They don’t have to be your favourites, just the ones that always manage to put a smile on your face no matter what the situation.
Personally, ‘Carnival of Monsters’ never fails to make me smile. I think it’s the TARDIS team here that really do it for me - Three and Jo were such a sweet dynamic, and this is them at their zenith for me. It’s not some world-ending adventure, it’s just running away from giant swamp worms that look a bit rubbish whilst trapped in some clapped-out futurisic telescope thingy. It’s just daft as a brush, and it’s fun.
In a move that will shock no-one, Remembrance of the Daleks and the TV Movie are definitely two of mine. Others are Robots of Death, Pyramids of Mars, The Pilot, The Unicorn and the Wasp, The Eleventh Hour, to name a few.
On audio, my top three go-tos when I need a pick me up are Counter-Measures: The Hollow King, Gallifrey: Spirit, and Iris Wildthyme: The Panda Invasion.
I have a few, but the first that come to mind are Mummy on the Orient Express, Flatline, and Boom Town. I watched MotOE at least fifteen times last year alone lol
oh man… basically anything from McCoy’s era is a comfort story for me lol. anything with Capaldi is also very nice to put on and turn my brain off…he has such a pleasant voice. i have a couple comfy audios i keep downloaded on my phone, the big ones being Memory Lane, Urgent Calls, and Oh No It Isn’t! My main criteria i think are that they have a lot of talking, actors whose voices i really like, and fun visuals for me to imagine. my absolute favorite however is The Magic Mousetrap, i love the dialogue writing, the sort-of-ensemble cast with fun characters, and i think it could work really well as a comic so i spend a lot of time envisioning how id do that lol. one of my favorite pastimes
edit: ok i guess being audios they all have ‘a lot of talking’ but specifically ones that dont have a lot of action-y sequences or big sound effects lmao
The End of the World, New Earth, Smith & Jones, Partners in Crime, Unicorn & the Wasp, and a bunch more. Comfort is those tight episodes that are a little more funny in certain areas. But also almost anything Pertwee is a comfort episode for me haha - the UNIT family is golden.
For TV my #1 comfort story is definitely The Doctor’s Wife, it’s one of my all time favorite stories and I’m obsessed with any time the TARDIS is treated as a character, it’s always so fun. It’s my #1 most rewatched story too I just adore it. Other comfort story is Partners In Crime bc I love the Doctor & Donna’s dynamic and it’s such a fun story that it’s a really easy one to just rewatch.
For audio there aren’t too many that I relisten to just because I’m always trying to listen to new stories, but my comfort audio is definitely The Marian Conspiracy. I just love Evelyn so much her dynamic with Six is great.
The Sensorites, The Chase, The Mind Robber, The Three Doctors, The Ribos Operation, Shada, Castrovalva, Black Orchid, The Twin Dilemma (weird, I know lol), Delta and the Bannermen, The Greatest Show in the Galaxy, Ghost Light, the TV Movie
There are definitely revival stories that qualify, but none to the same degree that the Classic ones do. Except maybe some of the Whittaker ones like The Witchfinders or Orphan 55.
I find that a lot of things that make S11 one of my least favorites as a season also make a lot of its episodes very easy and comforting to rewatch. Particularly the lack of attachment to any larger plot arcs and the earlier characterization of 13. Arachnids, Tsuranga, Kerblam, and The Witchfinders are all easy episodes to rewatch if I’m just looking for a fun little adventure, even if none of them are my favorites of the season
EDIT: Realized this kinda sounds like I’m saying I don’t like 13’s characterization in S11, which isn’t the case. I just find it less interesting than in future seasons where I think she gets a lot more depth
When it comes to Comfort Who I would have to highlight The Three Doctors(ToTT Omnibus version), The Five Doctors and The Power of the Doctor.
The Second and Third Doctors squabbling just never gets old
