The Best of Doctor Who?

[Haruko]

I did a search for a similar topic, but I know my key word searches must suck, and after a few pages (waiting about a minute for each page due to searching restrictions), I got the idea that if there was such a topic, it was probably very old.

Anyways, it'd of course be ridiculous of me to expect people to choose the "best" out of the entire history of Doctor Who, but as there are several fans here, I'm wondering what episodes you guys would recommend to someone like me who only became familiar with the Doctor Who series with the introduction of the Ninth Doctor. In other words, what episodes from before the Ninth Doctor's introduction do you think I should see?

I've been watching a few of the old ones on YouTube, but most of them featured the Fourth Doctor. The one I saw most recently was "Pyramids of Mars," which interested me because, when I read the details on the Wiki, there was apparently this really tough alien who even Time Lords would be afraid of.

[Parallax]

There are quite a few I'd say are worth a go.

1st Doctor:
An Unearthly Child

2nd:
Tomb of the Cybermen

3rd:
The Three Doctors

4th:
Talons of Weng Chiang

5th:
The Caves of Androzani

6th:
The Two Doctors (most of the 6th doctor stories are rubbish, despite Colin Baker's efforts and Peri's tiny wardrobe, this story is probably the best of the lot).

7th:
Remembrance of the Daleks
Silver Nemesis
Ghost Light
Curse of Fenric

[Stark]

Dude the Three Doctors is horrible

Sadly the First Doctor stories are thin on the ground, and TUC is just a big grey blur.

2nd - Tomb of the Cybermen, Invasion

3rd - Inferno, Ambassadors from Space, I liked Planet of Daleks

4th - Invisible Enemy! Ark! The one with the KRYNOID!

5th - Androzani hands down, maybe Mawdryn Undead

6th - Nothing

7th - Rememberance and Fenric

[Crossroads Inc.]

In no protocolar order, MY favorites have always been:

"The Silurians" original

"The Face of Evil" one of Tom bakers Best.

"The Sun Makers" written by Douglas Adams!

"The Monster of Paledon" Great story with lots of odd aliens and Ice Warriors!

"The Pyramids of Mars" the episode that gave us Sutek as one of the Doctors most powerful foes!!

"The Seeds of Doom" Epic Killer plants!

[Stark]

Is Seeds of Doom the Krynoid one with the INSANE HORITCULTURALIST and UNIT laser cannons? That's so awesome.

[Crossroads Inc.]

Yes it was, It also had UNIT Airstrike that killed the "Unstoppable Plant of DOOM!" I love it because standard Earth bombs killed the badguy, go UNIT!

[Stark]

Even better the Doctor was all 'hells yes blow it up, you'll need a lot of bombs' instead of OH NOEZ VIOLENCE IS WRONG!

[Patrick Degan]

"The Sun Makers" written by Douglas Adams!

Robert Holmes did that one. Douglas Adams' first script for the programme was the vintage "The City Of Death" —the one set in Paris.

[DaveJB]

Robert Holmes did that one. Douglas Adams' first script for the programme was the vintage "The City Of Death" —the one set in Paris.

Adams' debut on Doctor Who was The Pirate Planet in the "Key to Time" season, the year before City of Death. That one's also worth watching if you like his type of humour, although I'd definitely check out City of Death first.

[Hillary]

I did a search for a similar topic, but I know my key word searches must suck, and after a few pages (waiting about a minute for each page due to searching restrictions), I got the idea that if there was such a topic, it was probably very old.

No problem, some of us will discuss Doctor Who all day long

I would recommend Edge of Destruction from 1 - just to see how callous Hartnell's Doctor started out. Unearthly Child is OK as well - The Daleks is OK, except it's far too long.

2 - I really loved the Tomb of the Cybermen.

3 - Planet of the Daleks is pretty good - not a great fan of Pertwee's Doctor. Green Death is interesting, sort of,

4 - Loads to choose from, mainly with Sarah-Jane or Leela. Pyramids of Mars, Seeds of Doom, Brain of Morbius, Talons of Weng Chiang, Robots of Death, Horror of Fang Rock, Invisible Enemy. All went a bit shit when Romana arrived.

5 - Meh!

6 - Meh!

7 - Much of the final series, including Remembrance of the Daleks and the Curse of Fenric

[Patrick Degan]

Robert Holmes did that one. Douglas Adams' first script for the programme was the vintage "The City Of Death" —the one set in Paris.

Adams' debut on Doctor Who was The Pirate Planet in the "Key to Time" season, the year before City of Death. That one's also worth watching if you like his type of humour, although I'd definitely check out City of Death first.

That's right —"Pirate Planet" slipped my mind, though it shouldn't have, as it was one of my favourites of the Key To Time season.

[mr friendly guy]

William Hartnell
1. The Time Meddler

I also vaguely recall liking the Chase. I had got the DVD but haven't had time to peruse it yet.

Patrick Troughton

1. Tomb of the Cybermen
2. The Seeds of Death

This is going to be controversial, but I liked War Games. Despite the claims of padding, it didn't bother me as it seemed to flow nicely. Maybe I am just more patient than others. First appearance of the Time Lords as a civilisation rather than individuals, and the swan song for Pat Troughton.

Jon Pertwee

1. Curse of Peladon

2. The Time Warrior - first appearance of Sarah Jane Smith

Tom Baker in no particular order.
1. City of Death - one of the most popular DW episodes apparently according to surveys.

2. Genesis of the Daleks - first appearance of Davros and so fitting the ending. Too bad Terry Nation loved Davros so much he kept on bringing him back.

3. The android invasion - note this isn't available on DVD, although you can find it on VHS.

4. Planet of Evil

5. Robots of Death - You know, you're a classic example of the inverse ratio between the size of the mouth and the size of the brain

6. The Horror of Fang Rock

7. The Key to time sextant - now you have to watch all of them to get the story, however my I thought the third one, the stones of blood was the weakest. My favourite in that would otherwise be in order a) power of kroll b) Pirate planet c) Androids of Tara d) Ribos operation e) the Armageddon Factor f) stones of blood. Oh yeah, and Mary Tamm as Romana was hot.
However the whole series thoroughly enjoyable IMO.

8. The Sontaran experiment - note you may have to see the previous episode "The Ark in space" as this two parter happens straight after.

9. Terror of the Zygons - not available on DVD AFAIK but available on VHS.

Peter Davison

1. Earthshock

2. Caves of Androzani - someone is going to make a bondage joke here.

Colin Baker

1. Timelash - yes I am a minority here, and its not a classic among fans but I find it a guilty pleasure. The companion just screams while the Doctor saves the day by building all sorts of cool devices McGyver style. Exactly how a DW story should be.

Sylvester McCoy

1. Rememberance of the Daleks - the theme of racism just meshes nicely here.

I would also have honourable mentions for Battlefield, Curse of Fenric and the Happiness Patrol. The first two don't seem so good when I watch them as an adult, but the last one seemed better if you watch it for being a surreal episode with themes, rather than a plot based story.

Paul McGann

Best to avoid him, he was dealt a shit hand with a horrible story.

[Hillary]

Oh - and the Edge of Destruction carried a resolution that even RTD would have discounted as being far too unbelievable - a broken spring on a switch in the TARDIS that catapaulted it back to the beginning of time.

[Night_stalker]

The reintroduction of the Daleks in the New Series. Yes it might be cheesy, but watching as 1 Dalek takes out a entire military bunker full of soliders.

Also this one line in the same episode "ELEVATE!" Stairs no longer stop Daleks.

[Crazedwraith]

The reintroduction of the Daleks in the New Series. Yes it might be cheesy, but watching as 1 Dalek takes out a entire military bunker full of soliders.

Also this one line in the same episode "ELEVATE!" Stairs no longer stop Daleks.

You are a retard. First read the OP:

Anyways, it'd of course be ridiculous of me to expect people to choose the "best" out of the entire history of Doctor Who, but as there are several fans here, I'm wondering what episodes you guys would recommend to someone like me who only became familiar with the Doctor Who series with the introduction of the Ninth Doctor. In other words, what episodes from before the Ninth Doctor's introduction do you think I should see?

Second, Daleks could always go upstairs. They just didn't do it on screen. Apart from that they did during the 7th Doctor's tenure.

[Bedlam]

1st Doctor
The Aztecs - An interesting look into what you can and cant do with time travel and about the only story where Barbera is the star
The Romans - One of the very few Dr Who stories designed to be a comedy, Nero is such fun and he switches to moments of Pychopathy so well

2nd Doctor
The Seeds of Death - One of the first old Doctor stories I saw (for me the current doctors were 5 and onwards). It seems a good action / adventure story
The Invasion - Again a solid action / adventure with some good shots of Cybermen stomping around a seemingly diserted London

3rd Doctor
The Silurians - I'm not much of a fan of the 3rd Doctor but I've always liked the idea of the Silurians and the tension between the Brig and the Doctor is great the later stories got a bit to chummy given their different outlooks.

4th Doctor
Genesis of the Daleks - Davros is a truely great villan here, the discussion about ultimate power is such a great rant
The Robots of Death - A so so murder mystery but the Robots themselves look great and manage to be terrifying despite being so polite and hansome looking
City of Death - Douglas Adams Script, Lalla Ward in a School uniform, whats not to love?

5th Doctor
Caves of Androzani - Despite the 5th doctor being my favourite there arn't many specific stories I love, his swan song is great though it just keeps moving as the Doctor pulls out all the plugs to save the life of someone he only just met.

6th Doctor
Revelation of the Daleks - Like most people I'm not a great fan of the 6th Doctor but he doesn't appear much in this one. Probably one of the Darkest Dr Who stories with lots of interesting characters.

7th Doctor
Rememberance of the Daleks - An amazing story of great depth, some good effects as well. The novelisation is even more astounding.
Battlefield - Not as good as Rememberance which was by the same writer but I still like it. The Destroyer might be the best looking monster of the original series. Again the novelisation is great.
Ghost light - Very intricate sets and a nice look into the ideas of change and evolution.
Curse of Fenric - Very much focusing on Ace and her growing up, again the Hemovores look great and are scary.

[Stark]

Oh man, the CSO in Fang Rock is horrid. I like Underworld but it's unwarchable due to the awful CSO sets. DW tried to make Sin City thirty years early. It didn't work.

[Crossroads Inc.]

Dude I watched "The Face of Evil" last night again after mentioning it in this thread, and I had forgot a scene that made the old Doctors so epic.

After a Technobable defense field goes down, a Tribe of primitives are threatened by invisible monsters.
What does the Doctor do? Well he doesn't try to pacify the monsters, he doesn't try to talk with them, he doesn't even try to get the Field back up...
No he gets some ancient RAYGUNS, recharges their batteries and gives them to the primitives to blast the crap out of the monsters!
Fuck Yeah!

[Stark]

How about the Sun Makers? Some guys rip off the human race and make them slaves on Pluto? Start a bloody revolution and EVAPORATE THAT MOTHERFUCKER!

[mr friendly guy]

Dude I watched "The Face of Evil" last night again after mentioning it in this thread, and I had forgot a scene that made the old Doctors so epic.

After a Technobable defense field goes down, a Tribe of primitives are threatened by invisible monsters.
What does the Doctor do? Well he doesn't try to pacify the monsters, he doesn't try to talk with them, he doesn't even try to get the Field back up...
No he gets some ancient RAYGUNS, recharges their batteries and gives them to the primitives to blast the crap out of the monsters!
Fuck Yeah!

Hey, Tom Baker was great as the Doctor. Even though Baker supposedly believed the Doctor shouldn't use guns, there were clearly episodes where he wasn't adversed to utilising them, even if it was to threaten people and he didn't need to fire it. Like in "Seeds of Doom" where Chase is about to expose Sarah Jane to the Krynoid alien plant and the Doctor in some action scene jumps down from the window, rolls on the floor, knocks the henchmen out the way, takes the gun and points it at the bad guys allowing him to escape. That was awesome.

[Hillary]

Dude I watched "The Face of Evil" last night again after mentioning it in this thread, and I had forgot a scene that made the old Doctors so epic.

After a Technobable defense field goes down, a Tribe of primitives are threatened by invisible monsters.
What does the Doctor do? Well he doesn't try to pacify the monsters, he doesn't try to talk with them, he doesn't even try to get the Field back up...
No he gets some ancient RAYGUNS, recharges their batteries and gives them to the primitives to blast the crap out of the monsters!
Fuck Yeah!

Hey, Tom Baker was great as the Doctor. Even though Baker supposedly believed the Doctor shouldn't use guns, there were clearly episodes where he wasn't adversed to utilising them, even if it was to threaten people and he didn't need to fire it. Like in "Seeds of Doom" where Chase is about to expose Sarah Jane to the Krynoid alien plant and the Doctor in some action scene jumps down from the window, rolls on the floor, knocks the henchmen out the way, takes the gun and points it at the bad guys allowing him to escape. That was awesome.

Or when he drown Goth in the Deadly Assassin. I know it was only in the virtual world, but even so it was damn violent.

If it came down to "kill or be killed" he wasn't going to stand there and wait for someone else to take the initiative. David Tennant take note.

[Gemini-Preserver]

First Doctor = The Daleks/The Chase. Watched it on DVD the other day and found myself laughing at the Dalek lifting its self out of the sand coughing and spluttering. also the Time Meddler because it gives a a little more insight into the enigma that is he Doctor at the time

Second Doctor = The Mind Robber. Possbily the War Games, though you could skip to the end of episode 11 from episode 6 as you dont miss much. Was anyone else scared at the end of episode 11 when the Timelords forcefield kicks in with that piano music?

Third Doctor = Inferno, Three Doctors, Frontier In Space. The Master was evil and a gentleman all at once

Fourth Doctor = Deadly Assassin, Invasion of time and Logopolis.

Fifth Doctor = Earthshock, Five Doctors, Caves of Androzani

Sixth Doctor = Going out on a limb but I enjoyed some parts of Trial of a Timelord,

Seventh Doctor = Remberance of the Daleks and Curse of Fenric

Eighth Doctor = Movies alright considering at least a quater is given to the death of Mccoy.

[Ford Prefect]

Or when he drown Goth in the Deadly Assassin. I know it was only in the virtual world, but even so it was damn violent.

He also almost snaps some guy's neck in Seeds of Doom. Even better than the Third Doctor getting into pit fights!

[mr friendly guy]

Ok while we are all saying how awesome Tom Baker's doctor was, lets not forget his actions in the Masque of Mandragora. While not a story that particularly stands out aside from the "You can't count, Count" line it does have its moments with the Doctor being great.

1. He escapes execution by using his super long scarf like a whip in a comedic moment and tripping up his would be executioner

2. He fights off several swordsmen simultaneously with aplomb.

Other fight scenes with Tom Baker's doctor.

1. Androids of Tara - while not the best swashbuckling role for Baker, he does mock his opponent in a sword fight by deliberately facing the wrong way. Nothing says contempt more than that.

2. Seeds of Doom - numerous action scenes there

3. Android Invasion - man I am waiting for this on DVD. The Doctor jumps out of a tall building and lands correctly. Then there was the action scene where Baker fights his stronger android double. Also loved the scene when the aliens are wary of the Doctor because the Doctor is also a scientist. As a kid that just made me think these scientists are so cooool. I have admired science in general since then and now with much better reasons than because Doctor Who potrayed them in a good light.

4. He fights the stronger Sontaran in the Sontaran experiment.


Oh and I love how he blatantly says aliens are here and they mean you harm with a mocking manner challenging you to doubt him. Man he had screen presence and the people reluctantly listen to him. By contrast we have X files where Fox Mulder speaks about some alien conspiracy and everyone just thinks he is some nutter.

Those people who say your favourite Doctor is such and such because you just grew up watching him need to see Tom Baker at his height. If you can't stand the special effects the DVDs not only digitally remaster the scene, but they also add in newer special effects to cover the shitty old ones. For example in the Sontaran experiment they actually have the guns fire energy beams instead of just shining like a torch.