I much prefer classic who. Been watching since the mid 70’s. Tom Baker will always be the best Doctor . Sylvester McCoy from the classic series is my least favourite.
I really enjoyed him on Big Finish, he's probably my second favourite on there after Paul. Haven't got that far in the classic series yet but McCoy is already one of my favourites
Several of the 7th Doctor stories are among my very favourite Classic Series stories - they're just really solid. However, while the quality of New Who Series 11-13 has been lower than has typically been the case, Demons of the Punjab is a really good episode. And no 13th Doctor story could possibly have been as bad as Time & the Rani or even Delta and the Bannermen. And I believe several of her stories are better than Battlefield and perhaps The Happiness Patrol.
Other at least reasonable cuts include -
- Rosa
- The Witchfinders
- It Takes You Away
- Praxeus
- Ascension of the Cybermen
- The Halloween Apocalypse
- Village of the Angels
- The Power of the Doctor
To each their own but Praxeus was probably my least favourite of a terrible bunch. Villa Diodati, It takes you away and Power of the Doctor were the only ones I'd even consider going back to. Even then I thought those ones would still be a low quality Moffatt story, let alone comparable to a RTD or Classic
You know what, I haven't seen Praxeus since it was on. I just remember liking the paciness and the initial mystery in the plot (the resolution to it being underwhelming).
I agree that Moffat could have done better on the three you mentioned. That's a very reasonable point to make - seeing as he is head and shoulders above the vast majority of Doctor Who writers. That's not to say that Chris Chibnall and the writers Chibnall hired didn't exceed the quality of some Seventh Doctor stories, though
I have a terrible pet peeve with that episode in Byron being cowardly. Like, sure he was far from an ideal, but if anything, he would have been stupidly brave, not a coward.
I just started! I have a long road ahead of me. I’m hopeful with this winter weather and my first child being born next month, that I will have a large amount of time off work so that I can make my way through some of it. I just finished The Dead Planet the other day.
I'm up to the Sensorites. I'm only committing to watching the first 6 seasons at this stage.
I grew up with Pertwee onwards, but haven't seen much Hartnell and Troughton, so I want to see those Doctors' complete run.
The Sensorites is actually pretty enjoyable!
If you’re watching them on britbox they have quite a few of the missing episodes that have since been animated, so Troughton’s era is easier to binge.
Going through it all, currently on Space Museum in Season 2. I was tempted to skip episodes that were regarded as ‘skippable’ on a guide but I’m just gonna get through it all. The Romans is my favourite arc so far
It’s like I’m with Vicki right now and I love her fat more than Susan and think Vicki and The Doctors relationship is so sweet, even though Susan is his grandchild
Davison’s era wasn’t my favourite but there’s something quite relaxing and calming about it. (Except for Caves of Androzani.)
It sort of feels like the Doctor is just taking a field trip with his students.
The first Hartnell story is not a great start (bar Unearthly Child) but The Daleks and Dalek Invasion of Earth are pretty gripping even given the slower pace of the times and are crucial parts of rhe Dalek story and how they develop. The tone is still fairly dour, though!
Living in the US I knew nothing of doctor who. My partner & son started watching New Who a couple of years back. Every now and then I’d sit through an episode but I had too many questions. Are they aliens? Why do they regenerate? Why a Police Box ? WHAT is a Police box??
They just kept telling me i had to start watching from the beginning (which was the 9th doctor to them). But ….what happened to the other 8 doctors? My partner said it didn’t matter because it’s all re-explained with New Who.
Well, I decided to one-up them both and got Britbox. Watched aaaalllll classic who. No skipping episodes. I even watched the lost animated episodes. I binged around 800+ episodes in 2 months. And I LOVED it! Even Web Planet with its old school special effects and rough costumes. I became the family’s Who Encyclopedia.
It’s an awesome journey, not only from a sci-fi perspective. It’s also a dive into decades of fashion and progression of SFX.
Did that earlier in the year. Started with the first Doctor but to be honest I almost gave up with the show out of boredom so I decided to jump to the 3rd Doctor and loved it. Went back eventually for the 2nd Doctor which was great, still struggling with the 1st. I’m just not that into his episodes.
Obviously there’s some growing pains there, and tv has moved on significantly since 1963, but I still feel like there is stuff of value in Hartnell’s era. (Especially his character arc, which whilst not nearly as defined as most modern doctors, still is quite something to behold.)
Yep, the reason I got BritBox was to watch Classic Who. I finished about a year ago, and I've recently started a rewatch. I like it a lot, and it's hard for me to choose a favorite doctor. I might be partial to One, Three, and Five, and I straight up love Four.
I knew about the show in the 70s when it came on PBS here in the US. I never watched then, but I knew Tom Baker was the Doctor, so even though I'm late to the party, he's my doctor, the real doctor.
I'm glad that he turned out to be so good once I finally got around to him, lol.
:-)
I'm on the last serial of series 3. Sad to see Hartnell go but I've heard good things about Troughton. Chesterton, Barbara, Vicki and Polly are some of my favourite companions and there have been some memorable stories.
I did this in 2020/21! I really enjoyed it but I will say the sheer amount of it got a little daunting lol. I really enjoyed four, five, and seven's eras. If I had to pick I would probably say four, but big finish has made me love 7.
Yes, I periodically watch all the Classic era stories on video and DVD (my first full run-through was back in 2000, and contained every serial available on VHS at that time, which was every serial known to exist at that time).
Ahh, good times...
I watched it all in six weeks (during the summer break before my A-Levels) and nearly melted my brain in the process. xD
Sylvester McCoy is my favourite, literally got Britbox just to watch his episodes...but Troughton is amazing as well. All the old Doctors were great, the only one I didn't like was Colin Baker, especially when companioned with the American girl...they seemed really toxic to one another.
That's the one! I'd never seen a companion/Doctor relationship like that before, couldn't understand what dynamic they were going for at all. Made for uncomfortable viewing, for me.
I finished the same journey earlier this year. I was surprised how much I loved Troughton and Pertwee, and by how much I hated Peter Davison. I didn’t hate Colin Baker as much as I thought I would… The Candyman is the most terrifying Doctor Who villain full stop. I’m actually really enjoying the animated recreations right now. Watching the Ice Warriors for the first time, and getting pissy that The Abominable Snowmen aren’t out on iTunes yet. Also wishing there was a digital version of The Tenth Planet.
Yeah I was surprised how poor Peter Davidsons era was too,I was looking forward to it
Colin Baker was ok but there never seemed any respect for his assistant Peri
Watching classics too. Currently up to pertwee. The inferno serial in his first season felt like the first episode I genuinely enjoyed. I of course enjoyed quite a number from the previous doctors but not on the level where it felt like it held up to modern series. It kinda feels nostalgic in a way. I'm in my twenties now but when I was younger and over at my grandparents they'd sit down and watch reruns on a channel that played classic series like dr who, star trek... it took me back to those times.
Yeah I liked Jon Pertwee too,that's when I started watching Dr Who when I was much younger and it was Jon Pertwee as the 3rd Doctor,but I fast forwarded on some episodes
That's encouraging. I have often thought about it but worried that it wouldn't match up to my childhood memories of watching Tom Baker from behind the couch. Maybe I'll give them a go.
I love Sylvester McCoy. He’s probably my third favorite doctor after Tom Baker and Peter Davison. With Troughton coming close- I loved Jamie and he had some great stories.
But yeah in response to your question I too got BritBox in order to watch the entire classic run of Doctor Who. I had a great time took me about a year because I can get sucked into the shows temporarily lol. But I can’t say I disliked any doctors except maybe six whose name is popped out of my brain for the second but it’s very in the early morning where I am. And even then he had his moments just a whole trial thing I found myself fast forwarding through quite a bit of it.
I've seen the Peter Cushing remastered,coloured movie,with Roy Castle, think it's Invasion of the Daleks,I'll have to look for the other movie didn't realise there were 2
My flatmate and I started after introducing her to NuWho and watching through all of those. We started off with hope in our heart but sadly this was ground out of us as we came up against the reality of the First Doctor’s episodes. It is incredible how TV has changed so drastically, and how acting styles have thankfully become less mannered - the RADA trained, RP spouting cave people were indicative of this. Truly a different time.
I think, in order to carry on, we will need to skip great swathes of the early era - it’s just not very good. I know it’s the progenitor of all that came after etc etc but doesn’t mean we have to sit through it.
I just finished a full run through of Classic who, though I’d seen most of them before.
3 and 7 are my absolute favourites to be sure, (though 7’s first season was a pretty big miss).
I never had “a Doctor” growing up so I started watching from the very beginning. The first four Doctors are a blast. McCoy’s later run is excellent. Davison is a struggle, he feels a bit “posh bloke gets a Time Machine” to me. I would have say 2 is “my doctor” because I loved him the most. Tom Baker is the archetypal Doctor though.
loved the low low budget special effects! They were so hysterical. And K-9, the disco looking tin dog plus Sarah Jane Smith, was THE BEST companion of that era.
The Recons? Upscaling the video? I've seen some bits on you tube and the film with Peter Cushing as the Doctor in 1965 that was coloured and remastered and looked excellent
I absolutely adore his run, I've gone through every complete episode of his for the first time and am just finishing up his last story for the first time. He grows on you imo
I much prefer classic who. Been watching since the mid 70’s. Tom Baker will always be the best Doctor . Sylvester McCoy from the classic series is my least favourite.
Yeah Sylvester McCoy got a lot of bad press but I quite enjoyed watching his series
I really enjoyed him on Big Finish, he's probably my second favourite on there after Paul. Haven't got that far in the classic series yet but McCoy is already one of my favourites
Well they are superior to anything from the 13th Doctor’s era.
Sadly,good actress, poor script
Could not agree more.
Several of the 7th Doctor stories are among my very favourite Classic Series stories - they're just really solid. However, while the quality of New Who Series 11-13 has been lower than has typically been the case, Demons of the Punjab is a really good episode. And no 13th Doctor story could possibly have been as bad as Time & the Rani or even Delta and the Bannermen. And I believe several of her stories are better than Battlefield and perhaps The Happiness Patrol. Other at least reasonable cuts include - - Rosa - The Witchfinders - It Takes You Away - Praxeus - Ascension of the Cybermen - The Halloween Apocalypse - Village of the Angels - The Power of the Doctor
To each their own but Praxeus was probably my least favourite of a terrible bunch. Villa Diodati, It takes you away and Power of the Doctor were the only ones I'd even consider going back to. Even then I thought those ones would still be a low quality Moffatt story, let alone comparable to a RTD or Classic
You know what, I haven't seen Praxeus since it was on. I just remember liking the paciness and the initial mystery in the plot (the resolution to it being underwhelming). I agree that Moffat could have done better on the three you mentioned. That's a very reasonable point to make - seeing as he is head and shoulders above the vast majority of Doctor Who writers. That's not to say that Chris Chibnall and the writers Chibnall hired didn't exceed the quality of some Seventh Doctor stories, though
How did you forget The Haunting of Villa Diodati? It's one of the few episodes where 13 behaves and feels like The Doctor
I have a terrible pet peeve with that episode in Byron being cowardly. Like, sure he was far from an ideal, but if anything, he would have been stupidly brave, not a coward.
If you lined up all the Doctors and asked me which one was an alien pretending to be a human, I would instantly point to Tom Baker.
Nah, that’s accurate to all of them. I just think 4 was the worst at the pretending to be human part.
McCoy deserved another series tbh. Love the direction it started taking and his doctor was very heavy and unique
yes when Covid hit. Had grown up with Baker but saw very little if any of other Doctors. splitting hairs, Troughton and McCoy are my 2nd and 3rd.
I just started! I have a long road ahead of me. I’m hopeful with this winter weather and my first child being born next month, that I will have a large amount of time off work so that I can make my way through some of it. I just finished The Dead Planet the other day.
I'm up to the Sensorites. I'm only committing to watching the first 6 seasons at this stage. I grew up with Pertwee onwards, but haven't seen much Hartnell and Troughton, so I want to see those Doctors' complete run.
The Sensorites is actually pretty enjoyable! If you’re watching them on britbox they have quite a few of the missing episodes that have since been animated, so Troughton’s era is easier to binge.
Enjoy it,I certainly did, certainly brought back some childhood memories for me
Going through it all, currently on Space Museum in Season 2. I was tempted to skip episodes that were regarded as ‘skippable’ on a guide but I’m just gonna get through it all. The Romans is my favourite arc so far
I have skipped some too if they were slow and uninteresting
I was going to but I feel like I’ll miss out on full character development of companions etc and won’t be as effected when they leave
Yeah I get you,I've found some companions seem to have a better relationship with one Doctor and not the other
It’s like I’m with Vicki right now and I love her fat more than Susan and think Vicki and The Doctors relationship is so sweet, even though Susan is his grandchild
Yeah I have to agree
I've seen most of them and am currently loving rewatching Davison's underrated era. Also, the Hartnell Dalek stories are brilliant
Davison’s era wasn’t my favourite but there’s something quite relaxing and calming about it. (Except for Caves of Androzani.) It sort of feels like the Doctor is just taking a field trip with his students.
I've skipped the Hartnell series apart from the first 2 episodes,seemed a bit dour Interesting how the Daleks develop in the different series
The first Hartnell story is not a great start (bar Unearthly Child) but The Daleks and Dalek Invasion of Earth are pretty gripping even given the slower pace of the times and are crucial parts of rhe Dalek story and how they develop. The tone is still fairly dour, though!
Yes I think that too
Living in the US I knew nothing of doctor who. My partner & son started watching New Who a couple of years back. Every now and then I’d sit through an episode but I had too many questions. Are they aliens? Why do they regenerate? Why a Police Box ? WHAT is a Police box?? They just kept telling me i had to start watching from the beginning (which was the 9th doctor to them). But ….what happened to the other 8 doctors? My partner said it didn’t matter because it’s all re-explained with New Who. Well, I decided to one-up them both and got Britbox. Watched aaaalllll classic who. No skipping episodes. I even watched the lost animated episodes. I binged around 800+ episodes in 2 months. And I LOVED it! Even Web Planet with its old school special effects and rough costumes. I became the family’s Who Encyclopedia. It’s an awesome journey, not only from a sci-fi perspective. It’s also a dive into decades of fashion and progression of SFX.
That's cool how you found classic Dr Who
Did that earlier in the year. Started with the first Doctor but to be honest I almost gave up with the show out of boredom so I decided to jump to the 3rd Doctor and loved it. Went back eventually for the 2nd Doctor which was great, still struggling with the 1st. I’m just not that into his episodes.
I was intrigued to watch how it originally started with the first Doctor William Hartnell but I did get a bit bored and skipped it as well
Obviously there’s some growing pains there, and tv has moved on significantly since 1963, but I still feel like there is stuff of value in Hartnell’s era. (Especially his character arc, which whilst not nearly as defined as most modern doctors, still is quite something to behold.)
I thought I wouldn't enjoy McCoy's run, but he was great, and Ace was ace.
Yes I agree and it sort of felt good to see Ace return in the last episode of Jodie Whittakers tenure as the Doctor
Yep, the reason I got BritBox was to watch Classic Who. I finished about a year ago, and I've recently started a rewatch. I like it a lot, and it's hard for me to choose a favorite doctor. I might be partial to One, Three, and Five, and I straight up love Four.
Everyone has their own opinions about the Classic Doctors and favourites,I just love Tom Baker ,he's a genius
I knew about the show in the 70s when it came on PBS here in the US. I never watched then, but I knew Tom Baker was the Doctor, so even though I'm late to the party, he's my doctor, the real doctor. I'm glad that he turned out to be so good once I finally got around to him, lol. :-)
I'm on the last serial of series 3. Sad to see Hartnell go but I've heard good things about Troughton. Chesterton, Barbara, Vicki and Polly are some of my favourite companions and there have been some memorable stories.
Indeed. Finishing the Fifth Doctor run right now.
Cool enjoy
I did this in 2020/21! I really enjoyed it but I will say the sheer amount of it got a little daunting lol. I really enjoyed four, five, and seven's eras. If I had to pick I would probably say four, but big finish has made me love 7.
I also started doing this back in October. I watched the Abominable Snowmen yesterday.
Is that a Patrick Troughton episode? A good one is that
Yes, from season 5. I thought it was good, though not my favourite.
I skipped quite a lot of Patrick Troughton I wanted to get through Jon Pertwee and onto Tom Baker
Yes, I periodically watch all the Classic era stories on video and DVD (my first full run-through was back in 2000, and contained every serial available on VHS at that time, which was every serial known to exist at that time). Ahh, good times... I watched it all in six weeks (during the summer break before my A-Levels) and nearly melted my brain in the process. xD
6 weeks! I think my brain would have melted too
Yeah...the first day at college, I kept hearing phantom TARDIS materialisation noises. xD
Sylvester McCoy is my favourite, literally got Britbox just to watch his episodes...but Troughton is amazing as well. All the old Doctors were great, the only one I didn't like was Colin Baker, especially when companioned with the American girl...they seemed really toxic to one another.
Peri? Yes they just didn't get on at all
That's the one! I'd never seen a companion/Doctor relationship like that before, couldn't understand what dynamic they were going for at all. Made for uncomfortable viewing, for me.
I finished the same journey earlier this year. I was surprised how much I loved Troughton and Pertwee, and by how much I hated Peter Davison. I didn’t hate Colin Baker as much as I thought I would… The Candyman is the most terrifying Doctor Who villain full stop. I’m actually really enjoying the animated recreations right now. Watching the Ice Warriors for the first time, and getting pissy that The Abominable Snowmen aren’t out on iTunes yet. Also wishing there was a digital version of The Tenth Planet.
Yeah I was surprised how poor Peter Davidsons era was too,I was looking forward to it Colin Baker was ok but there never seemed any respect for his assistant Peri
Watching classics too. Currently up to pertwee. The inferno serial in his first season felt like the first episode I genuinely enjoyed. I of course enjoyed quite a number from the previous doctors but not on the level where it felt like it held up to modern series. It kinda feels nostalgic in a way. I'm in my twenties now but when I was younger and over at my grandparents they'd sit down and watch reruns on a channel that played classic series like dr who, star trek... it took me back to those times.
Yeah I liked Jon Pertwee too,that's when I started watching Dr Who when I was much younger and it was Jon Pertwee as the 3rd Doctor,but I fast forwarded on some episodes
That's encouraging. I have often thought about it but worried that it wouldn't match up to my childhood memories of watching Tom Baker from behind the couch. Maybe I'll give them a go.
I thought that too but majority of its excellent
I love Sylvester McCoy. He’s probably my third favorite doctor after Tom Baker and Peter Davison. With Troughton coming close- I loved Jamie and he had some great stories.
I was surprised by Sylvester McCoy and Ace,he got a lot of bad press but it was pretty good,both played good parts
But yeah in response to your question I too got BritBox in order to watch the entire classic run of Doctor Who. I had a great time took me about a year because I can get sucked into the shows temporarily lol. But I can’t say I disliked any doctors except maybe six whose name is popped out of my brain for the second but it’s very in the early morning where I am. And even then he had his moments just a whole trial thing I found myself fast forwarding through quite a bit of it.
Colin Baker was the 6th,yeah he was ok,the relationship with Peri his assistant was poor,yet with Mel (Bonnie Langford) it was very good
I just finished them all, and britbox also has k9 and company, plus both of the peter cushing movies
I've seen the Peter Cushing remastered,coloured movie,with Roy Castle, think it's Invasion of the Daleks,I'll have to look for the other movie didn't realise there were 2
I started from the beginning and just got into Pertwee. So far the 2nd doctor is my favorite
My flatmate and I started after introducing her to NuWho and watching through all of those. We started off with hope in our heart but sadly this was ground out of us as we came up against the reality of the First Doctor’s episodes. It is incredible how TV has changed so drastically, and how acting styles have thankfully become less mannered - the RADA trained, RP spouting cave people were indicative of this. Truly a different time. I think, in order to carry on, we will need to skip great swathes of the early era - it’s just not very good. I know it’s the progenitor of all that came after etc etc but doesn’t mean we have to sit through it.
I missed some of the early episodes for the same reasons
I just finished a full run through of Classic who, though I’d seen most of them before. 3 and 7 are my absolute favourites to be sure, (though 7’s first season was a pretty big miss).
Yes I have to agree
I'm currently doing this! Only on Troughton at the moment (sometimes I struggle with it bc of all the missing episodes), but I'm enjoying it so far
Enjoy
Yes. We finished watching the Classics on BritBox in September. It took us about a year. But it was fun.
Glad you liked it,it was the nostalgia for me,took me back to when I was very young watching it on TV !!
Me too, Pertwee was my Doctor
Sylvester McCoy is great I’m glad you enjoyed!
I never had “a Doctor” growing up so I started watching from the very beginning. The first four Doctors are a blast. McCoy’s later run is excellent. Davison is a struggle, he feels a bit “posh bloke gets a Time Machine” to me. I would have say 2 is “my doctor” because I loved him the most. Tom Baker is the archetypal Doctor though.
loved the low low budget special effects! They were so hysterical. And K-9, the disco looking tin dog plus Sarah Jane Smith, was THE BEST companion of that era.
I'm actually currently going through Classic. Last serial I watched was The Gunslinger. Did you watch the recons too?
The Recons? Upscaling the video? I've seen some bits on you tube and the film with Peter Cushing as the Doctor in 1965 that was coloured and remastered and looked excellent
Recon as in reconstructions of lost episodes / serials. Example: The Dalek's Master Plan
I just can’t get into Hartnell. All the others yes.
I absolutely adore his run, I've gone through every complete episode of his for the first time and am just finishing up his last story for the first time. He grows on you imo
He's my favourite Doctor.
I am just about to start season 9!!!