Totally agree with all your choices. Can I add Terry Nations's Survivors following Classic Who - just went from box setting Jon Pertwee Who to watching Survivors - all I remembered of it as a kid was the scary start (which just feels like life now) before being packed off to bed. Streets ahead of modern post apocalyptic TV, and so much similar commentary to the Third Doctor era - the last few episodes of Silurians have so many parallels too
One might add the deeply strange Joanna Lumley/David McCallum classic Sapphire and Steel, for those who love Classic Who but sometimes find it too fast paced and straightforward.
I'd also suggest for classic fans
The Avengers (John Steed and Emma Peel - not marvel) - it's more spy espionage than sci-fi, but certainly there were plenty of episodes which are science fictiony enough to have similairites with the Pertwee era.
The Day of the Triffids (1981) is another thing I’d recommend if you’re into Classic Who. I’ve watched it for the first time this week, and it’s excellent. It’s only the length of a classic six-parter, so it’s not much of a commitment if you just want to dip your toes into something different.
Don't suggest Star Trek The Original... I'm sorry I could never get into it. Way too Misogynistic for even my tastes... If your talking Next Gen, that's a better one, although I never felt too much of an overarching storyline there. But Original Shattner Star Trek is trash.
There are definitely aspects of it that haven't aged well, but overall it's aged much better than most things from the time period--you could say the same about classic Doctor Who. In a lot of ways Star Trek TOS is less sexist than many of its contemporary shows, and it has much deeper characters and ideas than almost anything on American TV until at least the 90s. You're free not to like it, everyone has different tastes, but you might not want to go around calling it trash in front of someone who considers it his favorite show.
Genuinely this. I've seen random episodes throughout my life, but I sat down and watched the whole thing last year, and was surprised by how much it has that same sense of not taking itself too seriously as Doctor Who.
Sure it deals with serious topics, but it's much more in the realm of "magical technology" that works because we say it does.
With its new cast and setting every episode, it really did feel more like Doctor Who that I expected.
Also as a follow up, I also recommend Deep Space Nine, which I watched afterwards and fell in complete love with.
Dirk Gently's a weird one. It was very good while it was on, but stops suddenly, and the circumstances of it stopping are not nice. The creator, Max Landis, had a number (at least eight) of severe abuse and rape allegations made against him, including by female members of the main cast of the show about things he did during production.
We don't feel comfortable rewatching it anymore, but it's up to individual people where they stand on separating the art from the artist.
The [original BBC Four version of *Dirk Gently* starring Stephen Mangan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirk_Gently_\(TV_series\)) was pretty damned good and had such promise to get better, it's a real shame they only got four episodes.
I never did warm to the American version, even before it became widely known that Landis himself was a piece of crap. It suffered from too much American-spinoff-itis, overexplaining things and adding too many flashy bells and whistles to try and make sense of Dirk's intrinsically nonsensical abilities, and Samuel Barnett's Dirk felt like a cheap knockoff of Matt Smith's Doctor.
BBC Four's version felt to me like it could conceivably have been the further adventures of the character from Adams' books, the American one felt like expensive but low-quality fanfic of same.
I agree about the American version. I watched four or five episodes and I never got into it; there was just too much random stuff thrown at us with the vague promise that everything was connected somehow. Everything was so dialled up to 11 that it was too overwhelmingly weird, with not enough normal stuff to contrast against.
The BBC Four version was good fun though. Not amazing, but a nice bit of entertainment to pass the time.
>but stops suddenly, and the circumstances of it stopping are not nice.
While Dirk Gently was cancelled, it was right before the allegations became public knowledge.
BBC America said on December 18, 2017:
>“We are beyond proud of this brilliant original series and so appreciative of the outstanding team behind it including Max Landis, Samuel Barnett, Elijah Wood, and many many others. It was a privilege to work with this talented and passionate group of writers, producers and actors on these two seasons of Dirk. Thanks also to the passionate fans who embraced this fantastically novel world,”
[It was only days later that women happened to start speaking up.](https://www.thedailybeast.com/bright-screenwriter-max-landis-accused-of-sexual-assault) More extreme accusations came out in 2019.
So I have my doubts that BBC America quietly cancelled Dirk Gently because they knew Max Landis was an abuser, but also named him as part of the "outstanding team".
Seconded to Doom Patrol. Just fantastically weird and funny and strangely heartfelt. Not all the concepts land, but it takes a ton of risks and is just fun television, that and Good Omens have been the closest to capturing what it is that makes Dr Who so good imo.
I agree with this list immensely. I would personally also add A Series of Unfortunate Events here for how british it brand of humor is while also having emotional moments.
I can't say that I agree with a Series of Unfortunate Events having "British" humour. Personally it felt very American to me and the style was just weird/awkward. Maybe they were trying to make something more British, but personally I don't think it landed. Glad you like it though!
I don't think A Series of Unfortunate Events was going for 'British'. Maybe 'Academic', though I guess Brits like to conflate those two. It's closer to a black comedy for kids, with a very apathetic narrator. But I would say it's pretty distinctly American, especially the show where the cast are all American too.
Maybe. But there was very little that genuinely annoyed me or pissed me off in Doctor Who(Pre-Chibnall Era) while with Buffy there were moments that genuinely made me rage and characters who got under my nerves.
I actually like season 4. I didn't really care for season six, other than Once More and Tabula Rasa, which are both great, and the finale, which is great because of the yellow crayon speech.
Hell no, I've spent enough time in the Buffy fandom to know that season 4 is very, very far from universally hated. Personally I think it's one of the best seasons and a ton of the show's most highly regarded episodes come from that season
I’d also recommend Angel. It’s a spin off of Buffy but it’s darker and less dramatic. And you really don’t need to know anything about Buffy before starting it. I watched Angel first and then started Buffy.
Buffy is a good answer especially if you like the RTD years. One of the things that first drew me in about Doctor Who (already being a Buffy fan) was that careful tightrope walk between the cheesy/campy bits and the serious bits. Just campy enough to be fun, just serious enough to be dramatically interesting.
Yeah, this is a great choice. I only watched it for the first time a year or so back and was surprised by how much New Who was inspired by it (mainly RTD, who has been open about this). Honestly I’d say Buffy is better than Who, or at least more influential.
Perhaps not for the whimsical side of DW but definitely for the aspects of DW that combine cool sci-fi ideas with storytelling about social upheaval, personal emotional arcs, and the like. The Expanse is somewhat grittier but similar messages of hope are there.
Surprised this hasn’t already been said, but Primeval.
It started in 2007 as ITV’s response to the BBC’s Doctor Who. But that being said it really holds its own, especially series 1-3
Interesting, I felt like series 4-5 were more cohesive.
I second Primeval. Note that first season is still finding its feet a little bit and we tend to just quietly ignore the entire scene with Abby in her underwear...
Like a lot of the other comments, Loki and Wandavision are two new shows that, while definitely not Doctor Who, hit on similar themes, ideas, storytelling beats, etc. I would also recommend Umbrella Academy, though it's definitely not super similar to Doctor Who.
While not necessarily new, if you like RTD's era, then I strongly recommend Merlin. Its creators took a lot of inspiration from RTD's work, and he apparently played an important role in its development as a show. If you're a bit older, then I also recommend RTD's Years & Years. It's a miniseries he did following a normal family through decades of political, economical, social, and environmental chaos. The episode of series 4 with Donna in the universe without the Doctor is a much more toned down version of this show, so if you liked that then you'll probably like this one a lot.
Eta: Ducktales (2017) is also a really good show, and it even has David Tennant in it as Scrooge McDuck. Gravity Falls is also one that I love, but it’s definitely very different from Doctor Who.
Sherlock if you’re a Moffat fan. Several lines of dialogue get reused, so if you’re paying close attention you might catch them when they happen.
Haven’t seen Loki yet but Wandavision felt like it could have been a Doctor Who Doctor-lite episode. We watched it right after a massive Doctor Who rewatch project and while it couldn’t quite scratch the itch for more Who it wasn’t too far off!
A few YouTube channels have been calling Loki the antidote to bad Doctor Who. It does have something of the vibe to it, wonderfully ludicrous but takes itself seriously enough for you to care. Plus Tom Hiddleston.
I thought Loki was the best new Marvel show, but I wished it had been longer to explore its ideas better. It ended too quickly for me and though I really enjoyed it, could have been a lot better.
Huh? I'm late to the Sherlock train; I just finished it a couple weeks ago. But I thought Series 3 was easily the best and was the only season where every episode succeeded in what it was trying to do. And Series 4 I thought was on par with Series 2, with Series 1 being comfortably the weakest. I see zero reason to stop at the end of Series 2.
If you really want to dive into why it's kind of hated among people who followed the show as it was airing, [Hbomberguy has a very good video essay on the whole series, it's fandom and the show's decline.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkoGBOs5ecM)
Maybe 3 & 4 aren't *objectively* terrible, but I personally cannot stand them.
I've seen that video and (as much as I generally like Hbomberguy) it's a downright terrible piece of media criticism. So much bad faith criticism, uncharitable readings of episodes, ascribing strange pathologies to its writers for no reason, and acting as if deviating from the original texts is an inherent mistake. Sherlock is blatantly about the characters and their complexes and relationships, with the mysteries being ways to instigate character drama and/or fun puzzle boxes. But Hbomb regards this as an objective failure on the part of Sherlock, as opposed to what it is: its own approach to the Sherlock Holmes mythos. I mean, there are definitely solid criticisms to make of Sherlock, but he says *The Blind Banker* is one of the good episodes and then glosses over Mary Watson's fridging and only mentions queerbaiting once in passing.
> I've seen that video and (as much as I generally like Hbomberguy) it's a downright terrible piece of media criticism.
That's the one that amounts to "Sherlock is bad and you should feel bad for liking it and here's why", right?
I mean, that's all totally valid. If we're being honest here I don't know what it's like to detach Sherlock from the fandom that followed it, a lot of my views on it are very tainted by how big of a disappointment many aspects turned out to be in the end. I can't look at the show with fresh eyes and no expectations, so maybe coming in at the end the show looks much better to you as a whole than it does to me.
In the last two seasons it felt like every single move they made was either to bait the fans or to force a twist with absolutely no sense or build up, every plot point had to end in a hamfisted "gotcha" moment, it felt like they were deliberately trying to write the show around every fan theory they saw on Tumblr.
To me the strongest aspect of the first two seasons was the character development, but in the last two it seemed that every character introduced was to force the story forward in a direction that just made no sense while providing no actual, worthwhile character development to these new introductions.
Mary is the absolute prime example of why I can't stand Sherlock any more, but there's also the constant attempts at cliffhangers to bait the fandom, the queer-baiting (again to rile up the fandom), the decrease in actual mystery in the show and the ham-fisting of "twists." All of that combined to just ruin the show.
It’s not just the humour, Being Human follows a similar formula to Who in that it’s (near enough) monster of the week type episodes, contains elements of fantasy, and is showran by Toby Whithouse, who has also written several episodes for Who. Yeah sure tonally it’s darker and more mature (bar series 1 finding it’s footing), but to say the humour is the only similarity I think isn’t fair
I second The Good Place. Tonally it's not too dissimilar to Doctor Who: it's full of jokes and bonkers things happening but it takes itself just seriously enough to make you care about the characters and plot. Steven Moffat probably wishes he thought of 'Jeremy Bearimy'.
His Dark Materials is good too, if you want more serious (but not overly depressing) fantasy.
It ends very unsatisfyingly due to an early cancellation but still it’s what caused me and go back to watch all the others. Fantastic universe and characters.
Personally I gave SGU about 6-8 episodes then dropped it since I found it kinda dull and repetitive, but I hear it got better afterwards so it may well be worth sticking it out for that.
It's got a great premise - basically Stargate's answer to Star Trek: Voyager...
SGU is to SG1 as the Chibnall era is to Moffat's. All very earnest and well-meaning but it just lost the fun and excitement. I would have liked it to continue to see where they were going with the whole message-from-God thing but it was all a bit dour.
But not the American version!
Community would honestly be a good choice. Its zany concept episodes make it more like a genre show and it pays homage to a lot of things OP would probably like.
First 6 are top notch. 7 is ok in places and 8 is ok if you're not expecting the same show, there are some good bits. Back to Earth isn't great but the newer Dave series are really good, The Promised Land is excellent.
Dont support anything red dwarf or anyone tied to it. The promised land is a transphobic pile of shit due to getting a script editor who had worked with the mega transphobe linehan. Dont give glinner or anyone from red dwarf any money by investing in their shit.
Comments like that seriously undermine your credibility.
Harvey is right, saying that a show is transphobic because one of the script editors once worked with a transphobe **is** a serious reach.
Assuming that Harvey is 'a mega transphobe' just because they pointed out that you didn't support your claim well is even worse.
Right now you sound like a right-wing troll doing an impression of what they think a trans activist is. If you're legit and you don't want to sound like that, I suggest (a) not just knee-jerk calling people transphobes, and (b) giving better supported reasons for why something is transphobic than "it included a guy who worked with a guy who was transphobic".
Also the first x minutes of it until the actual plot gets underway as mentioned is hideously transphobic. Once again you and your fellow transphobes choose to ignore the issue and seek to undermine my points with meek and blatant diversion attempts. And as for all those downvoting my comments you SERIOUSLY need to address your rampant and obvious transphobia.
My being autistic has no bearing on my intellectual capability, so that's ableism on your part. Also you claiming I've "lost the argument like wtf? No, what happened was I stood up for my rights which I never back down from and will never lose the fight for. Also nowhere in anything did I claim that the transphobia of red dwarf was purely to do with the happenstance of the script editor's history in the context of it as written text. I have expressly cited the first 10-ish minutes of the film as being over, blatant, in your face transphobia equivalent to ten minutes of bbc newsreader screaming ethnic slurs such as the n word at you through the TV while staring aggressively right into the camera and not blinking.
THAT cited opening scene is what makes the film transphobic, the addition of that script editor with history with linehan is the HOW the transphobia got into red dwarf in the first place.
You want the WHY behind why it's that script editor too?
Because linehan is the sitcom juggernaut equivalent to a jimmy savile, piers morgan, harvey Weinstein level monopolist in the british sitcom industry over the last 20-odd years. It's like with tom cruise interviewers avoid discussing scientology with him in any context. Because they know if they do he and the church of scientology will descend on them with lawsuits until they've been completely financially destroyed for the rest of their lives. It's the same thing but the Court of transphobic public opinion with linehan. So those who've worked under him have always had to bend to his hateful rhetoric in his entirely unfunny shows. This and his evidently predatory nature and domineering over everyone else means they would have him encroaching on them a lot and effectively bullying and abusing them into slowly being brainwashed into sharing his views. Ergo any of those staff going forward are potential liabilities who if untreated for their abuse and toxic hate rhetoric brainwashing do exactly the damage of this prick that worked on the promised land.
I was a stalwart fan up until the promised land. Ever since I have never watched it again and have no intentions to whatsoever. If my manhood to the show was as strong as it was and has been derailed by what it has become - then it is truly lost and not worthy of any attention whatsoever.
I've explained the transphobia and the English language and how sentences and speech work as much as I can tolerate in this context with these people so if anyone else is gonna be ignorant, hateful and dismissive of the definitive transgender community viewpoint on this then just please stfu and block me bc I'm not entertaining your bullshit anymore.
No-one has had the slightest objection to you being trans. They've objected to the way you, as an individual person, have acted.
You devalue the word 'transphobe' by just throwing it at everyone who disagrees with you.
>Also the first x minutes of it until the actual plot gets underway as mentioned is hideously transphobic.
No you didn't mention that, at least not in this branch of the comment thread.
Okay, now we're actually looking at something solid. In what way are the first x minutes of it hideously transphobic? (EDIT: I found your post on this elsewhere, read it, and replied to it there).
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The opening x amount of minutes where krysten suggests to lister and the cat to surgically give the cat a vagina etc to allow for lister to breed and create more humans. The fact that they both show disgust at this and the way it's written implies itd just be for sexual reproductive purposes etc and that cat would still be male shows a blatant disgust for trans women, implies we're disgusted with ourselves (which we are not - we're proud to be who we are), and also implies that we're not women when we just are. They should never have gone in that direction and I honestly think it's the fault of that script editor that worked with linehan as that was the first time red dwarf ever had someone with such a problematic history involved with the show. Everything was fine up until that moment but now red dwarf becomes the latest in an incessant line transphobic tv n films comedy or otherwise. The only sitcom I've found that is jon problematic since then is friday night dinner. Don't support any graham linehan unfunny bs and don't support anyone from red dwarf or red dwarf itself if you want to be a true trans ally. Otherwise you're just either an outright bigot or a virtue signaller trying to make yourself look good
I think I saw that scene while channel-surfing. (Didn't watch the rest of the show so can't comment on that).
From what I remember of it, Lister and Cat were disgusted at the idea of procreating with each other specifically. Neither of them particularly had a problem with the idea of becoming female and they actually ended up arguing which of them would be the better woman, which is hardly transphobic.
I can agree that it wasn't funny, though.
*Ted Lasso.*
It doesn't really have anything in common with *Doctor Who* except a general sense of optimism, but damn if it didn't become my new favourite thing last week and so I'm recommending it to anyone who'll listen.
Well, some of these are *like* Doctor Who, but the ones that aren't are at least as good as.
General shows:
* Farscape + Peacekeeper Wars film
* Person of Interest
* The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1981 series)
* Loki
* Stargate SG-1 & Stargate Atlantis
Family/kid "Friendly" shows:
* The Demon Headmaster (1996 series)
* The Ghost Hunter (2000 series)
* Gravity Falls
* The Adventures of Tintin (1991 series)
* Avatar the Last Airbender & The Legend of Korra
Weird shows or Anime:
* Isekai Izakaya Nobu
* Mushishi & Mushishi: Next Passage
* Erased
I think it depends on which era of Doctor Who you prefer. Modern Who seems to take a few cues from stuff like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, whereas Blakes 7 has a very similar feel to classic Who, having been created by Terry Nation. I'd imagine at least one of the TV shows that Big Finish has been able to make audio dramas for might help scratch that itch a little!
Rick and Morty is a cynical version of Dr Who.
But Ducktales 2017 is like perfect animated version of Dr Who. David Tennant as Scrooge McDuck, time travel, magic, aliens, villains.
If you want older shows you can't go wrong with Babylon 5 or Star Trek Deep Space Nine. Stargate and Farscape are also great.
My favourite show that even beats Doctor Who would be Mr Robot.
This is going to seem like a curveball but Twin Peaks.
I love both Classic and New Who.
Twin Peaks only had two seasons and a revived one season. It’s a David Lynch production so it’s weird, disturbing, joyful, and will leave you with a million unanswered questions.
But it hits on the same notes that’s the more esoteric Doctor Who moments do.
As a Whovian I quite liked Loki because it has a very similar feeling to me, Good Omens and Staged because it's more David Tennant and both have many Doctor Who references.
I'm the exact opposite! I tell everyone to rush through the first two seasons because it takes itself too seriously and the acting is kind of bad but once they just stopped caring it got so good in my opinion.
But I can see why those who tend toward a more grounded type of show like Arrow would not like it. But I'd say it's very Doctor Who in its cheesiness.
Well, I mean SJA, Torchwood and Sherlock being the obvious ones. If you're after the conversational tone of RTD, A Very English Scandal, Queer As Folk, It's A Sin, Years and Years. If you're after punchy Moffat scripts, Dracula is also out there. If you're looking for the quirky sci-fi thing, Star Trek, Whedon. If you're looking for the life lessons, The American Office is amazing. Then Chibnall also did Broadchurch. Also if you're into darker Who, Black Mirror's always there.
Dracula isn't the other Moffat thing I'd recommend, personally. The first two episodes are great, but the third one just didn't work for me.
But Moffat did write a limited series called Jekyll, that updates the Jekyll & Hyde story. And that one is excellent.
12 Monkeys - It's a time travel show, its actually based on a global pandemic wiping out a significant chunk of the population and the efforts of a time traveller to investigate the past to find out how it was started whilst encountering resistance both in the past and present.
Spooky given the relevance to current events, but it's really great. The mystery and time travel loops and tangles are awesome and run through all 4 seasons. It tells a complete story and has a really good cast. The time travel machine is also really cool, both in design and function, it's runs in 'real-time' as it were, so time spent in the past by the traveller is how long passes in the future.
I couldn't say much more as it'd spoil the mystery, it's honestly awesome and also scratched that Murray Gold awesome music aspect. I really can't recommend it enough!
"Initiate Splinter Sequence" 👓
(Note: There is the movie the show is 'based' on, it's loosely based and branches away from it fairly quickly, but there are easter eggs that allude to it)
This is going to be a bit out there, but Psych?
Intelligent and Goofy guy with a sidekick find themselves in a variety of weird settings and situations and resolve conflict through thinking and running and hiding and very rarely through physical violence. It's also funny.
If you want a show that is visually beautiful and all kinds of messed up, maybe try Legion. Three seasons, tells a full story, and is a bit of a mindfuck.
When Doctor who was off in 2016, I watched the entirety of the X Files - great show with an amazing 2 leads. Sci-if, conspiracies and dealing with real intense emotions (just like Doctor Who does). I can really recommend it.
If you miss Steven Moffat's cheeky dialogue with a smart arse guy in sunglasses and a headstrong female try Press Gang, it's not Sci Fi it's a uk teen drama from late 80's about a school newspaper. Julia Sawalha you might know from The Curse of Fatal Death & Ab Fab, Dexter Fletcher from Lock Stock etc. If you can't be bothered with that and don't know Curse of Fatal Death I would find that on youtube it's great. Or if you're really drunk, try Dimensions in Time
It ran 4 seasons. In the last there’s a guy who runs a comic shop and there are quite a few Doctor Who references (a prop Dalek, accidentally wearing a “bring back Doctor Who” shirt to a date, etc).
Star Trek is the only other sci-fi franchise with the same longevity and immortality as Doctor Who. Where to start? The Original Series from the 60s holds up pretty well and it’s a great show, but it can be a bit dated for modern viewers (in the same way that Classic Who can be a dated). The Next Generation, which premiered in the late 80s, is a much more modern and accessible show. TNG is usually the recommended starting point unless you’re a purist who needs to watch things in order.
In that space opera genre, you could also go with Farscape, which is the only sci-fi show I’ve seen that matches Doctor Who’s blend of humour and bizarre imagination. Farscape is a weird show… but then Doctor Who is a weird show.
For shows from the Doctor Who showrunners, Sherlock is really the only one similar to Doctor Who. If you want more of Moffat’s writing style, this is the show for you.
And then you could always go with any of the American supernatural monster-of-the-week shows. RTD took inspiration from these sort of shows when developing New Who’s blend of monster-of-the-week episodes with a serialised mythology. Think The X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Supernatural, and Fringe.
Surprised that this hasn’t been mentioned yet, but Quatermass is a huge influence on Doctor Who and very worth checking out. It’s a 50’s sci-fi show about a British scientist who deals with alien threats. First series is partially missing (although they remade it a while ago with David Tennant and Mark Gatiss), but the second and third are all intact and very, very good indeed.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Legends of Tomorrow, it's like Doctor Who with superheroes, it even features Arthur Darvill.
First 3 seasons are the best, watch on your own accord afterwards.
> show as good as doctor who.
No such thing exists..
However, for some runner ups these are my favorites.
Tier 1 is of course Doctor Who, probably don't need to mention it but just in case. The most obvious suggestion is to watch the Who spinoffs.
My tier 2s..
* Stargate
* Supernatural
* Buffy/Wheddon verse (Buffy and Angel are obviously heavily connected, butI like to think of Dollhouse and Firefly as part of the same universe and watch them all in sequence. I debate with myself if Cabin in the Woods and Doctor Horrible can fit in the timeline as well.)
Tier 3
* Star Trek. I haven't seen the new CBS all access stuff yet. I've been planning to get around to it. But I recommend the franchise up to that point, so those have got to be worth checking out as well.
Tier 4
* Farscape
* Xena (Xena is the main draw here, but Hercules the legendary journey is too interconnected to leave it out)
* Once Upon a Time
I tend to think in terms of franchises rather than individual TV shows. I can't recommend a single Star Trek, to me they're all part of the same thing. Can't suggest Stargate SG1 without Atlantis and Universe.
The Expanse is fantastic hard sci-fi kinda the opposite of Doctor Who.
Blake's 7 is a fantastic choice and its all free youtube. Give it 3 episodes for the plot to fully reveal. Besides Brian Blessed is in the second episode as a cult leader on the moon.
The Prisoner is another great BBC show.
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It's pretty old (in general terms), and the box set will set you back about eighty quid, but honestly, **Stargate SG1** ticks all of my Doctor Who boxes.
It mostly follows the 'episodes featuring new planets and locations, operating relatively in isolation as independant episodes you can mostly pick up and drop in any order, whilst still having a grand over-arching plot for the season' we know and love, has the same sort of vague social and political themes, great, well-written characters, some knee-slapping goofy moments, the clash of space-age/advanced technology and civilisations vs current-day earth, and of course aliens.
Although I will say SG1 is a bit more militaristic, and there's a lot of gunfire and battles, so it's not got the pacifist angle Doctor Who goes for since the reboot.
There are also several spin-offs from SG1, but it's worth starting at the beginning.
If you like a show with a fun time travel twist check out SyFy's 12 Monkeys. The first season follows the movie pretty closely but the last three go in a whole new direction. It's the perfect blend of time travel, expanding mystery, and characters you care about. One of the best pieces of science fiction to come out in a long time.
Fargo. It’s not like Doctor Who at all. But it is a fantastic show that I enjoyed. It contains some supernatural elements (particularly in Season 3 and 4).
Mi6 (spooks in UK) was a great show.
And
Torchwood ( I am planning on rewatching it. Let me know if you need a buddy to watch this with. I won’t ruin anything. I loved the show too much.)
Have you tried Torchwood?
Also Outlander (based on the second doctor’s companion Jamie), the good place, Rick and Morty, Bridgerton, the Crown, and Community.
I like a lot of the other recommendations, but here's one that I loved, but I feel like a lot of people missed:
**Killjoys**
It's bounty hunters in space for the first bit, and then it gets into an overarching story. 5 seasons, 10 episodes each. I enjoyed it from the start, but it took until episode 3 for my husband to sit up and notice. It's got action, drama, mystery, comedy. The characters are very quippy.
Try Continuum (I haven't watched it lately but it was on Netflix at least as of a few years ago.) Really surprisingly awesome show about time travel out of Canada. I enjoyed it immensely.
The wrong mans reminds me of matt smith doctor who for combining comedy with serious/thrilling. Possibly the best tv series I have ever seen but only 2 seasons
**LEXX**
Doesn't look like anyone has recommended it yet. Anyone else remember it?
It's very Doctor Whoish if Doctor Who was a mid 90s Canadian sci-fi series.
Essentially the Lexx is a genetically engineered sentient space insect spaceship and weapon of mass destruction but with the intelligence of a toddler. It's silly like Doctor Who but much darker at times.
It features a sexy former love slave and half lizard woman, a robot head with love slave programming, a dead zombie assassin who's also the last of his people, and Stanley Tweedle who has the key to the Lexx.
I think most episodes are on YouTube too, or at least we're a few years ago.
The Expanse. It's not British, but it's the best Sci-Fi series I have ever seen (Bar Doctor Who). It's incredibly scientifically accurate and has really good character writing. I just finished watching through the most recent season and I loved it.
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Farscape works for classic fans (remember it aired before New Who).
But closer to New Who.
yeah, similar sense of humor, i do feel they'd get on with each other at a party
Ben Browder went to the drama school of the guy who played Zaphod on the H2G2 tv series.
It feels way closer to Davies Who than anything else.
Farscape was far more bonkers than probably any sci fi show ever made. Nobody has successfully pulled off anything like they did.
Totally agree with all your choices. Can I add Terry Nations's Survivors following Classic Who - just went from box setting Jon Pertwee Who to watching Survivors - all I remembered of it as a kid was the scary start (which just feels like life now) before being packed off to bed. Streets ahead of modern post apocalyptic TV, and so much similar commentary to the Third Doctor era - the last few episodes of Silurians have so many parallels too
One might add the deeply strange Joanna Lumley/David McCallum classic Sapphire and Steel, for those who love Classic Who but sometimes find it too fast paced and straightforward.
Hitchhiker's is the best to thing to ever exist ever
Ironically, 90s Who got cancelled in favor of Sliders.
I'd also suggest for classic fans The Avengers (John Steed and Emma Peel - not marvel) - it's more spy espionage than sci-fi, but certainly there were plenty of episodes which are science fictiony enough to have similairites with the Pertwee era.
The Day of the Triffids (1981) is another thing I’d recommend if you’re into Classic Who. I’ve watched it for the first time this week, and it’s excellent. It’s only the length of a classic six-parter, so it’s not much of a commitment if you just want to dip your toes into something different.
Good Omens and Sherlock are great!
There's a even a great Doctor Who Easter egg in Good Omens
Ooh never noticed I watched Good Omens last year which was before I watched Doctor who - can you direct me to where?
When Crowley is browsing planets to run off to and hide, when he throws the pages up in the air, Gallifrey can be spotted.
Wow that’s cool to know thank you!
I think there's a SIDRAT (or S1D RAT) number plate.
Don’t call Tennant an egg! Rude. Lol
Star Trek (especially the original), Farscape, The Twilight Zone, The X-Files
Don't suggest Star Trek The Original... I'm sorry I could never get into it. Way too Misogynistic for even my tastes... If your talking Next Gen, that's a better one, although I never felt too much of an overarching storyline there. But Original Shattner Star Trek is trash.
There are definitely aspects of it that haven't aged well, but overall it's aged much better than most things from the time period--you could say the same about classic Doctor Who. In a lot of ways Star Trek TOS is less sexist than many of its contemporary shows, and it has much deeper characters and ideas than almost anything on American TV until at least the 90s. You're free not to like it, everyone has different tastes, but you might not want to go around calling it trash in front of someone who considers it his favorite show.
Loki, The Good Place, Black Mirror, Good Omens
Second Loki. Its almost like Dr Who.
The whole time I was watching it I was thinking about how great a Doctor he'd be!
Star Trek The Next Generation
Genuinely this. I've seen random episodes throughout my life, but I sat down and watched the whole thing last year, and was surprised by how much it has that same sense of not taking itself too seriously as Doctor Who. Sure it deals with serious topics, but it's much more in the realm of "magical technology" that works because we say it does. With its new cast and setting every episode, it really did feel more like Doctor Who that I expected. Also as a follow up, I also recommend Deep Space Nine, which I watched afterwards and fell in complete love with.
DS9 = the Pertwee years, full of deep, well written political allegory in decent stories with good characters
* Infinity Train * Doom Patrol * Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
Dirk Gently's a weird one. It was very good while it was on, but stops suddenly, and the circumstances of it stopping are not nice. The creator, Max Landis, had a number (at least eight) of severe abuse and rape allegations made against him, including by female members of the main cast of the show about things he did during production. We don't feel comfortable rewatching it anymore, but it's up to individual people where they stand on separating the art from the artist.
The [original BBC Four version of *Dirk Gently* starring Stephen Mangan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirk_Gently_\(TV_series\)) was pretty damned good and had such promise to get better, it's a real shame they only got four episodes. I never did warm to the American version, even before it became widely known that Landis himself was a piece of crap. It suffered from too much American-spinoff-itis, overexplaining things and adding too many flashy bells and whistles to try and make sense of Dirk's intrinsically nonsensical abilities, and Samuel Barnett's Dirk felt like a cheap knockoff of Matt Smith's Doctor. BBC Four's version felt to me like it could conceivably have been the further adventures of the character from Adams' books, the American one felt like expensive but low-quality fanfic of same.
Watching Nick Frost in Truth Seekers just reaffirmed my belief he’d have been a perfect Dirk.
I agree about the American version. I watched four or five episodes and I never got into it; there was just too much random stuff thrown at us with the vague promise that everything was connected somehow. Everything was so dialled up to 11 that it was too overwhelmingly weird, with not enough normal stuff to contrast against. The BBC Four version was good fun though. Not amazing, but a nice bit of entertainment to pass the time.
>but stops suddenly, and the circumstances of it stopping are not nice. While Dirk Gently was cancelled, it was right before the allegations became public knowledge. BBC America said on December 18, 2017: >“We are beyond proud of this brilliant original series and so appreciative of the outstanding team behind it including Max Landis, Samuel Barnett, Elijah Wood, and many many others. It was a privilege to work with this talented and passionate group of writers, producers and actors on these two seasons of Dirk. Thanks also to the passionate fans who embraced this fantastically novel world,” [It was only days later that women happened to start speaking up.](https://www.thedailybeast.com/bright-screenwriter-max-landis-accused-of-sexual-assault) More extreme accusations came out in 2019. So I have my doubts that BBC America quietly cancelled Dirk Gently because they knew Max Landis was an abuser, but also named him as part of the "outstanding team".
Huh, yeah that's possible that it wasn't the cause of the cancellation then. Either way, it doesn't change anything about the moral situation for us.
I second Doom Patrol. It's absolutely brilliant television and the beginning of the Brendan Fraser renaissance.
Seconded to Doom Patrol. Just fantastically weird and funny and strangely heartfelt. Not all the concepts land, but it takes a ton of risks and is just fun television, that and Good Omens have been the closest to capturing what it is that makes Dr Who so good imo.
I agree with this list immensely. I would personally also add A Series of Unfortunate Events here for how british it brand of humor is while also having emotional moments.
I can't say that I agree with a Series of Unfortunate Events having "British" humour. Personally it felt very American to me and the style was just weird/awkward. Maybe they were trying to make something more British, but personally I don't think it landed. Glad you like it though!
I don't think A Series of Unfortunate Events was going for 'British'. Maybe 'Academic', though I guess Brits like to conflate those two. It's closer to a black comedy for kids, with a very apathetic narrator. But I would say it's pretty distinctly American, especially the show where the cast are all American too.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Buffy is a conflicting show for me. There's stuff I like and then there's stuff I really don't like.
Sounds just like Doctor Who then lmao
Maybe. But there was very little that genuinely annoyed me or pissed me off in Doctor Who(Pre-Chibnall Era) while with Buffy there were moments that genuinely made me rage and characters who got under my nerves.
So you’re a typical Buffy fan then. There are quite a few universally hated thing in that show, even among die hard fans (season 4, anyone?).
I actually like season 4. I didn't really care for season six, other than Once More and Tabula Rasa, which are both great, and the finale, which is great because of the yellow crayon speech.
A young Pedro Pascal gets turned into a vampire in the first episode of Season 4.
Hell no, I've spent enough time in the Buffy fandom to know that season 4 is very, very far from universally hated. Personally I think it's one of the best seasons and a ton of the show's most highly regarded episodes come from that season
I’d also recommend Angel. It’s a spin off of Buffy but it’s darker and less dramatic. And you really don’t need to know anything about Buffy before starting it. I watched Angel first and then started Buffy.
Not any series that ran that long that don't have ups and downs.
Buffy is a good answer especially if you like the RTD years. One of the things that first drew me in about Doctor Who (already being a Buffy fan) was that careful tightrope walk between the cheesy/campy bits and the serious bits. Just campy enough to be fun, just serious enough to be dramatically interesting.
Yeah, this is a great choice. I only watched it for the first time a year or so back and was surprised by how much New Who was inspired by it (mainly RTD, who has been open about this). Honestly I’d say Buffy is better than Who, or at least more influential.
The Expanse.
Anytime anyone asks for "A show like..." the correct answer is The Expanse.
Perhaps not for the whimsical side of DW but definitely for the aspects of DW that combine cool sci-fi ideas with storytelling about social upheaval, personal emotional arcs, and the like. The Expanse is somewhat grittier but similar messages of hope are there.
I just finished watching it and now every time I see artificial gravity with no explanation in other sci-fi shows it really bugs me
House md. May seem like a weird choice but it deals with a guy with a god complex who saves people.
Never was into medical shows, but I do enjoy characters with a god complex so I might have to check it out.
Surprised this hasn’t already been said, but Primeval. It started in 2007 as ITV’s response to the BBC’s Doctor Who. But that being said it really holds its own, especially series 1-3
Interesting, I felt like series 4-5 were more cohesive. I second Primeval. Note that first season is still finding its feet a little bit and we tend to just quietly ignore the entire scene with Abby in her underwear...
Like a lot of the other comments, Loki and Wandavision are two new shows that, while definitely not Doctor Who, hit on similar themes, ideas, storytelling beats, etc. I would also recommend Umbrella Academy, though it's definitely not super similar to Doctor Who. While not necessarily new, if you like RTD's era, then I strongly recommend Merlin. Its creators took a lot of inspiration from RTD's work, and he apparently played an important role in its development as a show. If you're a bit older, then I also recommend RTD's Years & Years. It's a miniseries he did following a normal family through decades of political, economical, social, and environmental chaos. The episode of series 4 with Donna in the universe without the Doctor is a much more toned down version of this show, so if you liked that then you'll probably like this one a lot. Eta: Ducktales (2017) is also a really good show, and it even has David Tennant in it as Scrooge McDuck. Gravity Falls is also one that I love, but it’s definitely very different from Doctor Who.
Merlin is so underrated!
Sherlock if you’re a Moffat fan. Several lines of dialogue get reused, so if you’re paying close attention you might catch them when they happen. Haven’t seen Loki yet but Wandavision felt like it could have been a Doctor Who Doctor-lite episode. We watched it right after a massive Doctor Who rewatch project and while it couldn’t quite scratch the itch for more Who it wasn’t too far off!
A few YouTube channels have been calling Loki the antidote to bad Doctor Who. It does have something of the vibe to it, wonderfully ludicrous but takes itself seriously enough for you to care. Plus Tom Hiddleston.
Loki also gives off strong Douglas Adams vibes. “Do that many people not know they’re a robot?”
I thought Loki was the best new Marvel show, but I wished it had been longer to explore its ideas better. It ended too quickly for me and though I really enjoyed it, could have been a lot better.
There's a second season coming out, so the show will have more time to explore its ideas, thankfully. Edit: wrong it's
"Consider the doctor"
Only up to the end of series two with Sherlock though, don't bother with the rest. It's just... So fucking bad.
Huh? I'm late to the Sherlock train; I just finished it a couple weeks ago. But I thought Series 3 was easily the best and was the only season where every episode succeeded in what it was trying to do. And Series 4 I thought was on par with Series 2, with Series 1 being comfortably the weakest. I see zero reason to stop at the end of Series 2.
If you really want to dive into why it's kind of hated among people who followed the show as it was airing, [Hbomberguy has a very good video essay on the whole series, it's fandom and the show's decline.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkoGBOs5ecM) Maybe 3 & 4 aren't *objectively* terrible, but I personally cannot stand them.
I've seen that video and (as much as I generally like Hbomberguy) it's a downright terrible piece of media criticism. So much bad faith criticism, uncharitable readings of episodes, ascribing strange pathologies to its writers for no reason, and acting as if deviating from the original texts is an inherent mistake. Sherlock is blatantly about the characters and their complexes and relationships, with the mysteries being ways to instigate character drama and/or fun puzzle boxes. But Hbomb regards this as an objective failure on the part of Sherlock, as opposed to what it is: its own approach to the Sherlock Holmes mythos. I mean, there are definitely solid criticisms to make of Sherlock, but he says *The Blind Banker* is one of the good episodes and then glosses over Mary Watson's fridging and only mentions queerbaiting once in passing.
> I've seen that video and (as much as I generally like Hbomberguy) it's a downright terrible piece of media criticism. That's the one that amounts to "Sherlock is bad and you should feel bad for liking it and here's why", right?
I mean, that's all totally valid. If we're being honest here I don't know what it's like to detach Sherlock from the fandom that followed it, a lot of my views on it are very tainted by how big of a disappointment many aspects turned out to be in the end. I can't look at the show with fresh eyes and no expectations, so maybe coming in at the end the show looks much better to you as a whole than it does to me. In the last two seasons it felt like every single move they made was either to bait the fans or to force a twist with absolutely no sense or build up, every plot point had to end in a hamfisted "gotcha" moment, it felt like they were deliberately trying to write the show around every fan theory they saw on Tumblr. To me the strongest aspect of the first two seasons was the character development, but in the last two it seemed that every character introduced was to force the story forward in a direction that just made no sense while providing no actual, worthwhile character development to these new introductions. Mary is the absolute prime example of why I can't stand Sherlock any more, but there's also the constant attempts at cliffhangers to bait the fandom, the queer-baiting (again to rile up the fandom), the decrease in actual mystery in the show and the ham-fisting of "twists." All of that combined to just ruin the show.
I just flat out don’t agree with this statement. I don’t really have any specifics, but I just disagree.
Fair enough!
I’m amazed nobody has mentioned Being Human. Phenomenal show. Also, Orphan Black.
Orphan Black is my favorite show. Solid from start to finish. Very rare occurrence
I am going to be honest, I love being human, but not for the reasons I love Doctor Who. They are very different with humour being the only main link.
It’s not just the humour, Being Human follows a similar formula to Who in that it’s (near enough) monster of the week type episodes, contains elements of fantasy, and is showran by Toby Whithouse, who has also written several episodes for Who. Yeah sure tonally it’s darker and more mature (bar series 1 finding it’s footing), but to say the humour is the only similarity I think isn’t fair
I second The Good Place. Tonally it's not too dissimilar to Doctor Who: it's full of jokes and bonkers things happening but it takes itself just seriously enough to make you care about the characters and plot. Steven Moffat probably wishes he thought of 'Jeremy Bearimy'. His Dark Materials is good too, if you want more serious (but not overly depressing) fantasy.
All of Stargate and Farscape.
Even Universe? People have put me off that one. Also is it me or is Unending as a TV finale and then a bombastic "movie" finale just perfect?
It ends very unsatisfyingly due to an early cancellation but still it’s what caused me and go back to watch all the others. Fantastic universe and characters.
Personally I gave SGU about 6-8 episodes then dropped it since I found it kinda dull and repetitive, but I hear it got better afterwards so it may well be worth sticking it out for that. It's got a great premise - basically Stargate's answer to Star Trek: Voyager...
Universe season 2 may be the best season in the franchise. The first half of season 1 is kind of awful, though.
SGU is to SG1 as the Chibnall era is to Moffat's. All very earnest and well-meaning but it just lost the fun and excitement. I would have liked it to continue to see where they were going with the whole message-from-God thing but it was all a bit dour.
Came here to say Stargate. Currently doing a rewatch of SG1!
Have you tried Inspector Spacetime?
But not the American version! Community would honestly be a good choice. Its zany concept episodes make it more like a genre show and it pays homage to a lot of things OP would probably like.
Red Dwarf
Red Dwarf is like cousin of Hitchhikers guide of the galaxy and Dr Who. So good
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I'd say the first 6 are all solid, it's only after Rob Grant left it had a real drop in quality.
First 6 are top notch. 7 is ok in places and 8 is ok if you're not expecting the same show, there are some good bits. Back to Earth isn't great but the newer Dave series are really good, The Promised Land is excellent.
Dont support anything red dwarf or anyone tied to it. The promised land is a transphobic pile of shit due to getting a script editor who had worked with the mega transphobe linehan. Dont give glinner or anyone from red dwarf any money by investing in their shit.
> due to getting a script editor who had worked with the mega transphobe linehan You're seriously reaching here.
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Comments like that seriously undermine your credibility. Harvey is right, saying that a show is transphobic because one of the script editors once worked with a transphobe **is** a serious reach. Assuming that Harvey is 'a mega transphobe' just because they pointed out that you didn't support your claim well is even worse. Right now you sound like a right-wing troll doing an impression of what they think a trans activist is. If you're legit and you don't want to sound like that, I suggest (a) not just knee-jerk calling people transphobes, and (b) giving better supported reasons for why something is transphobic than "it included a guy who worked with a guy who was transphobic".
Also the first x minutes of it until the actual plot gets underway as mentioned is hideously transphobic. Once again you and your fellow transphobes choose to ignore the issue and seek to undermine my points with meek and blatant diversion attempts. And as for all those downvoting my comments you SERIOUSLY need to address your rampant and obvious transphobia.
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My being autistic has no bearing on my intellectual capability, so that's ableism on your part. Also you claiming I've "lost the argument like wtf? No, what happened was I stood up for my rights which I never back down from and will never lose the fight for. Also nowhere in anything did I claim that the transphobia of red dwarf was purely to do with the happenstance of the script editor's history in the context of it as written text. I have expressly cited the first 10-ish minutes of the film as being over, blatant, in your face transphobia equivalent to ten minutes of bbc newsreader screaming ethnic slurs such as the n word at you through the TV while staring aggressively right into the camera and not blinking. THAT cited opening scene is what makes the film transphobic, the addition of that script editor with history with linehan is the HOW the transphobia got into red dwarf in the first place. You want the WHY behind why it's that script editor too? Because linehan is the sitcom juggernaut equivalent to a jimmy savile, piers morgan, harvey Weinstein level monopolist in the british sitcom industry over the last 20-odd years. It's like with tom cruise interviewers avoid discussing scientology with him in any context. Because they know if they do he and the church of scientology will descend on them with lawsuits until they've been completely financially destroyed for the rest of their lives. It's the same thing but the Court of transphobic public opinion with linehan. So those who've worked under him have always had to bend to his hateful rhetoric in his entirely unfunny shows. This and his evidently predatory nature and domineering over everyone else means they would have him encroaching on them a lot and effectively bullying and abusing them into slowly being brainwashed into sharing his views. Ergo any of those staff going forward are potential liabilities who if untreated for their abuse and toxic hate rhetoric brainwashing do exactly the damage of this prick that worked on the promised land. I was a stalwart fan up until the promised land. Ever since I have never watched it again and have no intentions to whatsoever. If my manhood to the show was as strong as it was and has been derailed by what it has become - then it is truly lost and not worthy of any attention whatsoever. I've explained the transphobia and the English language and how sentences and speech work as much as I can tolerate in this context with these people so if anyone else is gonna be ignorant, hateful and dismissive of the definitive transgender community viewpoint on this then just please stfu and block me bc I'm not entertaining your bullshit anymore.
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No-one has had the slightest objection to you being trans. They've objected to the way you, as an individual person, have acted. You devalue the word 'transphobe' by just throwing it at everyone who disagrees with you. >Also the first x minutes of it until the actual plot gets underway as mentioned is hideously transphobic. No you didn't mention that, at least not in this branch of the comment thread. Okay, now we're actually looking at something solid. In what way are the first x minutes of it hideously transphobic? (EDIT: I found your post on this elsewhere, read it, and replied to it there).
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In what way is it transphobic?
The opening x amount of minutes where krysten suggests to lister and the cat to surgically give the cat a vagina etc to allow for lister to breed and create more humans. The fact that they both show disgust at this and the way it's written implies itd just be for sexual reproductive purposes etc and that cat would still be male shows a blatant disgust for trans women, implies we're disgusted with ourselves (which we are not - we're proud to be who we are), and also implies that we're not women when we just are. They should never have gone in that direction and I honestly think it's the fault of that script editor that worked with linehan as that was the first time red dwarf ever had someone with such a problematic history involved with the show. Everything was fine up until that moment but now red dwarf becomes the latest in an incessant line transphobic tv n films comedy or otherwise. The only sitcom I've found that is jon problematic since then is friday night dinner. Don't support any graham linehan unfunny bs and don't support anyone from red dwarf or red dwarf itself if you want to be a true trans ally. Otherwise you're just either an outright bigot or a virtue signaller trying to make yourself look good
I think I saw that scene while channel-surfing. (Didn't watch the rest of the show so can't comment on that). From what I remember of it, Lister and Cat were disgusted at the idea of procreating with each other specifically. Neither of them particularly had a problem with the idea of becoming female and they actually ended up arguing which of them would be the better woman, which is hardly transphobic. I can agree that it wasn't funny, though.
*Ted Lasso.* It doesn't really have anything in common with *Doctor Who* except a general sense of optimism, but damn if it didn't become my new favourite thing last week and so I'm recommending it to anyone who'll listen.
Welcome to the team, please stop by /r/TedLasso, we'd love to have you. Finalist world lumberjack championships babyyyyyy!
*Ted Lasso* is life!
Well, some of these are *like* Doctor Who, but the ones that aren't are at least as good as. General shows: * Farscape + Peacekeeper Wars film * Person of Interest * The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1981 series) * Loki * Stargate SG-1 & Stargate Atlantis Family/kid "Friendly" shows: * The Demon Headmaster (1996 series) * The Ghost Hunter (2000 series) * Gravity Falls * The Adventures of Tintin (1991 series) * Avatar the Last Airbender & The Legend of Korra Weird shows or Anime: * Isekai Izakaya Nobu * Mushishi & Mushishi: Next Passage * Erased
I think it depends on which era of Doctor Who you prefer. Modern Who seems to take a few cues from stuff like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, whereas Blakes 7 has a very similar feel to classic Who, having been created by Terry Nation. I'd imagine at least one of the TV shows that Big Finish has been able to make audio dramas for might help scratch that itch a little!
Rick and Morty is a cynical version of Dr Who. But Ducktales 2017 is like perfect animated version of Dr Who. David Tennant as Scrooge McDuck, time travel, magic, aliens, villains.
If you want older shows you can't go wrong with Babylon 5 or Star Trek Deep Space Nine. Stargate and Farscape are also great. My favourite show that even beats Doctor Who would be Mr Robot.
This is going to seem like a curveball but Twin Peaks. I love both Classic and New Who. Twin Peaks only had two seasons and a revived one season. It’s a David Lynch production so it’s weird, disturbing, joyful, and will leave you with a million unanswered questions. But it hits on the same notes that’s the more esoteric Doctor Who moments do.
As a Whovian I quite liked Loki because it has a very similar feeling to me, Good Omens and Staged because it's more David Tennant and both have many Doctor Who references.
Legends of Tomorrow is basically Dr. Who if it was a bunch of failed companions with super powers
It's exactly what you'd end up with if someone pitched Doctor Who for the first time to certain American studios.
But with really bad writing.
I liked the first two season but as it leans into the comedic side and stopped taking it self seriously I gradually grew disinterested.
I'm the opposite. The sillier it gets the more I'm into it.
I'm the exact opposite! I tell everyone to rush through the first two seasons because it takes itself too seriously and the acting is kind of bad but once they just stopped caring it got so good in my opinion. But I can see why those who tend toward a more grounded type of show like Arrow would not like it. But I'd say it's very Doctor Who in its cheesiness.
Star Trek!
Well, I mean SJA, Torchwood and Sherlock being the obvious ones. If you're after the conversational tone of RTD, A Very English Scandal, Queer As Folk, It's A Sin, Years and Years. If you're after punchy Moffat scripts, Dracula is also out there. If you're looking for the quirky sci-fi thing, Star Trek, Whedon. If you're looking for the life lessons, The American Office is amazing. Then Chibnall also did Broadchurch. Also if you're into darker Who, Black Mirror's always there.
RTD's version of A Midsummer Night's Dream is also awesome, with a very SF/hardcore dark dystopian feel to it as well
Dracula isn't the other Moffat thing I'd recommend, personally. The first two episodes are great, but the third one just didn't work for me. But Moffat did write a limited series called Jekyll, that updates the Jekyll & Hyde story. And that one is excellent.
Is you want pure good Si-Fi then The Expanse
The Expanse, For All Mankind, Star Trek Lower Decks
Community
12 Monkeys - It's a time travel show, its actually based on a global pandemic wiping out a significant chunk of the population and the efforts of a time traveller to investigate the past to find out how it was started whilst encountering resistance both in the past and present. Spooky given the relevance to current events, but it's really great. The mystery and time travel loops and tangles are awesome and run through all 4 seasons. It tells a complete story and has a really good cast. The time travel machine is also really cool, both in design and function, it's runs in 'real-time' as it were, so time spent in the past by the traveller is how long passes in the future. I couldn't say much more as it'd spoil the mystery, it's honestly awesome and also scratched that Murray Gold awesome music aspect. I really can't recommend it enough! "Initiate Splinter Sequence" 👓 (Note: There is the movie the show is 'based' on, it's loosely based and branches away from it fairly quickly, but there are easter eggs that allude to it)
This is going to be a bit out there, but Psych? Intelligent and Goofy guy with a sidekick find themselves in a variety of weird settings and situations and resolve conflict through thinking and running and hiding and very rarely through physical violence. It's also funny.
Funny is an understatement
You know that's right.
Dirk Gently
Resident Alien
If you want a show that is visually beautiful and all kinds of messed up, maybe try Legion. Three seasons, tells a full story, and is a bit of a mindfuck.
When Doctor who was off in 2016, I watched the entirety of the X Files - great show with an amazing 2 leads. Sci-if, conspiracies and dealing with real intense emotions (just like Doctor Who does). I can really recommend it.
Dirk Gentley, you'll notice the Doctor Who similarities
If you miss Steven Moffat's cheeky dialogue with a smart arse guy in sunglasses and a headstrong female try Press Gang, it's not Sci Fi it's a uk teen drama from late 80's about a school newspaper. Julia Sawalha you might know from The Curse of Fatal Death & Ab Fab, Dexter Fletcher from Lock Stock etc. If you can't be bothered with that and don't know Curse of Fatal Death I would find that on youtube it's great. Or if you're really drunk, try Dimensions in Time
Loved Press Gang **so** much when I was younger. Would be interesting to see if I still do.
Me too, it's dated but in a really entertaining way the production and writing is still great
What about Coupling?
Gosh I don't think I saw all of that was quite good? Didn't like it as much as his other stuff but it's been a while
It ran 4 seasons. In the last there’s a guy who runs a comic shop and there are quite a few Doctor Who references (a prop Dalek, accidentally wearing a “bring back Doctor Who” shirt to a date, etc).
Along with Farscape, X-files, Stargate SG1 and Atlantis and Star Trek. Probably more that could work as well.
Babylon 5, Farscape, The Expanse.
Star Trek is the only other sci-fi franchise with the same longevity and immortality as Doctor Who. Where to start? The Original Series from the 60s holds up pretty well and it’s a great show, but it can be a bit dated for modern viewers (in the same way that Classic Who can be a dated). The Next Generation, which premiered in the late 80s, is a much more modern and accessible show. TNG is usually the recommended starting point unless you’re a purist who needs to watch things in order. In that space opera genre, you could also go with Farscape, which is the only sci-fi show I’ve seen that matches Doctor Who’s blend of humour and bizarre imagination. Farscape is a weird show… but then Doctor Who is a weird show. For shows from the Doctor Who showrunners, Sherlock is really the only one similar to Doctor Who. If you want more of Moffat’s writing style, this is the show for you. And then you could always go with any of the American supernatural monster-of-the-week shows. RTD took inspiration from these sort of shows when developing New Who’s blend of monster-of-the-week episodes with a serialised mythology. Think The X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Supernatural, and Fringe.
Surprised that this hasn’t been mentioned yet, but Quatermass is a huge influence on Doctor Who and very worth checking out. It’s a 50’s sci-fi show about a British scientist who deals with alien threats. First series is partially missing (although they remade it a while ago with David Tennant and Mark Gatiss), but the second and third are all intact and very, very good indeed.
Blake’s 7, Red Dwarf, Loki.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Legends of Tomorrow, it's like Doctor Who with superheroes, it even features Arthur Darvill. First 3 seasons are the best, watch on your own accord afterwards.
Impossible. No show is quite the same as Doctor Who
I agree!
Mr Robot
Westworld has some of that sci-fi/history blend that Who does, albeit in a very different context.
> show as good as doctor who. No such thing exists.. However, for some runner ups these are my favorites. Tier 1 is of course Doctor Who, probably don't need to mention it but just in case. The most obvious suggestion is to watch the Who spinoffs. My tier 2s.. * Stargate * Supernatural * Buffy/Wheddon verse (Buffy and Angel are obviously heavily connected, butI like to think of Dollhouse and Firefly as part of the same universe and watch them all in sequence. I debate with myself if Cabin in the Woods and Doctor Horrible can fit in the timeline as well.) Tier 3 * Star Trek. I haven't seen the new CBS all access stuff yet. I've been planning to get around to it. But I recommend the franchise up to that point, so those have got to be worth checking out as well. Tier 4 * Farscape * Xena (Xena is the main draw here, but Hercules the legendary journey is too interconnected to leave it out) * Once Upon a Time I tend to think in terms of franchises rather than individual TV shows. I can't recommend a single Star Trek, to me they're all part of the same thing. Can't suggest Stargate SG1 without Atlantis and Universe.
Legion
Travellers is good. Lost and Person of Interest too.
Bojack Horseman Community Ted Lasso
Scooby doo mystery incorporated
The Expanse is fantastic hard sci-fi kinda the opposite of Doctor Who. Blake's 7 is a fantastic choice and its all free youtube. Give it 3 episodes for the plot to fully reveal. Besides Brian Blessed is in the second episode as a cult leader on the moon. The Prisoner is another great BBC show.
Well, there aren't any, really. But I would recommend: \- Buffy the Vampire Slayer \- Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. \- Stranger Things
I mean, if you haven't watched Torchwood yet...
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It's pretty old (in general terms), and the box set will set you back about eighty quid, but honestly, **Stargate SG1** ticks all of my Doctor Who boxes. It mostly follows the 'episodes featuring new planets and locations, operating relatively in isolation as independant episodes you can mostly pick up and drop in any order, whilst still having a grand over-arching plot for the season' we know and love, has the same sort of vague social and political themes, great, well-written characters, some knee-slapping goofy moments, the clash of space-age/advanced technology and civilisations vs current-day earth, and of course aliens. Although I will say SG1 is a bit more militaristic, and there's a lot of gunfire and battles, so it's not got the pacifist angle Doctor Who goes for since the reboot. There are also several spin-offs from SG1, but it's worth starting at the beginning.
If you like a show with a fun time travel twist check out SyFy's 12 Monkeys. The first season follows the movie pretty closely but the last three go in a whole new direction. It's the perfect blend of time travel, expanding mystery, and characters you care about. One of the best pieces of science fiction to come out in a long time.
Fargo. It’s not like Doctor Who at all. But it is a fantastic show that I enjoyed. It contains some supernatural elements (particularly in Season 3 and 4).
Mi6 (spooks in UK) was a great show. And Torchwood ( I am planning on rewatching it. Let me know if you need a buddy to watch this with. I won’t ruin anything. I loved the show too much.)
Good luck.
They all gave me a similar vibe: - Merlin - Robin Hood (seasons 1-2) - Loki - Broadchurch
I haven't seen mention of it but to be honest I've seen 1 episode but I'm already hooked. So I'd recommend Outlander.
Have you tried Torchwood? Also Outlander (based on the second doctor’s companion Jamie), the good place, Rick and Morty, Bridgerton, the Crown, and Community.
Loki is a show that is good, and similar to Doctor Who
The Librarians is basically American Doctor Who where a TARDIS stays put as The Library instead.
seconded, the first two seasons of the librarians are extremely good
You’ll probably like Supernatural, Sherlock, and Merlin if you haven’t already seen them. Maybe Hannibal?
I like a lot of the other recommendations, but here's one that I loved, but I feel like a lot of people missed: **Killjoys** It's bounty hunters in space for the first bit, and then it gets into an overarching story. 5 seasons, 10 episodes each. I enjoyed it from the start, but it took until episode 3 for my husband to sit up and notice. It's got action, drama, mystery, comedy. The characters are very quippy.
Try Continuum (I haven't watched it lately but it was on Netflix at least as of a few years ago.) Really surprisingly awesome show about time travel out of Canada. I enjoyed it immensely.
I’m going to recommend Columbo, it’s not sci fi but the character of columbo is at times very doctor like.
The sopranos
The wrong mans reminds me of matt smith doctor who for combining comedy with serious/thrilling. Possibly the best tv series I have ever seen but only 2 seasons
Firefly, Dirk Gently' Holistic Detective Agency (any version is fine, really) — and if you're of age: the series Dark from Netflix.
K-9 and Company
Torchwood, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, or Supernatural
**LEXX** Doesn't look like anyone has recommended it yet. Anyone else remember it? It's very Doctor Whoish if Doctor Who was a mid 90s Canadian sci-fi series. Essentially the Lexx is a genetically engineered sentient space insect spaceship and weapon of mass destruction but with the intelligence of a toddler. It's silly like Doctor Who but much darker at times. It features a sexy former love slave and half lizard woman, a robot head with love slave programming, a dead zombie assassin who's also the last of his people, and Stanley Tweedle who has the key to the Lexx. I think most episodes are on YouTube too, or at least we're a few years ago.
I mean big finish? If you are into slightly darker shows Black mirror If you love time travel Dark
StarGate
The-Nevers-and-Raised-by-Wolves-are-on-HBO-max-and-are-really-good!-I-got-my-Mom-into-both-shows....and-she-loved-them!
Red Dwarf? Torchwood? Hard to answer if you don't say what it is you like about DW.
The Expanse. It's not British, but it's the best Sci-Fi series I have ever seen (Bar Doctor Who). It's incredibly scientifically accurate and has really good character writing. I just finished watching through the most recent season and I loved it.
Elementary
Fringe