Best Classic Doctor Who serials?

Basically just a thread to discuss what, in troper's opinions the best stories are and why.

By "classic" Doctor Who I of course mean the series first broadcast between 1963 and 1989 and had William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor, and not the revived series broadcast from 2005 onwards starring Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, Matt Smith etc. as the Doctor, nor the 1996 Paul McGann TV movie. (I realise some people's understanding of the show is limited to New Who and not Classic Who, 'tis all).

Any discussion of favourite Doctors, companions, eras also welcome.

(Partly prompted by the fact I'm going through some of my albeit limited but growing collection of Doctor Who VHS tapes and trying to see which ones to keep and which to get rid of, yes, I know I'm Two Decades Behind and Technology Marches On- but possibly DVD reccomendations would be good bearing that in mind?)

edited 5th Jun '14 2:33:55 AM by TheLyniezian

Maybe I should have just put this in the main Doctor Who thread?

Hmm... Best serials? Well, the obvious answer is City of Death. That seems to be the popular go-to answer, and it isn't without merit. Of course, it helps that I'm a massive Douglas Adams fan, and this was one of the ones he wrote. The other two he wrote are also good. (If you can find a copy of the fan-produced "completed" Shada, using new vocal recordings and animation to fill in the bits never filmed, it is worth a watch!) But City of Death was the best of the three, I think.

I have a fondness for The Two Doctors. I always love me some Troughton, and it was fun seeing him paired up in a story with the hugely underappreciated Colin Baker. (Baker's a fantastic Doctor whose actor did his best with not always the best scripts, and who also suffered the misfortune to be the Doctor at a time when the show was not quite the darling of the BBC. Still, you have to credit a man who — while some may disagree — somehow actually made that costume work!)

I have a fondness for The War Games. Aside from The Two Doctors, (when I was first getting into Doctor Who, back in the days of VHS, in order to get the most Doctor bang for my buck, so to speak, I started with the multi-Doctor stories) it was my first Troughton and he is definitely one of my favorite Doctors. (Don't quite have a favorite, hard to pick just one, but there are some I gravitate to more then others.) At 10 parts, the story does drag on a bit, but overall it is a great final outing for Troughton and both his companions at the time. Also, the final episode is notable in Who history for, while not quite being the first other Time Lords we meet (arguments about Susan — although I fall in the considering her a Time Lord camp — aside, there was The Meddling Monk) it was the first time his race was named as the Time Lords, and our first visit to the as-yet-unnamed Gallifrey.

The Invasion is good, too. Another Troughton. Also, always fun to see Lethbridge-Stewart! This is his second story, his first one where he holds the rank of Brigadier, and the first one to have him in (the newly formed) U.N.I.T.

A choice bound to be somewhat controversial, I'm going to go ahead and say Trial of a Time Lord. Technically one serial (since it on-screen only had the one title, broken up into 14 parts) so I have to name it as a whole. But I will break it down further a bit:

- The Mysterious Planet, with the strong interaction between the Doctor and Peri, really shows us the relationship they could have had if Colin hadn't been hampered with how his character was written the previous season. They still bantered and bickered here, but it was with a clear mutual respect and any remaining vestiges of the Doctor's dismissiveness of her were at this point clearly in jest. Makes one sad for what could have been.

- Mindwarp. Two words: BRIAN BLESSED!!!!!. Also, while this story probably suffered most from the intrusion of the trial segments, it did have a powerful and emotional exit for Peri.

- Terror of the Vervoids is probably, of the three pieces of "evidence," the one that holds together best if you ignore the trial segments. Also, while she's far from my favorite companion, it is a strong introduction for Mel.

- Been too long since I've watched Trial of a Timelord (although typing this retrospective is making me consider grabbing my DVDs) to remember much about The Ultimate Foe. As the conclusion of the "Trial" arc, it is less memorable as an individual story. It did leave one with hope, though, as Colin had finally come into his own as the Doctor, he had a fresh companion, and he was off for more adventures! Alas, with Colin's sacking, it was not to be. Carrot juice, carrot juice, carrot juice!

edited 5th Jun '14 5:25:28 AM by Yotsuyasan

I'd say something with Troughton or McCoy. Power Of The Daleks, The Enemy Of The World, or The Mind Robber. Remembrance Of The Daleks, The Happiness Patrol, Ghost Light or The Curse Of Fenric.

I mean, with Power Of the Daleks, it's missing, but there's something about the Daleks being subtle and manipulative that's actually extremely compelling.

The Enemy Of The World casts the best actor imaginable, Patrick Troughton, for both of its leads. And the twist is one of the best in Doctor Who history.

The Mind Robber is just delightfully mad in concept.

Remembrance Of the Daleks is the sort of nostalgia story that uses the nostalgia to further its themes.

I love The Happiness Patrol to bits. I mean, I appreciate a decent allegory, and the whole story is basically just Doctor Who taking the piss out of Thatcher, while she was still in office no less.

Ghost Light has delightful imagery and atmosphere. It's a bit more of an intellectual episode, but still.

The Curse Of Fenric, City Of Death, and Power Of The Daleks are quite possibly the best in the entire classic series.

edited 5th Jun '14 5:24:08 AM by unnoun

Yeah, if I hadn't felt as if I'd rambled on enough already, my next mention was probably going to be something McCoy. I need to see more of him, though. I did have a few others in the VHS days (and they may still be kicking around somewhere) but as far as my DVD collection, I only have his final season. Battlefield was fun for seeing his Doctor and the Brig together. For McCoy in general, I loved the pairing of him and Ace.

I do need to see Enemy of the World one of these days. I'm just a bit torn on the home video release of it. I know it is awesome just to have these episodes in existence (as they were previously thought lost) and that should be enough! But I suppose I've just been spoiled by the ample bonus features on every previous release that Enemy and Web of Fear completely lacking even the most token of bonus features (and the lack of an animated replacement for the still missing episode of Web) just left me feeling a bit cold. I guess I'm holding out hope that they might eventually do "Special Edition" releases that are more fleshed out. And if that doesn't happen within a few years, I suppose I'll just say the heck with it and pick them up. (Which will then immediately be followed by the announcement of "Special Edition" releases!)

edited 5th Jun '14 5:19:06 AM by Yotsuyasan

Of the ones I've seen I think I liked City of Death and edge of Destruction best.

The five doctors and the remembrance of the daleks

I always liked The Rescue, The Enemy Of The World, Carnival Of Monsters, The Brain Of Morbius, City Of Death, Snakedance and Ghost Light.