Classic Doctor Who in 25 stories
A friend who's enjoying current Doctor Who but doesn't really know the old series asked me recently what they might watch to get a flavour for it. That’s a complicated question give just how many styles, tones, textures, and just outright levels of quality the show packed in from 1963 - 1989.
But I thought it was worth a shot.
My self-imposed rules are:
Episodes in chronological order
Must include the first and last serial
The rest can't just be Tom Baker
No, really though, at least one per Doctor
Yes, even Colin
Try to include a bit of everything that earned the show so much love: high-concept sci-fi, outlandish camp, beautifully-realised fleeting secondary characters, haunted house hi-jinks, chewing the (wobbly) scenery, actual gut-punch emotional depth, Sarah Jane Smith, a powerful sense of morality and justice that the generation of Boomers raised on it somehow utterly failed to internalise.
I really wanted to get this down to twenty episodes but there were some I just couldn't let go.
Not everyone will agree with my choices. I mean, it's Doctor Who fandom - there have been more amiable papal schisms. But just to get the big one out of the way: yes I have excluded The Daleks. Also that other one you love. With time you'll either forgive me or find validation on a misogynistic sub-reddit.
Here goes. I warn you now, this is forty-seven hours of television and some of it is not objectively “good”.
An Unearthly Child
Where it all started. I am too far gone to make a balanced assessment of its quality.
(1963, 4 episodes, 01:40)The Dalek Invasion of Earth
Atmospheric. Also, the Daleks are at their best when they have a really, really stupid plan.
(1964, 6 episodes, 02:30)The Time Meddler
It’s easy to forget that sometimes the old show actually was interested in the details of time travel.
(1965, 4 episodes with some missing material, 01:40)Tomb of the Cybermen
Stone cold banger. Smidge of the ol' racism.
(1967, 4 episodes, 01:40)The Web of Fear
Who doesn't love yetis on the London Underground?
(1968, 6 episodes with ep3 missing, 02:30)The Mind Robber
Galloping cosmic gibberish of the finest order, as we slip outside the material universe.
(1968, 5 episodes, 01:40)The Invasion
Who doesn't love Cybermen on the London Underground? Cracking villain, too.
(1968, 8 episodes, with ep.1 & 4 missing, 03:20)The Silurians
Sprinkle of genocide on your cornflakes, Brigadier?
(1970, 7 episodes, 02:55)Terror of the Autons
Camp and creepy, two great tastes that taste great... with the first appearance of The Master?
(1971, 4 episodes, 01:40)The Dæmons
Satanic panic! At the village fete.
(1971, 5 episodes, 02:05)The Sea Devils
🎼 Lizard in a string vest, I know / I know, it’s serious 🎶
What? Look, it’s The Silurians but under the sea, and with The Master, and it’s great.
(1972, 6 episodes, 02:30)Robot
It's a brilliantly shit robot surrounded by brilliantly horrible humans. And Tom Baker really setting the tone for his run.
(1974, 4 episodes, 01:40)Genesis of the Daleks
Everyone says this is the best for a reason. Spoilers: that reason is not the giant clam.
(1975, 6 episodes, 02:30)The Pyramids of Mars
The hubris of gentleman Egyptologists dooms us all.
(1975, 4 episodes, 01:40)The Deadly Assassin
Look, we weren't getting through this list without Time Lord deep-continuity bullshit. At least this one's entertaining.(1976, 4 episodes, 01:40)
The Horror of Fang Rock
Proper nasty horror (PG-rated 1970s BBC style, obvs).
(1977, 4 episodes, 01:40)The Ribos Operation
Demented space heist! Interplanetary grifter estate agents and inappropriate ballgowns.
(1978, 4 episodes, 01:40)The Stones of Blood
Everything Doctor Who does is in here, mixed up in a heady broth of absolute nonsense. What even happens at the end? Who cares - it's a delight.
(1978, 4 episodes, 01:40)Snakedance
Half of a two-parter with Kinda. A really solid bit of Peter Davison. A young Martin Clunes chews the scenery as a kind of evil Sebastian Flyte.
(1983, 4 episodes, 01:40)The Caves of Androzani
The fifth Doctor shows so much compassion, decency, and regret. Now we get to watch that kill him.
(1984, 4 episodes, 01:40)Revelation of the Daleks
Look, I said one mandatory Colin. Good lord it's very eighties.
(1985, 2 episodes, 01:30)Remembrance of the Daleks
And the palate cleanser is (unlimited) rice pudding.
This is a perhaps over-loved fan favourite, but it’s got some fantastic moments.(1988, 4 episodes, 01:40)
The Happiness Patrol
If I sent you into classic Who and you didn’t get to meet the Allsorts man, you’d ask for your money back.
(1988, 3 episodes, 01:15)The Curse of Fenric
Some of the show's best atmospheric horror, and a far better place to have ended than...
(1989, 4 episodes, 01:40)Survival
...this. Sorry? It is, however, quite an interesting window into how 1980s Britain saw itself.
(1989, 4 episodes, 01:40)
Thank you. I will not be taking questions at this time.
Honourable mentions
One of the most glaring omissions from my list - from a completist point of view - is a "pure historical", one of the early stories where the doc rocking up in a magic box is the only science fictional element. That's a shame, but the map must necessarily be smaller than the territory. If you don't mind a dab of cartographic bloat, sketch in The Aztecs.
Here’s the others I reluctantly cut:
The Aztecs
The Ice Warriors
Robots of Death
The Talons of Weng-Chiang (which has not aged well)
City of Death
Kinda
Earthshock
The Five Doctors (What? I like it.)
Paradise Towers
Battlefield
Anyway, I think this list gives a reasonable tour, leaning somewhat into the higher quality stories. Oh, I was tempted to booby trap it with Warriors of the Deep, but I’m not (that specific kind of) a monster.