Allons-y!
Sci-fi giant Doctor Who is turning 60 years old one week from now. In the weeks leading up to this, I've been posting various Doctor Who -themed rankings in order to celebrate. My list of the best episodes is divided into two parts, as the multi-episode stories of the 'classic series' (1963-1989) are very hard to compare to the 45-minute individual episodes of the show's modern installation (2005-). So, this week, I'm taking a trip down memory lane and ranking my favorite stories from Classic Doctor Who, and next week's post will focus on my favorite episodes from the new series.
Disclaimer: I have not seen nearly all of the classic series. I just liked the modern version so much that I took a pseudo-fan's dive into the old-school version, finding out what are the episodes that people consider to be the best / most important. First appearances of important characters and storylines, et cetera. So, these are the 10 best stories from the limited amount that I've seen!
Here are my honorable mentions: The Daleks (Season 1 Episodes 5-11), The Dalek Invasion of Earth (Season 2 Episodes 4-9), The Time Warrior (Season 11 Episodes 1-4), Robot (Season 12 Episodes 1-4), The Keeper of Traken (Season 18 Episodes 21-24).
10. An Unearthly Child (Season 1 Episodes 1-4)
The first-ever set of episodes is a wild ride, at least for its time. No matter how tame and basic the story might seem when compared to everything the series would go on to become, one can't empathize enough how groundbreaking An Unearthly Child was when compared to all television that came before it. Authentically creative and engaging sci-fi television may have been jump-started in the United States with The Twilight Zone (1959-1964), but it took a massive leap forward with the UK's own Doctor Who, and that journey begins with a girl introducing her curious teachers to her time-traveling alien grandfather.
The first four-episode arch takes the original Doctor (William Hartnell) and his three companions into the past, where they end up clashing with a tribe of cavemen concerning the discovery of fire. Ideas like Time Lords and the TARDIS were fresh and game-changing for BBC, television and the sci-fi genre in general, so this 1963 pilot is to thank for 60 years of brilliance.
9. Spearhead from Space (Season 7 Episodes 1-4)
From an actual pilot episode to a spiritual 're-pilot' - Spearhead from Space kicked off a new era, reinventing the series in more ways in one. It's the first episode to feature the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) in the lead role, it's the first episode broadcast in the 1970's, and it's the first episode broadcast in color. The black-and-white era of Hartnell and Troughton in the 60's can be easily seen as the first era, or 'phase one', of Doctor Who. And a second, improved and more exciting era started here.
Spearhead from Space is full of new vibes and new story elements, from the Doctor's compact co-operation with U.N.I.T. to the Nestene Consciousness as a recurring antagonist. All of this is personified in Pertwee's performance and his version of the Doctor, who immediately feels cool and different with his 007-ish take on the character.
8. The Five Doctors (20th Anniversary Special)
Visiting the Doctor Who museum in London was one of the happiest moments in my inner nerd's life. After careful consideration on what to bring back as a souvenir, I decided to go with a DVD of the 20th anniversary episode The Five Doctors. This was the right call, as I hadn't previously found this episode online and it was a payoff-filled joy to watch.
Fifth Doctor Peter Davison shines in the lead, while the full-on returns of Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee, as well as the use of archive footage and stunt doubles to sort-of bring back the First and Fourth Doctors, bring the thunder for this multi-Doctor spectacle. While this may be less revolutionary than the original crossover for the show's 10th anniversary (more on that later), and not as epic as what was done for the 50th (more on that next week), it's still a celebration-worthy special episode that sticks with you.
7. Terror of the Autons (Season 8 Episodes 1-4)
The Master is one of the most iconic Doctor Who villains, and his first-ever appearance does not disappoint. Roger Delgado shines in the role and could be argued to be the best iteration of the character in Who history, and his adversarial relationship to the Doctor is a joy to follow. Mind games, narrow escapes, fake-outs and reveals ensue in this symbolic game of chess between the two Time Lords.
6. Genesis of the Daleks (Season 12 Episodes 11-16)
Speaking of iconic villains, nothing quite beats the Daleks (okay, my personal favorite has to be the Weeping Angels who were introduced in the modern series, but the Daleks are objectively the most iconic and notorious bad guys from Doctor Who). There are many legendary Dalek episodes in the classic series, including their debut The Daleks that barely missed out on the top 10. But rarely have the extermination-happy alien nemeses of the Doctor been quite as intriguing as they are in Genesis of the Daleks.
The six-episode arch takes the Doctor to the fabled planet Skaro, at the dawn of the Daleks' creation, with orders by the Time Lords to prevent their existence. This leads to fascinating lore and gripping moral dilemmas, and the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) does a fantastic job with the heavy implications of his mission.
5. The Tomb of the Cybermen (Season 5 Episodes 1-4)
If the best tier of Doctor Who villains is reserved for the Weeping Angels, the Daleks and the Master, the very next tier would undoubtedly feature the Cybermen. While not quite as conceptually interesting as some antagonists (not to mention their semi-cheesy name), they make for a crazy number of killer episodes in both versions of the series. One of the classics is The Tomb of the Cybermen, which is not a regeneration episode or the first appearance of anything etc. like most of the stories on this list - I watched it simply because it's considered one of the big classics, and it sure deserves that legacy.
Patrick Troughton's Second Doctor is at his best, and the overall atmosphere and aesthetic of the black-and-white 1960's Doctor Who hits hard in adventures like this. The Tomb of the Cybermen is suspenseful at times, elegant at others, and downright thrilling towards the end. Four 20-minute episodes of pure sci-fi/adventure class.
4. The War Games (Season 6 Episodes 35-44)
Speaking of Patrick Troughton, his tenure as the Doctor ended in an ambitious, 10-part mega-story. What starts as a mere trip to the trenches of World War One escalates slowly into a universe-bending spectacle, with some powerful hi-fi aliens have divided military events from history into different time zones, and the trippiness reaches a point where the story is hard to follow yet you beg for more.
The tenth and final part is a major moment in Doctor Who lore, as both The Doctor and the antagonist known as the War Lord (Philip Madoc) are placed on trial on their mythical home planet Gallifrey. This is one of the more dramatic and high-stakes moments in the show's old-school version, and the very ending is a cliffhanger that sows the seeds for the color-TV, 1970's Jon Pertwee -era that would follow.
3. The Tenth Planet (Season 4 Episodes 5-8)
The original regeneration episode, where we said goodbye to to William Hartnell's First Doctor, is quite the creative blast (especially for a mid-60's BBC series). It's not just the concept of regeneration that makes this episode legendary - it's all of it, from the midst-of-the-cold-war setting and the alternate earth named Mondas to the first appearance of the Cybermen and their collective traits.
But what The Tenth Planet is best remembered for is the first-ever regeneration, and rightfully so. If a typical American series of the time would've been faced with the problem of the lead actor leaving, they would've ended the series (or, at the very best, cast a new actor as a new lead character once the original is killed off). But the Doctor Who writers were a creative bunch who wanted to keep the show going as ideas were flowing, so they found a way. Thus was the idea of regeneration born, and Hartnell's final episode ends with a bittersweet goodbye to him and a flash of what the next version of the character would look like.
2. The Three Doctors (Season 10 Episodes 1-4)
As I previously mentioned, the way Doctor Who celebrated its 10th anniversary was quite something. In a move that has been duplicated afterwards but had certainly not been done before, various version of the same character come together in a crossover event between the show's different eras.
Original Doctor William Hartnell's health was so bad that he wasn't up for filming a starring role in a full four-part story, so for the most part, it's Third Doctor Jon Pertwee, who was the incumbent at the time, teaming up with his predecessor, Patrick Troughton. Their interactions are amusing, the way the plot brings them together is exciting, and Hartnell's cameo is a powerful addition. Definitely one of the coolest things the Classic Series ever did, and the foundation for a grand tradition of spectacular anniversary episodes.
1. Planet of the Spiders (Season 11 Episodes 21-26)
Jon Pertwee's tenure as the Doctor culminates in a six-episode arch that may be silly at times, but it utilizes the 'many 20-minute episodes telling a sci-fi/adventure story' premise to the maximum. Each part ends in a delicious cliffhanger, and the creative worldbuilding is off the charts.
Pertwee's regeneration is also my favorite from the Classic Series - the way he seemingly dies, and stays dead for quite a while before eventually regenerating, has a Sherlock Holmes -style combination of emotional and clever payoff to it. A fantastic ending for Pertwee's Doctor, and one that sets up the Tom Baker years with anticipation.
Greetings, reader! Tune in next week, as my personal Doctor Who 60th anniversary celebrations culminate in my ranking of the top 10 episodes of the show's new (and, let's face it, better) version.
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