LordToSergeantLARPer

Ah Doctor Who, that strange British sci-fi show involving a strange alien traveling around time and space in a 1960s police box fighting men in rubber suits, CGI aliens and the odd run in with mobile pepper pots. Now I love this programme with all my heart, it was my first geeky obsession as a child, and I’ve grown as a person with this show, through its highs… and many lows. 

And with the news of 2 episodes of The Daleks Master Plan actually being found (genuinely never thought I’d see the day), what better time is there to post this article!

Now Doctor Who currently finds itself in a bit of a weird spot, we really don’t know where the show stands at all. So where are many Doctor Who fans to find more content… well there is a whole host of episodes from 1963 right through to 1989. But Classic Who is quite different to New Who, and I don’t just mean in terms of the special effects (which are sometimes hilarious, even I can admit that… I’m looking at you Robot with your “tank”…). The pacing, acting styles, direction and tone can be completely different, even between eras of the classic show, even more so than the transference between the OG Russel Era to the Moffat Era. 

I believe Classic Who is something every Doctor Who fan should try, so I am here with a few different suggestions of where to start. 

First off, my recommended starting place is maybe slightly different to most. My recommended first watch is Genesis of the Daleks. For those who don’t know, Genesis of the Daleks covers the creation of the Daleks and introduces us to Davros. The Doctor is sent to Skaro by the Time Lords to try and prevent the Daleks from becoming an unstoppable force in the universe. Genesis is one of my personal favourites, and is the story I used to get a very good friend of mine into Classic Who, and we now have semi-regular watch sessions so it seemed to work. Genesis basically has everything in my view, the direction is fantastically dark and atmospheric, the actors are on top form (Peter Miles as Nyder, what a gem) and the dialogue is dynamic and so well paced. Another reason I think Genesis is a great starting place is it blends the familiar with the unfamiliar. You have Tom Baker, arguably the most famous Doctor of all time, certainly the most well known classic Doctor and the Daleks are also present. But the episode is a longer one, it’s 6 episodes, giving you a great launch pad into Classic Who’s slower pacing. 

My second proposal to you is to start with the usually recommended starting place, City of Death. In the story the Doctor and Romana take a pitstop in Paris, but become embroiled in a scheme involving time travel… and the Mona Lisa? City of Death is a great launch pad if you want a softer jump in, it feels the closest to a New Who episode than any other from the classic run. It has a very unique plot (very Moffat-esque and you can really see prime Moffat took a lot of influence from City), a star guest in Julian Glover and some of the snappiest and wittiest dialogue in the show’s history. It’s only 4 parts, meaning it is roughly the same length as a New Who two parter, so overall is a gentler jump in. 

Thirdly is the rogue option I would suggest, The Five Doctors. In the Five Doctors, someone is pulling the previous incarnations of the Doctor out of their timestreams and dropping them into the Death Zone on Gallifrey, for what purpose? The Five Doctors is a bit like The Day of the Doctor, bringing in multiple Doctors, having them interact as they try to solve a problem while dealing with multiple enemy factions. The Five Doctors doesn’t have the most amazing story in the world, but you get a taster of 5 of the 8 original Doctors so you can see which ones you are like “hmmm that one, I want to see more of that one”. There are multiple villains (and you get some glorious Anthony Ainley Master camp villainy) and there is the odd bit of interesting lore drops which will make you go “oh yeah! That thing from that episode is here!”. The only reason I wouldn’t do The Five Doctors as your first watch is because there are just better stories than this one, but it’s a fun time. 

My final proposal or offering is to do the absolutely insane, unheard of strategy of… watching the first ever episode… An Unearthly Child. In this story, school teachers Ian and Barbara become intrigued by student Susan, and discover a strange secret within a Policebox in a junkyard and the cantankerous Grandfather of Susan within. Now this may be on paper the obvious place to start, it’s the first ever episode and it’s only four parts so just like City of Death it isn’t too long? Well… An Unearthly Child is to a seasoned Doctor Who fan a great watch… I would never start with it as your first Classic Who episode though. Part 1 is very interesting, and you really get a sense of the significance of the episode in the history of television… but from that point onwards most people will just find it boring. I rarely rewatch the episode as all the Caveman stuff I just don’t find very engaging, and I doubt most Classic Virgins will too. This is no disrespect to this episode, it deserves a special place in the show as the first ever episode, but I do think there is a reason “The Daleks”… or “The Mutants”…. Or “The Dead Planet” depending on who you ask is the story that launched Doctor Who to unimagined heights in the hearts of the public.

So after starting with any of these, where to go next? That’s if you want to press on of course (I don’t judge, extraordinary abrupt cliffhangers and bubblewrap monsters aren’t everyone’s cup of tea). I would next try to watch a story from every Doctor, and below I have listed the episode I think is best to watch for them (which may be different to my recommended first ever episode, scary stuff I know). 

William Hartnell/The 1st Doctor: The Daleks Invasion of Earth 

Patrick Troughton/The 2nd Doctor: Tomb of the Cybermen 

Jon Pertwee/The 3rd Doctor: The Sea Devils 

Tom Baker/The 4th Doctor: Genesis of the Daleks 

Peter Davison/The 5th Doctor: Earthshock 

Colin Baker/The 6th Doctor: Vengeance on Varos 

Sylvestor McCoy/The 7th Doctor: Remembrance of the Daleks

Paul McGann/ The 8th Doctor: The TV Movie (Sadly no real choice here…) 

These are not gospel, and some of these are not even my favourite episode for their respective Doctor (I will go through that in a future blog), but I believe these all give a great taste for the era’s tone and the respective Doctor’s style. 

That’s all from me for now, get to that TV, stick an episode on and enjoy a jelly baby. 

Bye bye now.