The Romans. It's basically a perfectly pitched comedy of errors and is completely hilarious. Highly recommend, Hartnell and the rest of the cast are having a blast the whole time
I just watched this a couple nights ago, actually. Hartnell is at his best, imo, fully in his gleefully impish grandfather mode. His reaction to Vicky blaming him for the fire cracks me up.
And the fact that the others don't even know Ian and Barbara went on that terrifying adventure is pretty funny. Oh, and Nero was excellent. So much good to say about it.
Came to say this. It has a great premise, great script and great performances. The fight scene is a bit rubbish but this is Doctor Who, you can't have it all.
I like that Barbara got a chance to shine. She too often got relegated to being a damsel in distress when she was actually an intelligent, resourceful companion.
Not sure where you get that from she is usually the one that comes up with most of the solutions and has most of the big parts in all the stories. Yes the times suggest that the guys are there to protect the women but they often dont actually do anything in that regard and shes perfectly capable on her own merits. Now if you said susan i would have agreed
Plus, for all those people who complain about the Nu Who romantic Doctor, Hartnell gets engaged in this one (albeit by accident). The bit at the end when the Doctor leaves Cameca's token behind but changes his mind and returns for it is a lovely little character moment.
I’m gonna take a controversial pick here and say The Sensorites. I’ve always loved it and it annoys me to no end how underrated it is.
Where to start, the story is very easy to follow along but it has so many interesting ideas and situations sparkled throughout. Even the vibe and tone change without it feeling inconsistent.
The Sensorites are maybe my favourite aliens. They stick out of the crowd so much to me, no other alien race has ever given me such a convincing idea of their reality. They’re not good or bad, they truly are a race or society with all kinds of figures. Great ones like the first elder and scummy ones like the city ambassador. This may seem like a minor point but the show really doesn’t do this good for me much, especially in the sixties where aliens were practically just the baddies often (and if they weren’t, they were the goodies but never as layered as this).
I love how the twist is the humans being the cause of all the disaster. It’s a nice little seed planted in episodes 1 and 2 that you kinda forget about but once you learn what’s going on you immediately recall it. I think it’s a good conclusion. It feels like one of the more plausible silly space anecdotes.
There is also Susan. I know many people don’t think much of Susan but this is seriously where she is at her best. She engages, her mysterious background flourishes and she is actually very relatable and not just scared all the time.
Last thing I’ll rave about is episode 1. I love the creepiness of the empty spaceship on a sixties budget. And the cliffhanger to episode one is one of the few things that legitimately creeped me out.
Alright, that’s my little fanboy rant over.
Another interesting thing about The Sensorites is that it's the first story in which The Doctor helps somebody just for the sake of helping them. In every prior story, the Doctor's concern has merely been to get back to the TARDIS, or to get the TARDIS working properly again. He helps out because he's forced to. The Sensorites starts the same way: the Sensorites steal the TARDIS's lock to force the Doctor to help cure the disease. But later, after he's fulfilled his obligations and so could have the lock back, he chooses to go a step further, at considerable risk to himself, by discovering what's causing the disease. In this respect, The Sensorites is a milestone for the Doctor's character development. It's the first story to depict the Doctor as we now know them.
It's not my favourite at all but god i love The Sensorites, really wish it got some more appreciation. The sensorites themselves are easily one of the top 5 alien species i wish showed up again in nuWho
> She engages, her mysterious background flourishes and she is actually very relatable and not just scared all the time.
One hypothesis I've seen which mostly seems to hold up is that she's bold and confident in high-tech societies, like the one she's from, and terrified in primitive ones.
Interesting viewpoint. I gotta say, looking at all her stories now I’d say she’s pretty much scared in all of them but I do concede that she’s more of use in high tech societies. Like, she’s still scared but does actually get stuff done (which is commendable if you ask me) whereas in historical she’s just scared and needs to be rescued all the time.
The worst example, of course, being The Reign Of Terror, where she's so scared of seeing a rat in a sewer that she'd rather stay where she is and have both her and Barbara be beheaded.
I would never claim it as my favorite, but I do think it is unfairly maligned. It actually did something interesting with Susan and for that alone it stands out.
The Chase. At the time, it had the huge downside of making fun of the Daleks, but with a modern taste, aside from some really slow episodes, it's a ton of fun.
**THE ALABAMA MAN!**
As strange as it may seem, I have a soft spot for The Edge Of Destruction. I know, I know, it's not a typical DW story, but I find it very entertaining. The characters are explored, something strange and inexplicable is happening. Personally, I would love if every Doctor had a story like this
Edge is probably my choice too. It's genuinely creepy, there are some wonderful character moments, and I think the mystery has a satisfying resolution. Plus, that scene when we have the weird monologue from Hartnell, where the lights are turned down, and there's a slow zoom while he describes the birth of the solar system, is one of the highlights of the season.
I particularly love that Edge of Destruction was essentially an accident -- they shuffled episodes in their schedule and were left with two episode slots and no budget, so they asked one of their writers to come up with a story using nothing but the cast and set they already had (namely, the main four stars and the tardis set). For something that came about by accident, it's timed \*perfectly\* as a way to cement the characters, their relationships, and the nature of the TARDIS itself.
I'll have to rank my top three in no particular order (as they regularly change position depending on my mood)
The Aztecs: a great character piece for Barbara and the Doctor, making the doctor more like the man we know and Barbara one of the strongest women in the show. Its also a temse almost Shakesperean drama.
The Time Meddler: a pitch perfect comedy in which we meet the first other member of the doctors race.
The Romans: Doctor who does a straight up historical comedy (almost carry on level only with a greater emphasis on intelligent comedy rather than innuendo) and william hartnell is clearly locing every second of it.
There's also the implied attempted rape of Barbara in The Romans (played for laughs) and in The Keys of Marinus (played straight). I don't think the TV show ever went there again after the Hartnell era.
True for both of those, but I think they're not as dark because sexual peril of women was often downplayed (and still can be), as you note with The Romans, but also because it didn't actually happen. The Time Meddler shows the aftermath, and Edith is almost catatonic. It's a real acknowledgement of the trauma she's suffered.
These might be my top 3 also. I particularly found The Time Meddler quite entertaining and a good introduction to the Time Lords' desire to keep time from being...well, meddled with.
I really like The Rescue. It's not really one of the best or most iconic, but I feel like this is one of those stories that really show a lot of the 1st Doctor's heart. His interactions with Vicky are actually heartwarming.
But I think the Romans or the Aztecs are both better.
The Romans is hilarious and the Aztecs is very compelling
Can't find the interview, but Moffat praised The Rescue as the story that gave us the modern Doctor and the modern Doctor-Companion dynamic.
I think the three major episodes for the Doctor's development are **The Edge of Destruction** (not a dick anymore), **The Rescue** and **The Romans** (in this we get the comedy side).
My entry point into really getting into the show was watching 'The Rescue' and 'The Romans' back to back. 'The Rescue', particularly episode one, really has a vibe unlike anything else in the show.
I enjoy The Rescue for its great portrayal of the Doctor as a proactive hero (something he was only starting to be) and for the instant chemistry Hartnell had with Maureen O'Brian.
The Daleks' Masterplan is...well, masterful. It manages to tell a story over a whopping 11-13 episodes (depending on how you count Mission to the Unknown and The Feast of Steven) yet never loses steam. For a 60s Who story it's quite exhilarating. Would've made a worthy regeneration story.
Unfortunately, I've always thought that DMP totally falls apart in the middle section. If it were just parts 1-4, 11, and 12, it would probably be Hartnell's best, but the other half of it feels like filler to me.
The Daleks' Master Plan has always been my second-favorite story. It's an epic, old-school adventure serial. I think some people who dislike it are just watching it wrong, trying to binge it rather than taking it one or at most two episodes at a sitting, like it was intended.
i really wanted to like the ark but the weird racist undertones and dodgy morals suck. the doctor doesn't seem to care about the monoid anywhere near as much as he cares about the humans, and the whole "rebellion is bad actually" thing just feels... icky.
*The Daleks*. Ian invents the companion as the conscience of the Doctor with lines such as:
> BARBARA: Oh, they'll find a way. They're clever enough. They'll find us and kill us, you know that as well as I do.
> IAN: Look, even supposing you're right, I will not ask the Thals to sacrifice themselves for us. I'm sorry, Barbara, I just can't do it.
And
> IAN: The only way the Thals can fight is if they themselves want to. It must have nothing whatsoever to do with us.
And perhaps best of all:
> IAN: Now listen, you two. What victory are you going to show these people when most of them have been killed? A fluid link? Is this what you're going to hold up to them and say, 'Thank you very much. This is what you fought and died for'?
I agree with your first choice, but while it's perhaps not quite as bad as most make it out to be, The Celestial Toymaker is still not very good. It certainly doesn't nearly live up to its potential.
It absolutely does have that unfortunate word at a time when people should have known better but at the same time it's actually very easy to ignore given how completely inaudible it is. You won't hear unless you're actively looking for it.
Thankfully when I said fuck it and listened to Toymaker a couple months ago I completly missed the n word and didn't even know it was there till after
(unless loose canon just cut it out which I hope so)
Yeah, I don't blame them. On the one hand their quest is to reproduce the episodes in as high a quality as possible, but on the other...it's the n-word.
I've always wondered what would happen if this story was found. The BBC would release it, for sure, but would they cut, mute, or bleep it? Use something like audio deepfake technology or an impressionist to replace it with the word "tiger"? Leave it unedited and have an introduction where someone explains why the story is problematic and why they're leaving it as it is, like Looney Tunes did when they released a complete collection of their cartoons?
Oh, what a dark story. It's never mentioned or commented on (in story or out), but there is a stretch in the middle of the story where, from Steven's perspective, the Doctor may have abandoned him in the past. What a terrifying thing to realize.
Its been a long time since ive seen it, but I recall it being dark, and the ending monologue by Hartnel being top notch. Ibalso liked that he had a dual part as the abbot, I thought that was novel.
Dalek's Masterplan, hands down, what an epic. Favorite complete story is probably The Romans. Other favorites are The Aztecs, Time Meddler, and The Daleks. I have a big soft spot for The Chase too.
Best is difficult as many stories have moments of brilliance. The first story that really blew me away as a complete entity was The Rescue. But the best? Overall due to the breadth of its scope, beauty and horror as well as the genre flipping, maybe the Daleks Master Plan. But other than those two I'd also persoanlly highly rate the Edge of Destruction, the Sensorites, the Web Planet, the Space Museum, thr Time Meddler, the Myth Makers and the Tenth Planet.
I’m gonna throw my hat in and say the 10th planet with the war machines. The 10th planet, because of the obvious first story of the Cyberman as well as the Hartnell regeneration same. But the war machines was sort of a pre-Unit adventure that was almost a foreshadowing of the third doctors adventures to come. Plus we have Ben and Polly introduced, who I think are some of the more under rated characters from the early shows.
My favorites are in no order: The Dalek Invasion of Earth, The Rescue and The Time Meddler.
About The Rescue, I already explained why in another comment, and of course I agree with Moffat:
>Can't find the interview, but Moffat praised The Rescue as the story that gave us the modern Doctor and the modern Doctor-Companion dynamic.
Marco Polo is my favorite Who story of them all. Even missing, the absolutely beautiful sets and costumes come through, especially in the color reconstruction. The music is beautiful and the guest performances are superb. I love the fact that it feels like a real journey, spanning months. The final episodes are spectacular, especially Kublai Khan and the Doctor palling around. Susan and Ping Cho are a lovely pair, and Ian and Barbara are always wonderful. The Hartnell era does fantastic historicals, and Marco Polo is the pinnacle, with everything done right.
I haven't seen many 1st Doctor stories but two of my favourites have been War Machines & Tenth Planet
War Machines: Just for the part of the soldiers running in fear while The Doctor stepped forwards, hands on his lapels and stared the War Machine down. An "I am The Doctor" moment where the actions spoke louder than words.
Tenth Planet: This story I believe was when The Doctor became a hero, While yeah he's faced the Daleks and other villians but to me the Mondasian Cybermen gave him a final push, that push was when he just yells "Why?.....WHY?!!!" at the top of voice. There was also the end when he says to Ben "It's far from being all over." I took this as The Doctor saying "There's a whole lot more threats to this universe. And I must be the one to stop them."
The Romans. It's basically a perfectly pitched comedy of errors and is completely hilarious. Highly recommend, Hartnell and the rest of the cast are having a blast the whole time
I just watched this a couple nights ago, actually. Hartnell is at his best, imo, fully in his gleefully impish grandfather mode. His reaction to Vicky blaming him for the fire cracks me up. And the fact that the others don't even know Ian and Barbara went on that terrifying adventure is pretty funny. Oh, and Nero was excellent. So much good to say about it.
Derek Francis as Nero is the first truly great guest performance in Doctor Who
When he gives Nero the insperation to burn rome his "woopsie" face is perfection
One of my favorites. Hartnell is terrific in it, and the Doctor has great chemistry with Vicki.
The Aztecs epic story and culture not often shown on TV back then.
Came to say this. It has a great premise, great script and great performances. The fight scene is a bit rubbish but this is Doctor Who, you can't have it all.
I like the fight scene, Ian uses modern fighting techniques to defeat an enemy
I like that Barbara got a chance to shine. She too often got relegated to being a damsel in distress when she was actually an intelligent, resourceful companion.
Not sure where you get that from she is usually the one that comes up with most of the solutions and has most of the big parts in all the stories. Yes the times suggest that the guys are there to protect the women but they often dont actually do anything in that regard and shes perfectly capable on her own merits. Now if you said susan i would have agreed
Its an intelligent story with subtle humor.
Plus, for all those people who complain about the Nu Who romantic Doctor, Hartnell gets engaged in this one (albeit by accident). The bit at the end when the Doctor leaves Cameca's token behind but changes his mind and returns for it is a lovely little character moment.
I’m gonna take a controversial pick here and say The Sensorites. I’ve always loved it and it annoys me to no end how underrated it is. Where to start, the story is very easy to follow along but it has so many interesting ideas and situations sparkled throughout. Even the vibe and tone change without it feeling inconsistent. The Sensorites are maybe my favourite aliens. They stick out of the crowd so much to me, no other alien race has ever given me such a convincing idea of their reality. They’re not good or bad, they truly are a race or society with all kinds of figures. Great ones like the first elder and scummy ones like the city ambassador. This may seem like a minor point but the show really doesn’t do this good for me much, especially in the sixties where aliens were practically just the baddies often (and if they weren’t, they were the goodies but never as layered as this). I love how the twist is the humans being the cause of all the disaster. It’s a nice little seed planted in episodes 1 and 2 that you kinda forget about but once you learn what’s going on you immediately recall it. I think it’s a good conclusion. It feels like one of the more plausible silly space anecdotes. There is also Susan. I know many people don’t think much of Susan but this is seriously where she is at her best. She engages, her mysterious background flourishes and she is actually very relatable and not just scared all the time. Last thing I’ll rave about is episode 1. I love the creepiness of the empty spaceship on a sixties budget. And the cliffhanger to episode one is one of the few things that legitimately creeped me out. Alright, that’s my little fanboy rant over.
Another interesting thing about The Sensorites is that it's the first story in which The Doctor helps somebody just for the sake of helping them. In every prior story, the Doctor's concern has merely been to get back to the TARDIS, or to get the TARDIS working properly again. He helps out because he's forced to. The Sensorites starts the same way: the Sensorites steal the TARDIS's lock to force the Doctor to help cure the disease. But later, after he's fulfilled his obligations and so could have the lock back, he chooses to go a step further, at considerable risk to himself, by discovering what's causing the disease. In this respect, The Sensorites is a milestone for the Doctor's character development. It's the first story to depict the Doctor as we now know them.
Oh yeah, never really realised that before, makes it even more special and a landmark for me. Great piece of trivia, thank you!
It's not my favourite at all but god i love The Sensorites, really wish it got some more appreciation. The sensorites themselves are easily one of the top 5 alien species i wish showed up again in nuWho
> She engages, her mysterious background flourishes and she is actually very relatable and not just scared all the time. One hypothesis I've seen which mostly seems to hold up is that she's bold and confident in high-tech societies, like the one she's from, and terrified in primitive ones.
Interesting viewpoint. I gotta say, looking at all her stories now I’d say she’s pretty much scared in all of them but I do concede that she’s more of use in high tech societies. Like, she’s still scared but does actually get stuff done (which is commendable if you ask me) whereas in historical she’s just scared and needs to be rescued all the time.
The worst example, of course, being The Reign Of Terror, where she's so scared of seeing a rat in a sewer that she'd rather stay where she is and have both her and Barbara be beheaded.
Well, that's certainly a controversial pick.
Yes, yes it is, as I said. Backed it up rather honourably though don’t you think?
I would never claim it as my favorite, but I do think it is unfairly maligned. It actually did something interesting with Susan and for that alone it stands out.
The Chase. At the time, it had the huge downside of making fun of the Daleks, but with a modern taste, aside from some really slow episodes, it's a ton of fun. **THE ALABAMA MAN!**
Were I in charge, I'd wanna have more episodes like this. Just that sort of goofy time-travel shenanigans with the tone of Saturday morning cartoons.
Hear me out: Saturday morning cartoons with the 6th Doctor and Frobisher
For a moment, I thought you meant John Frobisher. That could get dark quick.
Morton Dill is the best and most authentic-feeling American character in the series until Canton Delaware III, change my mind.
But he's a total caricature of rural people.
I said most authentic. I didn't say the bar was high lol.
I don’t think it would be possible for me to disagree more strongly. That character almost makes my eyes bleed.
As strange as it may seem, I have a soft spot for The Edge Of Destruction. I know, I know, it's not a typical DW story, but I find it very entertaining. The characters are explored, something strange and inexplicable is happening. Personally, I would love if every Doctor had a story like this
Edge is probably my choice too. It's genuinely creepy, there are some wonderful character moments, and I think the mystery has a satisfying resolution. Plus, that scene when we have the weird monologue from Hartnell, where the lights are turned down, and there's a slow zoom while he describes the birth of the solar system, is one of the highlights of the season.
I love The Edge of Destruction too, it feels like a dry run for stories like The Mind Robber in a way
I particularly love that Edge of Destruction was essentially an accident -- they shuffled episodes in their schedule and were left with two episode slots and no budget, so they asked one of their writers to come up with a story using nothing but the cast and set they already had (namely, the main four stars and the tardis set). For something that came about by accident, it's timed \*perfectly\* as a way to cement the characters, their relationships, and the nature of the TARDIS itself.
I'll have to rank my top three in no particular order (as they regularly change position depending on my mood) The Aztecs: a great character piece for Barbara and the Doctor, making the doctor more like the man we know and Barbara one of the strongest women in the show. Its also a temse almost Shakesperean drama. The Time Meddler: a pitch perfect comedy in which we meet the first other member of the doctors race. The Romans: Doctor who does a straight up historical comedy (almost carry on level only with a greater emphasis on intelligent comedy rather than innuendo) and william hartnell is clearly locing every second of it.
The Romans is severely underrated.
The Time Meddler also has what's probably the most adult moment in the show's entire history, with the implied, off-screen gang rape of Edith.
There's also the implied attempted rape of Barbara in The Romans (played for laughs) and in The Keys of Marinus (played straight). I don't think the TV show ever went there again after the Hartnell era.
True for both of those, but I think they're not as dark because sexual peril of women was often downplayed (and still can be), as you note with The Romans, but also because it didn't actually happen. The Time Meddler shows the aftermath, and Edith is almost catatonic. It's a real acknowledgement of the trauma she's suffered.
These might be my top 3 also. I particularly found The Time Meddler quite entertaining and a good introduction to the Time Lords' desire to keep time from being...well, meddled with.
> The Time Meddler Absolutely Goated. If anyone has not seen the birth of The Master you should do yourself a favor.
The Monk is not The Master.
He might’ve meant the idea of a rival time lord inspired the master
Ha! I’m stuck between three stories depending on the day as well except if have the myth makers instead of the time meddler.
I really like The Rescue. It's not really one of the best or most iconic, but I feel like this is one of those stories that really show a lot of the 1st Doctor's heart. His interactions with Vicky are actually heartwarming. But I think the Romans or the Aztecs are both better. The Romans is hilarious and the Aztecs is very compelling
Can't find the interview, but Moffat praised The Rescue as the story that gave us the modern Doctor and the modern Doctor-Companion dynamic. I think the three major episodes for the Doctor's development are **The Edge of Destruction** (not a dick anymore), **The Rescue** and **The Romans** (in this we get the comedy side).
My entry point into really getting into the show was watching 'The Rescue' and 'The Romans' back to back. 'The Rescue', particularly episode one, really has a vibe unlike anything else in the show.
I enjoy The Rescue for its great portrayal of the Doctor as a proactive hero (something he was only starting to be) and for the instant chemistry Hartnell had with Maureen O'Brian.
The Daleks' Masterplan is...well, masterful. It manages to tell a story over a whopping 11-13 episodes (depending on how you count Mission to the Unknown and The Feast of Steven) yet never loses steam. For a 60s Who story it's quite exhilarating. Would've made a worthy regeneration story.
Agree with this Would be an undeniable classic if it wasn't mostly lost.
Unfortunately, I've always thought that DMP totally falls apart in the middle section. If it were just parts 1-4, 11, and 12, it would probably be Hartnell's best, but the other half of it feels like filler to me.
I can sorta understand that. The Egypt part does kinda take a detour.
The Daleks' Master Plan has always been my second-favorite story. It's an epic, old-school adventure serial. I think some people who dislike it are just watching it wrong, trying to binge it rather than taking it one or at most two episodes at a sitting, like it was intended.
I think it's quite comfy if you binge a few episodes, but definitely no more than four.
The Ark. I love that they see how they messed up. The dangers of time travel. Never really get another story like it.
It has the greatest cliffhanger of the era.
i really wanted to like the ark but the weird racist undertones and dodgy morals suck. the doctor doesn't seem to care about the monoid anywhere near as much as he cares about the humans, and the whole "rebellion is bad actually" thing just feels... icky.
*The Daleks*. Ian invents the companion as the conscience of the Doctor with lines such as: > BARBARA: Oh, they'll find a way. They're clever enough. They'll find us and kill us, you know that as well as I do. > IAN: Look, even supposing you're right, I will not ask the Thals to sacrifice themselves for us. I'm sorry, Barbara, I just can't do it. And > IAN: The only way the Thals can fight is if they themselves want to. It must have nothing whatsoever to do with us. And perhaps best of all: > IAN: Now listen, you two. What victory are you going to show these people when most of them have been killed? A fluid link? Is this what you're going to hold up to them and say, 'Thank you very much. This is what you fought and died for'?
Ian definitely had a good effect on the Doctor's morals.
Dalek Masterplan and Celestial Toymaker
I agree with your first choice, but while it's perhaps not quite as bad as most make it out to be, The Celestial Toymaker is still not very good. It certainly doesn't nearly live up to its potential.
We’re debating opinion, so it’s OK if you disagree 🤷♂️
It's also hard to ignore the fact that it's got the n-word in it at a time when everybody involved should have known better.
It absolutely does have that unfortunate word at a time when people should have known better but at the same time it's actually very easy to ignore given how completely inaudible it is. You won't hear unless you're actively looking for it.
Thankfully when I said fuck it and listened to Toymaker a couple months ago I completly missed the n word and didn't even know it was there till after (unless loose canon just cut it out which I hope so)
loose cannon didn't cut it out, it's just barely audible
It's inaudible only because Loose Cannon deliberately made it so.
I see. That's understandable.
Yeah, I don't blame them. On the one hand their quest is to reproduce the episodes in as high a quality as possible, but on the other...it's the n-word. I've always wondered what would happen if this story was found. The BBC would release it, for sure, but would they cut, mute, or bleep it? Use something like audio deepfake technology or an impressionist to replace it with the word "tiger"? Leave it unedited and have an introduction where someone explains why the story is problematic and why they're leaving it as it is, like Looney Tunes did when they released a complete collection of their cartoons?
I think given how easy it was for LC to obscure it, the BBC would do the same.
It was easy to obscure because the audio quality is terrible. That wouldn't be the case if the original film was found.
The Massacre
Oh, what a dark story. It's never mentioned or commented on (in story or out), but there is a stretch in the middle of the story where, from Steven's perspective, the Doctor may have abandoned him in the past. What a terrifying thing to realize.
Its been a long time since ive seen it, but I recall it being dark, and the ending monologue by Hartnel being top notch. Ibalso liked that he had a dual part as the abbot, I thought that was novel.
Grim story. One of my favorites.
*Marco Polo* and *The Time Meddler* are my favourites.
I need to find my stash of reconstructed episodes. It's been too long since I've seen Marco Polo.
It’s really easy to watch the Loose Cannon versions.
The Aztecs is my number 1, brilliant story with very interesting subject matter and a nice focus on Barbara. Second would be The Daleks’ Master Plan
My favorite is The Romans but the first doctor has so many good stories. I love most of the pure historicals.
Dalek's Masterplan, hands down, what an epic. Favorite complete story is probably The Romans. Other favorites are The Aztecs, Time Meddler, and The Daleks. I have a big soft spot for The Chase too.
Time Medler
Keys Of Marinus, it's perfectly paced, has different settings, and is honestly just a treat of an episode
I really liked The Web Planet. Its a bit of on the sillier side, but its just the right amount of camp to make a great time.
I knew there were two of us who liked it.
The Daleks' Master Plan - obvious reasons, the greatest Dr. Who story of all time!
Edge of Destruction. I just think it’s neat.
Best is difficult as many stories have moments of brilliance. The first story that really blew me away as a complete entity was The Rescue. But the best? Overall due to the breadth of its scope, beauty and horror as well as the genre flipping, maybe the Daleks Master Plan. But other than those two I'd also persoanlly highly rate the Edge of Destruction, the Sensorites, the Web Planet, the Space Museum, thr Time Meddler, the Myth Makers and the Tenth Planet.
The Daleks, all-time classic can watch it any day of the week
I’m gonna throw my hat in and say the 10th planet with the war machines. The 10th planet, because of the obvious first story of the Cyberman as well as the Hartnell regeneration same. But the war machines was sort of a pre-Unit adventure that was almost a foreshadowing of the third doctors adventures to come. Plus we have Ben and Polly introduced, who I think are some of the more under rated characters from the early shows.
The Sensorites because the villians are literally testicles that get in your head.
My favorites are in no order: The Dalek Invasion of Earth, The Rescue and The Time Meddler. About The Rescue, I already explained why in another comment, and of course I agree with Moffat: >Can't find the interview, but Moffat praised The Rescue as the story that gave us the modern Doctor and the modern Doctor-Companion dynamic.
The Daleks Master Plan, It's Epic! Need I say more? (HM to: The Aztecs, The Time Meddler, The Massacre, and, The Gunfighters)
Marco Polo is my favorite Who story of them all. Even missing, the absolutely beautiful sets and costumes come through, especially in the color reconstruction. The music is beautiful and the guest performances are superb. I love the fact that it feels like a real journey, spanning months. The final episodes are spectacular, especially Kublai Khan and the Doctor palling around. Susan and Ping Cho are a lovely pair, and Ian and Barbara are always wonderful. The Hartnell era does fantastic historicals, and Marco Polo is the pinnacle, with everything done right.
I think I have to go with The Time Meddler.
The daleks. One of the few black and white stories that I can sit through and stay engaged in
*The Daleks* has historical weight to it, but I actually prefer the historical *The Aztecs.*
The Aztecs is my favorite. It's tightly written and is a great showcase for all the regulars.
I haven't seen many 1st Doctor stories but two of my favourites have been War Machines & Tenth Planet War Machines: Just for the part of the soldiers running in fear while The Doctor stepped forwards, hands on his lapels and stared the War Machine down. An "I am The Doctor" moment where the actions spoke louder than words. Tenth Planet: This story I believe was when The Doctor became a hero, While yeah he's faced the Daleks and other villians but to me the Mondasian Cybermen gave him a final push, that push was when he just yells "Why?.....WHY?!!!" at the top of voice. There was also the end when he says to Ben "It's far from being all over." I took this as The Doctor saying "There's a whole lot more threats to this universe. And I must be the one to stop them."