Escapay wrote:Anyways, netty, how good are these Doctor Who stories? Being a recent "convert" as you put it, I've been stocking up and found these at GameStop for $5.99 each ($3.33 each after the 3/$10 deal):
Doctor Who: Lost in Time - The William Hartnell Years
Doctor Who: Lost in Time - The Patrick Troughton Years
Doctor Who: Spearhead from Space
Doctor Who: The Ribos Operation
Doctor Who: The Androids of Tara
Doctor Who: The Armageddon Factor
Doctor Who: The Five Doctors - Special Edition
Doctor Who: Remembrance of the Daleks
Escapay
OK. Generally the old "Classic" series is very different to the current one, especially when it comes to pacing and effects. I personally put more weight into the scripts than either of these, but even I admit the production lets the side down more often than not.
I think you can forget about the first two, they're odd episodes from stories that no longer exist in their entirity.
Being as they're cheap though, and
if you have a genuine interest in the history of the programme it may be worth picking up the Troughton years, if only for the reason he's my favourite Doctor. If does have some good episodes on, but it also has some clunkers (If anyone can sit through and episode of
The Space Pirates without falling asleep for example, they're a better man than me!)
I've think
The Five Doctors will confuse you. It's like one of those crossover comics which have lots of characters, no proper introductions and a slight story. Not that there's anything wrong with that, it was to celebrate 20 Years and does so, but because of the requirements the narrative is patchy.
So I've marked in Bold the ones I think are the best choices. They're all pretty good - the first two especially being a prime example of script over production. The first three I have pointed out also have the benefit of telling a complete story as such (the season had a story arc about the quest for the Key to Time, and although two stories are missing, you get the beginning and the end).
My final word of advise would be - if you can watch old Universal horror movies, or episodes of Lost In Space etc and appreciate them for what they are without demanding state of the art effects, then you should be OK with "classic" Who.
Edit
OK
I see now that you have them. Perhaps I would be worth you looking at the documentary on the Lost In Time Troughton Years first (and try to ignore Debbie's awful narration) as it gives a good overview of why so many black and white stories are either missing or incomplete. Episodes to look out for on the two Lost in Time discs are:
The Daleks Masterplan Episode 2
The most recent "find" when it comes to recovering missing episodes and its probably the best - its from (off the top of my head) October/November ish 1965. The other episodes aren't as good.
The Crusades
You will notice this is all very theatrical how it is presented, from the scripting which is almost Shakespearian at times to the acting and even the set design. I think this is from the beginning of 1965
The Abominable Snowmen
I adore Patrick Troughton's Doctor, and I adore this story. It's a shame more episodes don't exist. I also love the Yeti. Now rumours are a certain Yeti controlling Great Inteligence may be appearing in the 2007 Doctor Who series in 1930's New York (interesting as the Abominable Snowmen is set in 1935). This will be from mid-1967 (again, a quick guestimate)
The Web Of Fear
And then watch this to see how Yetis and the Great Inteligence took over London in 1970ish (I won't go into the whole
UNIT dating debate!) (episode from 1968)
Moonbase/Wheel In Space
Get a look at the Cybermen before you see
Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel on sci-fi, and remember WHO did them before Star Trek did The Borg. (1967/1968)
As for the full stories
Spearhead From Space
This is the first apperance of the Autons, who are in the first story of the new WHO revival - Rose. Although the Autons are realised in an obvious and quite crude way, at times it can still be surprisingly creepy. Its also a post-regeneration story, much like
The Christmas Invasion
The Key to Time Stories
The Ribos Operation is, perhaps the best DVD on the list. It has an absolutely fantastic script, full of wit. Its sort of a cross between Doctor Zhivago and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, in that the bulk of the story is about an intergalatic con artist who is on a planet similar to 19th century Russia.
The Androids of Tara is basically a reworking of The Prisoner of Zenda, and again has a good script.
The Armegeddon Factor is the poorest of the bunch, but still OK. Lets just say it has lots of ideas, but not much structure. But it does have a satisfying conclusion to the Key To Time storyline (and perhaps it inspired a certain Buffy story arc?)
Five Doctors
Well, I like it. But I'm the sort of person it was made for. Check out my sig at the moment (that will make sense later, hopefully). It does have one of the best commentaries ever on a Dr Who release.
Rememberance of the Daleks
We're coming to the end of "classic" Who now, and this was perhaps the last "traditional" story it did, which ticks all the boxes for a Dr Who adventure. What's nice is it takes place at the same school as the first ever story, so there's a few nods to the past which you won't recognise.
I take it I now have to sign a membership card and pay dues?