Isn’t that the entire premise of The Ark?
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We really should mention The War Games here. First time the Doctor’s people are named and shown to be very powerful. It also set the ground for the retooling of the Pertwee era.
Also Planet of the Spiders. This is the first time the Doctor’s change of appearance is called regeneration and explained as something that his people do. Prior to this it was “part of the TARDIS” and a forced change of appearance as part of his sentence.
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I did think about “The Ark” but since we see the Doctor’s arrival AND his return in the same story, I think of it differently. In “Face” it’s a reference to a past and unseen adventure. Everything that happens on “Face” is a result of the Doctor’s prior intervention whereas only the second half of “The Ark” fits that bill. Plus, “Face” is seven shades of awesome. I think even lovers of “The Arc” would admit to its (many) shortcomings. For these reasons, I feel “Face” has been a far more influential episode for later writers than “The Arc” was.
A good example that the first instance of a thing is not necessarily the game changer (in my opinion, at least). 
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Both excellent calls. Yes!
“The War Games” is the better story (much as I love elements of “Planet of the Spiders”) but the impact of the way the Pertwee story presents regeneration has carried right the way forward to the present day. Indeed, “The End of Time” revisited the slow death by radiation (and swan song in the TARDIS - though not shown in “Spiders” it is made clear he’s been lost in the vortex for a time) as well.
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I love love love the timeless child arc.
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Funny, I was thinking of suggesting The Brain of Morbius. Despite the pre-Hartnell Doctors being possibly no more than a joke at the time, it led to some Ruthian consequences later.
I would also argue that whatever story had the Doctor start to be able to steer the TARDIS was a massive game-changer (and frankly in a bad way, IMO).
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Me too. I enjoyed it from the off and never really understood why it was met with such… controversy! The potential seemed obvious to me, and RTD has (rightly) grasped it with both hands.
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Yeah same like, something along the lines of giving/having the doctor have infinite regenerations was going to happen eventually, the time lords just conveniently giving them a new cycle would get boring really quickly. Not to mention it technically doesn’t retroactively affect the current “canon” of the show, while also giving writers an even bigger sand pit to play in. While it definitely could’ve been written better, it’s honestly such a fantastic concept and i also don’t understand the hate
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It also, and I think this is so important, re-establishes the question mark at the heart of the Doctor. Doctor Who? Indeed!
I genuinely hope that they never ever answer it.
It really is better that way!
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Because we all know that…
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WOTAN is infallible!
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