Doctor Who

@andersonh1 Eh...I really don't want to do that right off the bat. It's not just that there's a huge amount of episodes to get through, it's also the fact that the show changes so much over time.

Thanks for the suggestions, everybody.

• Hartnell:

For One, I'd actually watch the entire The Beginning box set. And then stop at the end of "The Brink of Disaster"/The Edge Of Destruction part two.

The First Doctor does have something of a fascinating character arc, and, while The Daleks is kinda terrible mostly, it's also a part of that.

I would recommend An Unearthly Child and The Edge Of Destruction though. Sincerely.

...Although, I mean, I'd kinda rather watch the Cushing/Dalek movies more than either of the original serials they adapt, both of which are better than the other Dalek stories in the Hartnell era. Except Mission To The Unknown, but that's missing, and Hartnell's Doctor isn't actually in it. At all.

Anyway.

I like The Aztecs, The Rescue, The Web Planet, The Space Museum, The Time Meddler, The Gunfighters, and The Tenth Planet.

If you don't mind reconstructions, try The Crusade as well.

• Troughton:

Basically everything. With a few exceptions I could name, like Tomb Of The Cybermen, because fuck that shit.

...Oh, all right.

I mean, if you don't mind reconstructions, that helps, and I would recommend Power Of The Daleks and Evil Of The Daleks in an instant.

The Enemy Of The World is basically perfect. Them finding it last year was basically one of the best things that ever happened to Doctor Who.

The Web Of Fear isn't actually as good as its reputation, but it's still pretty damn great.

The Mind Robber is also basically perfect. I quite like The Ice Warriors, The Invasion, The Krotons, The Seeds Of Death and The War Games is a fantastic capstone. Yes, it's long, but it deserves to be.

• Pertwee:

I love The Ambassadors Of Death. It's the absolute best story in Season 7.

Terror Of The Autons, Colony In Space, and The Curse Of Peladon are pretty good.

The Daemons is worth it for being the part where the Master became Aleister Crowley.

The Three Doctors is the second-best story in the Pertwee era. The best is Carnival Of Monsters. Hands-down.

• Tom: Oh damn.

The Ark In Space, Genesis Of The Daleks, Terror Of The Zygons, The Brain Of Morbius, The Deadly Assassin, The Face Of Evil, The Horror Of Fang Rock, The Ribos Operation, The Pirate Planet, City Of Death, Warrior's Gate and Logopolis. That's a list of stories that are all amazing. Classics.

• Davison:

...I mean. Okay, yeah, there's a bit of a step down. I don't think anyone would deny that. Unless you're Steven Moffat after a few drinks in the 90s, anyway.

Kinda is pretty great. And Snakedance, Mawdryn Undead and Enlightenment. I like Frontios. The Caves Of Androzani is as good as its representation suggests.

If you're into audio, give Spare Parts a try.

• Colin:

...Sorry.

Try Jubilee or Doctor Who and the Pirates. Or Davros.

...If you actually have to have something visual, I can suggest Vengeance On Varos as actually being the best of the lot. And actually sorta good. Ish.

Speaking of, listen to Ish as well. And anything by Rob Shearman.

Revelation Of The Daleks is the next best after Varos. Which says more about the other stories than it does Revelation Of The Daleks. Then The Two Doctors and then Mindwarp. Which, I mean, they aren't actually good. At all. But I'm not going to push anyone into the deep end either.

• McCoy: Oh thank god.

Paradise Towers is probably the best of season 24.

And oh, then there's the great ones. Remembrance Of The Daleks. The Happiness Patrol. The Greatest Show In The Galaxy. Ghost Light. The Curse Of Fenric. Survival.

Battlefield is alright, I guess.

• McGann: Not the movie. Have a summer reading list. In the Fall.

Vampire Science, Alien Bodies, The Scarlett Empress, Unnatural History, The Adventuress Of Henrietta Street, Camera Obscura. The Year Of Intelligent Tigers, Seeing I, The Taking Of Planet Five. Mad Dogs and Englishmen.

I kinda like EarthWorld, History 101 and Grimm Reality. Or, at least their authors, anyway.

The best Eighth Doctor story that McGann was actually involved in is probably Night Of The Doctor. Or the ones by Rob Shearman.

Fuck you, The Three Doctors was great.

edited 18th Sep '14 2:38:12 PM by unnoun

The three doctors was quite a good episode, but the fx were not good

Wow, thanks for the epic list, unnoun!

For the rest of the reading list, Timewyrm: Revelation, Love And War; (which is actually on Amazon), The Highest Science, The Left-Handed Hummingbird; (also on Amazon), Blood Harvest, Warlock, Set Piece, Human Nature, The Also People, Return Of The Living Dad, Damaged Goods and So Vile A Sin.

...Timewyrm Revelation, Warlock, Human Nature and Damaged Goods are ones that I really just don't understand why they've not been re-released already. Especially Human Nature and Damaged Goods though.

I mean, the one that got turned into an episode, and the one by the guy who brought the show back. They'd sell.

I mean, a lot of people that don't actually know anything about Russell T Davies would be a bit surprised by all the cocaine.

edited 18th Sep '14 2:13:01 PM by unnoun

...do you really think Horror of Fang Rock is a classic, unnoun? Or are you just putting it there because you know I'd be furious if you didn't?

I do, actually.

...For some reason I confuse it with The Talons Of Weng-Chiang sometimes, but that's probably because I repress the fact that this show actually has a story with that title.

It sorta makes me feel like my mother is rolling in her grave, and not for the reasons she deserves. I feel like a race traitor and really really dirty.

Talons, I mean. Not Horror.

Horror Of Fang Rock is brilliant. And not racist.

edited 18th Sep '14 2:27:59 PM by unnoun

The Edge of Destruction part 2 has the moment for the Doctor where I said "wow, this Doctor might not be so bad!"

The Aztecs and The Reign of Terror are also good stories for the First Doctor.

I can't say I'm fond of The Reign Of Terror, personally.

Mostly because goddammit Susan.

edited 18th Sep '14 2:33:43 PM by unnoun

Ah, good point. I'm much more fond of the Ian-Barbara-Vicki unit.

The Edge Of Destruction and The Aztecs are good though.

...With the latter there is some unfortunate implications regarding colonialism and, yes, race, but. The story does ultimately come down against Barbara in some ways.

The Aztecs.

I think Against Nature does a better job of a lot of things, ultimately. It's basically my favorite Faction Paradox book now.

I mean, the sides in The Aztecs are "we stop the Aztecs from committing human sacrifice and thus being seen as savages by the folks who've already wiped out a bunch of native cultures that don't commit sacrifice" and "the arc of history is rigid and unyielding and don't touch anything." Which, for all the rest of the serial's merits, is hard for me to move past.

Probably better than Apocalypto though

Hmm, Apocalypto sounds like it should be the name of a Doctor Who serial.

I mean.

Yeah, that's true.

...I'm not going to post things from Against Nature. I'm trying to move beyond that.

But I will say that it is probably the best book I've read in years. I love it. I really love it. And, I mean, not just in the sort of fannish way of my obsession with Faction Paradox, I mean that I genuinely believe that the existence of Against Nature makes the world a better place.

Actually I love the Three Doctors and has a great story, but unlike Day of the Doctor the story isn't tied into the presence of the three Doctors enough to justify it. Thus, it's still a showcase.

I agree with this list.

Verity.

edited 18th Sep '14 4:47:20 PM by unnoun

What I've learned is that a definite article is a good sign.

Wait, you agree with that list despite it not containing "The Doctor's Wife?"

I don't think I ever had any problems understanding Ghost Light, but that might be a combination of watching all the episodes and special features on the DVDs in quick succession, and just plain not knowing that I didn't understand it / what there was to understand.

I think my default on Doctor Who episodes is "Cool." If I loved an episode, it's upgraded to "That was really cool and awesome!" If I didn't love it, it can be downgraded to "Eh, it was okay". I don't really have strong feelings on this stuff, I guess. Or just no taste. (Considering that I still do kinda like Timelash, I'm thinking "no taste" is a big part of it. Either that or I just don't want to hate a DVD I bought.)

Actually, on Timelash. I swear. My local library must have a dozen copies of it. Whenever I went looking for a Doctor Who DVD, I find a copy of it. It's annoying.

Looking it up, they apparently only have one copy. I could've sworn I went looking for DVDs in two different branches within a few days of eachother and found a copy in each branch.

I've also found that the library's got a "50th anniversay collection: OST" so I wanna go borrow that, so I guess I'll go looking for other stuff to also borrow. I wonder if I'll be able to find The End of Time this time. Should just reserve it and let them find it.

edited 18th Sep '14 7:03:57 PM by thekikoperson

The Deadly Assassin is a FUCKING AWESOME story...what is WRONG with you people?

It's a lot of the Doctor talking to himself, and as great as Tom Baker is, the character still suffers without someone to bounce things off of.

Is Deadly Assassin the one where he's running around a forest, or something? I remember borrowing it from the library, and I was doing something in the kitchen when it was playing (cooking probably) so I missed a chunk. There's also something mentioned on the recap page, which probably contributes to why some people dislike the serial:

EDIT:So basically what maxwellelvis said.

edited 18th Sep '14 10:24:31 PM by thekikoperson

IMO it was great to see such a cerebral story. I kinda want to see Capaldi in a story like this...

Then again, I'm kinda weird, I'd take The Invasion over Tomb of the Cybermen and I LOVE Colin Baker's doctor

Cerebral's not the word I'd use for pretty much any televised Colin Baker story.