Classic Who & New Who... why does it feel so different?

[Flyboy]

This is not a discussion about whether or not new who should have been serialised or presented in a different form, let me get that straight. It's also pretty obvious why New Who differs from early classic who - production values and such. But imo, The Movie, despite its americanisation, feels a lot more like Classic Who in its style. new Who feels completely different, it feels like a completely new series, where as I have a hunch that if Paul McGann's series had taken off, it would have felt more like a continuation of Classic Who...

What do people think to this? And can anyone place their finger on what makes the shows seem so different?

[The Signal]

Personally I feel that the feel of the new Who is simply the world of Doctor Who twisted a little to appeal to modern audiences. To me the movie felt more like an immitation than a continuation, it had the Who feel, but to me it seemed synthetic and forced. Had Who ran through to now, I think that it would near enough the same as it is now, the feel has changed, but I believe that the first Doctor's era has a very different feel to that of the fifth doctor, and his era seems very different to the Seventh Doctor's. Change tends to occur over time, the show didnt have that luxury as it had a huge time gap to fill, so we jumped from one style to another with no sceen time.

[Deputy-Assistant-Second-Prime]

What do people think to this? And can anyone place their finger on what makes the shows seem so different?

There's more focus on characterization. The plot elements are presented more concisely and with no reminders.

So, the viewers are treated more intelligently. The camera work is more dynamic. The pacing is quicker.

The show is no longer a serial and has changed from 25-minute to 45-minute episodes.

So all this alters the plot arc, emotional arc, and the thematic arc of the new episodes.

[Metarock Sam]

Lets see...
The Doctor isnt the main focus of the episodes anymore. Its usually the companions.
The time war and the loss of the Gallifreyans
and much much more.

[GhostPoet]

EH...I thought the movie didn't feel hardly at all like the classic series. The new Who feels much closer to the classic. With a big upgrade.=)

[Deputy-Assistant-Second-Prime]

Lets see...
The Doctor isnt the main focus of the episodes anymore. Its usually the companions.

The Doctor wasn't always the main focus during the Hartnell era...that's part of the reason I like his stories, because it was balanced better across all the regulars.

And I like that about Eccelston's era. The Doctor might be the hero of the story or he might simply play the role of the instigator, encouraging companions or one-off characters to fulfill the hero role.

It's more interesting because it doesn't always follow the same formula.

[Easter Lily]

In some ways, I don't think the show has changed but in many ways it has...
But I think the show has a different feel every time a regeneration takes place anyway... The subsequent doctor really does set the tone.

Obviously in this new series, the pacing is a lot quicker, the sfx is SOOOOOOOO much better, the dialogue's much more zippy. There is a lot more focus on the doctor's inner life and they seem more deliberate in their desire to push the romance angle. I don't mind a more angsty doctor but I still think that the doctor should be somewhat larger than life.

But happily, the monsters and the villains are still cheesy... I, for some reason, find that strangely comforting.

[Flyboy]

Though i wish the daleks are a bit.... dirtier.

[Willow'sCat]

This is not a discussion about whether or not new who should have been serialised or presented in a different form, let me get that straight. It's also pretty obvious why New Who differs from early classic who - production values and such. But imo, The Movie, despite its americanisation, feels a lot more like Classic Who in its style. new Who feels completely different, it feels like a completely new series, where as I have a hunch that if Paul McGann's series had taken off, it would have felt more like a continuation of Classic Who...

What do people think to this? And can anyone place their finger on what makes the shows seem so different?

Well to be frank, what you said in your opening paragraph is the reason it feels different.

You cannot compare serials to bottle necks, the pacing is always different when you have less time to tell the story. The story telling is altered and what was considered an important part in a serial becomes less so in a bottle neck.

And I guess for me a lot of the classic series had filler, I mean did we need to hear so much from secondary characters in the classic series? I wasn't all that interested in the inhabitants of most of the Planets he visited because you knew they would a) be dead by the end of the story or b) unlike the Daleks/Cybermen/Master you would never see them again.

Thankfully in the new series they rarely bother with trying to make that connection. Don't get me wrong I think we still need to feel The Doctor has made that connection to the "people" he meets but I don't believe we as the audience need to.

Again despite your opening paragraph, it is to do with money/production/modernising the show.

As for the Movie, not a fan; it was not IMO Dr Who it was nothing more than a man calling himself The Doctor and having a Police Box it wasn't Dr Who to me it really didn't feel like it at all. The main reason IMO was it had no

[Easter Lily]

Though i wish the daleks are a bit.... dirtier.

It's hard for something to be dirty when all it wants to do is exterminate... and has a toilet plunger attached to its body.

[Flyboy]

Lol.

What I meant is that they wouldnt look so pristine. Their metal would be older and less well kept. Real warmachines thta look like theyve been in battle for millenia.

[Metarock Sam]

Yes but you can argue theat the Daleks in the Parting of Ways were new Daleks who never had fought proper battle before.

[Flyboy]

At the risk of being flamed for a short reply:

Agreed

[Metarock Sam]

Good O. Cybermen in 10 mins

[creed462]

I think it feel very much like the classic seris