Well, I started watching the original Who.

[MadOnion]

The Keys of Marinus. Wow, they really tossed a bit of everything into that one. Giant pyramids, acid seas, satanic-aquatic fetish wear, brains in jars, killer plants, space nazis, bags of meat. The knights who looked like they were about ready to say ni. I enjoyed it, really picked up the pace. I watched the whole thing in one sitting.

The team is really working together now. Didn't even miss the doctor when he was gone. All the actors seem to be hitting their stride. I was surprised by the adult themes, especially the implied threat of rape. No shortage of cold blooded murders on this show. I'm glad to see its not entirely for kids.

The design had a lot of nice touches. As two dimensional as the Voord were (literally in one shot!) the costumes were cool. I see a little bit of that mask in Darth Vader. All the sets are a little more convincing, and there were a lot of them. The giant mind control machine was decent. But for some reason those tubular phones really caught my eye. I want one of those. Fits right in with a mildly fascist decor. But please, somebody tell that Roman looking dude to put on some pants. I can almost see his magical keys.

I'll give them some slack on that ending - since Jerry Bruckheimer was only 18 years old at the time, and in Arizona collecting stamps - but I was really waiting for the pyramid and the whole island to blow up while the team made a daring escape. Instead, its some flash bulbs, and then a gentlemanly good bye, lets have tea. Now you kids run along and play in those rubber suits.

I'm calling this one as the first Doctor Who which was actually fun.

 

[Sindatur]

MadOnion, I'm glad you enjoyed Keys of Marinus, many want to hide this one from people who are worried about the slow advancement of early Stories, This is one of my favorites Hartnells, along with Edge of Destruction, The Aztecs and other previously mentioned favorites.

 

[DWF]

Hartnell's era has no eight parters and only one complete seven parter, the first Dalek story. No Doctor had more six parrters than any of the rest of them.

And a twelve-parter.

Which sadly is all but gone, Troughton still has a complete ten parter though and a mostly complete eight parter.

 

[diankra]

The Edge of Destruction: Was that the first appearance of the (unnamed) sonic screwdriver?

No, the sonic screwdriver wasn't introduced until "Fury From the Deep" toward the end of season 5. It must've been some other tool.

But... so far as can be told from the Fury telesnaps, the prop Troughton calls the sonic screwdriver IS the same pen torch that he and Hartnell have been using for ages, including that scene in Edge, and before that in the first Dalek story, and even in the first version of An Unearthly Child (where, notably, the Doctor uses it to unlock the TARDIS, rather than using a conventional key).
So, it's arguable that Fury is just the first time he calls it the Sonic Screwdriver, having just added the sonic-ey bits to his existing device.

 

[Cutter John]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvhbGGkhKe4

 

[Christopher]

But... so far as can be told from the Fury telesnaps, the prop Troughton calls the sonic screwdriver IS the same pen torch that he and Hartnell have been using for ages, including that scene in Edge, and before that in the first Dalek story, and even in the first version of An Unearthly Child (where, notably, the Doctor uses it to unlock the TARDIS, rather than using a conventional key).
So, it's arguable that Fury is just the first time he calls it the Sonic Screwdriver, having just added the sonic-ey bits to his existing device.

Or it could be that they just used the same prop to represent a new device until they could afford to build a new, better prop to represent it. I prefer to favor the intent of the script over the niggly details of a production that was just the best they could do to approximate that intent with a microscopic budget. So the question is, how was the penlight prop used by the First Doctor, and is that usage consistent with a sonic screwdriver or not? For instance, we never saw the sonic screwdriver used as a TARDIS key or remote prior to the Ninth Doctor's tenure, so it's unlikely that the device the First Doctor used to open the TARDIS was the sonic screwdriver, or else he would've used it that way all the time.

 

[diankra]

But... so far as can be told from the Fury telesnaps, the prop Troughton calls the sonic screwdriver IS the same pen torch that he and Hartnell have been using for ages, including that scene in Edge, and before that in the first Dalek story, and even in the first version of An Unearthly Child (where, notably, the Doctor uses it to unlock the TARDIS, rather than using a conventional key).
So, it's arguable that Fury is just the first time he calls it the Sonic Screwdriver, having just added the sonic-ey bits to his existing device.

Or it could be that they just used the same prop to represent a new device until they could afford to build a new, better prop to represent it. I prefer to favor the intent of the script over the niggly details of a production that was just the best they could do to approximate that intent with a microscopic budget. So the question is, how was the penlight prop used by the First Doctor, and is that usage consistent with a sonic screwdriver or not? For instance, we never saw the sonic screwdriver used as a TARDIS key or remote prior to the Ninth Doctor's tenure, so it's unlikely that the device the First Doctor used to open the TARDIS was the sonic screwdriver, or else he would've used it that way all the time.

All fair points, but equally, citing script is undermined slightly by the recollections of the film crew (principally future director Michael Briant) that they ad-libbed the sonic screwdriver scene to cut short the shoot when the location work was going badly due to horrible actor-killing cold weather, and used the prop that was routinely stuffed into the Doctor's pocket (though writer Victor Pemberton had definitely scripted the idea of the Doctor having a magic screwdriver... but then he often has magic stuff in his pockets. The oddity is that this one got remembered and brought back).
And (script-wise) the reuse of the Sonic was definitely down to Derrick Sherwin, the script editor who had to rewrite the Fury scripts before studio to fit in with any changes on location, and who then did the rewrites for all of the episodes of its next appearance, in The Dominators. After that, it appears in The War Games (produced by Sherwin), and then skips an entire season (whatever the novelisations suggest) before becoming Pertwee's best friend as the Master turns up.
As for the Hartnell usage... well, in Edge Of Dest, it's definitely a pentorch (the whole way he uses it to explain the problem with the TARDIS hinges on that). In The Daleks, it can sabotage Dalek detection systems... but only when used in conjunction with a TARDIS key. So all very open to ret-conning and, IMHO, consistent with the Sonic Screwdriver being what he starts to call it after adding a few new functions.

 

[DWF]

But... so far as can be told from the Fury telesnaps, the prop Troughton calls the sonic screwdriver IS the same pen torch that he and Hartnell have been using for ages, including that scene in Edge, and before that in the first Dalek story, and even in the first version of An Unearthly Child (where, notably, the Doctor uses it to unlock the TARDIS, rather than using a conventional key).
So, it's arguable that Fury is just the first time he calls it the Sonic Screwdriver, having just added the sonic-ey bits to his existing device.

Or it could be that they just used the same prop to represent a new device until they could afford to build a new, better prop to represent it. I prefer to favor the intent of the script over the niggly details of a production that was just the best they could do to approximate that intent with a microscopic budget. So the question is, how was the penlight prop used by the First Doctor, and is that usage consistent with a sonic screwdriver or not? For instance, we never saw the sonic screwdriver used as a TARDIS key or remote prior to the Ninth Doctor's tenure, so it's unlikely that the device the First Doctor used to open the TARDIS was the sonic screwdriver, or else he would've used it that way all the time.

All fair points, but equally, citing script is undermined slightly by the recollections of the film crew (principally future director Michael Briant) that they ad-libbed the sonic screwdriver scene to cut short the shoot when the location work was going badly due to horrible actor-killing cold weather, and used the prop that was routinely stuffed into the Doctor's pocket (though writer Victor Pemberton had definitely scripted the idea of the Doctor having a magic screwdriver... but then he often has magic stuff in his pockets. The oddity is that this one got remembered and brought back).
And (script-wise) the reuse of the Sonic was definitely down to Derrick Sherwin, the script editor who had to rewrite the Fury scripts before studio to fit in with any changes on location, and who then did the rewrites for all of the episodes of its next appearance, in The Dominators. After that, it appears in The War Games (produced by Sherwin), and then skips an entire season (whatever the novelisations suggest) before becoming Pertwee's best friend as the Master turns up.
As for the Hartnell usage... well, in Edge Of Dest, it's definitely a pentorch (the whole way he uses it to explain the problem with the TARDIS hinges on that). In The Daleks, it can sabotage Dalek detection systems... but only when used in conjunction with a TARDIS key. So all very open to ret-conning and, IMHO, consistent with the Sonic Screwdriver being what he starts to call it after adding a few new functions.

Liz used the sonic screwdriver as a door opener in Inferno so it didn't skip an appearance in the seventh season. And the Yale key's use was explained in the TV movie as being cover over the real keyhole.

 

[diankra]

Liz used the sonic screwdriver as a door opener in Inferno so it didn't skip an appearance in the seventh season. And the Yale key's use was explained in the TV movie as being cover over the real keyhole.

Not onscreen (IIRC): it's only ever referred to as 'the door handle'. But as it looks to be the sonic screwdriver prop from War Games and season 8, and Liz says 'the door handle' is just the Doctor's joke nickname for it, it makes sense to assume it is the Sonic Screwdriver.
Though that does open up a question... the Doctor has one, and Liz also has another one. So if the 'door handle' is the early sonic, he made a spare for her...

 

[DWF]

Liz used the sonic screwdriver as a door opener in Inferno so it didn't skip an appearance in the seventh season. And the Yale key's use was explained in the TV movie as being cover over the real keyhole.

Not onscreen (IIRC): it's only ever referred to as 'the door handle'. But as it looks to be the sonic screwdriver prop from War Games and season 8, and Liz says 'the door handle' is just the Doctor's joke nickname for it, it makes sense to assume it is the Sonic Screwdriver.
Though that does open up a question... the Doctor has one, and Liz also has another one. So if the 'door handle' is the early sonic, he made a spare for her...

No, it's seen onscreen and it looked nothing like the pen light seen War Games it looks more like the prop used in The Sea Devils.

 

[diankra]

Sorry, I meant that the device in Inferno is never called the sonic screwdriver, but is called the door handle several times.

 

[Blamo]

I'd recommend the OP start from the more recent Classic Who and work his way back from that. Season 25 is a good place to start.

 

[Sindatur]

I'd recommend the OP start from the more recent Classic Who and work his way back from that. Season 25 is a good place to start.

Taking an approach like that, it would probably be better to start with Tom Baker, and watch through until the end, then hit Pertwee (Pertwee first wouldn't solve anything aside from the B/W vs. Color, because it's still got lots of 6 episode stories that could be shorter) and then into the First two Doctors.

He seems to be doing OK now, so, it seems starting from the beginning and moving forward will work out for him.