Classic Doctor Who (Serials 1-7)
So, I decided to watch the original series of "Doctor Who" starting with the first doctor. Some of the episodes are missing or I'm not able to access them which means I'm going to have to skip some. I'll try to number them accurately. Anyway, here's some of my thoughts.
1. “An Unearthly Child” (Episodes 1-4)
We meet the companions Ian, Barbara and Susan who is the granddaughter of the doctor. Also, this episode features the incident where the TARDIS gets stuck as a police box since they left in a hurry. Also, Susan named the TARDIS. They also call the Doctor, Doctor Who because they have no idea who he is. The original pilot had the First Doctor as more of a scary dude. I have to say he still seems smart and knows how to work with people. However, he does seem kind of out for himself (and maybe Susan). He also doesn’t seem as much of a leader with Ian hanging around.
2. “The Daleks” (Episodes 5-11)
The Doctor is not very friendly here. He risks all of the companion’s lives so he can go exploring, and when things go south after he tricked everyone on this adventure, he decides to leave everyone but Susan behind to save himself. Then he decides to forsake a race of people again to save himself. He is pleasant enough with everyone by the end but dang. Here the Daleks are mutations of a race called the Dals. They do get their exterminate on though.
3. “The Edge of Destruction” (Episodes 12-13)
This was a better episode with team unity. It also made me like Barbara the most. Even though they were at each other’s throats they showed everyone work together to save themselves. The Doctor even felt bad about what he did to Ian and Barbara and admitted it was probably Barbara who saved them. It also showed they all kind of cared for each other.
4. “Marco Polo” (Episodes 14-20)
I heard the abridged version. I like that Marco Polo wasn’t a bad guy and was willing to help the group though he initially wanted to help himself as well.
5. “The Keys of Marinus” (Episodes 21-26)
This was the first episode where the group had lots of things to do within one mission. There was a courtroom subplot and mind warping and an attacking jungle. I like that it gave them different things to do. Also, Barbara had several hero moments. She might be the brains of the outfit.
6. “The Aztecs” (Episodes 27-30)
There was action and plotting. The Doctor had a thing for a lady and accidentally became engaged to her. I guess that makes her his first love interest. Not to mention, this is the first sort of incident for the fixed points in time.
7. “The Sensorites” (Episodes 31-36)
So, I heard some speculation that Susan may not be the Doctor’s granddaughter. I haven’t gotten to why yet. She is psychic and describes her home planet the way the Doctor describes it. Plus, the Doctor does some mind reading himself later in the series. If she isn’t his granddaughter, I believe she is a Time Lord. I will say a problem I have with this episode. I understand the humans saying the aliens all kind of look alike to them. They are a different species. I know it’s supposed to reflect different human conditions but in reality different species are hard to identify. I couldn’t tell two salmon apart from each other except maybe size. What made the story dumb was apparently the Sensorites also couldn’t tell themselves apart. How can they not know what they themselves look like?
1. “An Unearthly Child” (Episodes 1-4)
We meet the companions Ian, Barbara and Susan who is the granddaughter of the doctor. Also, this episode features the incident where the TARDIS gets stuck as a police box since they left in a hurry. Also, Susan named the TARDIS. They also call the Doctor, Doctor Who because they have no idea who he is. The original pilot had the First Doctor as more of a scary dude. I have to say he still seems smart and knows how to work with people. However, he does seem kind of out for himself (and maybe Susan). He also doesn’t seem as much of a leader with Ian hanging around.
2. “The Daleks” (Episodes 5-11)
The Doctor is not very friendly here. He risks all of the companion’s lives so he can go exploring, and when things go south after he tricked everyone on this adventure, he decides to leave everyone but Susan behind to save himself. Then he decides to forsake a race of people again to save himself. He is pleasant enough with everyone by the end but dang. Here the Daleks are mutations of a race called the Dals. They do get their exterminate on though.
3. “The Edge of Destruction” (Episodes 12-13)
This was a better episode with team unity. It also made me like Barbara the most. Even though they were at each other’s throats they showed everyone work together to save themselves. The Doctor even felt bad about what he did to Ian and Barbara and admitted it was probably Barbara who saved them. It also showed they all kind of cared for each other.
4. “Marco Polo” (Episodes 14-20)
I heard the abridged version. I like that Marco Polo wasn’t a bad guy and was willing to help the group though he initially wanted to help himself as well.
5. “The Keys of Marinus” (Episodes 21-26)
This was the first episode where the group had lots of things to do within one mission. There was a courtroom subplot and mind warping and an attacking jungle. I like that it gave them different things to do. Also, Barbara had several hero moments. She might be the brains of the outfit.
6. “The Aztecs” (Episodes 27-30)
There was action and plotting. The Doctor had a thing for a lady and accidentally became engaged to her. I guess that makes her his first love interest. Not to mention, this is the first sort of incident for the fixed points in time.
7. “The Sensorites” (Episodes 31-36)
So, I heard some speculation that Susan may not be the Doctor’s granddaughter. I haven’t gotten to why yet. She is psychic and describes her home planet the way the Doctor describes it. Plus, the Doctor does some mind reading himself later in the series. If she isn’t his granddaughter, I believe she is a Time Lord. I will say a problem I have with this episode. I understand the humans saying the aliens all kind of look alike to them. They are a different species. I know it’s supposed to reflect different human conditions but in reality different species are hard to identify. I couldn’t tell two salmon apart from each other except maybe size. What made the story dumb was apparently the Sensorites also couldn’t tell themselves apart. How can they not know what they themselves look like?