Fellow Whovians, need advice for the kidlings!

[Racket_Man]

I started out on the original Dr.'s Gotta love Tom Baker

you also have to remember that the original series in 1963 (I believe) started out as a kids show with a little history thrown in and sort of evolved into a more "mature" type show.

I would defineately try and find the early Dr.'s (there are enough of #1 and #2 episodes out there though a lot were lost) and try them out first. there is a little bit of scary stuff in them buty not all that much violence or blood or aliens blasting things.

you might want to search Youtube and Daily Motion for episodes

[RealUnimportant]

you also have to remember that the original series in 1963 (I believe) started out as a kids show with a little history thrown in and sort of evolved into a more "mature" type show.

The new series has been intended to be a "kids' show" since the outset, it just also happens to appeal to a large section of the community who grew up with it

I remember watching (& being freaked out by) quite severe Tom Baker stuff at an early age, and yet I'd still come back for more - even after a couple of particularly vivid nightmares involving K-9 I was undeterred. Kids these days are used to seeing much more realistic & fantastical stuff than we were; The City of Death convinced me that my parents were aliens under their skin for MONTHS afterwards. (Didn't change how I interacted with them, just my weird bedtime fears.)

I think so long as you pre-screen & judge for suitability, they'd both be fine - my little nephews & nieces have grown up with it, and they've all turned out to be as "normal" as their friends.

[Antares]

Oh man, I loved City of Death. I think it would tie Genesis of the Daleks as my favorite Tom Baker story. City of Death had the best music of that era.

I started Dr. Who with Robot and was hooked immediately. It aired every weeknight from 7-7:25 on our local PBS station. I watched some Peter Davidson, but lost interest completely with Colin Baker, though I do like Colin Baker in the Big Finish productions of Dr. Who.

[DaDairyDruid]

from what I understand, part of growing up Brittish is being scared by Doctor Who and watching from behind the couch or around the corner. I say let them watch and get a bit scared. thats when they cuddle up to mom or dad and watch as the clever man in funny clothes saves the day. oh and don't blink

[charred]

I have watched Dr Who since I was three (it came on right after Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. How's that for a shift in programming?).

My kids have watched it since the reboot, and my youngest is 7. So, all her life. The other two since they were 6 and 4.

The only side effect so far has been children pretending to be the Doctor, daleks, or weeping angels.

From what you've said about your kids, I think they should be fine if you watch it with them.

You know your children best, though.

ETA: I wouldn't recommend going any farther back than Tom Baker or Jon Pertwee in the old series (until you're all well and truly hooked), because the Hartnell/Troughton episodes are much more slowly paced, and your kids may lose interest. The Pertwee years saw a transition to more action-oriented scriptwriting, but can bog down a bit too.

[Skarredmind]

Heh MY 4 year old and 2 year old watch them with Mommy and Daddy, its a fun night activity for us.

Some of the episodes we do censor though (the one with the devil comes to mind). My 4 year old was REALLY scared of the Cybermen, and came to sit with me to watch it. We keep reminding her, "Tori, who always wins?" "DOCTOR WHO!!!" Its always a show we watch together, and its always a show that we take some time to explain and discuss after. Scary as they Cybermen are to her (they were my favorite bad guys when I was a kid too) they are her favorite bad guys now.

[Tuxian]

There's a reason why Doctor Who is known as the show that most people would watch on the sofa... for the times when it got scary enough they needed to hide behind it!

But on the whole, I'd see about getting your hands on some of the older series, mainly the Pertwee and Tom Baker eras, and start the kids on those. But always screen the episodes for yourself first, as some of them are very much "hidden creepy" episodes. Big one that comes to mind are the ones in the Pertwee era where the Autons are introduced and then later expanded. If you thought the ones in Rose were creepy...

[kpzra]

Amazon Prime has the Sarah Jane Adventures free to stream. If you don't/haven't had amazon prime they are doing a free one month trial (just don't forget to cancel) and it will stream to Kindle Fire, X-Box 360, PlayStation 3, computers...you get the idea. That might be a way to check them out first. It also has the original season 1 Dr Who for free.

[CorneliaMarieRocks]

Seraph,

I have a site that I always use to catch up on NCIS (currently at the end of season 6 about to start season 7 for whoever cares ) it's totally free & the links are good (no bad stuff aside from one or two pop-ups). I did a search for Sarah Jane Adventures & they have all 5 seasons

link is [redacted]

Hope that helps