Well, I started watching the original Who.

[MadOnion]

The first episode was interesting to see, but the first serial about the cave men was pretty damn silly. I liked the introduction to the Daleks better, but like all movies and TV this old, the pacing is just so hard to take. It could easily fit in a one hour episode today. I'm going to keep going, but not sure how long I can last. There are SO many. And it really doesn't get to color until 1969?

Does anybody have any suggestions on a scattering of serials not to miss so I can just catch the highlights?

 

[Christopher]

And it really doesn't get to color until 1969?

January 3, 1970, actually.

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Here's a selection of one serial for each season (and if you don't want to watch all of these, the essential and most popular stories are in bold, at least one for every Doctor):

1: An Unearthly Child
2: The Dalek Invasion of Earth
3: The War Machines
4: The Power of the Daleks (missing)
5: The Tomb of the Cybermen
6: The War Games
7: Doctor Who and the Silurians
8: The Daemons
9: The Sea Devils
10: The Green Death
11: The Time Warrior
12: Genesis of the Daleks
13: Pyramids of Mars
14: The Talons of Weng-Chiang
15: The Invasion of Time
16: The Ribos Operation
17: City of Death
18: The Keeper of Traken
19: Kinda
20: Mawdryn Undead
21: The Caves of Androzani
22: Vengeance on Varos
23: The Mysterious Planet
24: Time and the Rani
25: Remembrance of the Daleks
26: The Curse of Fenric
Doctor Who: The Movie

 

[Sindatur]

The first episode was interesting to see, but the first serial about the cave men was pretty damn silly. I liked the introduction to the Daleks better, but like all movies and TV this old, the pacing is just so hard to take. It could easily fit in a one hour episode today. I'm going to keep going, but not sure how long I can last. There are SO many. And it really doesn't get to color until 1969?

Does anybody have any suggestions on a scattering of serials not to miss so I can just catch the highlights?

Yea, the first episode is fantastic, but, much of the rest of the first Serial really goes downhill (though you do get the Doctor showing his true colors when he's ready to kill the Caveman)

Yea, many of the early stories are padded with a lot of running down corridors and being captured and escaping, and being captured again. You simply have to adapt to the slower pace

I'm not really sure about the complaint of it all being black and white, though, that's the way it was made, and so it was made for Black and White, and I don't believe it would look right in color, personally (though I'd be interested in seeing them colorized at least once out of curiosity)

For Hartnell complete stories, I really like:
The First Daleks Story
The Edge of destruction (2 parter all inside the TARDIS that follows the First Dalek Story)
The Keys of Marinus
The Aztecs (Probably my favorite of Hartnell's Serials)
Dalek Invasion of Earth
The Romans
The Web Planet (Some really terrible creature effects, but, a fun serial, IMHO)
The Time Meddler
The Ark

Troughton has very few complete Serials, so, might as well watch them all.

 

[Redfern]

Thanks to domestic playback devices (VCRs, DVDs, and now BluRay) we now tend to watch the entire stories in one sitting. But you must keep in mind these 22 minute long episodes were originally aired once a week. So, a certain percentage of the dialogue may repeat some points established in the prior episode, particularly since the BBC did not repeat the last segment right before the newest broadcast.

It has been joked that if the corridor running sequences were removed, the serials would run maybe 25 percent shorter. Then again, the same could be said about your average summer blockbuster.

Have you tried spacing your viewing? No, not 1 episode per week, that would take half a year or more to watch a single "series". But try 1 episode per day. That's how a local PBS affiliate aired them when it first got the rights to air Tom Baker adventures starting in August 1982. 82?! Has it really been 20 years for me?! Dang! Anyway, an epi' an evening might help your concerns with the more methodical pacing.

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[Sindatur]

pssst, Bill, sorry to make you 10 years older, but, we're in 2012, so 1982 was actually 30 years ago

 

[Christopher]

Wow, that's the second time in two weeks I've seen someone make that exact same mistake of thinking 1982 was 20 years ago. Perhaps there's something about the numbers that makes it an easy mistake -- maybe the fact that both dates end in 2 so that pushes the mind toward thinking of 20.

 

[Sindatur]

Wow, that's the second time in two weeks I've seen someone make that exact same mistake of thinking 1982 was 20 years ago. Perhaps there's something about the numbers that makes it an easy mistake -- maybe the fact that both dates end in 2 so that pushes the mind toward thinking of 20.

Or it could just be denial, LOL. I know some days, I have a hard time thinking about having graduated 30 years ago

 

[Redfern]

Or it could be simply that I'm a horrible typist (which is true).

No, you guys are right; for some reason I was thinking 20 instead of 30. And it should be easy math since I turn 50 later this year.

Kinda' funny with the timing. I lost a childhood hero earlier that summer (Spock "dying" from radiation poisoning) and I gained a new beloved character, Tom Baker's Doctor, when his earlier incarnation, Jon Pertwee, "died" from, ironically, radiation poisoning during those first 30 seconds of "Robot".

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[Mr Awe]

Here's a selection of one serial for each season (and if you don't want to watch all of these, the essential and most popular stories are in bold, at least one for every Doctor):

List snipped

Well, if you ask 100 Who fans about this, you'll get 100 different answers. So, take any list with a grain of salt. This particular list contains a number of ones that I definitely would not include.

Mr Awe

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

Well, if you ask 100 Who fans about this, you'll get 100 different answers. So, take any list with a grain of salt. This particular list contains a number of ones that I definitely would not include.

Actually, this list contains a number of stories that I would not include either... It is highly subjective. But I wanted to list the most popular stories of every series, and I think I'm not too far off...

 

[Cutter John]

Sindatur has it right. You can just hit the highlights and still get a good idea what the first Doctor was like.

I would be inclinded to skip
The Keys of Marinus, The Romans ,The Ark though. Not overly fond of Dalek Invasion of Earth either. Yeah its a Dalek story, and probably worth watching for the ending, but they really padded the hell out of it.

And as others have said. It might be easier if you broke the episodes up into 2 or 3 part blocks. The first couple of seasons could be rough going, but I thought things really picked up during Hartnell's final season. And of course Troughton is always worth watching.

 

[Sindatur]

Sindatur has it right. You can just hit the highlights and still get a good idea what the first Doctor was like.

I would be inclinded to skip
The Keys of Marinus, The Romans ,The Ark though. Not overly fond of Dalek Invasion of Earth either. Yeah its a Dalek story, and probably worth watching for the ending, but they really padded the hell out of it.

And as others have said. It might be easier if you broke the episodes up into 2 or 3 part blocks. The first couple of seasons could be rough going, but I thought things really picked up during Hartnell's final season. And of course Troughton is always worth watching.

Keys of Marinus, I can understand why it wouldn't appeal to some, but, I'm surprised by the lack of appreciation for The Ark, it seems to be more maligned than The Gun Fighters, which I'd always heard was the worst Dr. Who Serial ever, and watching it didn't make me appreciate it any more than what I'd heard.

Most of the Historicals don't appeal to me (Really, I only like The Romans, and love The Aztecs), but, The Romans is pretty funny, so I included it for Humor's sake.

 

[MadOnion]

Thanks for the feedback guys. For now I'm going to keep slogging through everything, but if I've had enough running through hallways I might start just skipping to the highlights. I'm inclined to skip the historical dramas except the best ones mentioned here. Encouraging to hear it said it starts picking up by season three. I want to see the development of the doctor character, but I think the first is going to be my least favorite. He is so far from the character of today. Right now he doesn't seem to care about anybody or anything but himself. A far cry from where we got in the modern era.

 

[Christopher]

I want to see the development of the doctor character, but I think the first is going to be my least favorite. He is so far from the character of today. Right now he doesn't seem to care about anybody or anything but himself. A far cry from where we got in the modern era.

I think that by season 2 he's become more recognizable as the Doctor, in terms of his heroism as well as his arrogance, humor, eccentricity, and mercurial personality. True, he's still often more of an advisor figure to the younger companions who carry the action, but Hartnell did establish the template for all Doctors to come.

 

[Cutter John]

Sindatur - I've got no problem with the episodes I took off your list. I was just trying to prune episodes that were slower, or less important to the overall history of the Doctor.

My hats off to you Onion, for slogging on through despite everything. It does get easier though, so hang in there.
So will you be posting your impressions of each episode as you watch?

 

[MadOnion]

Sure if that wouldn't be too spammy.

 

[Sindatur]

Sure if that wouldn't be too spammy.

Heh, I've seen 3 different "First Time Watching" threads going at the same time, for the same show. Not Spammy at all, as long as you're willing to do it. Me, I'm unreliable, some days I'll watch 8 or 10 episodes, and other days I may skip a day or two with nothing (And I'm not going to take notes while watching in order to comment properly, LOL) so, I don't personally bother trying to maintain "Rewatch" or "First Watch" threads anymore

We all love to read new Virgin thoughts, though

 

[MadOnion]

The Edge of Destruction: I really enjoyed this one, nice little bottle episode. Good bits of character development for everybody, even the Tardis. I loved the fact the "unseen alien force" turned out to be the Tardis. Stuck in reverse, nice simple concept. Was that the first appearance of the (unnamed) sonic screwdriver? One of the visuals on the screen looked a bit like the Van Gogh painting.

Negatives are the girl playing Susan isn't a very good actress and is getting on my nerves. The doctor also flubs his lines a lot. I was hoping Ian would hear two hearbeats but read that comes a while later. The reaction to an old man - the only one who can fly the ship - laid out on the floor with his skull possibly cracked open is "Oh dear, I'll go get some water." LOL And would somebody please operate those Tardis doors a little more smoothly and evenly? That really bugs me for some reason.

 

[Andrew_Kearley]

I'm surprised by the lack of appreciation for The Ark, it seems to be more maligned than The Gun Fighters, which I'd always heard was the worst Dr. Who Serial ever, and watching it didn't make me appreciate it any more than what I'd heard.

Wow. Who told you that? The Gunfighters is magnificent. I suspect the disappointment with The Ark come about because it has a fantastic set-up and brilliant reversal at the halfway point, but then ends up as a fairly generic evil alien oppressors story for the second half. I still love it though. Fantastic direction and visually impressive throughout.

My advice is to watch as much of it as possible. It's studio vt drama at its best.