Logic, my dear Zoe, allows one to be wrong with authority.

[dolari]

Attention Whovians!

Im putting together a DVD of The Best of Doctor Who for a fledgling fan who is interested in the classic series.

This got me thinking...what are your pics for best episodes?

Mine are (and will be on my discs):
Williiam Hartnell - The Chase
Patrick Troughton - Tomb of the Cybermen.
Jon Pertwee - Inferno (or Planet of the Spiders, depending on my mood)
Tom Baker - City of Death (I prefer the Traken/Logopolis/castrovalva trilogy, but that's a LONG arc)
Peter Davison - Caves of Androzani
Colin Baker - The Two Doctors
Sylvester McCoy - Curse of Fenric
Paul McGann - TV Movie (duh)
Chris Eccleston - The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances
David Tennant - Blink

Comments

[drkbish.livejournal.com]

William Hartnell - The Time Meddler
Patrick Troughton - Tomb of the Cybermen
Jon Pertwee - Inferno or The Time Monster
Tom Baker - Pyramids of Mars
Peter Davison - Earthshock or The Awakening
Colin Baker - The Two Doctors
Sylvester McCoy - Battlefield or Survival
Paul McGann - Shada
Christopher Eccleston - Dalek or The Empty Child/the Doctor Dances
David Tennant - Blink

[drkbish.livejournal.com]

On the other hand, I'm waiting for someone to point out the obvious WTF regarding the list... :-)

[soltice.livejournal.com]

I'm going to be watching this series for a long time, aren't I?

[laura-seabrook.livejournal.com]

If you like it, yes!
I've watched it since 1963 when I was six years old :)

[jenndolari.livejournal.com]

There's 26 years of Doctor Who before this new incarnation. :) Some of those have 48 episodes per season. ;)

[soltice.livejournal.com]

*wonders if you're all going to form a circle around her chanting, 'One of us!' 'One of us!'*

[jenndolari.livejournal.com]

Gooble gobble, gooble gobble!

[laura-seabrook.livejournal.com]

MMMM, maybe

Williiam Hartnell - The Chase or The Space Museum
Patrick Troughton - Web of Fear or The Three Doctors
Jon Pertwee - Day of the Daleks or Death to the Daleks
Tom Baker - The Talons of Weng-Chiang or Pyramids of Mars
Peter Davison - Earthshock or Arc of Infinity
Colin Baker - Vengeance on Varos
Sylvester McCoy - Paradise Towers or Battlefield
Paul McGann - There are some audiobook/radio show episodes, anything would be better than the film
Chris Eccleston - Dalek
David Tennant - The Girl in the Fireplace or Blink

[kara-h.livejournal.com]

Some of my picks would have been multiple episodes/require some prologue, so I redid it so as much as possible the stories can stand alone

William Hartnell - An Unearthly Child
Patrick Troughton - The Wheel in Space
Jon Pertwee - The Sea Devils
Tom Baker - Warriors' Gate
Peter Davidson - Earthshock
Colin Baker - The Two Doctors
Sylvester McCoy - The Greatest Show in the Galaxy
Paul McGann - do your friend a favour and pretend McGann was a bad dream
Chris Eccleston - Dalek
David Tennant - Turn Left

[drkbish.livejournal.com]

As far as McGann goes, I respectfully disagree... provided you keep in mind that the TV-movie was by no means the only time he played the role. When Big Finish started doing Doctor Who audio adventures, they did a continuation with McGann as the Doctor, and did a LOT of them. He's also currently in a series of BBC Radio plays produced by Big Finish. I have two of the McGann audio adventures, and he's excellent in the role. He's also excellent in the TV-movie; it's just the bad writing that gets in his way.

Don't take my word for it, though. :-)

I pointed out there was a WTF in my list earlier. Most people would see "Shada" and think, "Wait, that's a Tom Baker story!" The Tom Baker one was unfinished. In 2003, for the show's 40th anniversary, the BBC decided to release a finished version of "Shada". What they did was make it an audio adventure with Flash animation (you could buy an audio-only one on CD), and did it with McGann's Doctor. They even brought Lalla Ward and John Leeson back for it. (And don't worry, the prologue explains it all... including what happened with the Five Doctors.) The BBC made it available to view online, for free.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/webcasts/shada/ <-- watch for yourself. :-)

[jenndolari.livejournal.com]

Oooh, An Unearthly Child! That goes on the disc!

[elenderel.livejournal.com]

Holy cow ... I had no idea there's been so many doctors since Peter Davison. I lost track of the show right around his time and only recently discovered David Tennant (who I am always confusing with the guy from the Pet Shop Boys). Lucky fledgling fan!

[aesmael.livejournal.com]

Hee. I've read he picked that name for his professional life because of Neil Tennant.

[frankie23.livejournal.com]

Some excellent choices there. The only thing I'd change, off the top of my head, is I'd switch Ghostlight for Curse Of Fenric. It's so emblematic of many of Doctor Who's biggest tropes (haunted house, enemy is not obvious, alien invaders), and is historically notable as being the last story filmed until the TV movie.

[drkbish.livejournal.com]

Personally... I would never put "Ghost Light" on a must-see list for newbies. The problem is that the plot is so convoluted and complex that even the production team admitted it should have been four episodes instead of three. When I have to explain to a friend what the story is about (and he's about a big a fan of classic Who as I, and even has all of the episodes put out on VHS in his collection) immediately after he's seen it for the second time, then there's a problem. Of the four season 26 stories, I'd put "Ghost Light" dead last in any newbie list.

... then again, I'd definitely put it ahead of any season 24 story. ;-)

[varinobo.livejournal.com]

I've got to say I'm interested in the series as well...I've only ever watched one episode and enjoyed it.

[jenndolari.livejournal.com]

Wanna copy? :)

[varinobo.livejournal.com]

Um...SURE! Wow. Thanks! Recruiting for the doctor, I guess? :P

[salamanders.livejournal.com]

Blink's a great episode but I('d also want to throw in the Christmas Special as a good intro to David Tennant, and also throw in one of the fun episodes like maybe Gridlock or Idiot's Lantern :)