h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi Guys. As we speak I am coming towards the end of my first Patrick Troughton story (the invasion). So far I have David Tennant (Series 2 and 4), Christopher Eccleston (Series 1), Paul McGann, Peter Davidson (The Five Doctors), Tom Baker (The Genesis of the Daleks, The Robots of Death) John Pertwee (The Time Warrior) and William Hartnell (The Time Meddler).

Any suggestions as to what I should be on the look out for next? A classic storyline? Another doctor? If so, which one? All imput greatfully recieved.

Personally, I'd work through chronologically. I've not seen most of the early ones though, so I don't know how successful that would be.

Chronologically (from Pertwee onwards) would make more sense as you'd get an idea of who the companions are more than if you hit and miss and only see each companion once, but as not all are out on DVD yet that's difficult.

I'd go for The Sea Devils for Jon Pertwee, Horror of Fang Rock for Tom Baker and Remembrance of the Daleks for Sylvester McCoy.

<BB<

My first classic episodes that I saw were on the box-set &#39;New Beginnings&#39;. This includes Fourth Doctor stories &#39;The Keeper of Traken&#39;, &#39;Logopolis&#39; and Fifth Doctor story &#39;Castrovalva&#39;. Obviously this covers the Doctor&#39;s regeneration.
I&#39;d recommend it, though you&#39;re obviously not a stranger to Classic stories. I would also highly recommend &#39;Remembrance of the Daleks&#39;.

It sounds like you've sampled a broad cross-section of classic Who but the obvious gaps are the 6th & 7th Doctors. I'd say 'Mark of the Rani' (6th) and 'The Curse of Fenric' (7th) are well worth watching.

But a lot depends on your budget and what region (DVD-wise) you're in. The earliest region 2 DVDs are being re-released to correct (some of) the original releases and improve the extras; these re-releases have been branded "Revisitations" and are collections of 3 stories. Revisitations 1 has been released, Revisitations 2 will be released this month and Revisitations 3 is due to be released this year. However, check which stories are in each Revisitations set because it sounds like you already own some of them and each set will probably be about £30.

Price-wise, some of the box-set releases are now good value (compared to some individual releases) so check them out. As mentioned, you could do worse than buying 'The Beginning' (the first 3 stories) because, after all, that's how it all started.

My advice is to enjoy them all and don't forget that there are lots of stories available to watch for free here:

http://video.uk.msn.com/browse/tv-shows/show/doctor-who/

and here:

http://www.youtube.com/show?p=Ps0e32nFzs0&s=1

All okayed by BBC Worldwide so I presume anyone in any country can watch them.

Van

Sorry, no, Post 4 mentioned 'New Beginnings' which is not the same as 'The Beginning'.

Thanks for all the input guys, you&#39;ve certainly offered a different set of ideas. No votes for Colin Baker, btw?

Van suggested watching &#39;Mark of the Rani&#39;, a Sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) story.

I haven&#39;t seen that story, I do own &#39;The Trial of a Time Lord&#39; on video, and that was my introduction to the Sixth Doctor! From what I remember it is a strange, exciting and rather good (epic) story

Right. Yes. I read that, of course. I didn&#39;t miss that, I was just testing....

I'd strongly recommend "The War Games", Patrick Troughton's final series. It was where the Time Lords were first mentioned.

And the Jon Pertwee one "Inferno".

Well, as an update, I picked up the &#39;beginning&#39; trilogy from amazon for £8.99. I have to say that Unearthly child, clearly feeling it&#39;s way into the format, is a bit strange and seems to push Chesterton as the hero rather than the doctor (uneasy with an Alien hero?). Am now two episodes into the daleks and this feells like more solid dr territory, so I will probably get more from this. Actually, early days this second story seems better written to me.

I've always found the *first* episode to be fantastic but the rest of "An Unearthly Child" has always seemed somewhat dull.

Enjoy 'The Edge of Distraction'

Destruction/Distraction. Freudian slip? Yeah, I suppose the first episode was pretty good for an introduction to a brand new show. Rest of it was a bit too padded with incessant &#39;Zah make fire- Cah cannot make fire&#39; conversations for my liking. Dalek episode so far seems easier to sink into but I&#39;ve got a way to go yet so we shall see....

Have you seen the film 'Dr Who And The Daleks'? I saw that film a few times before the BBC version, and so a lot of the original had lost its impact, alas.

<BB<

No I haven&#39;t but I do have the audiobook of the novelisation of the tv version of the plot. I think.

If you haven't seen the film, watch the William Hartnell TV version of the Daleks first. That way, it will be more watchable. Look for the bit where they are edging along the rock and Ian pulls off a bit of the polystyrene rockface. The Dalek Invasion of Earth is also worth seeing as it's where Susan leaves the show.

The Keys of Marinus (with hilarious WH line fluffs and corpsing) was a good one from the Hartnell era, so was the Aztecs, which followed on from it. The 3 episode Planet of Giants was quite fun, if a little short. The Space museum is worth mentioning for the Doctor clowning around in a Dalek shell.

The Gunfighters was a bit different than the normal Who. Lynda Baron (Captain Wrack from Dr Who 'Enlightenment' and Nurse Gladys from Open All Hours) sings links throughout the story. Did you know it was her voice singing 'Underneath the Mango Tree' which they dubbed over Ursula Andress in Dr No?

The Troughton era I'd say Tomb of the Cybermen, the Ice Warriors, the Dominators and the Mind Robber are the best ones for me. War Games has been mentioned but I thought it was over long.

Those are about the best of the monochrome shows but I'd also go for the chronological order if you can.

Following on from that mention of Lynda Baron - apparently she will be turning up in season 6 at some point...


Geggs