Guide me through a Classic Doctor Who Skimathon

Cafe Society
1

Skimming through seasons, not episodes.

I look to the good posters of the Dope to provide me with a list of the classic (i.e. pre-Eccleston) Doctor Who episodes I ought to watch in order to:

–See the ones that people would generally put on a “best of” list, AND
–See the ones that may in any sense shed light on the character of the Doctor, and the mythos of the show.

Episodes that do either of these would be great.

I’m ready to go RIGHT NOW. QUICK BEFORE THE WIFE COMES HOME. (She only likes young cute modern doctors. She will not be watching Capaldi.) What should I watch first? I.E. earliest episode that satisfies one of the above two criteria. I am streaming on Netflix, which if I understand correctly, has every available episode available.

2

Netflix has a Classic Doctor Who available for streaming that has a single serial from each season. I’d go with that.

3

False alarm, it looks like they do not, in fact, have all the extant episodes, just the thing mentioned in the previous post with just a selection of them. Guess I’ll watch those then!

4

Start at the beginning, with An Unearthly Child, the first Doctor Who story. As much for ‘historical significance’ as anything else. Then move on to the second story, The Daleks, because it introduces…the Daleks.

Tomb of the Cybermen, with the 2nd Doctor. I’d also recommend The War Games, but it’s a 10-episode story…I’m not sure that fits in with the idea of ‘skimming’

For the 3rd Doctor: Spearhead from Space (his first story and the introduction to the Autons), The Time Warrior (which introduces the Sontarans and Sarah Jane Smith), and Terror of the Autons (which introduces The Master).

The first story with the 4th Doctor: Robot. Also, City of Death (written by Douglas Adams, and a candidate for 'best Doctor Who story ever). Then skip to the end of the Tom Baker/beginning of the Peter Davison era for a trilogy of stories: The Keeper of Traken (which reintroduces The Master after a long absence), *Logopolis *(the last 4th Doctor episode), and *Castrovalva *(the first 5th Doctor story and a tribute to M.C. Escher).

*Earthshock *features the return of the Cybermen, and a rare occurrence: the death of a companion (Adric). Don’t miss The Five Doctors, which was the 20th anniversary special story. Then the last story with the 5th Doctor, The Caves of Androzani.

Nobody likes the 6th Doctor, but for completeness sake watch his first story, The Twin Dilemma. The Two Doctors is notable because it features a return appearance by the 2nd Doctor.

For the 7th Doctor, watch Remembrance of the Daleks (which is set in the same time and place as the first episode of the series), and Survival, which was the last episode of the original series.

It’s important to remember (or realize, depending on whether or not you ever knew in the first place) that the ‘classic’ Doctor Who stories were serials: generally four 30-minute episodes. So each ‘story’ is about twice as long as the ‘new’ hour-long episodes. So these 18 stories (not counting The War Games) will only take you a day and a half, more or less, of continuous viewing. It’s a good thing tomorrow is a holiday :slight_smile:

5

I would agree with:

First Doctor:
Unearthly Child - because it’s first.
The Daleks - couldn’t POSSIBLY have a Doctor Who marathon without Daleks

Second Doctor:
The War Games - I know it’s long, but as well as being a great story in it’s own right, gives a good intro to what’s going on with the first season of Doctor 3 and his exile to earth

Third Doctor:
Spearhead from Space - following straight on from that, the first UNIT story which was hugely important to the story arc at that point

Fourth Doctor:
Robot - Tom Baker’s first, a great episode in it’s own right, and the end of the UNIT era
Logopolis - Baker’s last

Firth Doctor:
Castrovalva - Davison’s first

Add in:

Third Doctor:

The Three Doctors (first to use the ‘multiple Doctors’ trope, much better story than Five Doctors, which is mostly an excuse to wallow in nostalgia for old Doctors and companions we’ve known and loved, on the part of those who’ve actually known and loved them). Planet of the Spiders - last Pertwee episode

Fourth Doctor:
Genesis of the Daleks. You can’t possibly have a Doctor Who marathon without Genesis of the Daleks. Even if it ONLY contains Genesis of the Daleks.
Face of Evil. Because - Leela.

Fifth Doctor:
Mawdryn Undead. Possibly not a popular choice, but - start of the Turlough story arc, return of the Brigadier from UNIT which is never a bad thing.

Personally I would stop at that point. Quality takes a dive from Doctor 6 onwards, in my opinion, though I have a soft spot for The Curse of Fenric which I think is about the best 7th Doctor episode.

6

Nailed it.

Might add Trial of a Time Lord for completeness’ sake–see one Colin Baker story, plus touch on the complicated relationship he has with the Time Lords.

7

I am entering this thread only to note that I misread the title as “Guide me through a classic Dr. Who skimmington,” which is by far the weirdest thing I’ve had the pleasure of picturing in some time.

8

Also watch these eps of multiple Doctors:

The Three Doctors (Hartnell, Troughton, Pertwee)

The Five Doctors (Davison, Troughton, Pertwee, Tom Baker [footage], Hartnell [footage], Hurndall [as Hartnell])

The Two Doctors (Troughton, Colin Baker)
They’re fun to watch, and they help fill in some backstory. Fine chap. All of them.
.

9

I would add the Tom Baker episode ‘Genesis of the Daleks’. In this episode, the Doctor has a chance to change the future considerably by destroying the Daleks at creation. He does not, of course, which is why it is left to him to do it several hundred apparent years later.

Bob

10

I’ve never had the time to sit down and watch the new series–is there anything in the modern era that references the 4th Doctor’s Key to Time series? Of course, that’s a pretty bulky set of episodes for anyone wanting to skim…