Ah. I think I am getting the hang of that MSN site now. There are some decent complete stories on there as well as a few disjointed episodes. I have never looked at it before as I assumed anything to do with MSN would all be in wretched Silverlight (which doesn't work on Linux) but it isn't and it works reasonably well.

Yes, but lets be honest. Not all of the stuff is great. The classic series was far less consistent than the new one with a few real stinkers. It would be a pity to blow money on a DVD of some dud stuff.

I'd go with Pyramids of Mars or the Daemons.

Be interested to hear how you get on - being an old git I enjoy watching the old episodes, but not sure if it isn't just nostalgia as there are some real pacing issues with them when compared with the new stuff.

Given that some companions (and a coupkle of Dr's) are quite 'marmite' it's worth taking a look before making any big investment. Although you could of course use rental.

Doctors who are love/hate: McCoy, C.Baker
Companions: Langford*, Fielding, Waterhouse*, Jameson

* not true, everyone hates adric and Mel

City of death sounds like a pretty safe bet, written by Douglas Adams, John Cleese is in it, Filmed in Paris can't go wrong with that.

Aye, thats what I was saying to Neel, stick with a top 10/20 list first as beyond that it really is hit and miss.

But even then you can't be so sure that Neel or someone else won't enjoy what may be a stinking story for most fans....for example I enjoy Attack of the Cybermen, and the Two Doctors a lot...yet it isn't very liked by others. And I'm sure that there are some out there who hate Genesis for example...so whatever the story, for a new person bying a claasic who DVD is always going to be a gamble....unless just owning any Doctor Who DVD is worthwile for them even if they hate the story...

That would be me then. I have not come across a classic Dr Who story which I disliked heavily (still have a lot of catching up to do). If you look hard you will always find something to enjoy (for instance the Colin Baker years are full of references for vegetarianism, which kind of became big in the 80's). I personally believe there is some good philosophy in the "Two doctors" etc.

However, at the moment, I'm rewatching all the available episodes on blinkbox and seesaw and I probably wouldn't buy these particular DVD's.

To the origanl question though, I particularly like City of Death, but I'm a big fan of Douglas Adams, so ....

That would be a good bet.
It really stands on it's own as a story. The style is completely different to all other stories. It has a great sense of fun and many tongue-in-cheek moments.
Because they wanted to show off the fact they were in Paris, the camera work really makes use of the surroundings.

Which ones would you advise people to stay clear of?

I haven't seen any stories from the 60s or 70s that I would describe as 'stinkers'.

Not 'less consistent', just 'less formulaic'. And I'd say there have been easily as many stinkers in the last few years as the classic series managed in 26.

The only ones I'd advise anyone to steer clear of are McCoy's first two series'.

I'd recommed The Time Meddler if only because it was the first Hartnell story I ever saw. That was back in '92 when BBC2 broadcast a collection of stories, one from each of the seven Doctors

I recomend

Brain of Morbius, Planet of Evil and Horror of Fang Rock for mad Tom.

Cant beat Carnival of Monsters for Jon.

a trail of a time lord achaly all of them kind of