rewatching

[Travis]

Do to the magic of netflix I have been attempting to watch all of Doctor Who in order.
After A year, I'm almost done with the Perwee era.

I felt I should share my keen insights with the rest of the world.

Hartnell: Love watching the mythology being built from the ground up.
First time we meet another Time Lord, even though I knew it was coming, still gave me goosebumps.
The original Tardis crew is still one of the best. Love a crowded Tardis.
The pure historical stories are fun. Shame they stopped doing them.
Hartnell is an underrated Doctor. He starts out grumpy and almost amoral and slowly softens as he becomes attached to his companions.

There is a sense of fun and adventure to these stories that the new series is a bit hit or miss in being able to capture.

[Lori S.]

Travis wrote: "Hartnell is an underrated Doctor. He starts out grumpy and almost amoral and slowly softens as he becomes attached to his companions."

This is one of the things I love about the First Doctor. He's the foundation stone for all of the other Doctors and this learning process is so important for how the series goes on with the character. Without that beginning, I doubt Doctor Who would be as great a character.

[Travis]

Hartnell does not get the credit/attention he deserves.
I guess people have trouble getting past the clunky sets and effects.

Which is a shame, as he and the original Tardis team are really solid and so much of his behavior is the template for a lot of the guys that followed.
Plus, there is a ton of imagination and fun in those early stories.

[Lori S.]

Yep. I got to see the Keys of Marinus(sp?) this past weekend on Retro TV and the way the TARDIS crew meshes together is great. A show on a tight budget had to rely on creativity to carry the stories and I think, in some ways, some of that creativity has been lost thanks to having such a big budget and access to relatively easy SFX.

And, yes, the fun of those earlier stories is one of the reasons I still love watching them. Also, we get some really good character development with the team - Barbara shines in Edge of Destruction, for instance. Just really good story telling is a major factor too.

[Jadetyger]

I feel that the continuation of Doctor Who lands solidly between Hartnell and Troughton. Between the two of them, they created the Doctor as we know him today. And yes, One, Ian, Barbara and Susan were fantastic. I'd also perhaps be an 'odd man out' in that I sometimes miss the longer versions of Doctor Who. Yes, they could drag, but I think that the longer storylines could have some nice characterization.

Not all the time, but I don't think you could do something like 'The Aztecs' today, in quite the same way.

[Travis]

The multi-parters could drag, but, when done right, they gave stories room to breathe.
'The Romans' is a great example of that, as well as being one of the best historicals.

[Travis]

Troughton: how is this guy not everyone's favorite Doctor?
So good and only gets better when paired with Jamie.
The Doctor, Zoe and Jamie may be one of my favorite combinations.

Sets up some of the classic tropes and monsters, as well as keeping that sense of fun and adventure of the First Doctor.
Love the Ice Warriors, the Yeti stories, getting to see the beginnings of UNIT and the War Games.
Great stuff.

Also fun to watch Matt Smith and seeing how much he is doing Troughton.

[Rick]

Travis wrote: "Troughton: how is this guy not everyone's favorite Doctor? ..."

He’s one of my favorites of the classic series. Him and Hartnell are leaps and bounds more my favorites than the others from the classic era.

I’ve gone through the whole classic series at least three times. The first time I just watched everything I had on disc. The second time, I also got everything that survives as video through my library system. I’m working on my third time now, and I’m adding the episodes that exist as audio only. I’ve still got some gaps as I’m waiting for some to get rereleased on CD.