Another Dr. Who question

A while back I posted a thread about how I was interested in watching the series again, and thanks to Netflix on my Wii, I did just that. However, I am having a bit of trouble with the end of the David Tennant Dr's in season 4.

On Netflix it jumps from the last episode of season 4 right into Matt Smiths Dr in the first episode of season 5. I went online and saw that (according to a Wiki article) that there were 5 "special episodes" that served as Tennants leaving and the introduction of Matt Smith. My question is what are they and in what order are they? I have the following;

1. Planet of the Dead
2. The Waters Of Mars
3. Dreamland (an animated episode)
4. The End of Time (a "2 part" episode)

Is this all of them? And is that the order they should be watched? I don't want to jump right into season 5 untill I see the end of David Tennant's Dr because I read that he does some neat things in "The End Of Time". So I ask the Whovians (Whoites?) what is the correct route for these. Planet Of The Dead, unfortunately, is not available on Netflix, but I will happily rent it. Thanks for all your help.

Ok, turns out all I can get on Netflix are the Waters Of Mars and both parts of The End of Time. Is that enough, or do I need the other 2 to see his "exit"?

yeah, those are the important ones.

Planet of the Dead is cool, but it's the most "one-off" of the set. see it, but you don't have to put everything on hold for it.

all you need to know going in to Waters of Mars is that the Doctor was told by someone with psychic affinity (in Planet of the Dead) that his "song is ending" and "He will knock four times." note: that "He" is meant to imply someone that is not the Doctor.

now go watch Waters of Mars! =D one of my absolute favs! =)

*edit* oh, don't worry about dreamland. it's neat, but not at all important. it's an adventure with Martha Jones.

Coolin. Thanks.

honestly you don't even need to see Waters of Mars, the important bits are only right at the end and mostly just a slight teaser. Also some of the most hamfisted and awful writing I've even seen in the show.

But definitely see End of Time, that was a fairly fantastic one and the most important to see for the transition/send off.

Don't forget Tennant's final Christmas special, "The Next Doctor", which precedes "Planet of the Dead". I enjoyed it the most of all Tennant's last episodes.

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Originally Posted by Agent White honestly you don't even need to see Waters of Mars, the important bits are only right at the end and mostly just a slight teaser. Also some of the most hamfisted and awful writing I've even seen in the show.

Sadly, the ending squandered both the entire episode's suspenseful buildup and Russell Davies's criticisms of the Doctor's heroic impulse to interfere.

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But definitely see End of Time, that was a fairly fantastic one and the most important to see for the transition/send off.

The two-parter is pretty much mandatory viewing, both as Tennant's swan song and the wrap-up of Davies's reboot of the series (some, however, have criticized its Total Bollocks Overdrive).

Is there a good synopsis of all the Dr's and their stories (not the minutia of helping this alien or that, but as their story relates to the whole of the Dr's) that I could read to sort of get cought up to the beginning of the "new" series? Like I said, I have finished 1-4 of the "new" seasons, but I read that there were things happening way back in the Tom Baker years (the ones I remember from my youth) and further back than that even that had an affect on the current incarnation, and logicly all of them. So some sort of "heres what you need to know" bit just to get me to where I am now.

For instance, because I can not actually remember specific episodes I watched of Tom Baker, but by watching the last regular episode of David Tennant, I learn that it was the 4th Dr. and Sara Jane who met the Dalek Creator (I assume for the first time). So I would like to get a bit more "cought up" to the now series'. Does anybody know if such a synopsis exsists? I imagine it would be pretty long, but for me, well worth it.

Thanks all.

I also know (from the Wiki) that a lot of the episodes were destroyed (most of the first and second Dr's), but surely the stories of the shows were kept somewhere. I mean, I hope.

Oh and True Gentleman, I loved "The Next Dr." very much. Thought the writing was excellent. Whilst it was a hair predictable, it was still very enjoyable.

Start here:

http://guide.doctorwhonews.net/index.php

That will give you summaries of all the seasons and is a good jumping point.

There's a 16 year gap between the end of the old run and Davie's relaunch, and in that time period you had the Paul McGann movie as well as 200 + Original novels written for the 7th and 8th Doctor that the BBC considers pretty much Cannon- these can be hunted down here and there.

Also, most of the missing episodes are from Pat Troughton's run (2nd doctor, 1966-69). Out of 21 stories, only 7 remain intact, 6 of those from his last season. But ALL the stories exist in audio form completely and all have been released on CD and MP3 with linking narration from surviving actors. Also, EVERY televised story was novelized by Target Publishing in the 80s.. you can usually track down PDFs of these- the BBC have started mmaking these into Audo MP3s.

See, "huge flaws" is much different from "fairly fantastic".

It should go:

"The Next Doctor"
"Planet of the Dead"
"Waters of Mars"
"End of Time" Part 1 and 2

You can pretty much skip "Dreamland" and it was God awful CGI.

I am having a HECK of a time getting into the new (for me) Smith seasons. Amy reminds me of somebody I know (she is a DEAD ringer for her), and his Dr. just seems off to me. I also don't like that he looks so young. I don't know how old he is, but he just looks young. Did it start slow for anybody else? And if it did, did it get better?

I think Smith's Doctor tries to bury all the guilt and angst under his over the top zaniness. Let's not forget the Dreammaster (or whatever he was called) had a lot of selfloathing.

And I never considered Amy to have a crush on the Doctor. She's the kind of woman who can spot guys who get uncomfortable around women who aggressively flirt with him. Plus from the Doctor's perspective she was just a 7 year old and a woman scheduled to get married the next day. Plus he had all that "Who was River Song to him" knowledge pestering him as well.

I think the current Who under Moffet is a lot more funny then RDF's. Funny isn't bad. I appreciate all the humorous asides from Rory and Amy as well as The Doctor's over the top wackiness to distract from the impending doom he is trying to avoid. And I really enjoy this Doctor when he is around children. Very "Cat in the Hat".