
Calling any piece of media "an untouchable classic" in front of a contrarian like Stuart is like covering yourself in a tuxedo made of meat in front of a starving honey badger. Something will get ripped to shreds, the beast is probably not thinking straight, you will absolutely abhor what you're seeing... but it is definitely gonna be spectacular to watch.
Stu, I really do get your 21st century viewpoint criticisms but it was a serial of it's time. You really need a Tardis to go back and live in and understand what it was like in the 70s to really appreciate it. I was too young at the time of original broadcast to remember much afterwards, but did enjoy it. However I got to see it many, many times as a kid and teenager as available DW serials from the start of colour (Pertwee) on were repeated over and over interspersed with new serials until the mid 80s here in Australia. We had a feast of DW, 4 days a week for long periods. Loved The Three Doctors every time I saw it.
To be fair, i've never heard anyone describe The Three Doctors as a great classic. Never comes up in top 10s or 20s so looks like everyone agrees with you. Just a fun little novelty.
I'm afraid I just can't be objective about this one. An audio omnibus containing The three doctor's novelisation was my first exposure to Doctor who at the age of 5, along with carnival of monsters and terror of the zybons, and three doctors was the one I liked best precisely because! of all the dreamlike immages and wonderfully grand sounding fantasticness of it all. If anything when I saw the tv episode a bit later it slightly disappointed because the planet didn't have purple sky and Omega's darkside wasn't a giant stone monster, for all it was, and still is a favourite. I don't know, I just love the bickering, and the simple premise of black jelly blob monsters who the doctor makes a complete mistake in destroying. I also thought the revelation about Omega's mask, that he was nothing now but pure will was amazingly creepy. Also, unlike a lot of superfast mophat era who, it does at least give it's mumbo jumbo time to breathe and for the effect to sink in, rather than just madly dropping from one poorly explained spectacle to another. So, mmmm, yeah, not really sure I can be objective on this one, it'll always be one I'll come back to and have fun with, even just for satisfying my inner five year old :D.
Stu's Continued Attempts To Find Deep Thoughts In The Pertwee Era: Part 2. *zap* "Doctor, look out!" *vroooom* "You see Jo, I am very clever." *Terry Walsh fight sequence* "I'll get you next time, Doctor!" *KKLAK!* "Right, men! Fire!" *ooweeoo*
Never heard anyone call the Three Doctors intellectual. It's just always been a fun action story with higher production values than usual, as it probably had a bit more money chucked at it.
There's more that's intellectual in "An Unearthly Child". Of course there's more that's intellectual in a bucket of tomato soul as well. I think more people conflate the tone of the show with intellectualism.
stu it's well established cannon that the timelords are going though a retro phase, you can't blame them for being ever 22 year old film student and hating colour for no logical or sane reason.
Hoenstly I think it's such a beloved classic because until Day of the Doctor, it was our 2nd-best anniversary special (or 3rd depending on how you count the 25th). It was slim pickings, basically.
_The Three Doctors_ definitely demonstrates that 'great' and 'good' are not synonymous. Can't help but think that some of the love is down to the wiping of large chunks of both the Troughton & Hartnell eras so it's nice to see some extant footage of them.
Hey Stu, have you ever considered doing reviews for the old EDAs or PDAs? If there's anyone who would get a lot out of the books, I feel like it would probably be you, and I just think it would be nice to see the books talked about properly.
I'd love to hear discussions about the VNAs too. Some of them are the best and most imaginative Doctor Who material ever written and some are just fan fiction that somehow managed to get published. I wasn't around in the 90s but it seems like such an interesting time for fandom and the franchise as a whole.
I feel like the criticism leveled towards the revival era of Doctor Who is a clear example of Neil Gaiman's quote "Remember: when people tell you something's wrong or doesn't work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.” I imagine a lot of people felt a little thrown by NuWho's sudden faster pace and more personal/character focused stories and arcs. When I was first trying to get into OldWho I remember that I often struggled to focus on its much slower pace and methodical story telling. Often the first episode would focus on the brand new characters and introduce us to the new setting the Doctor would be landing on, when I as a NuWho fan was really excited to see different incarnations of the doctor bounce their personality off of their companion. (This makes me sound like I was a very shallow fan of the series, I realize. But I'm really just trying to illustrate that the two shows are different from each other) Both series of Doctor Who are very decidedly "Science Fantasy", they don't really care about the nitty gritty of scientific thought or processes, but they are very excited about the idea of science and how it can take us to new places and uncover new ideas. They'll talk about planets hidden inside black holes, or stone statues that come to life when you're not looking at them, or a planet that seem to only have androids living on it and seem to live in a very medieval/renaissance way of life. Doctor Who was at a point where multiple generations of people could all probably tell you that they "knew" what Doctor Who was supposed to be, and each answer would be different. The same could probably be said today too with even more generations and still less agreement. I'd say that *The Three Doctors,* compared to both series as a whole, is even less concerned about trying to focus on the science than the show usually is, because fan service or not, it *is* pretty exciting to see three of the main actors reprise their role for the series anniversary. And the chemistry is actually really good. Normally I do tend to roll my eyes when shows are clearly trying to get on the audience's good side by relying on fan service, but where as most shows uses fan service to try to hide a poorly written plot, in The Three Doctors the fan service kind of is the plot. And for once, it's fan service I really like. Certainly opinions can differ, and obviously my opinion on it is more than just "good because it's fun to watch the Doctor bicker with another version of the Doctor." This video felt a bit odd to me as I watched it, because it doesn't really feel like a review of *The Three Doctors.* It seems to be more of a response to nearly 20 year old criticism of NuWho by old fans, using *The Three Doctors* as a case study. I'm not too aware of what people online are saying about Doctor Who very much at the moment, so maybe people have recently been bringing up that OldWho was much more Science Fiction the NuWho was. But otherwise this video does feel a little bit like criticizing *The Three Doctors* for doing things Doctor Who has always done and continued to do, and for having its most interesting thing being literally just the name they slapped on the box, the three Doctors.
*Is* The Three Doctors a beloved classic? I always hear fans diss it more than anything else, the only thing that gets consistent praise is the chemistry between Pertwee and Troughton. I personally like Hartnell's stuff as well as the basic concept of Omega (which isn't well presented anyway and is filled in a lot by Big Finish but yeah.)
The Three Doctors works best if you treat it as a panto (note the original broadcast dates). Pertwee is the Dame Troughton is Buttons Hartnell is the Good Fairy The Brig is Baron Hard-Up Jo is the Principle Boy Omega is Abanazar Benton and Tyler (or maybe Ollis) are the Broker's Men. The Gell Guards are the Pantomime Horse. Alternatively, if you want to treat it straight then just read the novelisation (see all of 1970s Doctor Who).
A lot of multi-Doctor stories are pretty much fan service, something that only Doctor Who as a franchise can do. Sure, you get crossover episodes in other series, like with Star Trek with other captains of ships meeting one another, but Doctor Who is the only series where one character has been consistent throughout, even though they change their face regularly, and for one version to work alongside another, work off the companions of another, is something fans love to see. I think the only one that worked was the Two Doctors though, because where other incursions were deliberate set ups by higher powers, their encounter was purely by chance, and the Second and Sixth Doctors worked very well off each other. Plus, it wasn't meant as an anniversary special like the others, and feels like they actually had to write a real plot beyond "The Doctor meets a different incarnation of themselves". Maybe I'd put "The Next Doctor" on the list as well, but that probably doesn't count, because Jackson Lake only had the Doctor's identity projected onto him, rather than being an actual incarnation.
I do love the three doctors. It's like a bonkers comedy that can only exist in Doctor Who. Some key moments are the the wibblywobbly jellymonster appearing out of nowhere and the soldiers reaction. Troughton and the Brigadier. The line about Unit headquarters being 'Nearer than you think' always cracks me up. It builds to these barmy situations, with great lines and through the logic of the show. The image of Unit HQ being sucked into a black hole is so weirdly funny/scary and the Brigadiers reaction is priceless. Though the hard science isn't interesting, the idea that Omega is only sustained by his own will is fascinating. No, I love it, probably in my top five.
I remember watching the 3 doctors on repeat years ago before day of the doctor. It was kind of weird to me, I had watched new who and a bit of classic who before this but this story kind of lost me. For me I view the anniversary specials like how you view the Christmas specials, using their main factor as a crutch to get around writing a actual good story.
I tried to show a friend 2005 RTD era Doctor Who in 2012. She said it looked old fashioned. So I showed her Matt Smith Doctor Who and we were just fine. I kept quiet about anything produced it the 20th century. (Troughton’s my favourite.)
Still the best multi doctor story, and infinitely better than the underwhelming fanservice that is the five doctors (more like the four doctors, Tom isn’t in it).
@@petra2578As a story itself it’s fun, but there isn’t enough of all the doctors bantering together, something which makes the other multi doctor stories so fun. Patrick and Jon always have great chemistry, yet in five doctors they have only one scene together.
I mean I feel essentially the same way about Five Doctors (which I talk about in tier lists I've posted on this channel). 5 Doctors has a big better plot, but really it's just a pile of plot contrivances to get various doctors and companions in the room together to interact. And that's all it has to be to be pretty great!
When 1st broadcast i was eleven & thought 'Three Doctors' was the most exciting event in the history of the universe. At 60 not sure if this opinion has changed very much really.
It took me a while to get over Throughton and War Games and getting used to Liz and later Jo and the 3rd Doctor.. Now where I am finally able to enjoy him and even love him Throughton returns and opens up my old wounds :( 😢😂
It always confuses me with multi-Doctor episodes where the newest Doctor always defers to the older regeneration, as that’s like if you met your teenage self and let them run your life
Yeah but I'm a sucker for multi doctor stories, none of them are actually that good but they're really only meant to be a fun doctors meeting each other story for ridiculous reasons. I even like the two doctors I'm that much of a sucker for these stories.
If the Three Doctors is bad for it's scientific inaccuracies, Does that mean Heaven Sent is automatically bad for its inaccurate physics of it is physically impossible to break a 20 feet thick barrier wall 400 times harder than diamond with bare hands? Diamonds don't corrode or decay over time and can't be broken with bare hands, so something 400 times harder than diamond won't even break for zillions of years. The only possible way to break a 20 feet thick barrier wall 400 times harder than diamond with bare hands is that you have to be stronger than the Hulk. It's hypocritical to hate The Three Doctors for scientific inaccuracies and the Chibnall era for Storm Trooper aiming because they ain't the only scientific inaccuracies in Doctor Who. Marinus environments wouldn’t have a humanoid species like the Arbitan living on the planet and it’s acid oceans will create an unbreathable atmosphere for the TARDIS team. If the Ambassadors of Death had realistic radiation psychics, then England will be more uninhabitable than Chernobyl. The Inferno project won’t cause a world ending apocalypse, it would just create an artificial volcano. Androzani minor mud core is scientifically impossible and its mudslide explanation will cause Androzani minor to break eventually destroying Androzani Major. (I suspect the queen bat milk is inaccurate to Earth bats but I don’t challenge animal anatomy I suspect is wrong due to Jeremy Dooley Rito question responses and the shitty Sonic fanbase.) The Ghost Light villain not believing evolution makes zero sense. An immortal being from another dimension cataloging life should have seen evolution and believe in evolution. The Ghost Light villain not believing evolution is like a chemist not believing the periodic table. Lady Cassandra’s 708 surgeries into a bitchy trampoline is scientifically impossible. The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit premise of it’s impossible for a planet to orbit a black hole will become outdated if the theory of everything in the Milky Way galaxy is orbiting a black hole in the center gets proven right. Also, Scoothi Manista would have been in pieces when sucked out into the vacuum of space heading towards a black hole. The TARDIS returning Earth back to our solar system in Journeys End would have caused gravitation disruption killing everyone on Earth. It’s scientifically impossible for the Tenth Doctor to survive a high fall from the sky into a marble floor in The End of Time. Gallifrey heading towards Earth in the End of Time would have also caused gravitation disruption killing everyone on Earth. In the forest of the night massive tree growth would have made the solar flares worse and fires would have spread more instead of not igniting. It's impossible for Chasm Forge to have human workers at all because humans don't breathe pure oxygen, humans breath a mixture of nitrogen and oxygen. If Storm Trooper aiming and The Three Doctor scientific inaccuracies is such a horrible suspension of disbelief and accurate physics is so important to enjoying Doctor Who, then it's good that the TARDIS can travel time and space because our Sun is moving through space with our solar system moving with it while in orbit. Nothing in our solar system or the Milky Way Galaxy can be in the same point of time and space twice.
I found it a little hard to read in all one big paragraph but persisted as I loved it! Stu needs to understand what it was like to live in the 70s to really appreciate it. I'm a scientist so if it doesn't bother me, it shouldn't bother others.
Stu isn’t complaining about the science inaccuracies. He’s just emphasising it to illustrate his point that this show was always fantastical and pulpy fun.
@@EditedAF987 He was saying it doesn't make sense as a criticism so yes, he was complaining about the science to an extent. He didn't seem to think fantastical and pulpy fun was what it should be about otherwise he would have said so and wouldn't have been critical. Don't get me wrong, I'm not bothered by his criticism, can understand it, I'm just taking part in the conversation he intentionally triggered. All part of being a DW fan on social media, we all enjoy it and don't expect to agree. I can understand his 21st century viewpoint but suggest viewers should try to understand what it was like in the 70s to be able to really appreciate it.
@@EditedAF987 or until the modern era made it more "natural". The best difference between old and new is that old eschewed our universe for the most part, but even then they gave Pertwee a better reason and as UNIT doesn't exist on our world...
The three doctors is still more acurate to it's name thant he 5 doctors was. 3 Doctors used to be my favorite classic series arc untill I saw 5 Doctors earlier this year.
l thought this was gonna be about that one modeern special where david tennant met up with smith, so l was kinda expecting the whole video to be a prelude to serve as the context for the modern special with the same gimmick. My bad haha
I mean I'm not gonna call it Shakespeare but in your puzzling flippancy I think you're forgetting this was the very first multiple doctor story, the three incarnations had never been seen together nor did anyone realise this could be a thing so the same as regeneration becoming a novel way of changing actor, the multiple doctor anniversary story became a novel way of creating a logical reason for why a time travelling alien could get together with various versions of himself to fight wibbly wobbly jelly monsters...
Does anyone take a splif to early 70s dr who? I do, couldn't stop laughing at ones like these. Whilst high each episode commences I commence laughter! Defo recommend early 70s doctor who with cannabis. You should check out the children's show Bod (1975) and the directors label dvd series volumes 1 - 7. Well funny
Tbh he problem I've seen on some reviewers is the realism Sometimes it makes sense to question the universe the storys take place but problem is when they comapare our earth to theirs Like take marvel I've seen people question spiderman webbing and how he a skinny man who can kick ass Yet this same universe where radiation makes you green and jacked, billionaire makes a suit that can handle anything,purple alien holocausts half the earth humans and animals and yet spiderman webs makes no sense Now stuff like Sherlock can be question cause is humans solving human crimes and logic can be confusing in the puzzles and awnsers and way Someone thinks Channels like harry moving media when he reviews doctor who (some good some meh reviews)he question logic that not on earth yet like this is same doctor who becomes a Wikipedia page one episode (13th doctor) and confused and curious the next
I enjoy the 3 Doctors, but this is not a very good story beyond having the rapport between Jon Pertwee and Patrick Troughton, and Benton's reaction to the TARDIS are good stuff.
Doctor Who is the wrong show to get uptight and nitpicky about scientific accuracy because the whole concept of time travel is scientifically impossible.
Gonna be honest as soon as I saw the wibblywobbly jellymonster I was like "what on earth is this lmao" I have barely seek any footage of classic who and the wibblywobbly jellymonster is now my favourite classic who villain
I realize that you are talking about a TV show, about time travel. But I must say...you probably shouldn't be complaining about the show, since you obviously cannot even get your math correct.
My god mate, you're a right old misery aren't you. lol Do you like anything?? Newsflash, this series deals with time travel, so do you think you're going to get plots grounded in 'real' science think again. Dr Who was always science fantasy imo. But well done for ripping into a classic just to get attention.......lol
I'd suggest this is less 'ripping into' than it is 'affectionate ribbing', and that it is Stu's particular style of 'affectionate ribbing' that most people come here for.
Anyone about to get mad at me for ripping the piss out of the three doctors, I demand all response essays make specific reference to "the wibblywobbly jellymonster" - by that name
Wibbly Hall, Stu. Wibbly Hall.
Just once, I'd like to deal with an alien menace that isn't immune to bullets in the wibbleys!
Surely we should call it it's proper name; Some kind of powerful organism thing
@@abigailmcdowell4248 Some Kind Of Powerful Organism Thing for next Tory PM.
But, Troughton in colour though?
A bunch of people bickering on a series of sound stages is why the three doctors is a beloved classic
I love how episode one immediately escalates to such extreme stakes. Not only does UNIT HQ fall under siege from an onslaught of seemingly invincible jelly blobs, but the Doctor is powerless to stop them, nor is he able to escape, and can only hole himself up inside the TARDIS. So he calls the Timelords and it turns out even they are under fire, powerless to help.
For the time, this was probably the most intense thing that could’ve happened in the show, and it’s only there to set the stage for why all the Doctors are in the same room together getting into goofy hijinks. I find this hilarious for some reason.
It’s especially surprising given how slow the beginnings were in Pertwee era stories. Eg compare it to The Silurians which aren’t revealed until part 3’s cliffhanger
The weirdest thing about 'The Three Doctors' is hearing William Hartnell refer to the Time Lords, which he obviously never does during his original run.
It's a shame his health was so bad he couldn't stand with 2 & 3.
"You'd never believe me woman, supper ready?" Is the best line in Doctor Who.
Stuart recently stopped hating the RTD Era, and because matter can't be destroyed, only transformed, his hatred found the Pertwee Era as a new host.
Letts said RTD told him and Dicks he based his own era on theirs.
Make of it what you will.
Which kinda sucks as a Pertwee fan ngl lol
Coming April 2024 from Big Finish Studios…
*DOCTOR WHO UNIVERSE:*
*SOME KIND OF POWERFUL ORGANISM THING*
Vol 1. The Omega Incident
*theme song screams
I absolutely agree The Three Doctors is the seventies equivalent of popping candy. That’s why I love it. It’s not clever or deep. I really enjoy it based on the chemistry between the three doctors (* insert, hey that’s the name of the show joke from arrested development here*) I agree with the flaws but honestly I like it as a pulpy popcorn experience and nothing more
I know that’s not for everyone though and understand your indifference
The fight between Omega and the Doctor is psychic. It doesn't happen in space.
I was 13 years old when this was broadcast. At the time it was just amazing. 3 doctors all together, it was an absolute event to the young boy who had been brought up on their adventures. Yes, today it seems a bit hokey, but when I occasionally watch it, I am transported back to the wonder of that sci fi mad boy and how much he loved the show back then. A crossover on television? ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,what! What? Never happened before except in the comic book superheroes that I used to read at the time. Fond memories of a special time and event for me. 🙂🙂🙂
I don't think anyone has ever tried to claim this story was more than what it was. Have they?
Calling any piece of media "an untouchable classic" in front of a contrarian like Stuart is like covering yourself in a tuxedo made of meat in front of a starving honey badger.
Something will get ripped to shreds, the beast is probably not thinking straight, you will absolutely abhor what you're seeing... but it is definitely gonna be spectacular to watch.
Stu, I really do get your 21st century viewpoint criticisms but it was a serial of it's time. You really need a Tardis to go back and live in and understand what it was like in the 70s to really appreciate it.
I was too young at the time of original broadcast to remember much afterwards, but did enjoy it. However I got to see it many, many times as a kid and teenager as available DW serials from the start of colour (Pertwee) on were repeated over and over interspersed with new serials until the mid 80s here in Australia. We had a feast of DW, 4 days a week for long periods. Loved The Three Doctors every time I saw it.
Three Doctors is ultimate comfort Who for me. Perfect on a miserable rainy day all snug on the coach with a nice hot cuppa!
To be fair, i've never heard anyone describe The Three Doctors as a great classic. Never comes up in top 10s or 20s so looks like everyone agrees with you. Just a fun little novelty.
I'm afraid I just can't be objective about this one.
An audio omnibus containing The three doctor's novelisation was my first exposure to Doctor who at the age of 5, along with carnival of monsters and terror of the zybons, and three doctors was the one I liked best precisely because! of all the dreamlike immages and wonderfully grand sounding fantasticness of it all.
If anything when I saw the tv episode a bit later it slightly disappointed because the planet didn't have purple sky and Omega's darkside wasn't a giant stone monster, for all it was, and still is a favourite.
I don't know, I just love the bickering, and the simple premise of black jelly blob monsters who the doctor makes a complete mistake in destroying.
I also thought the revelation about Omega's mask, that he was nothing now but pure will was amazingly creepy.
Also, unlike a lot of superfast mophat era who, it does at least give it's mumbo jumbo time to breathe and for the effect to sink in, rather than just madly dropping from one poorly explained spectacle to another.
So, mmmm, yeah, not really sure I can be objective on this one, it'll always be one I'll come back to and have fun with, even just for satisfying my inner five year old :D.
Hearing you pronounce Omega as Oh-me-gu will never get old.
Also this story is good, wibblywobbly jelly monster included
Stu's Continued Attempts To Find Deep Thoughts In The Pertwee Era: Part 2.
*zap* "Doctor, look out!" *vroooom* "You see Jo, I am very clever." *Terry Walsh fight sequence* "I'll get you next time, Doctor!" *KKLAK!* "Right, men! Fire!" *ooweeoo*
You had me at 'KKLAK'.
7:02 Dude, that's the most hilarious ending you could add to this serial, are you kidding me? This is a point for the serial, not against.
Never heard anyone call the Three Doctors intellectual. It's just always been a fun action story with higher production values than usual, as it probably had a bit more money chucked at it.
There's more that's intellectual in "An Unearthly Child". Of course there's more that's intellectual in a bucket of tomato soul as well.
I think more people conflate the tone of the show with intellectualism.
@@ShamrockParticle an unearthly child has depth. Plus the 4 mains are so good toghter
stu it's well established cannon that the timelords are going though a retro phase, you can't blame them for being ever 22 year old film student and hating colour for no logical or sane reason.
Everything you said is why I love it. It is the best kind of silly nonsense
Hoenstly I think it's such a beloved classic because until Day of the Doctor, it was our 2nd-best anniversary special (or 3rd depending on how you count the 25th). It was slim pickings, basically.
This is one of the multidoctor specials of all time
_The Three Doctors_ definitely demonstrates that 'great' and 'good' are not synonymous. Can't help but think that some of the love is down to the wiping of large chunks of both the Troughton & Hartnell eras so it's nice to see some extant footage of them.
Hey Stu, have you ever considered doing reviews for the old EDAs or PDAs? If there's anyone who would get a lot out of the books, I feel like it would probably be you, and I just think it would be nice to see the books talked about properly.
I'd love to hear discussions about the VNAs too. Some of them are the best and most imaginative Doctor Who material ever written and some are just fan fiction that somehow managed to get published. I wasn't around in the 90s but it seems like such an interesting time for fandom and the franchise as a whole.
I feel like the criticism leveled towards the revival era of Doctor Who is a clear example of Neil Gaiman's quote "Remember: when people tell you something's wrong or doesn't work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.” I imagine a lot of people felt a little thrown by NuWho's sudden faster pace and more personal/character focused stories and arcs. When I was first trying to get into OldWho I remember that I often struggled to focus on its much slower pace and methodical story telling. Often the first episode would focus on the brand new characters and introduce us to the new setting the Doctor would be landing on, when I as a NuWho fan was really excited to see different incarnations of the doctor bounce their personality off of their companion. (This makes me sound like I was a very shallow fan of the series, I realize. But I'm really just trying to illustrate that the two shows are different from each other) Both series of Doctor Who are very decidedly "Science Fantasy", they don't really care about the nitty gritty of scientific thought or processes, but they are very excited about the idea of science and how it can take us to new places and uncover new ideas. They'll talk about planets hidden inside black holes, or stone statues that come to life when you're not looking at them, or a planet that seem to only have androids living on it and seem to live in a very medieval/renaissance way of life. Doctor Who was at a point where multiple generations of people could all probably tell you that they "knew" what Doctor Who was supposed to be, and each answer would be different. The same could probably be said today too with even more generations and still less agreement.
I'd say that *The Three Doctors,* compared to both series as a whole, is even less concerned about trying to focus on the science than the show usually is, because fan service or not, it *is* pretty exciting to see three of the main actors reprise their role for the series anniversary. And the chemistry is actually really good. Normally I do tend to roll my eyes when shows are clearly trying to get on the audience's good side by relying on fan service, but where as most shows uses fan service to try to hide a poorly written plot, in The Three Doctors the fan service kind of is the plot. And for once, it's fan service I really like. Certainly opinions can differ, and obviously my opinion on it is more than just "good because it's fun to watch the Doctor bicker with another version of the Doctor."
This video felt a bit odd to me as I watched it, because it doesn't really feel like a review of *The Three Doctors.* It seems to be more of a response to nearly 20 year old criticism of NuWho by old fans, using *The Three Doctors* as a case study. I'm not too aware of what people online are saying about Doctor Who very much at the moment, so maybe people have recently been bringing up that OldWho was much more Science Fiction the NuWho was. But otherwise this video does feel a little bit like criticizing *The Three Doctors* for doing things Doctor Who has always done and continued to do, and for having its most interesting thing being literally just the name they slapped on the box, the three Doctors.
*Is* The Three Doctors a beloved classic? I always hear fans diss it more than anything else, the only thing that gets consistent praise is the chemistry between Pertwee and Troughton. I personally like Hartnell's stuff as well as the basic concept of Omega (which isn't well presented anyway and is filled in a lot by Big Finish but yeah.)
Pretty much.
Published book reviews sometimes also riff on the story. Without the Doctor actors, this one's a bit of a skip.
Can’t wait for The Three Stuarts anniversary special
The Three Doctors works best if you treat it as a panto (note the original broadcast dates).
Pertwee is the Dame
Troughton is Buttons
Hartnell is the Good Fairy
The Brig is Baron Hard-Up
Jo is the Principle Boy
Omega is Abanazar
Benton and Tyler (or maybe Ollis) are the Broker's Men.
The Gell Guards are the Pantomime Horse.
Alternatively, if you want to treat it straight then just read the novelisation (see all of 1970s Doctor Who).
"There was a wheezing groaning noise from Stu's brain."
A lot of multi-Doctor stories are pretty much fan service, something that only Doctor Who as a franchise can do. Sure, you get crossover episodes in other series, like with Star Trek with other captains of ships meeting one another, but Doctor Who is the only series where one character has been consistent throughout, even though they change their face regularly, and for one version to work alongside another, work off the companions of another, is something fans love to see. I think the only one that worked was the Two Doctors though, because where other incursions were deliberate set ups by higher powers, their encounter was purely by chance, and the Second and Sixth Doctors worked very well off each other. Plus, it wasn't meant as an anniversary special like the others, and feels like they actually had to write a real plot beyond "The Doctor meets a different incarnation of themselves". Maybe I'd put "The Next Doctor" on the list as well, but that probably doesn't count, because Jackson Lake only had the Doctor's identity projected onto him, rather than being an actual incarnation.
For all its faults it’s still fun to watch.
Fun to watch for its own sake or fun to find all its faults. Or both! 😁
@@ShamrockParticle 😁 Indeed lol.
I do love the three doctors. It's like a bonkers comedy that can only exist in Doctor Who.
Some key moments are the the wibblywobbly jellymonster appearing out of nowhere and the soldiers reaction. Troughton and the Brigadier.
The line about Unit headquarters being 'Nearer than you think' always cracks me up. It builds to these barmy situations, with great lines and through the logic of the show. The image of Unit HQ being sucked into a black hole is so weirdly funny/scary and the Brigadiers reaction is priceless.
Though the hard science isn't interesting, the idea that Omega is only sustained by his own will is fascinating.
No, I love it, probably in my top five.
First time I heard them say Omega I was baffled why they didn't say Omayga,lol
This was great I hope u review the five doctors and day of the doctor also!
I love how you said this year is Doctor Who's 100th anniversary but next year is the 60th anniversary!
is stu just realizing that doctor who was always campy
You're right, but I love it anyway.
How could there be 100 years of the show? I did some light "research" into that question, but couldn't find an answer.
100 years pf the BBC... The headline has a bit of a run-on going on... 😁 (Stu's quip was amusing too. 😊)
@@ShamrockParticle Thanks! Just woke up to a solution to this riddle! That was nice!
I remember watching the 3 doctors on repeat years ago before day of the doctor. It was kind of weird to me, I had watched new who and a bit of classic who before this but this story kind of lost me. For me I view the anniversary specials like how you view the Christmas specials, using their main factor as a crutch to get around writing a actual good story.
To be fair, that professor is clearly filling in for Billy not being up to a full role.
One day someone will CGI Hartnell into those scenes
I tried to show a friend 2005 RTD era Doctor Who in 2012. She said it looked old fashioned. So I showed her Matt Smith Doctor Who and we were just fine. I kept quiet about anything produced it the 20th century. (Troughton’s my favourite.)
Still the best multi doctor story, and infinitely better than the underwhelming fanservice that is the five doctors (more like the four doctors, Tom isn’t in it).
What's so bad about the five doctors it's lovely :(
@@petra2578As a story itself it’s fun, but there isn’t enough of all the doctors bantering together, something which makes the other multi doctor stories so fun. Patrick and Jon always have great chemistry, yet in five doctors they have only one scene together.
I always held a dim opinion on the three doctors but rewatched it recently and it’s a great deal of fun.
I mean I feel essentially the same way about Five Doctors (which I talk about in tier lists I've posted on this channel). 5 Doctors has a big better plot, but really it's just a pile of plot contrivances to get various doctors and companions in the room together to interact.
And that's all it has to be to be pretty great!
When 1st broadcast i was eleven & thought 'Three Doctors' was the most exciting event in the history of the universe. At 60 not sure if this opinion has changed very much really.
Great review !
Your going to love the 5 doctors
I wonder if Stubagful has any thoughts on Saphire and Steel.
I think the pacing is quite strong. Everything is on the move. Quite similar to a lot of contemporary Doctor Who stories
It took me a while to get over Throughton and War Games and getting used to Liz and later Jo and the 3rd Doctor.. Now where I am finally able to enjoy him and even love him Throughton returns and opens up my old wounds :( 😢😂
Did anyone else want to hear the 2nd doctor play the Beatles?
It always confuses me with multi-Doctor episodes where the newest Doctor always defers to the older regeneration, as that’s like if you met your teenage self and let them run your life
Yeah but I'm a sucker for multi doctor stories, none of them are actually that good but they're really only meant to be a fun doctors meeting each other story for ridiculous reasons. I even like the two doctors I'm that much of a sucker for these stories.
If the Three Doctors is bad for it's scientific inaccuracies, Does that mean Heaven Sent is automatically bad for its inaccurate physics of it is physically impossible to break a 20 feet thick barrier wall 400 times harder than diamond with bare hands? Diamonds don't corrode or decay over time and can't be broken with bare hands, so something 400 times harder than diamond won't even break for zillions of years. The only possible way to break a 20 feet thick barrier wall 400 times harder than diamond with bare hands is that you have to be stronger than the Hulk. It's hypocritical to hate The Three Doctors for scientific inaccuracies and the Chibnall era for Storm Trooper aiming because they ain't the only scientific inaccuracies in Doctor Who. Marinus environments wouldn’t have a humanoid species like the Arbitan living on the planet and it’s acid oceans will create an unbreathable atmosphere for the TARDIS team. If the Ambassadors of Death had realistic radiation psychics, then England will be more uninhabitable than Chernobyl. The Inferno project won’t cause a world ending apocalypse, it would just create an artificial volcano. Androzani minor mud core is scientifically impossible and its mudslide explanation will cause Androzani minor to break eventually destroying Androzani Major. (I suspect the queen bat milk is inaccurate to Earth bats but I don’t challenge animal anatomy I suspect is wrong due to Jeremy Dooley Rito question responses and the shitty Sonic fanbase.) The Ghost Light villain not believing evolution makes zero sense. An immortal being from another dimension cataloging life should have seen evolution and believe in evolution. The Ghost Light villain not believing evolution is like a chemist not believing the periodic table. Lady Cassandra’s 708 surgeries into a bitchy trampoline is scientifically impossible. The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit premise of it’s impossible for a planet to orbit a black hole will become outdated if the theory of everything in the Milky Way galaxy is orbiting a black hole in the center gets proven right. Also, Scoothi Manista would have been in pieces when sucked out into the vacuum of space heading towards a black hole. The TARDIS returning Earth back to our solar system in Journeys End would have caused gravitation disruption killing everyone on Earth. It’s scientifically impossible for the Tenth Doctor to survive a high fall from the sky into a marble floor in The End of Time. Gallifrey heading towards Earth in the End of Time would have also caused gravitation disruption killing everyone on Earth. In the forest of the night massive tree growth would have made the solar flares worse and fires would have spread more instead of not igniting. It's impossible for Chasm Forge to have human workers at all because humans don't breathe pure oxygen, humans breath a mixture of nitrogen and oxygen. If Storm Trooper aiming and The Three Doctor scientific inaccuracies is such a horrible suspension of disbelief and accurate physics is so important to enjoying Doctor Who, then it's good that the TARDIS can travel time and space because our Sun is moving through space with our solar system moving with it while in orbit. Nothing in our solar system or the Milky Way Galaxy can be in the same point of time and space twice.
I found it a little hard to read in all one big paragraph but persisted as I loved it! Stu needs to understand what it was like to live in the 70s to really appreciate it. I'm a scientist so if it doesn't bother me, it shouldn't bother others.
Stu isn’t complaining about the science inaccuracies. He’s just emphasising it to illustrate his point that this show was always fantastical and pulpy fun.
@@EditedAF987 He was saying it doesn't make sense as a criticism so yes, he was complaining about the science to an extent. He didn't seem to think fantastical and pulpy fun was what it should be about otherwise he would have said so and wouldn't have been critical.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not bothered by his criticism, can understand it, I'm just taking part in the conversation he intentionally triggered. All part of being a DW fan on social media, we all enjoy it and don't expect to agree.
I can understand his 21st century viewpoint but suggest viewers should try to understand what it was like in the 70s to be able to really appreciate it.
@@EditedAF987 or until the modern era made it more "natural". The best difference between old and new is that old eschewed our universe for the most part, but even then they gave Pertwee a better reason and as UNIT doesn't exist on our world...
You are spot on!
Love the three doctors it's mental
Oh come on, it's also a very funny story
The three doctors is still more acurate to it's name thant he 5 doctors was. 3 Doctors used to be my favorite classic series arc untill I saw 5 Doctors earlier this year.
"...this show has never learned how time works and it's not going to start now."
Surely that should be "...start then" in this case? :)
3:51 - HA! Take that, Chibnall!
l thought this was gonna be about that one modeern special where david tennant met up with smith, so l was kinda expecting the whole video to be a prelude to serve as the context for the modern special with the same gimmick. My bad haha
I LOVE TIME.
I mean I'm not gonna call it Shakespeare but in your puzzling flippancy I think you're forgetting this was the very first multiple doctor story, the three incarnations had never been seen together nor did anyone realise this could be a thing so the same as regeneration becoming a novel way of changing actor, the multiple doctor anniversary story became a novel way of creating a logical reason for why a time travelling alien could get together with various versions of himself to fight wibbly wobbly jelly monsters...
I like The Three Doctors
Some Powerful Organism Thing is still a better monster name than Slitheen
Does anyone take a splif to early 70s dr who? I do, couldn't stop laughing at ones like these. Whilst high each episode commences I commence laughter! Defo recommend early 70s doctor who with cannabis. You should check out the children's show Bod (1975) and the directors label dvd series volumes 1 - 7. Well funny
Doctor Who: The Sneed Doctors
3:23 yes that was the only lie🤣
Tbh he problem I've seen on some reviewers is the realism
Sometimes it makes sense to question the universe the storys take place but problem is when they comapare our earth to theirs
Like take marvel
I've seen people question spiderman webbing and how he a skinny man who can kick ass
Yet this same universe where radiation makes you green and jacked, billionaire makes a suit that can handle anything,purple alien holocausts half the earth humans and animals and yet spiderman webs makes no sense
Now stuff like Sherlock can be question cause is humans solving human crimes and logic can be confusing in the puzzles and awnsers and way Someone thinks
Channels like harry moving media when he reviews doctor who (some good some meh reviews)he question logic that not on earth yet like this is same doctor who becomes a Wikipedia page one episode (13th doctor) and confused and curious the next
Why does the way you pronounce "omega" sound like you're sarcastically saying "OMG"?
I enjoy the 3 Doctors, but this is not a very good story beyond having the rapport between Jon Pertwee and Patrick Troughton, and Benton's reaction to the TARDIS are good stuff.
Doctor Who is the wrong show to get uptight and nitpicky about scientific accuracy because the whole concept of time travel is scientifically impossible.
100 years of the BBC Television not the 100 years of Doctor Who. Yes it’s stupid, but it’s chibnalls era what else do you expect.
Watch a few seconds after he said that. You will understand he was making a joke.
Gonna be honest as soon as I saw the wibblywobbly jellymonster I was like "what on earth is this lmao" I have barely seek any footage of classic who and the wibblywobbly jellymonster is now my favourite classic who villain
I have a question:
Sure, its stupid, sure, nothing makes much sense. Is that a problem, per sey? I kinda like that about it.
I realize that you are talking about a TV show, about time travel.
But I must say...you probably shouldn't be complaining about the show, since you obviously cannot even get your math correct.
It's not very good, but Patrick Troughton makes it worthwhile.
Have to say, not fond of the Three Doctors.
No one can hear u scream.
Wait but 1st doctor isn't sexist and a boomer in this unlike twice upon the time showed us
(Jk)
My god mate, you're a right old misery aren't you. lol Do you like anything?? Newsflash, this series deals with time travel, so do you think you're going to get plots grounded in 'real' science think again. Dr Who was always science fantasy imo. But well done for ripping into a classic just to get attention.......lol
I'd suggest this is less 'ripping into' than it is 'affectionate ribbing', and that it is Stu's particular style of 'affectionate ribbing' that most people come here for.