Doctor Who for Beginners

[andraste]

So, at my weekly tabletop roleplaying club, there's a new victim fan who has mostly seen Eccleston and Tennant, but is curious about the classic series. What should I inflict on lend her from my collection? I'm thinking seven stories for seven Doctors to start out with, to find out who she likes.

In some cases, the choice is easy. Eliminating stories burnt by the BBC, stories I've already loaned to other people and anything overly long for a newbie, I've arrived at The Romans,
The Mind Robber, and Spearhead From Space. Also Revelation of the Daleks, because it's the only TV Six I own. (His audio and book adventures are so much better.)

The remaining three Doctors are trickier. Ruling out things that are obviously unsuitable for a first-timer - The Deadly Assassin is brilliant, but I can't think of a worse place to start with Four, and I don't want to break her brain with Warrior's Gate or Ghost Light just yet - I've arrived at this list of possibilities.

[Poll #939970]

Comments

[lilacsigil.livejournal.com]

The Greatest Show in the Galaxy is a tricky one - not knowing the person in question, I can't say if she'd like it - so I voted for The Curse of Fenric, which is all kinds of awesome. (And I can never vote for The Robots of Death, because it terrified me at a very young age, and still does!)

[andraste]

The Greatest Show in the Galaxy is a tricky one - not knowing the person in question, I can't say if she'd like it - so I voted for The Curse of Fenric, which is all kinds of awesome.

Yeah, Curse is probably the safer bet. I got apathocles hooked on Seven with Greatest Show, but she loves the crack.

(And I can never vote for The Robots of Death, because it terrified me at a very young age, and still does!)

It is scary, but I love it. Chris Boucher! Leela! Robots! OF DEATH!!!

[gwynevere1.livejournal.com]

My first thought was "Use Fifth Doctor episodes!"--because I will *always* have a fangirly crush on Peter Davison. Excuse me as I revert to being five-years-old on the floor of my grandmother's living room.

Then, I saw the poll.

"City of Death" is definite for the Fourth Doctor. Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Of_Death#Broadcast_and_DVD.2Fvideo_releases) even refers to it as "often cited as the best Doctor Who serial with which to introduce non-fans to the series." (And, of course, if Wikipedia says it, it *must* be true.)

Personally, I wouldn't inflict the Seventh Doctor on anyone. *runs away*

[calapine.livejournal.com]

Fenric's one of two old skool stories my non-Who loving sister will admit to liking. The other's The Mind Robber.

[st-aurafina.livejournal.com]

Curse of Fenric - best story ever. I love it so much.

For Four, I put Image of the Fendahl, because the setting is easy to get a grip on, and it's good gothic sci-fi, plenty for a newbie to get a grip on, without having to know buckets of canon.

Five is hard to choose - I love all the stories. Frontios is cool, we get back-story for Turlough, which is cool.

[lizamanynames.livejournal.com]

See, if you ask me the answers vary widely depending on whether they know new Who or not. I wouldn't show Andrazoni to a total newb newb, myself.

[lizvogel.livejournal.com]

Any of the Fourth stories listed would be good. I voted for City, because, well, City.

Mawdryn Undead usually makes my head hurt, but then, my local PBS showed virtually every 5th Doctor story out of order -- it was years (and several in-order re-watches) before I realized Turlough is actually pretty cool. Any of the others would work, IMO.

Seven -- there's got to be a better option for Seven. *Grabs Programme Guide* Oh. Okay, there isn't. Why did such a great Doctor/companion combo have to have, on average, the worst stories in the series?

[lokisrose.livejournal.com]

Seeds of Doom! ^_^

Wait a minute, who's this for? *clearly wasn't paying enough attention*

I think Sarah Jane, Leela and Romana should be introduced in order, but that's probably just me. City of Death is awesome, but the Doctor's clearly had a few too many jelly babies in that one. Also, I can't remember which one Image of the Fendahl actually is, so I can't recommend it. *fails* ^_^;; I think Tegan's weird zen is easier to cope with than Peri's bad shorts (and accompanying extreme angst), but I'll agree with the others on Curse of the Fenric. :)

[vandonovan.livejournal.com]

Ironically, "The Deadly Assassin" was the one that I got a friend sold on Doctor Who with. She was not interested at all in Robot or City of Death, when I tried to show her those, but she liked The Deadly Assassin and after that promptly fell in love with Leela.

My recommendation would be to start with The Robots of Death.

Also, although The Mind Robber is love, I'd suggest The Tomb of the Cybermen for a starter serial.

[vandonovan.livejournal.com]

Really, it depends on what sort of stories your friend likes--City of Death is very Earth based, being that it's set in London. It has some elements, but I have to admit, the first time I saw it, I fell out of my chair laughing at the lameness of the mossy green mask, and I frankly find modern-day Earth-bound stories far more boring than space or future/past stories. So find out if your friend likes Earth-stories better or Space/Time-stories better.

[redfiona99.livejournal.com]

The Fourth Doctor is the one that is troubling me because I love Robots of Death and City of Death. One is an example of Who at its best while City of Death is one of the best things ever to cross the TV. So either one, with the other one as a reserve if you have some spare time.

Caves is obvious for the Fifth, because again, it's a wonderful story. I haven't seen either of the seventh ones so I can't really comment although I loved the novelisation of Fenric.

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

I think Robots Of Death or City of Death depending on whether you think she'd prefer Hinchliffe/Holmes grimness or Adams lunacy.

Mawdryn Undead? MAWDRYN UNDEAD? MAWDRYN UNDEAD?!?!?! Seriously as an intro for a newbie?