Minimal Who
I have two cousins who, not long ago, got into the new Doctor Who, and then discovered that the show had been going on for a a few more years than they thought, and kind of balked at the huge backlog of stuff to watch. But obviously, you don’t need to watch every single episode, because not all of them were great, and even the good ones are probably too numerous for anyone except a die-hard fan to slog through.
So, I pared it down to just the essential stuff: enough of each Doctor to give a taste of what the past incarnations were like, focusing on episodes that fill in important details of the “mythology”.
And I published it on Facebook. Big mistake, as I discovered when I tried to track it down again for another person. Facebook is terrible for finding specific stuff you or a friend wrote. I eventually found it, though, and edited it a bit, and I’m finally republishing it here, so that I won’t lose it again.
First Doctor: An Unearthly Child (4 episodes) and The Daleks (7 episodes.) Optionally, The Dalek invasion of Earth (6 episodes.)
Second Doctor: Just the last one, “The War Games” (10 episodes.)
Third Doctor: Spearhead from Space (4 episodes) and Terror of the Autons (4 episodes).
Fourth Doctor: Genesis of the Daleks (6 episodes), The Deadly Assassin (4 episodes), The Invasion of Time (6 episodes), and The Keeper of Traken (4 episodes). Optionally, The Pirate Planet (4 episodes) because it was written by Douglas Adams, and Logopolis (4 episodes).
Fifth Doctor: Castrovalva (4 episodes), The Five Doctors (90 minute special), and Resurrection of the Daleks (2 episodes).
Sixth Doctor: The Trial of a Time Lord (10 episodes).
Seventh Doctor: Time and the Rani (4 episodes) and Remembrance of the Daleks (4 episodes).
Eighth Doctor: It’s just one two-hour movie, but not very good. Skip it, unless you feel up to it.
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