My Classic Doctor Who First Timer Episode List
So recently my husband has expressed interest in watching some episodes of classic Doctor Who. He's not as big a fan as I am, but he's enjoyed what Doctor Who he's seen and wants to see more. However he doesn't necessarily want to jump right in and watch all of the older episodes. So I compiled a list of what I think are good episodes that will give him a taste of each of the Doctors from 1-8. Are these necessarily the best episodes for each Doctor? Probably not, but a lot of Who is subjective. Everyone is going to have their favorite (plus there's the unfortunate fact that there are a bunch of episodes missing or partially missing from the First and Second Doctor's era.) Regardless, I like these episodes and if you watch them I hope you do to.
First Doctor
The TARDIS has brought the travellers to the planetSkaro where they meet two indigenous races - the Daleks, malicious mutant creatures encased in armoured travel machines, and the Thals, beautiful humanoids with pacifist principles.
The arrival of the TARDIS in 15th century Mexico leads the crew to the doomed Aztec people, a mixture of high culture and brutal savagery. Matters are further complicated when Barbara is mistaken for a god and the Doctor becomes engaged to be married.
Second Doctor
The TARDIS lands in a space museum on Earth in the late 21st century, where the Second Doctor, Jamie and Zoe learn that contact has been lost between Earth and the Moon. In this era, instant travel -- T-Mat -- has revolutionised the Earth. Its people have lost interest in space travel. The Doctor and his companions travel to the Moon in an old-style rocket and reach the Moonbase, control centre for T-Mat, only to find a squad of Ice Warriors have commandeered the base and plan to use the T-Mat network to their advantage.
To escape from the volcanic eruption on Dulkis, theSecond Doctor uses an emergency unit. It moves the TARDIS out of normal time and space. The travellers find themselves in an endless void where they are menaced by white robots.
Having regained the safety of the TARDIS, they believe they have escaped - until the ship explodes. They find themselves in a land of fiction, where they are hunted by life-size clockwork soldiers and encounter characters like Rapunzel and Swift's Lemuel Gulliver.
Third Doctor
Exiled to Earth in the late 20th century and forbidden to continue travelling by his own people, the Time Lords, the newly regenerated Doctor arrives in Oxley Woods accompanied by a shower of mysterious meteorites. Investigating these unusual occurrences is the newly-formed United Nations Intelligence Taskforce (UNIT for short).
Led by Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, UNIT is soon called into action when people and meteorites start going missing.
Most puzzling of all is the attempted kidnapping of a strange hospital patient: a man with two hearts, who insists that he knows the Brigadier.
The new Doctor soon joins forces with his old friend, UNIT and the recently recruited Doctor Elizabeth Shaw, but time is running out. Irregular things are happening at a nearby plastics factory, while faceless creatures lurk in the woods. The Nestenes have arrived, and want to conquer the Earth...
Time itself is in peril! The Time Lords find themselves besieged by a mysterious enemy, the legendary Time Lord, Omega. Omega has been inhabiting the anti-matter universe on the other side of the black hole from which the Time Lords draw their power.
They enlist the Doctor in his first three incarnations to battle this foe, who turns out to be a legend from the Time Lords' remote past.
But vital cosmic energy is draining into a black hole and the Time Lords are under siege. The Doctor is their only hope but, trapped in the TARDIS, he's powerless. The only way out is to break the First Law of Time to let the Doctor help himself - literally...
Fourth Doctor
The TARDIS arrives on an apparently deserted and deactivated space station, Nerva, otherwise known as the Ark, orbiting Earth in the far future. There the Doctor, Sarah and Harry find the last survivors of the human race in suspended animation.
A three-man rocket crew are nearly done with their mission to Titan Base until a course change puts the rocket in the path of a strange cloud in space. By the time they arrive, they have come under the control of a sentient virus which threatens the galaxy. When the TARDIS picks up an emergency message, it flies into the cloud, infecting the Doctor. To save himself and others, he must undertake a dangerous journey.
Fifth Doctor
The Doctor's latest regeneration has proven more unstable than his previous ones. His two assistants, Tegan and Nyssa, help him recuperate on the tranquil planet of Castrovalva.
Adric has been captured by the Master, who is taking advantage of the Doctor's weakened state to ensnare him in an elaborate trap whose recursive nature threatens to destroy his mind.
As the Doctor begins to recover he realises that the Master's trap for Adric is even more intricate than he could have imagined and that he will stop at nothing to gain his revenge over the Doctor.
The Doctor's past incarnations are being snatched out of time and space and transported to the Death Zone on Gallifrey, where they are reunited with some old friends and pitted against their deadliest enemies in the Game of Rassilon. Someone is manipulating the Doctor and his companions in order to claim the most ancient and powerful secret of the Time Lords... but can they survive the challenges and uncover the traitor before it is too late?
Sixth Doctor
While trying to fix the TARDIS's chameleon circuit, the Sixth Doctor returns to Foreman's Yard onTotter's Lane in 1985, where he meets his old enemies the Cybermen. They have come from the future to change history by sending Halley's Comet crashing into Earth. Lytton, last seen working for the Daleks, is involved in the Cybermen's plot. Is Lytton working for the Cybermen, himself or someone else?
In 19th century England, the Doctor finds himself facing two competing enemies: his old adversary,the Master, and the Rani, another Time Lord with a sinister plan. The local population is turning violent and unpredictable. With a major meeting of the brains of the Industrial Revolution due to happen in the village soon, the Doctor must work out what exactly is causing all the problems. Only the Doctor can stop the Master and the Rani's evil plans.
Seventh Doctor
On Iceworld, the Doctor and Mel unexpectedly encounter an old friend – Sabalom Glitz. Joined byAce, a teenage waitress with a love for explosives, the group ventures off to find the fabled Dragonfire treasure. But as usual, dark forces close in on them - and Iceworld itself.
The TARDIS materialises at a secret naval base off the coast of Northumberland during the Second World War. Dr Judson, a scientist there, has created the Ultima Machine, an early computer designed to break German codes. The base's Commander Millington plans to let a Russian commando unit led by Captain Sorin steal the machine's core, which he has booby-trapped with deadly toxin.
Judson uses the machine to translate some ancient runes from the crypt of the nearby St. Jude's Churchand this leads to the release of Fenric, an evil entity from the dawn of time whom the Doctor trapped seventeen centuries earlier in a Chinese flask by defeating it at chess.
Eighth Doctor
The Seventh Doctor is charged with transporting the remains of his fellow Time Lord, the Master, back to their home planet. But he is surprised to discover that his old enemy is not quite dead. The arrival of the Master not only costs the Doctor a life, but it spells near disaster for the Earth. Only the new Doctor can stop the Master and save the planet.
All photos, links and synopsis are from tardis.wikia.com
Ohh an excellent list! My fiancee got me into the good doctor! My favorite (and scariest) was the Dont blink! one, with the stone angels!!
ReplyDeleteBlink is quite scary, it usually tops a lot of people's lists for one of the scariest episodes. The weeping angels are one of the best new villains, makes you look at statues differently.
DeleteGreat list Rachel! I've seen the two epiodes that you listed with the First Doctor (Daleks and Aztecs) and couldn't stay focused. lol I'll have to give them another try next time they're on.
ReplyDeleteYeah the first time I watched the Aztecs (my first time watching classic Who) I had a hard time following it. I say if you've already seen them, move on to the next ones and then maybe once you watched more classic Who and see them again it'll be easier to pay attention because you'll be able to appreciate them more. That's at least how my own story has gone.
DeleteGreat list! I've yet to get into the classic episodes, so I'll be using this as a guide when it's time!
ReplyDelete