Old School Doctor Who Episodes Love Meme

[doyle]

I've run memes like this before for companions and for ships (and I'm trying to dig up links to those) and decided it might be fun to try one for all the episodes of old school Doctor Who. In the comments are threads for every story from An Unearthly Child to The TV Movie (actually, The Curse of Fatal Death, because I couldn't leave Lumley Doc out); reply to these comments with what you loved about the episode, whether it's favourite lines, moments, squee for the rubbish dinosaurs, character love, shippiness, screencap picspam, or just 'best episode ever'. No harshing others' squee, please - there are 160 serials linked, there must be some you loved... Loving on stories generally derided by fandom is positively encouraged.

For some help navigating, this wiki page has the serials in order.

If any have been missed, feel free to stick them on at the end - I've just realised The Myth Makers isn't there...

Comments

An Unearthly Child

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

(Yes, I'm counting this and 10,000BC as two separate stories)

Re: An Unearthly Child

[tree_and_leaf]

Barbara! Ian! Susan being strangely lovable but definitely alien! The Doctor being.... definitely alien! The whole sense of something utterly out of the ordinary turning up in the everyday.

Also, that amazing camera work (the long pans round the junkyard, for instance, and the fog). It's like something out of an expressionist movie.

And the theme tune - so other. I can't imagine what it must have sounded like in 1963, when electronic music was just getting going. if nothing else, 'An Unearthly Child' would be worth watching on musicological grounds alone.

10,000BC

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

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Re: 10,000BC

[bibliophile1887.livejournal.com]

*tries not to go all One/Ian in this comment*

There's a moment in the second episode of An Unearthly Child after Ian, Barbara and Susan have found the tribe and the Doctor. They are attacked and one of the men (Kal?) is about to kill Ian when the Doctor yells, "If you harm him, there will be no fire!"

Even though the Doctor is aggravated at the intrusion into his life, and is obviously irritated with these humans, he's still very protective of them. ♥

The Daleks

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

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Re: The Daleks

[bibliophile1887.livejournal.com]

The end of the first episode is just plain awesome.

The Edge of Destruction

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

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Re: The Edge of Destruction

[bibliophile1887.livejournal.com]

Barbara totally PWNS the Doctor and she is made of awesome!

Marco Polo

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

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Re: Marco Polo

[nam-jai.livejournal.com]

So many pretty color pictures that could almost make up for its burnination. Okay, not really, it's a crime the serial was lost, but the color pictures are a delight.

The Keys of Marinus

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

.

Re: The Keys of Marinus

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

The plot is about a great big treasure hunt that's an excuse to bounce between lots of different locations, there are whole episodes of Ian/Barbara goodness, and it features a killer jungle of death. I badly need to watch it again.

And Wiki says the original title was Doctor Who and the Sea of Death - damn them for changing it! I love '...of DEATH' titles.

The Aztecs

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

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Re: The Aztecs

[bibliophile1887.livejournal.com]

Barbara is a goddess!!

The Sensorites

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

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Re: The Sensorites

[nam-jai.livejournal.com]

Susan grows up and takes the lead. I love to see her defy her grandfather in service of what she knows is right.

The Reign of Terror

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

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Re: The Reign of Terror

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

Don't get smart in French.
One kicks ass, even in his fab hat.

Planet of Giants

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

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Re: Planet of Giants

[ghost2.livejournal.com]

I liked seeing the gang all shrunken down and dealing with suddenly huge obstacles. That's almost a "cant miss" plot with me, but I really did think it handled well in this case. Barbara's illness added some emotional rooting value and all in all, this is a cool, overlooked serial.

The Dalek Invasion of Earth

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

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Re: The Dalek Invasion of Earth

[nentari.livejournal.com]

I saw this one for the very first time this past weekend and made a huge recap.

My favourite part has got to be Barbara telling the Daleks about the plan to overthrow them, by mentioning red Indians and the Boston Tea Party. Watch and learn how to lie to your unfrendly alien invaders, Rose!

The Rescue

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

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Re: The Rescue

[nam-jai.livejournal.com]

Vicki gets a great introduction. She's immediately appealing and has instant rapport with the Doctor.

The Romans

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

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Re: The Romans

[bibliophile1887.livejournal.com]

Ian/Barbara FTW! Lots of alone time in the villa, they must have been up to something! ;)

The Web Planet

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

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Re: The Web Planet

[bibliophile1887.livejournal.com]

Yes, the Zarbi look stupid. But it is so fantastically alien, so deeply philosophical, and so much better than anything RTD could come up with today.

The Crusade

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

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Re: The Crusade

[bibliophile1887.livejournal.com]

Sir Ian of Jaffa!

The Space Museum

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

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Re: The Space Museum

[bibliophile1887.livejournal.com]

Apart from the first episode of An Unearthly Child, this serial has The Best Opening 25 minutes ever.

The Chase

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

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Re: The Chase

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

I can only express my love for The Chase by a flailing keyboard mash:

fonfnigdaskldmdnlofgvsg

It's brilliant. Brilliant I say. Daleks on the Marie Celeste! Daleks fighting Frankenstein's monster! A Dalek who can't do sums and one who's afraid of trees! And Ian and Barbara finally get home and they have that lovely montage running around London holding hands.

The Time Meddler

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

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Re: The Time Meddler

[bibliophile1887.livejournal.com]

Steven Taylor! Win!! I have so much love for this serial, it's just wonderful. I'm so anxious for the DVD!

Galaxy Four

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

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Re: Galaxy Four

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

Chumblies!

Mission to the Unknown

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

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Re: Mission to the Unknown (& The Myth Makers)

[nam-jai.livejournal.com]

Oddly enough, this was my first One-era episode and he wasn't in it! I liked it though -- it was an intriguing little scene-setter, and I think it's cool that it didn't lead immediately into The Daleks' Master Plan, instead just dropping hints of things to come before distracting us with doings in ancient Troy.

Since The Myth Makers is missing in its slot here, and I recently listened to it for the first time, I'll put in a word for it too! I got a kick out of the way Team TARDIS managed to seed more than one myth -- I hadn't expected the title would be so literal!

The Daleks' Master Plan

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

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Re: The Daleks' Master Plan

[nam-jai.livejournal.com]

An epic, sprawling thing that got under my skin and made me feel like I had gone through a long, complicated, and ultimately shattering journey along with the characters. The death of Katarina made me cry, though I barely knew her. Then at the end, the death of Sara Kingdom horrified me. It may be heresy to say so, like I'm condoning burnination when I'm most emphatically not, but I'm almost glad I listened to this (via the CDs narrated by Peter Purves), because the destruction of Kembel was so vivid and terrifying in my imagination, and I suspect the televised effects may not live up to it.

Sara is such a memorable, complex character -- I love her. And Mavic Chen made for a great villain.

The Massacre

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

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Re: The Massacre

[bibliophile1887.livejournal.com]

An okay story. But emo!First in the last eppy is heart-wrenching. It should be viewed for Hartnell's monologue alone.

The Ark

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

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Re: The Ark

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

I love how proud they are of the elephant; they make a point of having the actors go up and touch it just so we're sure it's not stock footage.

The Celestial Toymaker

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

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Re: The Celestial Toymaker

[bibliophile1887.livejournal.com]

Steven/Dodo shippiness!!

The Gunfighters

[doyle_sb4.livejournal.com]

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Re: The Gunfighters

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

Comedy dentistry straight out of the "Carry On" films!
Actual Western-style setting omg! Steven and Dodo gamely trying to blend in!