MovieChat Forums > Doctor Who (1963) Discussion > Classic Doctor Who recommended viewing l...

Classic Doctor Who recommended viewing list

posted 8 years ago by alpha128
5 replies | jump to latest

I found this Classic Who episode guide today. It really is a nice bit of research. It lists every story, rates them, ranks the best of them, indicates which stories are incomplete, and links to other sources.

Although I don't agree with all his ratings, overall I think the author did a good job.

Classic Doctor Who recommended viewing list
http://rkuykendall.com/articles/classic-who-recommendations/

[–] GladysOver 8 years ago

Although I don't agree with all his ratings, overall I think the author did a good job.

Yes indeed some of them are highly questionable such as his high ratings for The Space Museum and far worse Paradise Towers (this 'fan' is clearly Andrew Cartmel under a pseudonym methinks!). These things are of course subjective though so each to their own.

I heartily agree with him on the otherwise highly rated Ghostlight though: I'm not ashamed to admit that GL bears the unique distinction of being the only 'Who story that, plot-wise, completely baffles me to the point of being largely unintelligible. I was confused watching it as a kid in the eighties and am still utterly foxed by it today! Frustratingly it feels like a good story but that's about all I can discern.

Perhaps one day. 

[–] alpha128 8 years ago

Yes indeed some of them are highly questionable such as his high ratings for The Space Museum and far worse Paradise Towers. I heartily agree with him on the otherwise highly rated Ghostlight though - Chopper-Chang

My original 50th Anniversary Binge consisted of nine DVDs, which I purchased (in this order) in 2013. So, these would be my personal "blue" recommended serials. I have added the author's color coding:

1. The Talons of Weng-Chiang (Story 91)
2. Genesis of the Daleks (Story 78)
3. Pyramids of Mars (Story 82)
4. The Deadly Assassin (Story 88)
5. The Robots of Death (Story 90)
6. The Ark in Space (Story 76)
7. The Seeds of Doom (Story 85)
8. Horror of Fang Rock (Story 92)
9. The Invasion of Time (Story 97)

So not much disagreement here. I was pleasantly surprised to see "The Invasion of Time" highly rated by this author as well.

One "blue" recommended story that I found highly questionable was his rating for "Robot". I would give that a Normal Serial rating. The author seems to have elevated it to its lofty position simply because it is Tom Baker's first story.

Going the other direction, there were two stories that I bought in 2015 that he gave, IMO, lower than deserved ratings:

The Masque of Mandragora (Story 86)
Terror of the Zygons (Story 80)

I'd give these Good serial ratings.

[–] louiseculmer 8 years ago

Quite a good list. Only one of my favourite stories - the invisible enemy - is rated as bad, so it could have been a lot worse.

[–] pferreira86 8 years ago

Opinions are opinions.

[–] alpha128 8 years ago

Quite a good list. Only one of my favourite stories - the invisible enemy - is rated as bad, so it could have been a lot worse. - louiseculmer

Actually, the author was pretty stingy with the Boring or Bad Serial ratings.

I see his point with "The Invisible Enemy", which I noted in raventhom's thread is not one of the series' best moments (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056751/board/thread/260211583?d=260212438#260212438). However I can't say it's significantly worse than "Underworld", which is rated a Normal Serial. IMO, both "The Invisible Enemy" and "Underworld" have good Part Ones and then go downhill from there.

Looking at Seasons 12-15, the one story I would give a Boring or Bad Serial rating to would be "Planet of Evil". As I wrote in raventhom's thread, "Planet of Evil" is the only story from those seasons that I disliked upon my first viewing years ago (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056751/board/thread/258994701?d=258996062#258996062). And a recent rewatch did little to change my initial opinion.