You’re locked down, quarantined, and self isolating. You like Doctor Who, but have yet to dip your toe in the vast ocean of the classic series. But there’s so much! Where to start?
Well, My housemate recently asked me to introduce them to the good old stuff, so I put together a little set of blocks to help ease them in. Rather than going from beginning to end, Unearthly Child to Survival, I decided to break it down into more manageable chunks.
I began by working backwards, starting with the TV Movie, and then the Seventh Doctor, Sixth, Fifth, and so on. This eases you through the change of pace, tone, and general direction. Series 26 has a lot that New Who would later go on to use and Ace is fantastic. But the TV movie is just fun and silliness and has excellent music.
Doctors Intro:
The Doctors Introduction is a short and sweet introduction to each classic Doctor via a decent story.
– TV Movie
– The Curse of Fenric
– Attack of the Cybermen
– The King’s Demons
– City of Death
– The Time Warrior
– The Mind Robber
– The War Machines
The Master Intro
And after the Doctor, who better to follow up with than The Master? I tried to give a decent spread showcasing each incarnation in their best light.
– Terror of the Autons
– The Dæmons
– The Deadly Assassin
– Keeper of Traken
– Planet of Fire
– Mark of the Rani
– Survival
Daleks 101
After The Master, who else but the Daleks? Again, a balance between eras while maintaining a sort of narrative.
– The Daleks
– The Dalek Invasion of Earth
– The Power of the Daleks
– Genesis of the Daleks
– Resurrection of the Daleks
– Revelation of the Daleks
– Remembrance of the Daleks
Cybermen 101
Moving on to the Cybermen. Again, showing them in their best light while weaving a narrative.
– The Tenth Planet
– The Moonbase
– The Tomb of the Cybermen
– Revenge of the Cybermen
– Earthshock
– Silver Nemesis
Multi-Doctor Stories
Just for fun, some Multi-Doctor stories, because they’re all classics.
– The Three Doctors
– The Five Doctors
– The Two Doctors
Regeneration Stories
It’s the end, but the moment has been prepared for… Allowing them to see how each Doctor ends, and begins. (Minus Tenth Planet as already covered under Cybermen, and Trial of a Time Lord as I’d rather that be viewed as it’s own thing)
– The War Games
– Spearhead from Space
– Planet of the Spiders
– Robot
– Logopolis
– Castrovalva
– Caves of Androzani
– The Twin Dilema
– Time and the Rani
– Night of the Doctor (IT COUNTS!)
The Brigadir / UNIT
Now to introduce them properly to one of the Doctor’s best and oldest pals!
– Web of Fear
– The Invasion
– Inferno
– Claws of Axos
– Terror of the Zygons
– Battlefield
Time Lord / Gallifrey Lore
For the Lore!! Get into that Gallifreyan History 101!
– The Time Meddler
– Invasion of Time
– The Brain of Morbius
– Shada (but which version?)
– State of Decay
– Arc of Infinity
Story Arcs
The epic serials! Classic Who’s attempt at story arcs. I have such a soft spot for these.
– The Key to Time
– The Trial of a Time Lord
Historical
And to round it out, the Historical stories. Not many of them as the show goes on, but certainly a bit of Who legacy to delve into.
– The Aztecs
– The Romans
– Black Orchid
– The Visitation
– Mark of the Rani
And after that, you can just dip in here there and everywhere with random favourites. There’s so much good stuff in the mix and far more stories than are listed here. But this is, I feel, a nice and exhaustive introduction to how Doctor Who be!
This week on the Writers of Fantasy podcast my guest is Michael Dante DiMartino; he is a writer, artist, and perhaps most famously, the co-creator of Avatar the Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra!
I first met Anna on a panel at FantasyCon2015. I believe it was gender and sexuality representation Sci-Fi and Fantasy. I remember a point being made that we hope to one day not have these panels because the issue will have become accepted as representation begets representation.
Joel Cornah 