Which 5 episodes to showcase Nu-Who??

[Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 6
Forum Member
Hi Folks,

I'm hoping for some fun recommendations from some fellow Who fans!

My 14 year old niece has just started to get into Dr Who, she's been watching on/ off since series 6 but is now really into the programme. I'm a big fan of the show so have invited her over for a Who-athon.

My question is, which 5 episodes from Nu-Who (series 1-5 since she has seen 6 & 7) would you choose to showcase the show? Christmas eps and specials can be included.

My personal picks would be -
The Empty Child
The Doctor Dances
Silence in The Library
Forest of The Dead
The Eleventh Hour

(sorry for excluding the classic series, I only have Nu-Who on DVD and I'm not sure she'd be into the classics. Youth of today, eh?!)

Thanks folks!

Comments

  • davrosdodebirddavrosdodebird Posts: 8,692
    Forum Member
    Dalek
    Gridlock
    Blink
    Midnight
    Amy's Choice
  • mccolloughmccollough Posts: 209
    Forum Member
    Rose
    The Parting of the Ways
    The End of Time
    The Eleventh Hour
    The Snowman
  • jackamakkajackamakka Posts: 4,625
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    I'll go for 5 stories, rather than 5 episodes:

    Army of Ghosts / Doomsday
    The End of Time
    Blink
    Turn Left / The Stolen Earth / Journey's End
    The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit
  • CAMERA OBSCURACAMERA OBSCURA Posts: 8,002
    Forum Member
    If your Whoathons are going to be a regular thing why not start from Rose and watch in order. :)

    Actually... Bank Holiday weekend and all that...might have a series 1 Ecclestone Whoathon myself.
  • November_RainNovember_Rain Posts: 9,145
    Forum Member
    If we are picking one from each series up to 5:

    Dalek
    The Age of Steel/Rise of the Cybermen (since they're both one story)
    Blink
    Midnight
    Vincent and The Doctor
  • AlrightmateAlrightmate Posts: 73,120
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    Like another poster a few posts above, stories as opposed to episodes.....

    Dalek
    Blink
    The Girl in the Fireplace
    The Empty Child
    Vincent and The Doctor
  • AbominationAbomination Posts: 6,483
    Forum Member
    I'd say no experience could beat watchig the whole lot if you have the chance... it allows for the optimum character investment. However if you truly are limited for time, and she already understands the basics of regenerations and such, then I'd opt for...

    Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways
    Blink
    The Stolen Earth/Journeys End
    Vincent and the Doctor
    A Christmas Carol
    The Doctor's Wife
    Asylum of the Daleks

    :)
    I couldn't narrow it down any further :p
  • Dr2PatDr2Pat Posts: 420
    Forum Member
    I agree what abomination said. If you can watch the lot. if you can't then I would say:
    Dalek,
    The girl in the fireplace,
    army of ghosts/doomsday
    the waters of mars
    the time of angels/flesh and stone

    I put a mix of scary and emotional storys. most girls I know love the girl in the fireplace and doomsday.
    As you say your niece is 14 so expect tears from her at the end of these 2 especially.
  • Whovian1109Whovian1109 Posts: 1,812
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    I think definitely Blink and the Eleventh Hour, they both just sum up the whole concept of Doctor Who so well. I think, on a purely personal level, Asylum of the Daleks, as IMHO it's the best episode that has been produced, even if it's not necessarily the best introduction. The other two slots go to The Parting of the Ways as a great introduction to the concept of regeneration and then finally, The Waters of Mars, to give it a bit of scope and also because it's a cracking exploration into the Doctor's dark side, as well as the whole time war thing.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 903
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    1. Blink - not my personal favourite, but everybody likes it. It's also stand alone, so you don't need to watch whole season to understand it.
    2. Human Nature / Family of Blood - Best episode ever, IMO. Also, stand-alone.
    3. Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead - One more popular and great episode.
    4. Eleventh Hour - Introduction to the Eleventh Doctor.
    5. Amy's Choice - Very original and interesting stand-alone episode.
  • johnnysaucepnjohnnysaucepn Posts: 6,775
    Forum Member
    I'm probably in agreement with most people:
    Dalek
    Blink
    Midnight
    Eleventh Hour
    The Doctor's Wife
  • theAREtheARE Posts: 1,847
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    I'd put Utopia on the list - easily one of the best new Who episodes - just a pity that the 2 episodes after that were a bit of a let down.

    Utopia is brilliant though - stand out new Who episode for me.
    In some ways it's also very classic Who which might be why I like it.

    others:

    Dalek
    Waters of Mars
    Silence in the Library / Forest of the Dead
    Turn Left
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,003
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    Dalek, Blink, The Eeleventh Hour to have one with all three of the Doctors, even though 10 scarcely appears in Blink. The next in line Empty Child/Doctor Danced for 9, Human Nature/Family of Blood and/or Midnight for 10 and Vincent and the Doctor and/or Beast Below for 11

    Some have mentioned The Doctor's Wife, but a much as I love it, I wouldn't recommend it. Personally I have seen it after having seen only a handful of Who episodes and back then I wasn't a big fan. I don't think I totally understood it (and all the implications) until I watched an another time around after having seen much more episodes.
  • TheSilentFezTheSilentFez Posts: 11,103
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    I think if you are going to choose 5 episodes, you should chose one from each series. You should also chose stories which don't rely too much on knowledge of the show's past and which showcase as big a variety as possible.
    I would chose:
    Dalek - A brilliant story which showcases the Daleks
    The Girl in the Fireplace - An emotional tale which has plenty of timey-wimeyness.
    Blink - A brilliant plot, very scary, clever and also shows that you can have a good story in which the Doctor doesn't take centre stage.
    The Fires of Pompeii- Not the best story by any means of Series 4, but it's still pretty good and it lets a first time viewer see what a standard Doctor Who adventure is like.
    The Eleventh Hour- Probably the best new Doctor introduction story ever. This would get newcomers get used to the idea that the main character changes every now and then.
  • smudges dadsmudges dad Posts: 36,989
    Forum Member
    The outstanding episode is "Turn Left" for the acting and showing the effects of not having the Doctor around. Maybe preceeded by the episodes referred to in it (sink the titanic, spiders from Mars etc)
  • Hav_mor91Hav_mor91 Posts: 17,183
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    The Empty Child
    The Parting Of The Ways
    Blink
    The Pandorica Opens
    Doomsday
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,152
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    Rose
    Dalek
    The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances
    The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit
    Blink

    Or other possibilites:
    Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways
    Turn Left
    The Waters of Mars
    Maybe Utopia, but it might not be the best to start of with since it's a part of a bigger story (same with Turn Left)
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 6
    Forum Member
    You guys rock!

    So I think I can get a general sense that everyone agrees with Blink, Dalek and The Eleventh Doctor.
    jackamakka wrote: »
    I'll go for 5 stories, rather than 5 episodes:

    Army of Ghosts / Doomsday
    The End of Time
    Blink
    Turn Left / The Stolen Earth / Journey's End
    The Impossible Planet / The Satan Pit

    Turn Left is one of my top favourite episodes, but I suppose I'd left it out because it's Doctor Lite, but I still get chills when I watch it.
    I'd say no experience could beat watchig the whole lot if you have the chance... it allows for the optimum character investment. However if you truly are limited for time, and she already understands the basics of regenerations and such, then I'd opt for...

    Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways
    Blink
    The Stolen Earth/Journeys End
    Vincent and the Doctor
    A Christmas Carol
    The Doctor's Wife
    Asylum of the Daleks

    :)
    I couldn't narrow it down any further :p

    She's only staying over for one night and I've got strict instructions regarding her bed time otherwise I would totally start from Series 1, episode one :D Maybe I'll just have to invite her back over again next week!
    Rose
    Dalek
    The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances
    The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit
    Blink

    Or other possibilites:
    Bad Wolf/The Parting of the Ways
    Turn Left
    The Waters of Mars
    Maybe Utopia, but it might not be the best to start of with since it's a part of a bigger story (same with Turn Left)

    Yes that's true, Turm Left would be better followed by the other 2 episodes.

    And so I'm now torn between Bad Wolf/ Parting of The Ways or Army of Ghosts/ Doomsday (agree totally with Dr2Pat, about the emotion in those episodes, I wonder if someone who hadn't seen all of series 1 and 2 would feel it properly though)

    And honourable mentions to The Girl in The Fireplace, Waters of Mars, Utopia, The Impossible Planet, Vincent and The Doctor, to name only a few!

    Thanks for all your suggestions........ so many great episodes, so little time! :D
  • johnnysaucepnjohnnysaucepn Posts: 6,775
    Forum Member
    Turn Left is great but veers from what-the-hell-is-that weirdness that is probably quite off-putting if you don't know the episodes it's referring to, to downright heartbreaking awfulness. Probably not the most welcoming introduction.
  • AbominationAbomination Posts: 6,483
    Forum Member
    If you're stuck between Bad Wolf / The Parting of the Ways, and Army of Ghosts / Doomsday I'd personally go for the former. It'd give the Ninth Doctor a bit more presence in your marathon and I feel that it offers a more satisfying conclusion by far. It'd likely be the more emotional story as well, as Doomsday relies a lot on the characters that have been established over time whilst The Parting of the Ways is more about the events in and of itself :)

    Enjoy your rewatch :D
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,003
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    If you're stuck between Bad Wolf / The Parting of the Ways, and Army of Ghosts / Doomsday I'd personally go for the former. It'd give the Ninth Doctor a bit more presence in your marathon and I feel that it offers a more satisfying conclusion by far. It'd likely be the more emotional story as well, as Doomsday relies a lot on the characters that have been established over time whilst The Parting of the Ways is more about the events in and of itself :)

    Enjoy your rewatch :D

    I ditto this. Also, asides from ending on a happier note I think that 9's regeneration is a great introduction to the fact that the nature of the show changes and gets across that the change is not a bad thing.
  • Davetherave70Davetherave70 Posts: 553
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    Gridlock
    Human Nature/Family Of Blood
    Utopia
    Dalek
    Blink
  • LivingDestinyLivingDestiny Posts: 714
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    Eleventh Hour - If 11 is her first Doctor then let her see where his story began

    Amy's Choice - Another classic involving MS and the idea that The Doctor does have a dark side.

    Midnight - Then I'd watch this which is a great Doctor Who episode!

    Empty Child/Doctor Dances - Just when she thinks that Doctor Who is absolutley fantastic after these three stories, scare the living daylights out of her :D In an entertaining way of course!

    No but seriously ^ these feature the three Revival Doctors whilst also providing great entertainment and rewatches! It also shows there's more to the show than Daleks and Cybermen
  • sovietusernamesovietusername Posts: 1,169
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    Rose
    Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways
    Human Nature/Family of Blood
    Blink
    Utopia/Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords
    Midnight
    The 11th Hour
    Amy's Choice
    Vincent and the Doctor
    the Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 155
    Forum Member
    I'm probably in agreement with most people:
    Dalek
    Blink
    Midnight
    Eleventh Hour
    The Doctor's Wife

    Actually, that's very good. I'd take out Eleventh Hour and put in Empty Child/Doctor Dances instead.

    But then, my first episode was Idiot's Lantern, and I've been hooked ever since, so I might not be that picky.
Sign In or Register to comment.