Calling all Doctor Who experts

[Ursus Buckler]

After declaring Matt Smith my favourite Doctor, it soon occurred to me that I didn't exactly have a large amount of experience when it came to the other Doctors. Not being an expert on Doctor Who, I was just wondering if some of you would be able to give me some episodes that were the high points of One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Nine and Ten's careers as the Doctor to go and watch for myself before I go and make my decision.

Thanks.

 

[Jaxs]

It would be hard to recommend that many episode from the 2nd Doctor as most of the episodes were lost and no copies have ever been found.

 

[NinjaDeathSlap]

I haven't entirely finished my judgement on Matt Smith. He certainly seems to have matched David Tennant (my current favorite) so far, but time will tell as to weather he can best him.

 

[Dr_Matt]

Pretty much any of the last couple of seasons of the 7th Doctor, but The Curse of Fenric has always been my favorite. Remembrance of the Daleks is worth checking out as well.

 

[Toar]

The Web Planet is the first doctor's darkest episode, keeping in mind that it is not only black and white but also a first for the normally comical doctor who series. The 4th doctor's more notable serial was in the midst of a miniseries called the Key to Time. The episodes were about the Pirate Planet. They are comical and somewhat bleak, but likely one of the best episodes.

WEB WORLD

PIRATE PLANET

 

[Quaxar]

Nine: The Empty Child double episode, season finale double episode
Ten: Blink, Silence in the Library, Midnight

All of them very well written and good examples of the Doctor. Also, my favourite episodes.
Can't help you with the older ones though, I am only beginning with them.

 

[Sun Flash]

An Unearthly Child(1), Talons of Weng Chiang(4), Castrovalva (5), Survival(7), Dalek (9), The Doctor Dances two parter(9), Family of Blood/Human Nature, Midnight and Turn Left (all 10).

They're my favourite episodes right off the top of my head.

One I've also forgot the name of is a third Doctor serial; it had the The Master and the Autons in it, I'm sure. It scared me senseless when I first saw it.

EDIT: Also Hand of Fear (4). That's awesome.


As for favourite Doctor, It's a toss up between Pertwee, Smith and Tennant. Eccleston would've been my favourite, but he didn't hang around long enough. And that makes me sad.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

After declaring Matt Smith my favourite Doctor, it soon occurred to me that I didn't exactly have a large amount of experience when it came to the other Doctors. Not being an expert on Doctor Who, I was just wondering if some of you would be able to give me some episodes that were the high points of One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Nine and Ten's careers as the Doctor to go and watch for myself before I go and make my decision.
Thanks.

I'd check out the Key to Time arc from the 4th Doctor (Tom Baker). Good stuff, and a good sample of Tom Baker's work.

Also Keeper of Traken, Logopolis, and Castrovalva are personal favorites of mine (Tom Baker for the first two, Peter Davidson for the last one).

 

[Rhys95]

Each Doctor is Slightly different personality wise so it's really a matter of opinion. My personal favourite is David Tennant though

 

[DrOswald]

After declaring Matt Smith my favourite Doctor, it soon occurred to me that I didn't exactly have a large amount of experience when it came to the other Doctors. Not being an expert on Doctor Who, I was just wondering if some of you would be able to give me some episodes that were the high points of One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Nine and Ten's careers as the Doctor to go and watch for myself before I go and make my decision.

Thanks.

While I agree that Matt Smith is the best doctor, you can't discount David Tennant, who is the favorite doctor of many people (most of them don't like Matt Smith, but only because he is not David Tennant.)

Christopher Eccleston was also pretty good, but they didn't yet have the budget to get actual high quality writers, great acting talent, or excellent special effects. I would recommend watching the entire run of both the 9th and the 10th doctors.

The old Dr Who, while classic, suffers from much of the problems of television in it's era. The pacing is very slow, the stories are generally weak, the special effects and music are pretty horrible, and the acting of almost all the character is pretty bad. Good in it's time, but really weak by today's standard. Only watch it if you want to be a doctor who completionist. We just know how to make better TV now days.

Edit: So you know, I watched the new doctor who as it aired, and then went back to the old who and watched a lot of it. I don't have the nostalgia factor that many do for the old Who.

 

[Antwerp Caveman]

Really? I think Matt Smith is terrible. Partly because he cannot look properly angry and intimidating, like his 2 predecessors, and partly because the stories written for him are not nearly as good as the 5 years before his.

The First Doctor wasn't all that good, It was kindof being a british niche experiment, going up against the Twilight Zone. The Edge of Destruction and Planet of Giants are a good example of that. The Daleks (2nd serial, first appearance of) The Aztecs and The Time Meddler are pretty good.

The Second Doctor is indeed tough, also, because he was very childish.

The Third Doctor is a personal fave, first in color, more action. Excellent trivia: "Jon Pertwee couldn't remember the techno-babble, so he memorised one line: Reverse the Polarity of the neutron flow". There is a whole season of Third Doctor and The Master, that's a day well spent watching. It also features Sarah Jane Smith's debut, continued in Fourth Doctor.

About that darn Fourth Doctor, action, adventure and light hearted comedy. The Key To Time and the influences of Douglas Adams are quite apparent. Fave Fourth Doctor quote: "I don't want to lose my arm. I'm quite attached to it. It's so handy!"

Can't really help you on 5, 6 and 7.
8 was obviously hippie rubbish.

I loved 9 and 10, just watch all of it. Want to get someone hooked that is not into Sci-Fi? Show them Blink.

 

[DrOswald]

Really? I think Matt Smith is terrible. Partly because he cannot look properly angry and intimidating, like his 2 predecessors, and partly because the stories written for him are not nearly as good as the 5 years before his.

I disagree. To me, Matt Smith is the only modern doctor I can really see as a powerful and dangerous individual. David Tennant Doctor was so anti-aggression I could never really see him as intimidating. I mean, he even gets mad when the

Spoiler

half human doctor kills all the daleks, which is just stupid.

Christopher Eccleston just isn't as good an actor as either the 10th or 11th.

I loved 9 and 10, just watch all of it. Want to get someone hooked that is not into Sci-Fi? Show them Blink.

Actually, I have found that Blink is great, but not a good introduction into Dr Who style because the people who are not used to the style have a hard time getting into the episode.

 

[Anachronism]

1st and 2nd Doctors: many of the episodes have been lost or otherwise wiped, so you won't have much luck with them.

3rd Doctor: Planet of the Spiders. This is the one where he regenerates into Tom Baker (there will probably be a lot of regeneration episodes here; they tend to be good).

4th Doctor: Genesis of the Daleks is one of the best Doctor Who stories ever. Definitely worth a look. Also probably an idea to check out Logopolis, which is his regeneration episode. His actual death is a bit rubbish, but it's still worth seeing the end of Tom Baker's seven-year run.

5th Doctor: The Caves of Androzani. This, along with Genesis of the Daleks, is up on my list of best Who stories ever. Again, it's Peter Davison's regeneration, and he's one of the depressingly few Doctors to actually get a heroic death.

6th Doctor: not a fan, personally.

7th Doctor: Remembrance of the Daleks, for their last appearance before the revamped series. Also Survival, which, while a bit weird, was the last story before the show was cancelled.

8th Doctor: only had the TV movie. It's ok.

9th Doctor: Dalek and The Empty Child are probably the best of his run, and it's not a coincidence that they're both by Steven Moffat. The finale, The Parting of the Ways, is spectacular.

10th Doctor: Blink. If nothing else, you need to see Blink. It's absolutely sublime, and probably the best episode of the revamped series to date. Other than that, Human Nature is very good, as is Last of the Time Lords, the finale of Tennant's second season.

 

[Ursus Buckler]

10th Doctor: Blink. If nothing else, you need to see Blink. It's absolutely sublime, and probably the best episode of the revamped series to date. Other than that, Human Nature is very good, as is Last of the Time Lords, the finale of Tennant's second season.

I just watched Blink at 11:30pm. I am. a gorramn idiot.

 

[FalloutJack]

After declaring Matt Smith my favourite Doctor, it soon occurred to me that I didn't exactly have a large amount of experience when it came to the other Doctors. Not being an expert on Doctor Who, I was just wondering if some of you would be able to give me some episodes that were the high points of One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Nine and Ten's careers as the Doctor to go and watch for myself before I go and make my decision.

Thanks.

I'm a Doctor (expert)!

Hmmm... I'm going to recommend out of some of the ones I have, okay? Bear in mind, they ARE all on DVD. Your mileage may vary.

William Hartnell, First Doctor

The Unearthly Child (The first episode of Doctor Who)
The Daleks
The Keys of Marinus
The Daleks Invation of Earth
The Space Museum
The Chase
The Time Meddler
The War Machines

Patrick Troughton, Second Doctor

The Tomb of the Cybermen
The Mind Robber
The Invasion (Cybermen!)
The Seeds of Death
The War Games

Jon Pertwee, Third Doctor

Doctor Who and the Silurians (This, you can find in a three-pack with The Sea Devils and Warriors of the Deep.)
Inferno
The Claws of Axos
The Three Doctors
Frontier in Space
Planet of the Daleks
The Green Death
The Time Warrior

Tom Baker, The Fourth Doctor

Robot
Ark in Space
Genesis of the Daleks
Revenge of the Cybermen
Planet of Evil
The Brain of Morbius
The Masque of Mandragora
The Hand of Fear
The Deadly Assassin
The Robots of Death
The Talons of Weng-Chiang
Horror on Fang Rock
The-

Oh, I give up. Just find Tom Baker episodes whenever you can. The newer series and how the Doctors seem to act is alot like him and his more flippant style. I apologize, but Tom Baker is just that good.

Peter Davison, Fifth Doctor

Castrovalva
Arc of Infinity
The Five Doctors
Resurrection of the Daleks

Colin Baker, Sixth Doctor

*Pause*

There weren't that many for him, so I would actually recommend picking them all up as you can, but pay special attention to Trial of the Timelord.

Sylvester McCoy, Seventh Doctor

Remembrance of the Daleks
Silver Nemesis
Battlefield
The Curse of Fenric
Survival

9th (Christopher Eccleston) and 10th (David Tennant)

Because of the way these episodes have bits and bobs foreshadowing and subtly referencing stuff there and back again that culminates in the series finale...I would say do NOT skip any of the new stuff, period. Save up some money and buy the pack. And hold on for the ride.

 

[Ursus Buckler]

@FalloutJack
@Anachronism
@Sun_Flash


Thank you my friends, this is exactly the kind of thing I was looking for.

 

[Shadu]

I've only seen Eccleston, Tennant, and Smith.

While I agree with a previous poster who said that Eccleston and Tennant had a lot of foreshadowing in their episodes, I think as long as you stay away from the season finales, you should be alright. That being said, here are my recommendations:

Nine (Eccleston):
Dalek
The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances

Ten (Tennant):
Tooth and Claw
The Girl in the Fireplace
The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit
Gridlock
42
Blink
Silence in the Library/Forest of Death
Midnight

 

[IndianaJonny]

Oh, I give up. Just find Tom Baker episodes whenever you can. The newer series and how the Doctors seem to act is alot like him and his more flippant style. I apologize, but Tom Baker is just that good.

Do you think Matt Smith could be the one to bring back the jelly baby (apart from the Master's brief foray)?

 

[FalloutJack]

Oh, I give up. Just find Tom Baker episodes whenever you can. The newer series and how the Doctors seem to act is alot like him and his more flippant style. I apologize, but Tom Baker is just that good.

Do you think Matt Smith could be the one to bring back the jelly baby (apart from the Master's brief foray)?

What? Because of the Flesh going through the Post-Regenerative Stress Disorder and offering 'em all a jellybaby? Dunno. The Jellybabies have been a reaccurring joke ever since Tom Baker. They'll be mentioned here and there, just for kicks. Sylvester McCoy was heard to offer "Licorice all-sorts", as a different-y sort of pun. The 8th Doctor in the movie was munching on a bowl of them. And so on...

Will they ever be back for good? I dunno. Tom Baker single-handedly made them very popular and I don't believe they've needed much of a hand since. I laugh every time I hear about them, though.