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What's better? Dr. Who or The Prisoner?

Jack Denfeld

22:27 / 16.06.02

I hear that both these series are great, and have decided to start ti dive in and buy some DVD's. But which is better? Dr. Who? Or The Prisoner? I plan to get both eventually, but which shall I start with? I'm leaning more towards Dr. Who right now, due to the fact I assume there's more time travel goodness in that series, and the Prisoner being on a village (at least from what I've gathered and my research on these series are far from exhaustive) seems a bit odd to me. An entire series based in a village? What do you suggest?

uncle retrospective

22:41 / 16.06.02

The Prisioner. While it has a lot of filler eps, they are better than most tv your going to see again. Only 2 ep arn't in the village (that I remember) but don't let that put you off.
Dr Who while it has some amazing runs can be a bit dodgy.
Now why isn't Saphire and Steel on DVD?

videodrome

23:20 / 16.06.02

In addition, all of The Prisoner is available on DVD, so you can do the whole thing, and Dr. Who will still be waiting for you. There's very little of the Doctor available on disc right now, compared to the total volume of shows produced.

But they're getting at fairly different things - Dr Who is fairly straight, although wide-ranging - sci-fi, while The Prisoner is more psychological, very concerned with identity and perception. The latter is very consistent throughout, largely because it's such a short series. Dr Who was written and acted by many different people, so as already stated, the quality ranges pretty wildly.

Ria

23:25 / 16.06.02

uncle, the first three serials of S & S will come out on DVD August 12.

Spatula Clarke

23:39 / 16.06.02

You know, it's a bit like asking "What's better? Chocolate ice cream or The Shirelles?" They're totally different beasts and, as such, 'better' doesn't mean a thing.

Shortfatdyke

07:08 / 17.06.02

agreed. damn near impossible to compare the two. as a total dr who fan, though, i would say that the series depended an awful lot on who was playing the doctor, and i would recommend tom baker especially but also jon pertwee and some of the stories involving sylester mccoy as being worth checking out. other doctors - colin baker and peter davidson, for instance, put me off the series for a long time.

the prisoner is indeed set in one village. but it's one hell of a strange - and real - place. so don't let that put you off.

Our Lady of The Two Towers

09:12 / 17.06.02

Doctor Who in the 80s went into a decline by trying to compete with Hollywood on a crap budget, and late big-beard producer John Nathan-Turner insisting on getting as many comediens in as possible. But 'The Curse of Fenric', despite the large quantities of ham being served on set rocks. And makes you feel sorry for Nicholas Parsons.

sleazenation

09:18 / 17.06.02

Yes, hammy old actors playing clerics who are consumed teenage-vampire-girls always elicit my sympathy...

DaveBCooper

09:28 / 17.06.02

I’d go with The Prisoner meself – I find the underlying ideas more interesting. But I haven’t seen every single Dr Who ever, so I can’t be entirely conclusive.

And re the Sapphire and Steel sidebar, wasn’t there some tale about the master tapes being lost or destroyed ? Was that nonsense, or true and now resolved ? Anyone know?

DBC

The Natural Way

10:15 / 17.06.02

Prisoner all the way, but Dr. Who's theme music: oh yes!

ONLY NICE THINGS

10:46 / 17.06.02

Once again, all must worship Delia Derbyshire.

invisible_al

14:18 / 17.06.02

I'd go with The Prisoner, not dissing Doctor Who but you'll be able to get the whole of the prisoner a bit easier than find the cool bits of doctor who. Its only 22 (?) episodes and probably comes as a nice box set or something.
As for understanding it, well now thats something I don't claim to do, but its fun to go along for the ride.
First episode I ever saw was 'the girl who was death' set entirely outside the village, confused me as I though the guy was in prison camp or something, its still one of my favourites.

Oh in doctor who's favour, Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred, accept no substitutes and avoid Bonnie Langford like the plague.

The Return Of Rothkoid

23:02 / 17.06.02

OK: my Doctor Who judgement goes like this -

When I was six and wrote to him, Tom Baker sent me a polaroid. When I was six and wrote to him, Peter Davidson sent me a photocopied fan-letter.

Draw your own conclusions.

Anthony Ainley, who played The Master (mark II) sent me a postcard suggesting that I should watch out for the England cricket team because they were the best "...in the universe!" and that he'd be watching from his TARDIS. I guess he wasn't able to help them avoid an arsekicking, either.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

00:20 / 18.06.02

Aresn't there only 17 episodes of the Pris?
They both rock. Except for some of the shit episodes of Dr Who, which, considering how long it was on for, had surprisingly few.

Tom Coates

07:55 / 18.06.02

I loved Peter Davidson's doctor. He and Tom Baker are completely my favourites.

The Return Of Rothkoid

11:51 / 18.06.02

With the celery and everything?

Good god man. At least Pertwee had a tattoo...

Seth

17:33 / 18.06.02

The Prisoner all the way: still unbeatable. You can pick up the whole series (seventeen episodes) as a video or DVD boxed set. Pin, Hypocritamus and I are about two thirds of the way through watching them all, popping Pin's Prisoner cherry and having much fun in the process. Plus you won't get tired of rewatching it.

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