I just watched "The Ark in Space" last night on Netflix. It was one of the first ones I remember seeing as a kid and it was cool to watch it again. Fourth Doctor, Sarah Jane, Harry Sullivan...ahhh, nostalgia. They also have "Pyramids of Mars" & "Tomb of the Cybermen," so I'll check one of those out next -- maybe the latter, since I haven't seen that before.
To go to the future. Besides it's a big universe, there's more to do then constantly visit the past of the same fucking planet all over again. God, they must have been even worse.
Actually, The Aztecs is at the very top of my favorite Hartnell stories, The Romans is quite funny. Marco Polo is well lauded, and often cited as one of the worst tragedies of missing Doctor Who stories
While I haven't actually watched it yet (as it just shipped a day or so ago), I'm eagerly anticipating getting "Remembrance of the Daleks" as I hear it's one of McCoy's best stories and the point where his era becomes good. Though for me that will probably mean it will become really great, because I've loved all of McCoy's serials up to this point.
Oh, which have you seen? Because I'd break down the McCoy stories a bit like this: Great: Fenric, GhostLight, Survival, Remembrance. OK: Happiness Patrol, Battlefield, Dragonfire, Greatest Show. Painful: Time and the Rani, Paradise Towers, Silver Nemesis, Delta and the Bannermen.
I'm viewing his serials in the order in which they were broadcast. So: Time and the Raini Paradise Towers Delta and the Bannerman Dragonfire I can find enjoyment in all of those ones, though Dragonfire is my favorite as Ace is my favorite companion and it was nice to see her introduction. I also really enjoy post-regeneration stories, so Raini worked for me in that regard. I thought the story was pretty intriguing as well. I will admit Towers was a bit on the silly side, but it kept my interest and was never boring. Bannderman is probably my least favorite of all the ones listed, and it could have probably used a little more work on the story. But to me, it wasn't horrible. I did see The Curse of Fenric about a year or so ago on Netflix and really enjoyed it a lot. At the time it was the only Seventh Doctor story available for streaming so I never followed it up.
i know a lot of people don't care for Silver Nemesis but i like it. i'm a big sucker for anything with the Cybermen though.
I just read the novelisation of that, it's a great serial and has a few Dalek firsts in it. It's one of my favourite McCoy stories, plus Ace starts to become womanly. I just listened to the Crusade which felt like it was trying to recapture what made Marco Polo great but didn't really manage it.
I just finished The Sea Devils. I thought it might be a dud after the first episode but it turned out pretty good. Jo was really quite capable in this one, taking out guards, freeing the Doctor, spotting the Master and turning into a man and riding a motorcycle. Though I don't think we were supposed to notice her becoming a man. Maybe it's the power of pants. We got the third Doctor doing Venusian Aikido, delivering some dry humor and reversing the polarity of the neutron flow. We get the Master all crazy-eyed and compelling everyone. What could be better? Lots of outdoor shots and varied locations help this one out. We have bases, subs, lairs, hovercrafts and more. We even get cars with no doors for some reason, must be a 70s/British thing... Lots of trippy early synthesizer music as well. At one point, I think the Doctor even attacked the Sea Devils with a nasty feedback loop (or something...). There's something about early electronics that has a unique aura about it, I love all the glowing and clicking and humming and what not of all the electronics the Doctor and Master are using. Could he even hack a transmitter with modern electronics? I suppose with the sonic he can do anything now but it's cool seeing the Doctor hook the door up to electrical current. Of course, the Doctor using the sonic to get through a minefield was cool (and got to make more crazy noises).
Battlefield, I like Ben Aaronivitch's work, especially his Rivers of London books. Some of the dialogue is great in this story plus the Brig is in it, I still don't like Banberra though.
Remembrance of the Daleks First time viewing here, and I enjoyed it a lot. Outside of The Five Doctors it's also my first time seeing Daleks in the original series, and I think they might even be more terrifying here then they are in the new series. I know this serial has ties to An Unearthly Child but I have yet to view that particular serial, or anything with the first Doctor for that matter. They do gloss over this a tad, but the Doctor committing mass genocide is a pretty dark and scary place to take the character. Granted it's probably glossed over because it was the Daleks, and he did manipulate Davros into doing it...
I like Rememberance quite a bit and I think it holds up nicely with new Who, it feels more similar in execution than most classic episodes.
I love this version of Seven, it's the one I remember from 'Curse of Fenric." He's always up to something and never completely honest with anyone. I love how he is able to manipulate everyone into doing exactly what he wants, with little trouble. I hope this version of the Doctor is carried through the next few serials, as I am watching them in order. So up next: The Happiness Patrol.