I loved most of the ones mentioned.....I was only 4 - 6 years old when WH was originally on, but apparently I was engrossed in it. Now that I have seen a few of them on DVD, I'm still engrossed. I keep an open mind about the 'special effects' and titter at the Doctor's fluffed lines.
Actually, I was quite impressed by the set for "Planet Of Giants" - very good for its day I would say!

Slightly misunderstood the thread title and was just about to bang on about Pertwee's first episode, CE's first episode and DT's The Christmas Invasion then it dawned on me, the FIRST Doctor epsiodes and not the first episodes of new Doctors.

What a schmuck.


Dalek Invasion Of Earth for me is not only the best WH story but amongst the best Who stories, no sod it, it's up there as one of the greatest sci-fi stories of all time for me. It does what the greatest, and I mean the greatest (count on under 10 fingers stuff) Who stories do, they stand alone as a piece of drama in their own right regardless of it being Doctor Who or not. I think it is a wonderful piece of TV drama that uses all of the classic British sci-fi quirks and metaphors, dystopia, Big Brother, invasion and so on. Of all of the classic Who, this is the one that I go back to time and time again.



The Time Meddler is charming.

But to be honest I really do struggle with the rest of them, they have their wonderful moments, they are for the most part charming, witty and brilliantly sci-fi for early 60's TV (far more daring than Star Trek ever was) but as I said I do personally struggle with them.

But thank god they came along though eh?

i'd have to add my vote for edge of destruction monsters no guests 1 set just a tight script focussed acting and gemnuine tension

The only Hartnell stories I've seen are An Unearthly Child and The Time Meddler, and I enjoyed them both, especially Peter Butterworth's performance as the Monk.

I read quite a few of the novelisations for this era, and I'd love to see The Crusade and The Dalek Invasion of Earth.

So many that I have never seen that may be great, like Marco Polo and The Massacre.

Of those that still exist, I would say the first two Dalek stories, the Aztecs and (just to be a bit controversial) the Gunfighters. It's great fun, honest.

Saw that for the first time recently and was rather disapointed in it.

The main problem was the acting, that story contains some of the worst acting I can recall ever seeing in a DW story.

The worst are the two women Barbara meets in the cottage but most of the supporting cast are pretty bad (and don't get me started on the Robomen ).

Another problem is that I had read and enjoyed the novelization 30 odd years ago and what was shown on screen did not live up to what I had imagined back then.

Most Hartnell stuff I've seen I've quite enjoyed but with this one I was probaly expecting too much.

Well each to their own eh Corwin

Though I must add, I was talking far more in terms of story than acting and execution, if I applied the dodgy acting rule of thumb to to it, well, I would have to throw out quite a lot old of Who from my collection.

I think the actual heart of the story and it's purpose is phenomenal, I fully understand how yourself and others may not, I think as a piece of sci-fi (put acting, effects, some slow pacing, dodgy scenes, and so on to one side) for a Tv show for a family audience in the 60's I genuinely think it is something special. I think it has a lot of scope in terms of it's locations and structure and how the story gets from A-B., yes it could be tidied up a lot in todays eyes but there you go.

Maybe it is more a case of a classic episode that really appeals to me, just as one might appeal to you.

yeah, the whole Robomen thing, crikey!!!!