The Best Classic Doctor Who Story.

Perpetual Man

Perpetual Man

Tim James
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I was recently reading an article in a SF magazine where they announced the result of a poll in which the vote was for the best classic Doctor Who story ever.

The winner, was not what I was expecting, to say the least, although it was an episode I have often spoken highly of.

I'm not going to say what it was yet - but it got me wondering, with all the Doctor Who fans on this site would we come to the same decision?

So, taking the original run of Doctor Who, twenty six years and an awful lot of stories what would YOU suggest as being the greatest story of the run.

To get the ball rolling:

THE UNEARTHLY CHILD - the very first episode, not the other three parts that are lumped with it. for 25 minutes of television this introduces so much that we take for granted now that it is easy to forget just how ground breaking it was from the music and opening credits, to the advanced time machine that looked like a Police Box, but was bigger on the inside, the mystery of Susan Foreman, The enigma that is the Doctor, just magnificent.

THE TENTH PLANET - Introducing the Cybermen, but special not because of that but the innovative to solution to Hartnell leaving the show - regeneration, inspired and unprecedented.

GENESIS of the DALEKS - Just sublime, perfect performances and one of the greatest debates in the shows history as the Doctor and Davros discuss ethics.

The CAVES of ANDROZANI - the last story starring Peter Davison, and possibly the last truly good DW story of the original run, it sums up all that is good about the fifth Doctor, his humanity and love of his companion. A truly evil villain who had more depth than originally appeared, the culmination in the Doctor sacrificing himself for Peri.
 
I've seen some Old Who, and read a reasonable number of books (20-40). My pick would have to be Genesis of the Daleks.

The excellence of the dialogue, particularly Davros', make it really stand out.

One thing which irked me about Davros in New Who was that he 'came to an agreement' (ie agreed to be the puppet of the Supreme Dalek). It's totally at odds with his character, and it was unnecessary for purposes of the plot (no reason he couldn't've been leading the daleks).
 
The Green Death. If you fail to appreciate the true significance of this story think about this: there was a time when all buses were green; people painted their front doors green, painted their bathrooms green, brought the neighbours around to show off their lime green living rooms with green curtains, green three-piece suites, green tactile wallpaper.

And then came the Green Death. Terrifying, it sent kids scurrying in sheer horror behind the settee, unable to look upon a person inflicted with the luminous Green Death. That's a whole nation's generation of children, scarred for life.

Over the course of the next twenty years buses became red, bus shelters became brown. No-one would dream of putting a green door on the front of their house, of having a green bathroom, green living room. While once it was on an equal footing with red, yellow, and blue, suddenly green was an outcast colour, not to be contemplated anywhere, lest the memories of the Green Death episodes surface (just imagine if some green came off in your hand...)

So there you have it. Dr Who and the Green Death. Changed the face of a nation. In my opinion the single most influential sci-fi event in the history of this country. I'm serious. Think about it.
 
Your last post is strange - I bought the house I now live in from a Mr & Mrs Green, and everything in the house was green, green wallpaper, green drainpipes, green gates, green carpets, green windows and doors. I've spent years changing it, but not because of Dr Who. I just don't really like green, more of a black & white person.

Anyway, I really came to say Genesis of the Daleks. However, The Unearthly Child rates highly. Also, many other Tom Baker and John Pertwee era stories - those were MY era. I guess. I watched Dr Who from when I could sit up, and it was mainly for the Daleks and the theme music (so I was told.) So any Dalek episode. The Cybermen invading London, and the Nestene shop window mannequins coming to life, and the man eaten by an armchair - they left a lasting impression on me.
 
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Personally, my favorite has always been the Sea Devils, but then again I really only saw about half of the 3rd Doctor's episodes and maybe a third of the 4th Doctor's when I was growing up (Pertwee remains my favorite and, yes, I am enthusiastically awaiting the release of "The Mutants" next week).

Now, of course, I've seen far more including the new serials. But for me, the Sea Devils remains #1.

Of the new series, I think "Dalek" and "The Girl in the Fireplace" rank near the top.
 
Dave said:
Y I guess. I watched Dr Who from when I could sit up, and it was mainly for the Daleks and the theme music (so I was told.) So any Dalek episode. The Cybermen invading London, and the Nestene shop window mannequins coming to life, and the man eaten by an armchair - they left a lasting impression on me.
Click to expand...

Dave, that's exactly what are little one has been like, virtually from the moment he could sit, he has watched Doctor Who, loving the theme and the Daleks!

In fact he's asking me to put it on even as I type!
 
There are so many episodes I never got to see because of being on the western side of the pond. Many episode were even gone before BBC started selling the show to PBS in the late 70's or early eighties. On the other hand, I do have "The Unearthly Child" on DVD and yes it brought a lot of interesting concepts into a short space of time (if I could only have gotten "relative" and "dimension" into that sentance). With all the media available to save things digitally, it's hard to believe all that is lost.
 
Remberence of the daleks is my personal favorite, episodes like that make me sad that the original run got cancelled, just when the sfx were starting to get good. The only downside I can think of in that is that Davros' head looked a bit like a mould pupkin.
 
steve12553 said:
On the other hand, I do have "The Unearthly Child" on DVD and yes it brought a lot of interesting concepts into a short space of time (if I could only have gotten "relative" and "dimension" into that sentance).
Click to expand...
How about "interesting concept into a short relative space of the dimension of time"?
As for the best episode Genesis of the Daleks is a strong contender, I also like inferno, if only for a different take on the Brigade Leader and his men.
 
The Horror of Fang Rock. A classic base-under-siege scenario in the style of Alien, or The Thing, but set within the claustrophobic confines of a Victorian light house. It just never gets old.

My second favorite is The Robots of Death, and third is probably The Curse of Fenric. Honorary mentions include Tomb of the Cybermen, The Moon Base, Genesis of the Daleks, Remembrance of the Daleks, The Happiness Patrol, The Daemons, The Ribos Operation and The Image of the Fendahl.
 
Perpetual Man said:
I was recently reading an article in a SF magazine where they announced the result of a poll in which the vote was for the best classic Doctor Who story ever.

The winner, was not what I was expecting, to say the least, although it was an episode I have often spoken highly of.

I'm not going to say what it was yet - but it got me wondering, with all the Doctor Who fans on this site would we come to the same decision?

So, taking the original run of Doctor Who, twenty six years and an awful lot of stories what would YOU suggest as being the greatest story of the run.

To get the ball rolling:

THE UNEARTHLY CHILD - the very first episode, not the other three parts that are lumped with it. for 25 minutes of television this introduces so much that we take for granted now that it is easy to forget just how ground breaking it was from the music and opening credits, to the advanced time machine that looked like a Police Box, but was bigger on the inside, the mystery of Susan Foreman, The enigma that is the Doctor, just magnificent.

THE TENTH PLANET - Introducing the Cybermen, but special not because of that but the innovative to solution to Hartnell leaving the show - regeneration, inspired and unprecedented.

GENESIS of the DALEKS - Just sublime, perfect performances and one of the greatest debates in the shows history as the Doctor and Davros discuss ethics.

The CAVES of ANDROZANI - the last story starring Peter Davison, and possibly the last truly good DW story of the original run, it sums up all that is good about the fifth Doctor, his humanity and love of his companion. A truly evil villain who had more depth than originally appeared, the culmination in the Doctor sacrificing himself for Peri.
Click to expand...

I've only seen through Season 12, but Wargames (end of Season 6) through the end of Season 7 were as good as Who ever got. I never got over the goofy, endless The Master appearances era, even though it ended with Tom Baker.
 
So many good ones .. . Inferno (Jon Pertwee) is a favourite of mine with the alternative Earth and the other Brigadier and Liz.
 
I remember there were some very long stories with the 2nd Doctor, Patrick Troughton.
Sadly I think they've all been wiped.
 
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