r/gallifrey • u/smitingblobs • Feb 26 '13

Classic Who - Best Adventures

Heeellooooo stooonheee-... /r/gallifrey! * In the upcoming 50th anniversary episode which is to include all incarnations of the Doctor, well, all incarnations of the Doctor will be present. I'd prefer if I knew them all a bit more (and I fear I have neither the time, nor the will to finish Classic Who until then), so that they're not all just strangers to me.

I am watching them all in order, and right now I'm on the Aztecs. The first Doctor, the first series. And the reason I wont jump between Doctors is that I want to see how things changes, how companions come and go and character development.

So, my question is this: Which are the best adventures (from each Doctor) that is somehwere not too close to their beginning, nor that close to the end?

• Upvotes

100% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

•

u/cloutier116 Feb 26 '13 edited Feb 26 '13

Unless I missed an announcement, it's a bit of a stretch to assume that all of the Doctors will be in the special, especially considering the first 3 aren't alive and 4-7 barely resemble what they looked like when they played the Doctor. That said, I recommend:

First Doctor:

  • The Dalek's Invasion of Earth
  • The War Machines
  • The Tenth Planet (regeneration)

Second Doctor:

  • The Highlanders
  • The Evil of the Daleks
  • The Abominable Snowmen/The Web of Fear (Web of Fear is a sequel to The Abominable Snowmen)
  • The Invasion
  • The War Games (regeneration)

Third Doctor:

  • Spearhead from Space
  • Doctor Who and the Silurians
  • Inferno
  • Season 8 (full season arc involving the Master)
  • Day of the Daleks
  • The Curse of Peladon
  • The Three Doctors
  • The Monster of Peladon
  • Planet of the Spiders (regeneration)

Fourth Doctor:

  • Robot
  • Genesis of the Daleks
  • The Brain of Morbius
  • The Deadly Assassin
  • The Talons of Weng-Chiang
  • Horror of Fang Rock
  • The Invasion of Time
  • Season 16 (Full season "The Key to Time" plot arc)
  • Destiny of the Daleks
  • The City of Death <- one of the best serials in the series
  • The Keeper of Traken
  • Logopolis (regeneration)

Fifth Doctor:

  • Castrovalva
  • Earthshock
  • Arc of Infinity
  • Mawdryn Undead
  • Terminus
  • Enlightenment
  • The Five Doctors
  • The Caves of Androzani (Regeneration)

Sixth Doctor:

  • The Two Doctors
  • The Trial of a Time Lord (Season 23)

Seventh Doctor:

  • Dragonfire
  • Remembrance of the Daleks
  • Silver Nemesis
  • Battlefield
  • Survival (final episode of classic series)

•

u/whiteraven4 Feb 26 '13

As far as I know there hasn't been an announcement saying which Doctors would be in the 50th. Although I would be happy if someone could correct me :)

•

u/smitingblobs Feb 26 '13

Maybe it was just my mind playing tricks on me. But I'm almost 100% positive that I read it somewhere official-looking

And thanks!

•

u/LokianEule Feb 26 '13

This should help. I wrote it long ago but I still think it applies: http://en.reddit.com/r/doctorwho/comments/raz6d/looking_for_a_list_of_old_doctor_who_serials_that/

•

u/smitingblobs Feb 26 '13

Okay, but if you were to recommend one from each Doctor, which ones would you pick?

•

u/[deleted] Feb 26 '13
  • 1st: An Unearthly Child (because it's the first episode ever)
  • 2nd: (not sure, I haven't seen many because I skip reconstructions)
  • 3rd: Inferno
  • 4th: City of Death
  • 5th: Earthshock
  • 6th: (Skip it. Too much 80s synth, too many bad effect, too much clown suit)
  • 7th: Survival (it's bad, but it's the last classic Who episode)

•

u/carlyissocoollike Feb 27 '13

Oh, don't tell people to completely skip Six! I really wish people would give him a chance, he's got some really great stuff in his run.

•

u/[deleted] Feb 27 '13

I feel for Colin, but I really couldn't take to his Doctor, his costume, the loud synth, or the bad prosthetics.

His era was like a children's show run by somebody who hated kids.

•

u/carlyissocoollike Feb 27 '13

I understand if you didn't care for his Doctor, he's not everyone's cup of tea. He's one of my favorite Doctors, so I just always tell people to at least give him a chance.

•

u/quizzer106 Feb 26 '13

For unearthly, just watch the first episode. The last three are slow and boring as fuck.

•

u/tambler Feb 26 '13

Are you saying that caveman politics are boring?!

How dare you! /s

•

u/jfdinkel Feb 26 '13

You have plenty of time to watch more than 6 or 7 stories. I would reccommend also watching an episode with each companion it (even Adric).

There is a great online guide at www.drwhoguide.com which gives detailed summaries of every episode. It also provides names of every companion for each doctor, so you can pick which eps you want to see, and read a description of what happened if you miss something.

•

u/smitingblobs Feb 26 '13

That sounds absolutely wonderful! Thank you very much! And I can't wait to get to see Turlough again (he's one of my favourite companions, fifth was my first. And now it sounds like the Doctor took my virginity...)

•

u/johnryansbody Feb 26 '13

I think Netflix has done much of the work for you, by doing a reasonably good job of cherry-picking classic adventures for instant streaming (even if they did organize them horribly). Here's my suggestions, all available on Netflix Instant currently

1: The Aztecs 2: The Mind Robber 3: The Green Death 4: The Ark in Space, Horror of Fang Rock 5: The Caves of Androzani (regeneration episode ... I know you said nothing too close to the end, but this really is the best 5 story) 6: conspicuously absent from Netflix Instant 7: The Curse of Fenric

•

u/knockturnal Mar 03 '13

For 2 and 3, definitely do The War Games and Inferno.