Frankly, I don’t blame you. It’s the longest running science-fiction series in the history of television, having gone on longer than every single Star Trek series put together. It’s featured the writing of Douglas Adams, Neil Gaiman, and television luminary Steven Moffat (who looked like he was going to corner the market on Hugo awards for a few years there.) It’s smart, witty, fun, inventive, fearlessly silly and gobsmackingly terrifying all at the same time, and generally the best thing since sliced bread. But with a TV show that’s coming close to celebrating its 50th anniversary, where do you start?
Really, the wonderful thing about the series is that there are any number of jumping-on points. The show is not a “Lost”-type experience where you have to pay deep attention to the mythos and every story builds on the story before it. (In fact, it’s almost the opposite; with so many changes to the show’s creative personnel, it was pretty frequent for series writers to have to rely on second- or third-hand descriptions of older stories when they brought back recurring enemies. This is why compiling timelines of Doctor Who is a fan cottage industry.)
But probably the best jumping-on point, right now, is Season One of the new series. The first episode, “Rose”, shows the Doctor from the perspective of someone meeting him for the first time, and gives you a nice initiation into the basic concept of the series (although the best description of the basic concept comes later, in Steven Moffat’s introductory episode “The Eleventh Hour”: “Amy Pond, there’s something you’d better understand about me, because it’s important, and one day your life may depend upon it. I am definitely a madman with a box.”) From there, it’s pretty easy to find yourself moving on to Seasons 2, 3, 4, the 2009 specials, and 5…although honestly, I think that big chunks of 3 and 4 are skippable if you don’t feel like watching everything. (Make sure to watch “Blink”, though. Everyone should watch “Blink”, if for nothing else than to see Carey Mulligan in one of her early TV appearances. She’s gonna be huge.)
But the thing is, as much as I like it, the new series is only the tip of the Doctor Who iceberg. There’s twenty-six seasons and a whopping 286 novels out there, not to mention the comics, audio plays and movies. (The movies are just adaptations of two early TV stories. You can skip them if you want, although it’s neat to see Peter Cushing playing the Doctor.) While you certainly don’t have to see it all…and in fact, you can’t, thanks to the BBC’s short-sighted decision to erase several early stories from their archives…there are a few good places to start in. I’ll list eleven, in honor of the eleven Doctors (although not necessarily featuring them all.) One thing, though. It’s worth noting that the classic series was filmed a long time ago, and usually on a shoestring budget. If you have a low tolerance for terrible special effects, run don’t walk in the other direction.
1. Genesis of the Daleks. The origin of the Daleks (although not their first appearance) and the first appearance of Davros, their mad creator. Also features the most popular (and arguably the best) Doctor, Tom Baker, whose floppy hat and long scarf provide some of the iconic images of the series.
2. An Unearthly Child. The very first episode; it actually holds up pretty well as a piece of drama, although you’ll find yourself wondering exactly who Susan’s grandmother was and why we never hear about the Doctor’s family ever again. This is normal, and part of your initiation into the world of Doctor Who fandom.
3. Spearhead From Space. This story doesn’t actually introduce UNIT, the military organization that helps the Doctor frequently over the course of his travels, but it does introduce the era of the series where they were most prominent (and the era where the Doctor was trapped on Earth.) It also introduces the Autons, occasional recurring enemies of the Doctor.
4. The Deadly Assassin. Likewise, this story doesn’t actually introduce the Master, the Doctor’s arch-nemesis and fellow renegade Time Lord, but it’s easily the best story with the character and introduces his rationale for most of the later era of the series (he’s used up all his regenerations and is trying to find a way to prolong his existence.)
5. The War Games. Basically, it’s the origin story for the Doctor, but it’s also a clever story in its own right. The Doctor seems to materialize in World War One, but at every twist, the story grows in scope until he has no choice but to reveal his past and go to his own people, the Time Lords, for help in restoring order. (Pack a lunch…it’s a ten-parter.)
6. The Chimes of Midnight. This is one of the better stories in the audio spin-off line from Big Finish, and also one of the stories that’s emblematic of the Eighth Doctor’s run in the audios. His impulsive decision to rescue “Edwardian adventuress” Charley from certain death aboard the R-101 has catastrophic consequences to history, and this story is a perfect example. Plus, it’s chillingly clever and a mix of humor and horror that sticks with you for a long time after the story ends. “Edward Grove is alive.”
7. Human Nature. At last, a chance to use links! This classic Doctor Who novel is also available as a free ebook at the BBC’s website, and it’s one of the best things Paul Cornell (who you might have heard of from the Pete Wisdom or Captain Britain comics) has ever written. It was later adapted for TV, but the book is better. Also features one of the stronger appearances of Cornell-created companions Bernice Summerfield, who wound up with her own spin-off series of some thirty novels and a similar number of audio plays. (River Song, from the new series, is basically a slightly-less awesome version of Bernice.)
8. Spare Parts. Another audio play, this one featuring TV’s Fifth Doctor, Peter Davison. It’s also the origin of the Cybermen, who comprise, alongside the Daleks and the Master, the Doctor’s main Rogue’s Gallery. (In general, the Doctor’s Rogue’s Gallery consists of entire species, not individuals. Individual bad guys who fight the Doctor have a tendency to wind up dead.)
9. The Two Doctors. This is one of the more watchable adventures of the Sixth Doctor, but it gives you a pretty good idea of the kinds of excesses and problems that were afflicting the series around then. Colin Baker tries hard, but script editor Eric Saward undercuts everything with his vision of the series, and producer John Nathan-Turner viewed his job more as drumming up publicity for the series than actually making it watchable. Oh, and it’s got the Sontarans in it. See one Sontaran, you’ve seen ’em all (literally, they’re a race of clones.)
10. City of Death. The Doctor Who episode every Doctor Who fan shows to non-Doctor Who fans, this is the one written by Douglas Adams, with Julian Glover as the villain (you know Julian Glover, even if you don’t remember the name; he’s been a villain for James Bond, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Doctor Who, and Harry Potter) and the cameo by John Cleese. If you can only watch one of the stories on this list, this is probably the one.
11. Remembrance of the Daleks. The last Dalek appearance in the classic series, and probably the best; this features three of the all-time classic headfucks of Doctor Who. The first is the Dalek chasing the Doctor up the flight of stairs for the first time in series history, the second is the appearance of the “Special Weapons Dalek” (which must be seen to be believed), and the third…but that would be telling. 🙂
So there you go, a potted guide to Doctor Who! It’s by no means complete, but I hope I’ve given you a good place to start. That’s all for this week…but I did want to beg everyone’s indulgence for a moment, and mention that I’ve started my own T-shirt store on CafePress. Feel free to stop by and see if there’s anything you like!
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Interesting stuff, but can you go a step further and tell us un-initiates where to find the above?
I watched the first two seasons of the (current?) Doctor Who and part of the third, but found myself less interested once Rose departed. I wouldn’t mind a collection of “greatest hits” from throughout the years. Lousy special effects don’t bother me, but sci-fi that either takes itself too seriously or doesn’t have a requisite amount of camp (which is how I find Star Trek tolerable) does.
This has the best timing of anything ever. I was just this very week thinking how much i’d like to jump into Doctor Who but i had no idea where to begin and if i really needed to see the gazillion iterations of the character.
So yeah, awesome post.
I’ve watched the entire modern series (over and over and over) and a smattering of the older stuff. I really appreciate this list. I’ve been looking to catch up on highlights of the entire run. Thanks for this.
John’s girlfriend here, stepping in to answer @Snap Wilson because I’m working late and waiting for something to finish, so I have the time to compile links. 🙂 I used Amazon.com just for ease of use, and some of these have “Watch it now” links. Want to try before you buy? Don’t blame you. 🙂 Netflix is also a good place to find some of these. You can also check your local library.
http://amzn.to/dBExCY – New series Amazon Store. “Rose” is Season 1. “Blink” is Season 3.
http://amzn.to/dBExCY – Genesis of the Daleks.
http://amzn.to/bAPoh5 – An Unearthly Child plus a couple.
http://amzn.to/bZp0NR – Spearhead from Space.
http://amzn.to/9AA841 – Deadly Assassin
http://amzn.to/bCQHGq – War Games
http://amzn.to/aFfVcY – Two Doctors
http://amzn.to/aBdT6G – City of Death
http://amzn.to/9c9lzv – Remembrance of the Daleks
http://www.bigfinish.com/ – Home of the Doctor Who audios. Chimes of Midnight and Spare Parts are here.
Hope this helps!
@Snap Wilson – I posted a comment with links to everything John didn’t link, but I think it’s in moderation because of URLs in the comment. Check back later…it should be approved.
One bit of advice – if you’re pretty sure you’ll want them, rather than buying Genesis and Remembrance separately, buy the Davros box set from Big Finish (linked above). It has three other Dalek stories (including Revelation Of The Daleks, which is almost as good as those two), plus five more audio stories (including Davros, one of the all-time great audios) and a great documentary, and is only forty pounds. It’s probably the best value for money you can get for old Doctor Who.
Big Finish also have a ‘Big Finish For A Fiver’ range, selling some of their Doctor Who CDs for only five pounds.
Another good link for people wanting to get into Who is:
http://www.whona.com/
They’re an independent store that specializes in British sci-fi, and they have a good stock of things like the audios, and a limited (though obviously dwindling) selection of out-of-print Who books. I’ve liked them ever since 2002, when they were importing the BBC novels at cost because there was no US distribution deal in place and they wanted to help guys like me get their fix. 🙂
If I may, I have a few other recommendations.
First of all, Tomb of the Cybermen. It’s Matt Smith’s favourite serial and it’s rather difficult to argue the point. It’s a very good story. The Time Meddler is also a rather enjoyable tale, well worth the time to check it out.
I would also recommend Power of the Daleks, but there’s a minor problem. You see, in the 70s the BBC junked all the episodes of the show from the 60s for the purposes of saving money. Many of them have been recovered since, but there are also a ton out there that only exist in reconstructed form. This renders a great many serials from the 60s era almost unwatchable.
In spite of that, the six part serial Power of the Daleks is among my favourites even though nothing save a few short clips, the audio and various photos exist today.
This is a very good jumping in list. In case anyone is interested, I’m currently writing reviews of the older serials each friday at http://www.fantasticpulp.com/
Hope you don’t mind the plug, but it is related to the discussion.
I have to admit, I’m surprised that you picked any of the audio stories. I knew about them, but I figured you’d stick to the TV episodes.
Interesting timing, as I’ve just gotten into Old School Who. Not a bad list; having become familiar with the character from New Who, I took a different road in: Robert Holmes. Holmes is almost universally considered the “definitive” WHO writer, having scripted for five of the seven original Doctors.(Indeed, #3, #4, and #9 on your list are by him; he was also Story Editor during the first half of Tom Baker’s run, which was probably the most consistantly strong period of the “classic” era- your #1 is from this time).
Even his worst scripts are a cut above, but I’d single out TALONS OF WENG-CHIANG (WHO at it’s most gothic) and THE CAVES OF ANDROZINI (which stands so far above all the OTHER 1980’s WHO I’ve seen so far, it makes me wonder how he pulled it off!)
For those who aren’t yet sure if you actually want to spend money on The Doctor, you can try just about all the television episodes here: http://www.doctorwho-episodes.com/
For ease of use, John’s recommendations are in seasons 12 (Genesis of the Daleks), 1 (An Unearthly Child), 7 (Spearhead from Space), 14 (The Deadly Assassin), 6 (The War Games), 22 (The Two Doctors), 17 (City of Death), and 25 (Remembrance of the Daleks), respectively.
If you use that site, remember that the original series is referred to as “Seasons” 1-26, and the new series is refered to as “Series” 1-5.
“Rose”, for example, would be found as the first episode of “Series 1”.
@Jonathan: Except by some fans, who insist that they be labeled as Seasons 27-31 because they’re just a continuation of the old series. Actually, that’d be a good column for next week: “So You Want To Get Into Doctor Who Fan Arguments.” 🙂
@drmedula: Love Robert Holmes. Absolutely love. It’s a tragedy that he didn’t survive to write for the new series, but his influence lives on. Really, any Holmes script is a good one. I’m also a big fan of Chris Boucher; “The Robots of Death” is a classic, a sort of Asimov/Dune/Agatha Christie mash-up with Tom Baker and psychotic jungle girl Leela thrown into the mix. Oh, and Terrance Dicks is always fun.
I seem to be in the minority on this, but I found Russell Davies’ run–i.e., the modern version of the show, starting in 2005, minus the latest season–to be pretty lousy. Season 2 was particularly bad, in my opinion–episodes like “Fear Her” and (especially) “Love and Monsters” are just complete stinkbombs.
The show from this period tends to rely WAY too much on a handful of tropes–aliens possessing people or people turning into aliens, lame attempts at “satire” in which aspects of modern life turn deadly, bad CGI (I know bad effects are traditional for this show, but bad puppets and costumes are charming; bad CGI is just grating), and truly shameless deus ex machina that kill all suspense. (Whatever happens, you know the Doctor’s somehow going to produce a Big Red Button that will magically solve all their problems in the last ten minutes.) There’s also a John Williams-esque over-reliance on heavy-handed, swelling musical cues, and a rather obnoxious insistence on how utterly awesome and perfect the Doctor is, which is particularly annoying since the 2005-era Doctor clearly ISN’T perfect, and indeed, the Tennant Doctor is mostly a whiny, emo jerk who later develops a streak of megalomania. The climax of Season 3, which had been building up to a pretty good story until then, is particularly bad about this, with the Doctor literally becoming, as someone put it, a cross between Jesus and Tinkerbell.
Oh, and Rose and Martha are both spectacularly uninteresting characters, Mary Sues of the highest order. Donna’s a lot more interesting, which is why Season 4 is my favourite of the Davies run. For the most part, though, Stephen Moffat is the only consistently decent writer on the new show, and the current season, with him in charge and Matt Smith as the Doctor, has unquestionably been the best of the new run.
My recommendation for newbies is to watch “Blink”, the best single episode of the current series, which also happens to function as a perfectly good introduction to the Doctor and the basic premise of the show. Then skip ahead to “Silence in the Library”/”The Forest of the Dead”. After that you’ll have a perfectly good sense of the show, enough to start watching the Matt Smith run. I’m rewatching it with some friends, and this is how I did it. Other than having to explain that the Doctor regenerates into a new actor, I mean body, from time to time, and what a Dalek is, and making a game stab at the rules of time travel (which the show itself doesn’t seem to have any real idea about), he wasn’t confused at all. And I don’t think he’s really missed much for never having seen an episode with Rose Tyler in it…though now he’s threatening to go back and watch the whole modern run from the beginning on his own. It’s probably my fault–show people the Steven Moffat episodes and they get a disproportionate sense of how good the show is.
Folks who may enjoy the modern iteration of the show may have a hard time adjusting to the pacing of the old stuff– I know I did. Genesis of the Daleks felt like I was dying of old age as I sat there.
The Pertwee stuff hews closest to the sensibilities of the current run– it’s got more action and adventure and a strong supporting cast to carry the stories. Spearhead from Space is excellent in that regard. Of the stuff that’s currently on DVD, I’d also suggest The Sea Devils, which is my second-favorite serial of the original run.
Prankster, I gotta agree with your comment about the music. A friend of mine likes to joke that the composer got paid extra for each dramatic chord. Completely ruined Daleks in Manhatten for me, though there were other things in there that did much the same.
Bill Reed is completely right about the pacing. It’s like night and day at times, and it can be a bit difficult to adjust. Fans of the newer episodes will feel that the older serials are far, far too slow while fans of the older serials will feel that the newer ones are far, far too fast.
Oh yes, and might I also recommend Terror of the Autons? If you want an indication of exactly how frightening the Nestene really are as an enemy, that’s exactly where you should look. It also has the benefit of introducing The Master to us. If, by the end of that serial, you don’t get why John Simm was not portraying The Master then I’m sorry there really is nothing I can do for you.
Yeah, I’ve actually heard fans of the old show grousing that they want a return to the old serial format, which is INSANE. I’ve seen several Robert Holmes-Tom Baker serials–that’s about the extent of my experience with Classic Who–and while the stories are OK, they’re absolutely murdered by the slow pacing and pointless running-around necessitated by padding them out to four episodes.
The only other Classic Who episode I’ve seen is the pilot–not the full serial, just the single first episode–and I’ll second that it really holds up well, especially if you imagine not knowing anything about Doctor Who at the time. It’s creepy and mysterious, and they actually seem to be setting up the Doctor as the villain, which is a pretty ballsy move.
The episode I always get people to jump on with is “Partners in Crime” from the fourth season because it is the funniest episode – including the Wil E. Coyote ending to the show’s villain.
Call me a nit picker, but I think this is a terrible list for those interested in getting into classic Who. Not that they aren’t bad stories by any means (well, at least one is). But not great to start with. Here’s why you should take these suggestions with a grain of salt:
1: actually is perfect
2: the first episode of this serial is possibly the best episode of Doctor Who ever. Possibly. The following three episodes are fantastic if you can stand the pace of early sixties British TV. If they were remade today, the entirety of episodes 2-4 would occur before the credits of the modern show. Just be wary.
3. Gains huge points for being one of the slickest stories of the original series, but the fact that the Doctor is in a hospital bed for what feels like forever kind of holds it back. And if you are then comparing it to “The Christmas Invasion,” as charming as new supporting character the Brigadier is, he’s no Rose. Or Mickey. Possibly a Jackie, though.
4. Even better than ‘Genesis of the Daleks,’ but saddled with a whole bunch of Time Lord mythology that would help destroy the show in the 80’s. Very atypical at the time, and while brilliant, not a place to start.
5. Ten episodes of getting captured and escaping; a whole lot of wheel spinning. An Important story, sure, and at times very engaging, but more Important than watchable, especially as an introduction.
6. One of the few audios that is listenable.
7. A really enjoyable Doctor Who novel. A fine choice if you want to go back and experience the New Adventures.
8. One of the audios that is not listenable.
9. Do not ever watch this. This is why Doctor Who needed to be cancelled in the eighties.
10. Superb.
11. A great story with great production values for the time. However, in hindsight, the late eighties have been cruel to posterity and this is a *terrible* looking story with music so bad as to yank you out of the story constantly if you aren’t prepared for it. The story achieves huge things while simultaneously looking and sounding pitiably cheap – and not in a charming way.
My suggestions: The Romans, The Dalek Invasion of Earth and Tomb of the Cybermen from the sixties; the Ark in Space, Genesis of the Daleks, Image of the Fendahl and City of Death from the seventies, and Earthshock, the Caves of Adronzani, and Ghost Light from the eighties. And if you want to read the New Adventures, Cornell rarely went wrong, and neither did Lance Parkin. MArk Gatis’s ‘Nightshade’ is also very good.
Remembrance of the Daleks: two great moments – Ace beats the crap out of a Dalek with her baseball bat (“Who you callin’ small?!” WHAM!), and Ace shoots the hell out of a Dalek with a shoulder-mounted rocket launcher (“You said aim for the eyepiece!”)
There are only two things on the list that I would really quibble with:
First, you only really need to bother with the first episode or so of “An Unearthly Child.” Just skip all the interminable farting around with the cavemen, watch the very end, and spend your time better by going right to the first Dalek story.
Second, while “the Deadly Assassin” might be a great episode with the Master IN it, I can’t consider it the best “Master episode” because he’s barely a character; he’s just a force behind the crap happening to the Doctor. Even relatively mediocre Pertwee’s like “Colony In Space” or “Claws of Axos”* have better examples of the classic Master. As much as some might fuss over Simm’s version, at least that WAS a character of some sort, not just a gross-out mask and a raspy voice.
*My personal “Classic Who that most fans rate very low, but I have great affection for.” Everyone seems to have one.
Ah, right, The Ark in Space. How could I forget? Tom Baker’s best story. I’m not a Tom Baker guy, but his first season in the role held onto the dynamism of the Pertwee era, and Ark in Space has some transcendent moments.
People don’t like Claws of Axos? Bah.
The hilarious thing about The Ark in Space is that I’m almost positive Ridley Scott ripped it off for ALIEN. It’s almost the same movie–not just in terms of plot, but atmosphere and design, albeit on a much, much lower budget.
My girlfriend and I have been watching modern Dr. Who since we got Netflix instant watch a couple of months ago – we just finished Season 4 last night (and GOD DAMN does Dr. Who have the best season finales!).
I added City of Death to our instant watch list, and already had Vengeance on Varos queued up based on a recommendation you made on your site. We’ll be hunting down the other materials on this list as well. Thanks!
“Genesis of the Daleks”, while an important story, kind of drags and drags and drags. And no one should be forced to sit through “War Games” or “The Two Doctors” as an introduction to classic Doctor Who. Even “An Unearthly Child” tends to drag.
This list in general seems to have a tendency to hit important stories a bit more than enjoyable stories.
Give people a couple of interesting stories, and they will find their way to the rest of Doctor Who. I’d try to find a story from each era, and then let people explore on their own.
“City of Death” is an obvious choice, and makes good use of time travel within the story, and generally sets of the entire premise of Doctor Who in one fell swoop. It doesn’t have the feel of most Doctor Who episodes of the era, however, relying too much on comedy, so it might not be a particularly representative choice.
“Pyramids of Mars”, is classic Who done well. A lot of the stories from the first half of Tom Baker’s run are excellent, but this one always held a special place in my heart for its excellent scene where the Doctor takes Sarah to 1980, to show her the destroyed Earth, in response to her suggestion that they just leave since they know the world didn’t end in 1911.
Pertwee’s run was most notable for being stuck on Earth, and having the Master. “Terror of the Autons” would be an excellent introduction to that.
Enough of Troughton’s run has been lost that I would probably skip over it. To enjoy most of his stories, you have to already love classic Doctor Who, and be willing to put up with reconstructions.
Hartnell was such a radically different Doctor from anything that we had after that we absolutely need to include something. His run had a lot of historical dramas as well as more futuristic science fiction, so I am inclined to go with “The Aztecs” and “The Ark”.
On to the latter half of classic Doctor Who…
Peter Davidson is probably my favorite Doctor, but many of his stories are tied into the Dark Guardian, or the Mara. I love the story “Black Orchid”, but it is probably a terrible introduction to the character. “Earthshock”?
I would quietly skip over anything featuring Colin Baker. I like his Doctor, but I don’t like any of the stories his Doctor appears in. One might argue that they are nowhere near as bad as the worst of the Sylvester McCoy stories, and that is true, but McCoy did get a few very good stories as well. Colin Baker rarely got a story that ranked adequate. “The Two Doctors” is as good as it gets, and even that should be avoided.
Poor Sylvester McCoy… production values were plummeting all around him, and he got some truly shockingly terrible stories, and Mel. But, he got a few very good stories. “Ghost Light” would be my pick as an entry point.
The 8th Doctor is mostly explored in the Big Finish audio dramas, and other media. I know next to nothing about him, but it would be a weird jumping on point anyway.
My quibble with your list, Darren K, is that by the end of watching it people would have no idea who the Master is, who the Sontarans are, what UNIT is, what the Time Lords and Gallifrey are, and for that matter who the Third, Sixth, and Eighth Doctor is. 🙂 My goal was to create a list that would educate a new audience about the series’ recurring characters and ideas are, while also being fairly watchable. It’s not a list of my favorite stories (rest assured, some of the stories on your list would definitely be on there if it was. I adored Ghost Light.)
I’ve tried watching the modern series a few times, but I don’t think it’s for me. We just don’t “click”. That said, I’ve always liked the actual stories themselves because they read like tabletop RPG adventures. Most of his classic enemies look like up-sized miniatures, even.
re: Davidson era, Earthshock is only good if people have seen enough earlier episodes involving Adric to enjoy that ending… Wesley had nothing on Adric… for the Fifth Doctor era, Arc of Infinity is good (just ignore the hideous robot thing that Omega uses).
re: Colin Baker era, the Trial of a Time Lord is convoluted and you’re stuck with a season-long storyarc you’d have to watch in entirely to grok, but Mindwarp was a good episode. Anything with BRIAN BLESSED eating the scenery is a good episode. 🙂
City of Death is also available on Netflix Instant Watch, along with the 4 season of the new series and 3 of the last Tennant specials.
It’s funny you should mention both BRIAN BLESSED and Omega there. I recently watched The Three Doctors, and I’m convinced that the only meal Omega’d had in all his time stuck in that anti-matter universe was ham and scenery.
Which, as we all know, is the BRIAN BLESSED diet.
Yet to see Arc of Infinity. I’m slowly but surely catching up on all the serials, in order. Watched Planet of Spiders today, and I recommend avoiding that one.
Oh, and two awesome things about Invasion of the Dinosaurs. If you listen to them, you’ll realise that they’re actually roaring the word roar.
The other is that at one point, they decide to colour code a map based on where different dinosaurs have been appearing. The colour code they use is: red for T-Rex, blue for Triceratops, green for stegosaurus, and pink for Pterodactyl.
In case the second one isn’t clear… well, I’m sure someone will get it. Even if green isn’t right at all.
I’ve just gotten into this program. As far as I can tell, it’s Crystal Meth in television form. My first hit was titled “The Weeping Angels” and it’s all been downhill from there.
John: fair points, but if you are suggesting to people where to go once they have watched the new series, surely they already know who the Master is, and who the Sontarans are, and what all the others are. I think that is one of the best things about the new series is how it brought back all this old stuff, and managed to explain what it all is without getting caught up in exposition. The Master is the Doctor but evil. The Sontarans are a cloned race of warmongers, etc. Efficient and to the point.
As to showing Doctors 3, 6 and 8 – 3: The Time Warrior – Third Doctor, Sarah Jane, Sontarans and UNIT. Sorted; 6: probably one of those audio things, because watching his stories will make your eyes bleed. Vengence on Varos is quite good, though; 8: the TV movie. What if the TARDIS landed in a 90’s sf TV series? A good bit of fun that falls apart in the final act. For some, the goodwill generated in the first 75% can still save it. Works for me. Plus the Master.
I think that main quible I have with your list is that you look too much – for me – at the mythology of the show, and this rarely was the focus of the series, and when it was, the show didn’t benefit from it. For the longest part of the shows run, recurring enemies were fairly few and far between. If a viewer has seen the new series, don’t they know all they really need to know about the old series, and shouldn’t suggestions focus on the most enjoyable and accessable stories rather than the more cryptic?
It’s like how a lot of people somehow feel the Five Doctors (which is not on your list) is somehow a good place to start because it has five Doctors and Gallifrey and daleks and Cybermen and and and … which actually makes it a pretty terrible place to start – but a really fun romp for the long term fan. I think your list kind of tends towards that direction rather than a more accessable introduction.
John, I’ll give you points for drawing on the awesome non-TV stuff, including the audio adventures that make both the Sixth and Eighth Doctors tolerable. Seriously, this is a cool list.
Where I have to take issue is “The Two Doctors”. Now, a good friend of mine is something of a Sixth Doctor partisan. She will defend him, despite the jacket, despite the orange spats, despite the fact that most of the episodes he was in were kinda terrible. She defends him, I sometimes think, partly because everyone else hates him so much, and she believes in justice for the underdog, in popularity terms.
But even she won’t defend “The Two Doctors”. She describes it as one of the dumbest things she’s ever seen. She has a good point; it is, legitimately, fuck-awful. It has the worst vegetarianism message on British TV since that Sapphire & Steel serial where Steel was nearly killed by an evil pillow. There’s just no case to be made that it’s a good example of anything. If you must include a Sixth Doctor adventure, and I understand the impulse, because if you can take Six you can take anything, why not “Trial of a Time Lord”? Better story, better acting, better all around.
You forgot Meglos. How dare you.
The villain is a talking cactus. A freaking cactus…
Yeah, if you’re looking to introduce new viewers to a show I’m not sure why you would steer them towards an episode that “gives you a pretty good idea of the kinds of excesses and problems that were afflicting the series around then.” Better to just skip Colin Baker, surely?
And if you want to introduce them to the Sontarans, The Time Warrior is the way to go.
For the Master, I’d recommend that Pertwee serial with the Sea Devils. Any intro to the character absolutely must feature Roger Delgado, and the Doctor fencing against the Master in prison is one of my favorite moments in the whole damn series.
“Better to just skip Colin Baker, surely?”
Revelation of the Daleks.
My list for the uninitiated just in case anybody cares.
An Unearthly Child (Part 1 only)
The Mind Robber (Its bonkers)
Inferno (It’s epic)
The Robots of Death/The Talons of Weng Chiang/Horror of Fang Rock/Image of the Fendahl
City of Death (a complete no-brainer)
The Five Doctors
The Caves of Androzani
Revelation of the Daleks
The Curse of Fenric
I would recommend everything from the Key To Time episodes through the end of Peter Davidson’s run, but it looks like a lot of people would disagree with me here. Am I the only one who found most of Tom Baker’s early episodes dull? (Not because of Tom, of course.)
“Am I the only one who found most of Tom Baker’s early episodes dull?”
Yes, Mary, you are. (I can certainly understand if the “gothic horror” vibe of that period isn’t your cup of tea… but compared to the Davison run, “dull” is definitely NOT the word your looking for.)
Yeah, sorry, Mary, but you’re an outlier there. Not to say you’re wrong, of course; personal preference is never wrong. But you’re definitely in the minority. I loved the Hinchcliffe era.
@Brad Hanon: If I was to include a favorite Sixth Doctor TV story, it’d be “Vengeance on Varos”. But “The Two Doctors” is the second-best (ie, still tolerable, unlike “The Mark of the Rani” or “The Twin Dilemma”) and has the Sontarans and the Second Doctor to boot.
If it was just a Sixth Doctor story, period, I’d say “The Holy Terror”. The Sixth Doctor, a shape-shifting penguin, and one of the best cliff-hangers ever. “Who is the man who created God?”
“Pyramids of Mars”, “Remembrance of the Daleks” and “Ghost Light” were the three classic stories that really got me into DW. Fair warning: with “Ghost Light”, be prepared with either a notepad or be ready to watch it a few times, because it really doesn’t make sense the first time around. Or the second.
Replying way late to @devichan, but much thanks for the links! Well above and beyond the call of duty. I hope Mr. Seavy knows what he has in you.
Cheers,
Snap
@Snap: Believe me, I do.
My favorite episodes happen to be: The Five Doctors, The Talons of Weng-Chiang, Pyramids of Mars, The Green Death, The Time Monster, Death to the Daleks, Robots of Death “Please, do not throw hands at me.”, The End of the World and Human Nature/The Family of Blood.
I also have a sneaking fondness for “The Mind Robber” as my very first Doctor Who fanfic was set there.
[…] An acquaintance who considered himself fairly well-versed on the subject gave me a frenetically-written list of recommended episodes last spring. The Onion’s A.V. Club has a “Doctor Who” primer with a list of essential episodes. Andy was also interested in MightyGodKing’s post “So You Want To Get Into Doctor Who.” […]
[…] was why did it take me so long to start watching this? Aside from the fact that people have written entire dissertations on which episode you should start with, Doctor Who is chock full of everything that make science-fiction entertaining. The show […]
[…] I hesitated to start watching the show because I couldn’t figure out where to start; fans have written dissertations on the best place to begin. Eventually I decided to ignore what everyone told me and start watching from the beginning of the […]
[…] I hesitated to start watching the show because I couldn’t figure out where to start; fans have written dissertations on the best place to begin. Eventually I decided to ignore what everyone told me and start watching from the beginning of the […]