More Noticing as I dvd DW...
Well some of the Hartnell's and Troughton's are more whimsey and fun...however, they are also mostly like watching paint dry. Perhaps even before the fast pacing of the new DW series (CE and DT and Rose), these seemed that way. They are very slow and very padded and there are so many characters that are just plain boring. Yet they have a charm all their own. Hartnell's stories in particular could be...both. THE CHASE is a mostly awful story but the scenes of life in TARDIS are rather quaint. Pat's stories seem to hold up better...but they also have endless scenes of people staring at consoles and radars and whatever. Jamie is rather cute though in a great deal of them, bordering on manhood and boyhood not sure which. At least Adric had his boyishness set and not bouncing back and forth. Zoe is an awful, awful over the top companion and every word she utters just sounds camp. Victoria was not much better, although I do like the idea of companions from the past and from the future.
An altogether different approach happens in Pertwee's realm. The stuck on Earth thing was rather different and yet doesn't bore when you watch them OUT OF ORDER. In order, the Earth setting does get on my nerves and I hardly call UNIT a family...The Brig, Mike n Benton all have their great moments and lines but...overall, I'm not enthused by them. GREEN DEATH is rather good though. Pertwee's Doc always seemed the rudest to me...and sometimes I rather like that. He also seemed worried about EVERYONE, unlike other Doctors, telling Nancy to be careful in GREEN DEATH. Still, Pertwee's stories could all be shorter...even his four parters seem endlessly long and lots of talking going on between action during cliffhangers. Lots of stuffy old guys talking. Glad the new show stays away from that tedium...mostly. The pace is just so slow in the old show during the first three Doctors....that it is amazing this show has that many fans...it just drags...
What Else? Tom Baker? Is he as good as everyone always says? NO! HE'S BETTER! I'd watch him watching paint dry. He makes even the worst stories of his era...INVISIBLE ENEMY, MEGLOS, LEISURE HIVE, UNDERWORLD...better just because he's there...and all the "classic" stories that have been ripped off...Morbius, Pyramids, Fang Rock, Fendahl, Talons...would all have been AWFULLY BORING without Tom in them...and Liz is pretty good too as is Louise Jamieson. He had some great companions with him and almost all his stories with some exceptions were four parters...which picks up the pace a bit more...
On the Docs themselves, Hartnell is tetchy best in CHASE while repairing the Time Visualizer and being interrupted while a similar and funnier scene happens in TIME WARRIOR I think as Sarah, Mike, and the Brig keep interupting the Doctor's progress. Pertwee's camp faces are fun because he uses them so little during his time in the show. Troughton is just so sweet and commanding as he can be in this form as the DOctor. He's also very watchable and he doesn't take over the entire show but he's a welcome presense as is Hartnell..
That said, when the Doctor is not on screen...things during the first four Doctor eras can get a little...boring...and depending on the companions...I'm not a big Dodo fan nor a huge Steven fan...Vicki is just silly alot...when the companions are around, things pick up a bit.
I've not rewatched any Liz Shaw eps yet but I rather recall liking her, ala an AVENGERS girl gone DW and without being able to really fight as well as Emma Peel or even Tara King.
And wha'ts with WOTAN in GREEN DEATH...nice voice...and then there's the 3rd Doctor ducking in and out of Daleks...perhaps they were supposed to be frozen or something...by a molten ice volcano...wtf? Still i'ts a fun show...but more fantasy and whimsey than sci fi...