Old Who recommendations?

[karohemd]

In my attempt to try to get into old Doctor Who, I'l be renting a number of DVDs that are available on lovefillm.com.
I already watched Genesis of the Daleks and enjoyed it (how does Tom Baker not trip over that scarf of his?).

So, old Who fans, which episodes would you recommend?

Comments

[becky-spence.livejournal.com]

Keeper of Traken, Castrovalva, Caves of Androzani, Earthshock, Curse of Fenric.

For starters :)

I'm sure snapesbabe is more up to speed on good Colin episodes than I am as well :)

[miss-s-b.livejournal.com]

Caves of Androzani is a good Colin story! I mean, yes, it has Five in it, but... ;)

[alawston.livejournal.com]

City of Death!

[mr-malk.livejournal.com]

Seconded.

[miss-s-b.livejournal.com]

... is overrated rubbish :P

Each to their own...

[oz-not-ozzy.livejournal.com]

I always liked City of Death, even before I found out Douglas Adams wrote it, but I have to admit they could have done the story better justice.

On the other hand I think Curse of Fenric is vastly overrated... but then again, I still can't resist chuckling at Nicholas Parsons' dodgy performance.

Re: Each to their own...

[miss-s-b.livejournal.com]

Chacun a son gout indeed.

I mean, I recommended The Happiness Patrol, so I KNOW how much of a heretic I am... ;)

[eryx-uk.livejournal.com]

These are the ones I recommend. Those marked with a * are must see stories.

1st Doctor:
The Dalek Invasion of Earth.

3rd Doctor:
The Silurians.
The Sea Devils.
The Three Doctors.
The Time Warrior.

4th Doctor:
Genesis of the Daleks (worth repeating).*
Terror of the Zygons.
Horror of Fang Rock.*
The Keeper of Traken.

5th Doctor:
Earthshock.
The Five Doctors.*
Warriors of the Deep.

6th Doctor:
Attack of the Cybermen.
The Two Doctors.*

7th Doctor:
Remembrence of the Daleks.*
Silver Nemesis.
The Curse of Fenric.*

[philipstorry.livejournal.com]

Silver Nemesis but not Ghost Light? That's crazy talk!

It's a pity that Paradise Towers isn't on DVD really... Awful, but in a charming way!

[eryx-uk.livejournal.com]

Ghost Light is a good story but IMO it isn't one of the best.

[philipstorry.livejournal.com]

True, but I'd say the same of Silver Nemesis. Yes, it's a Cyberman story. But not exactly a brilliant one - and that bugs me.

The new series deals with Cybermen far better than the old series was by the time of Silver Nemesis. By then, they were just generic baddies in funky silver suits - when they should be emotionless and intent on converting everyone to their "better state"...

*ahem*

Anyway, I sense we're not going to agree. So let's just recommend both, eh? ;-)

[eryx-uk.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a plan to me. :)

[mr-malk.livejournal.com]

Yes... but that's cos you're wrong!

Well, seriously, I'd say that the first 2 episodes are as good an example of Who as you will find anywhere, but the concluding third episode lets it down slightly with a somewhat hurried ending.

Remembrance of the Daleks is great, and contains not only the first dalek who can handle stairs, the first dalek extermination SFX that did not suck and Ace toking a nuclear baseball bat, but also the Special Weapons Dalek (which I loved) and the Doctor interrupting Davros, mid-rant, with the words "Unlimited rice pudding!"

Class!

[oz-not-ozzy.livejournal.com]

Remembrance of the Daleks is great, and contains not only the first dalek who can handle stairs, the first dalek extermination SFX that did not suck and Ace toking a nuclear baseball bat, but also the Special Weapons Dalek (which I loved) and the Doctor interrupting Davros, mid-rant, with the words "Unlimited rice pudding!"

Not to mention the immortal line:
"Ace..... Give me some of that Nitro 9 you're not carrying!"

[miss-s-b.livejournal.com]

Technically, the Colin Baker dalek one contains the first flying dalek, in that Davros does it. It was meant to have a proper flying dalek too, but they filmed it outdoors and the wind was too high that day so they just blew it up on the ground instead. PROPER explosion, too, none of this namby-pamby CGI stuff.

[miss-s-b.livejournal.com]

IAWTC.

[philipstorry.livejournal.com]

Further to Curse of Fenric, also watch Ghost Light and Remembrance Of The Daleks.

[poetman.livejournal.com]

The Key of Time story arc is good. It's five or six episodes.

[eryx-uk.livejournal.com]

It is six stories with 4+ episodes each. Its not bad but a tad too long for my tastes as a continuous story arc.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Five or six? The story arc is the entire season 16, six parts totalling 26 episodes! Of those the section that holds together the best as a stand-alone story is The Pirate Planet, scripted by Douglas Adams, with Romana as the companion.

[poetman.livejournal.com]

Also The Robots of Death (4th Dr) is good. And the Key of Time bit is all of season 16.

[inquis.livejournal.com]

I'd say Mark of the Rani and Remembrance of the Daleks.

This is probably because I'm a child of the eighties, and those are the ones I remember best from then.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Genesis of the Daleks (Davros)

The Talons of Weng-Chiang (wonderful Victorian romp and has Leela in it)

The Ark in Space (Sarah Jane)

These are all 4th Doctor, there are good ones with the earlier and later Doctors but nothing stands out to the same extent, and I sort of lost track after the 5th Doctor (who I hated)

Oh, and another vote for City of Death, which was written by Douglas Adams and others, has a cameo by John Cleese, and is another Romana story.

[chriscologne.livejournal.com]

Carnival of Monsters - a 3rd Doctor story that is wonderfully self contained. No Daleks or Cyberman - just a good science-fiction story.

Tomb of the Cybermen - 2nd Doctor. Slow compared to modern Who but nice in b/w and Patrick Troughton is a really good doctor. Really quirky and seemingly harmless. You can really sense the danger and depth of his Doctor though.

[renfield286.livejournal.com]

the deadly assassin is a really good one.
just cus really.

-=R286=-

[xambrius.livejournal.com]

Dalek Stories

1. The Daleks, Season 1 Story 2, 1st Doctor
   
2. The Dalek Invasion of Earth, Season 2 Story 2, 1st Doctor
   
3. The Chase, Season 2 Story 8, 1st Doctor
   
4. Mission to the Unknown, Season 3 Story 2, 1st Doctor
   
5. The Dalek Master Plan, Season 3 Story 4, 1st Doctor
   
6. The Power of the Daleks, Season 4 Story 3, 2nd Doctor
   
7. The Evil of the Daleks, Season 4 Story 9, 2nd Doctor
   
8. Day of the Daleks, Season 9 Story 1, 3rd Doctor
   
9. Frontier in Space, Season 10 Story 3, 3rd Doctor
   
10. Planet of the Daleks, Season 10 Story 4, 3rd Doctor
    
11. Death to the Daleks, Season 11 Story 3, 3rd Doctor
    
12. Genesis of the Daleks, Season 12 Story 4, 4th Doctor
    
13. Destiny of the Daleks, Season 17 Story 1, 4th Doctor
    
14. Resurrection of the Daleks, Season 21 Story 4, 5th Doctor
    
15. Revelation of the Daleks, Season 22 Story 6, 6th Doctor
    
16. Remembrance of the Daleks, Season 25 Story 1, 7th Doctor

--
Tim Harris
The Seeker
Time Lord

[xambrius.livejournal.com]

Cyberman Stories

1. The Tenth Planet, Season 4 Story 2, 1st Doctor
   
2. The Moonbase, Season 4 Story 6, 2nd Doctor
   
3. The Tomb of the Cybermen, Season 5 Story 1, 2nd Doctor
   
4. The Wheel in Space, Season 5 Story 7, 2nd Doctor
   
5. The Invasion, Season 6 Story 3, 2nd Doctor
   
6. Revenge of the Cybermen, Season 12 Story 5, 4th Doctor
   
7. Earthshock, Season 15 Story 6, 5th Doctor
   
8. The Five Doctors, Season 20 Story 7, 5th Doctor (not the focus of the story but they play a significant part)
   
9. Attack of the Cybermen, Season 22 Story 1, 6th Doctor
   
10. Silver Nemesis, Season 25 Story 3, 7th Doctor

--
Tim Harris
The Seeker
Time Lord

[cabd.livejournal.com]

There are so, so many to choose from, and personal preference plays such a big role here... Heres the ones I rate most highly.

The Daleks

The Seeds of Death

Doctor Who and the Silurians

Terror of the Autons

Day of the Daleks

The Curse of Peladon

The Sea Devils

The Sontaran Experiment

Genesis of the Daleks

The Pirate Planet

City of Death

Castrovalva

Earthshock

Attack of the Cybermen

Remembrance of the Daleks

Battlefield

[the-lady-lily.livejournal.com]

how does Tom Baker not trip over that scarf of his?

I suspect by cunning use of many, many retakes :)

[xambrius.livejournal.com]

The Master

1. Terror of the Autons, Season 8 Story 1, 3rd Doctor
   
2. The Mind of Evil, Season 8 Story 2, 3rd Doctor
   
3. The Claws of Axos, Season 8 Story 3, 3rd Doctor
   
4. The Daemons, Season 8 Story 5, 3rd Doctor
   
5. The Sea Devils, Season 9 Story 3, 3rd Doctor
   
6. The Time Monster, Season 9 Story 5, 3rd Doctor
   
7. Frontier in Space, Season 10 Story 3, 3rd Doctor
   
8. The Deadly Assassin, Season 14 Story 3, 4th Doctor
   
9. The Keeper of Traken, Season 18 Story 6, 4th Doctor
   
10. Logopolis, Season 18 Story 7, 4th Doctor
    
11. Castrovalva, Season 19 Story 1, 5th Doctor
    
12. Time-Flight, Season 19 Story 7, 5th Doctor
    
13. The King's Demons, Season 20 Story 6, 5th Doctor
    
14. The Five Doctors, Season 20 Story 7, 5th Doctor (not the focus of the story but he plays a significant part)
    
15. Planet of Fire, Season 21 Story 5, 5th Doctor
    
16. The Mark of the Rani, Season 22 Story 3, 6th Doctor
    
17. The Trial of a Time Lord, Season 23 (all of it), 6th Doctor
    
18. Survival, Season 26 Story 4, 7th Doctor (this is the last story of Classic BBC TV Doctor Who)
    
19. The Enemy Within, 1996 Fox TV Doctor Who Movie, 8th Doctor

--
Tim Harris
The Seeker
Time Lord

[mr-malk.livejournal.com]

Trial of a Timelord (17) does indeed involve the Master, but unfortunately that wasn't enough to stop if from sucking on a scale thitherto unknown in human experience. Not Colin Baker's fault, or even his costume designer's, but Pip & Jane Baker were truly awful script writers. So much promise, so little delivery.

Keeper of Traken (9) is also notable for being when Nyssa, a companion of the 4th and 5th Doctors appeared. This is notable because I had a huge crush on her when I was about 13!

[mr-malk.livejournal.com]

I think everyone else has mentioned all the ones I would pick at least once, although The Creature From The Pit (5th Doctor I think) needs to be mentioned. Not because it was great (it wasn't), but because the Eponymous Creature distinctly resembled a gigantic, green set of male genitalia.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Yay for comedic genitalia! ;o)

[mr-malk.livejournal.com]

Oops. 4th Doctor, not 5th Doctor. This isn't the best picture of it, but it's the only one I could find that really gives you an idea what I mean...

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Booh, looks like that site doesn't allow hotlinking of images.
*searches a bit* Aha. Hm, not very clear.
erm, http://www.shillpages.com/dw/story/d4/st--5g28.jpg looks even worse, "no comment" is right.

[morgenstern23.livejournal.com]

My favourites are Terror of the Autons and The Seeds of Doom.

[pmoodie.livejournal.com]

Hmmm.

OK, here are a few reccies:

First Doctor: The Dalek Invasion of Earth
Second Doctor: Invasion, Tomb of the Cybermen
Third Doctor: Inferno, The Time Warrior
Fourth Doctor: The Arc in Space, Pyramids of Mars, Robots of Death, The Talons of Weng Chiang
Fifth Doctor: The visitation, The Caves of Androzani
Sixth Doctor: Vengeance on Varos, Revelation of the Daleks
Seventh Doctor: Can't recommend any I'm afraid!
Eighth Doctor: There's only one and I can't really recommend that either!

[mrph.livejournal.com]

Pyramids of Mars. Oh yes. :)

In fact, I'd agree with all of the Fourth Doctor choices here - plus City of Death, as many others have commented.

Tomb of the Cybermen is also excellent, as is Inferno.

[miss-s-b.livejournal.com]

Looks like I am the only person who found City of Death boring as hell then...

Seriously, Oz, I think you're a Pertwee man. If you can get The Daemons, get that. But any of the Pertwee era will do for you. Spearhead from Space is his intro, and has Liz Shaw in, and is easy to get hold of.
I'm not a big fan of the first; I like the character, but Bill Hartnell was losing it by the time he played the doctor and it shows.
Two is ace, I really love him, but too many of his stories are incomplete or missing altogether, and you may not like the horseplay between him and Jamie.
I'm not going to recommend any Four; firstly because everybody else will, and secondly because I think Tom Baker's a two trick pony and am sick of everyone going on about how fantastic he was when he could only do two faces.
For Five? Caves of Androzani is the best one ever, IMHO.
Earthshock has the reputation it has because it had some stuff that genuinely shocked fans on broadcast, but I don't think it stands up to modern viewing. I wouldn't bother with that till later. Castrovalva is very dull. The Five-era Dalek one is good though, and has the biggest visible death count of any old Who.
If you want a Colin one, Vengeance on Varos. Other people will tell you to steer clear of Colin, which leads to pretty much everyone who joins thesixthdoctor introducing themselves with I steered clear of Colin for years because everyone says he's rubbish, but now I've watched him I've realised how brilliant he is..... Do please bear this in mind - although Timelash is BOLLOCKS.
Sylvester, I would recommend the Happiness Patrol. A lot of fans laugh at it because the bad guy turns out to be Bertie Bassett; I think the build up more than justifies the OTT ending. Or, like others have said, Curse of Fenric, or Ghost Light. Or Battlefield, if only for the Brig.

The TV movie is almost unmitigatd shite, I wouldn't bother with it unless you get really into fandom.

Check out the webcasts on the BBC website, too. If real Time is still up there, that's very cool, and has Evelyn in. If you like that, I'll recommend you some Big Finish audio plays ;)

[davegodfrey.livejournal.com]

Don't discount Eight on the grounds of the film.

His Big Finish stuff is very good. They recently did some on Radio 7 with the blonde one off "Two Pints of Lager". I think they were trying to do a version of Rose, and actually pulled it off better than RTD did.

The ones with Charley Pollard (1920s socialite rescued from the Hindenburg) are v. good, and his version of Shada is great too.

[miss-s-b.livejournal.com]

IAWTC, but I am wary of loading too much on poor old Ozzy too soon. And the TV movie IS shite.

[davegodfrey.livejournal.com]

He cannae take the strain cap'n?

[miss-s-b.livejournal.com]

Well, you know what these German dilithium crystals are like...

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Dammit, I can't remember any of Scotty's lines from the German version. It's been too long.

Most of these have been mentioned already, but hey.....

[oz-not-ozzy.livejournal.com]

Okay, my personal favourites include (in no particular order):

The Two Doctors (Troughton & Colin Baker)
The Five Doctors (Hartnell....Davidson)
City of Death (Tom Baker)
Battlefield (McCoy)
Deadly Assassin (Tom Baker)
Logopolis (Tom Baker)
Castrovalva (...but watch Logopolis first!!)
Ark in Space (Tom Baker)
Caves of Androzani (Davidson)
Mark of the Rani (Colin Baker)
Tomb of the Cybermen (Troughton)
Revenge of the Cybermen (Tom Baker)
Earthshock (Davidson)
Attack of the Cybermen (Colin Baker)
Remembrance of the Daleks (McCoy)
Genesis of the Daleks (Tom Baker)
Resurrection of the Daleks (Davidson)
The Daemons (Pertwee)
The Sontaran Experiment (Tom Baker)