That’s the season-long arc for the Sixth Doctor. It is excellent, but he only did two seasons, so I’d err against launching in soon as then you won’t have much Six left (a tragedy in my books!)
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Aw, sounds nice, thanks for the advice!
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Well, good luck to you too then. ^^
It’s actually quite a good idea, I’ll take a look at the character pages this afternoon. Good choice of you btw, Davros is such a fascinating character.
(Does your partner fancy the show so far? :3)
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It’s actually quite a Doctor-ish way of watching Doctor who!
Probably would have me a bit confused, but I like the idea. ^^
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Who am i to blame you, I’m rewatching the series 1 to 7 while discovering the 9th one sooo 
(Oh that’s nice! I’d love to give a go to the comics as well, but they seem a bit hard to find, so I’ll stick to the show for the moment)
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There are insensitive parts definitely and sometimes the (usually female) companion gets reduced to the damsel in distress, but there are also stories as early as the first few seasons where the female characters are strong, smart and do more to save the day than the Doctor himself. There’s also clear anti-xenophobic messages in some of the earlier stories too.
But yes unfortunately there is at times insensitive language or some unsavory stereotypes that show up. Thankfully, it does fade away over time as the show gets more modern alongside the societal attitudes themselves.
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Okayyy I get it, thanks (I can understand, the 9th having done a single series still drives me mad!)
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Oh okay, that’s good to know. The show seems to have had quite a good message from the very beginning, only good messages in the time weren’t necessarily good for everybody, right? ^^”
Maybe it’s good, in a way, to have started with a more modern ear, as these kind of things might be unpleasant to start with.
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This is a great idea. All of Davros, all of the Rani, all of Mel, all of Sarah. Wish I’d thought of this when I was starting out!
On which note, can I just say how jealous I am of those of you starting out, or recently starting, on Classic Who. I have three serials left I’ve not seen and I’m terrified of watching them, because I don’t want there to be nothing new for me to discover anymore! I’d say definitely savour and don’t rush through. When I was at university, I raced through probably about a third of the show in a random order in the space of about four months. It’s those ones I now have a fairly poor recollection of because I didn’t really take the time to appreciate each one for what it was.
I would also say it’s fun to jump between styles. After watching something in a spaceship, swap to a historical. Though that would require some foreknowledge of what each story is, and I’d also be an advocate for going into many of them completely blind, so maybe I’ll eat my words. Very much proving my own point that there are a million possible approaches!
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Gosh i know the feeling, not for this very show, but for many others I was a huge fan of, as a kid, and i didn’t take enough time to appreciate them all, and even if I rewatch them now, it doesn’t feel the same as REALLY discovering them. Given the vastness of the Whoniverse, you’ll always find stories to discover I suppose, but it’s not the same as watching episodes -
I agree, it’s funnier to swap from universe to universe! Thanks!
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Recommendations from me (note that I still have plenty of classic stories I haven’t watched yet):
Hartnell: An Unearthly Child, The Rescue, The Dalek Invasion of Earth, The Time Meddler.
Troughton: The Power of the Daleks (animated), The Tomb of the Cybermen, The Mind Robber.
Pertwee: Spearhead from Space, Terror of the Autons, The Curse of Peladon, Carnival of Monsters, The Time Warrior.
T. Baker: Robot, Genesis of the Daleks, Pyramids of Mars, The Brain of Morbius, City of Death, State of Decay.
Davison: Kinda, The Visitation, Snakedance. The first and the third are tied together so watch Kinda first. There’s also another story here I really like called Earthshock but do not watch it first.
C. Baker: Vengeance on Varos, Revelation of the Daleks.
McCoy: Remembrance of the Daleks, The Happiness Patrol, The Greatest Show in the Galaxy, The Curse of Fenric.
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Well that is a feat I am currently in the process of achieving hopefully 
currently on 5th Doctor
If you want to jump around then that’s fine of course, but I would definitely recommend at some point watching it all from beginning to end, there are nuances you would miss, especially in the first Doctor era
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Fantastic! Thanks a lot!
At least I know what I’ll do in the end of the day. 
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i think I’m going to start by watching episodes from every series, but ultimately I intend to watch them in the right order anyway 
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Yes and no.
Classic Who isn’t immune to the cultural attitudes of the time but it was quite ahead of its time at several points as well. As an example: Marco Polo (fourth ever story, one of the completely lost ones unfortunately) does suffer from some yellowface, but there is an Asian actor in it who is given a proper character that is written well and treated pretty much the same as the wholly white TARDIS Team.
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You MUST watch it from the beginning
& you must watch on the corresponding date & time. So you begin with An Unearthly Child on 23 November this year, at 5:15pm (UK time).
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Haha don’t threaten me
It could be a challenge, if I had enough time, actually x) (6:15 pm at my play then)
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I agree with everyone who says start with Spearhead from Space. It’s a charming story to start with. An all out classic, but not so good that nothing will ever live up to it.
The way I did it was to jump around and watch the most loved stories, it got me into the classic series and I never felt a slump once I “finished all the best stuff.” After I finished jumping around I watched from Planet of the Spiders to Tom Baker’s third series, which is a phenomenal run and gives you a regeneration early on.
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I do agree with everyone here!! My definite picks are to start at the beginning of a doctors era and go from there, cause even though I’ve been watching it in order I’ve seen the first ep of every doctor so far (aside from 7)
The black and white era of the sixties is where I’m more well versed and You probably know but yeah a lot of stories are missing. These are watchable via telesnap reconstructions (aka slideshows) or animations. I recommend these animations!! However it is a bit much to get into so I’d say start from spearhead from space or robot if you don’t feel ready for that era. Likewise I recommend the tv movie! The eighth doctor is amazing.
If you do want sixties who I reccomend an unearthly child and the daleks from s1, the dalek invasion of earth, the rescue, the romans and the time meddler from s2, season 3 is mostly lost but daleks master plan and war machines are what I recommend (and bonus, since master plan just had two eps found you can party with us when they come out officially!!) tenth planet is the last first doctor serial but it’s the second serial of s4, but it’s highly recommended.
I’d say watch all of 2s era but that’s just my bias haha. Power of the daleks and evil of the daleks both have good animations and they’re both really well written, Macra terrors animation is amazing and the story is a must watch. Then from s5 the enemy of the world is quite different but it’s beloved for a reason, I also recommend web of fear for its introduction of the series regular the brigadier (known as the colonel at this point). Tomb of the cybermen is great too! Then for s6, mind robbers already been explained but it’s amazing, same with war games, but the invasion and seeds of death are great as well.
Hope this isn’t intimidating 
I’m watching the classic series for the first time too and I’m 12 seasons in so I hope you enjoy!
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Yeah my partner is enjoying it though will probably always love the 15th Doctor best. The first you watch often leaves an impression.
I’m curious if feelings will change when we get to Moffat and Chibnall but still got a little while before we get there. Personally I find showrunner changes bigger than regeneration.
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