"Trying to have fun but you can sense the damage just below the surface" - the best summary of Eccleston's portrayal I've yet heard.

Trivia: "Time and the Rani" was actually *improved* by being a regeneration story. As you know, the decision to axe Colin Baker was very last-minute. Originally, this was just going to be another sixth-Doctor story. As it is now, the Rani's disguise works because the Doctor's still loopy from regenerating. In the original script, the Rani's disguise fools the Doctor FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER.

As a someone whose first episode EVER was Rose when it aired in 2005, the Autons implanted themselves into my psyche and still terrify me.

Having followed the show since I was a kid back in '63, I guess my attachment to the classic series is pretty sentimental... I actually found myself weeping as you discussed your number one choice! I would agree with most of your rankings (as always you justified your opinions really fairly) EXCEPT that personally I would have upvoted Spearhead From Space. Having watched this story on its first broadcast, I remember how creepy those Autons seemed at the time. They were closely modelled on actual shop window dummies used here in the UK, and for an imaginative child it was pretty freaky to go into town on a Saturday and walk down the High Street seeing all these potential "Autons" staring out from behind the plate glass.

I personally love The Christmas Invasion BECAUSE of the Doctor's absence. It increases the tension and when Harriet Jones is left begging for the Doctor to come and help it really raises the stakes. Newer fans had to have a Doctor-lite episode to fully comprehend how vital our hero is.

The ending of "Deep Breath" is not ambiguous. The Doctor threw the robot out. Clues: -The robot says that suicide is against its basic programming to which the Doctor replies, "And murder is against mine." -Later in the exchange the Doctor says to the robot, "Of course, one of us is lying about their basic programming." We don't have to guess whether it's the Doctor or the robot that lied about their "basic programming". We know the Doctor lies frequently, and we know for a fact the Doctor is capable of and willing to kill because we've seen him do it. We have seen the Doctor kill before. So the notion that "Deep Breath" has an ambiguous ending is silly. And this is even easier to see with the hindsight of future episodes that revealed more about the 12th Doctor's personality. The 12th Doctor was particularly prone to taking extreme measures to get the job done. He displayed a greater willingness than other regenerations to hold a sort of utilitarian moral viewpoint where it's ok to be immoral to stop greater immorality. There is zero doubt whatsoever that the 12th Doctor threw that robot to its death. I'll add that possibly, though, the robot might have resigned and allowed the Doctor to throw it out.

I suppose the idea of the Christmas Invasion, is that it was the first modern regeneration aftermath. New fans who came on with Christopher Eccleston would have probably freaked when he changed so we spend time with Rose and Jackie and Harriet Jones who the audience can relate to until shit starts to go down then we can say "okay can we get the Doctor now?"

Putting Spearhead from Space so low on the list is a travesty of justice

Castrovalva has got a special place in my heart for introducing me to Peter Davison's Doctor, who is now one of my favourite. I love it.

The Spearhead from Space and The Eleventh Hour are my favorite.

The Nestenes are a great concept - feels like they could have had their own movie franchise. The problem is that every time they've been used they've been sidelined (Spearhead because of a new Doctor, Terror because of the Master's debut, Rose because they had to introduce the Doctor & the TARDIS to a new generation, and in the series 5 finale because of all the chaotic Moffat stuff going on). I feel like we've never had an Auton / Nestene story where they are the primary focus.

Episodes written by Mark Gatiss ranked.

Liz Shaw is excellent in Inferno, she should've had another season to grow a bit.

I'll go 13. The Twin Dilema 12. Time and the Rani 11. Doctor Who (The Movie) 10. Castrovolva 9. Rose 8. An Unearthly Child (full story, the first part is great, the rest let's it down) 7. Robot 6. The Woman Who Fell to Earth 5. Spearhead from Space 4. Deep Breath 3. The Christmas Invasion 2. Power of the Daleks 1. The Eleventh Hour

Am I the only one that thinks that The Woman Who Fell to Earth is kinda freaking fantastic? It may even be my fave of Series 11.

Putting the first episode as the best one was the perfect call! Great list that brought back a lot of good memories to me:)

I'm so happy you ranked "Castrovalva" high in the list: it was my first transformation episode, after living with Dr. Number 4 for so many years. It was a very difficult transition, and they succeeded, in my view. And it gave me a lovely moment, when discombulated Davison looks at a small bottle labelled "The Solution" and sighs: "Oh, my friend. If only you were."

1. The Eleventh Hour (10/10) 2. Spearhead from Space (9/10) 3. The Power of the Daleks (9/10) 4. Rose (8/10) 5. The Woman Who Fell to Earth (8/10) 6. An Unearthly Child [Parts 1-4] (7.5/10) 7. Catrovalva (7.5/10) 8. Robot (7/10) 9. The Christmas Invasion (7/10) 10. Deep Breath (7/10) 11. Doctor Who TV Movie (6/10) 12. Time and the Rani (2/10) 13. The Twin Dilemma (1.5/10)

like you in Eleventh Hour i love the moment when The Doctor is on the roof and hes basically telling the aliens off for threatening earth and he asks them is this planet defended and you see all the previous faces on the hologram and then stepping forward all suited up in he tweed and his bow tie he says "hello, I'm the Doctor. Basically Run" i was like Yaaas you are the doctor my friends. good to meet you sir. and like you i love that he is already developed from the beginning. trying all the foods and being manic. i also like this episode because its kind of a back to basics one for the doctor. he has the be smart to find a solution because he has no TARDIS and no Sonic. I really love that episode and i think Smith is one of my fave doctors of Modern Era Who.

1. The Eleventh Hour (9/10) 2. Rose (8.5/10) 3. Deep Breath (8/10) 4. The Christmas Invasion (7/10) 5. The Woman Who Fell to Earth (5/10) I've never watched anything before the 2005 reboot, so this is all I can rank

I think Castrovalva deserves so much more love than it gets. I would honestly watch Nyssa and Tegan watch paint dry, and that scene where they steal an ambulance made me lose my mind. People aren't awfully fond of the season 19 TARDIS team but I adore the sheer clownery they get up to when left to their own devices

Good rankings sir! I also thought 11th hour was pretty amazing - and the Amy Pond's life being essentially destroyed by the Doctor and dissapearing for years, and her having to see therapists etc. I hated the opening with him flying through London, so was worried, but as you say, the second he landed - a classic incarnation was made!

The whole confrontation between the Twelfth Doctor and half faced man is one of his best scenes that doesn’t get enough attention.

Shows you it can last the gap between the number 2 and 1 spots is almost 47 years.

I had no doubt what your favorite 2 would be. Think you nailed the entire list actually. Makes me wanna go re-watch the entire lot.

When you said there was one exception, I immediately thought of Time and the Rani (Sylvester McCoy in a Colin Baker wig regenerating into himself without a wig). Then I thought about it a little more and remembered the movie. So, really, there are two exceptions.

For me it goes like this: 13). The Twin Dilemma 12). Time & The Rani 11). The T.V Movie 10). The Women Who Fell To Earth 9). Deep Breath 8). Rose 7). The Christmas Invasion 6). Castrovalva 5). An Unearthly Child 4). Robot 2 & 3). Power of the Daleks/The Eleventh Hour (I CAN'T CHOOSE BETWEEN THESE TWO) 1). Spearhead from Space I know you aren't a fan of the Autons...BUT THE LOOK OF THEM IN THIS STORY WAS BLOODY TERRIFYING!!! Literally, I am not lying. As a little kid, my family only had about 10 Classic Doctor Who DVDs and I remember being utterly petrified by the DVD cover alone. I remember walking in to the living room at the age of 4 while my dad and my sister had just put in the DVD and just looking at the menu terrified my. The Shot of the Auton walking towards the camera with it's plastic glossy head and their empty, black eye sockets, the shot of all the doll heads being dropped in a box, the shot of the Auton looking down on the dead UNIT soldier in the car, Dudley Simpson's creepy music, all of these scared me as a kid more then the Cybermen, the Daleks, the Ood and even The Weeping Angels. I watched it for the first time when looking through my DVDs and finding it wedged at the back which is where my mother hid it to stop my dad and sister teasing me and when I watched it, I loved it. If you see other peoples reviews and reactions, they make a point of how creepy the Autons look. This story, along with The Silurians, The Ambassadors of Death & Inferno, is the reason why i think Season 7 of the Classic series is the best Season.

Great to see Castrovalva so high on the list. I don't hear many people talk about it. But I really love it.

I am DELIGHTED to see Castrovalva so high up! If anyone reading this likes that story a lot too I HIGHLY recommend The Fifth Doctor Box Set from Big Finish. The first story on it (Psychodrome) is a bit of an homage to Castrovalva specifically, while also being a really clever commentary on that TARDIS Team. The box set in general is a huge love letter to Season 19, one of my faves from Big Finish.

1 - An Unearthly Child 2 - Rose 3 - Spearhead from Space 4 - Robot 5 - Christmas Invasion 6 - Power of the Daleks 7 - The Eleventh Hour 8 - Deep Breath 9 - Time and the Rani 10 - Castrovalva 11 - Dr Who Movie 12 - The Woman Who Fell to Earth 13 - The Twin Dilemma

Great ranking. I’m a bigger fan of the Classic era but Capaldi and Smith completely nailed it from the get go. 11th Hour being my favourite story for a freshly regenerated Doctor.

I LOVE Castrovalva! The concept feels far ahead of its time! And 11th Hour is awesome! And thank you, thank you, thank you for loving on An Unearthly Child! It's still amazing even today! 😁👍

Rose was my first ever episode of Doctor Who, I found it to be pretty good, I actually found the Autons to be an alright enemy, although, based on the Slitheen episode with the Government commentary, I surprised they didn't want to do any kind of commentary on pollution, just something that I thought would improve the episode.

An Unearthly Child is technically not an adventure.

I went in assuming The Eleventh Hour would top the list, but once you started talking about An Unearthly Child, I actually paused the video, went back and watched it, and realized... *wow* did that ep accomplish so much more than I ever gave it credit for. Since I tend to watch the original serializations in one sitting per story arc, it never really occurred to me that all that groundwork was being crammed into the first 20-some minutes of screen-time ever. That is some darned impressive writing. Also, damn you, Nathaniel, now that I've watched the first ep, I'm suddenly fighting the urge to go back and watch all the available original series stories...

I was listening until you brought arm sleeve into frame and I got distracted. Those are amazing!!

The woman who fell to earth was the first doctor who episode I have ever seen, and while I liked it, it didn't grab me; watching NuWho from beginning in Netflix with series 1 however got be in the first few minutes and I finally understood who the doctor was meant to be

Given first stories are so important for engaging the wider public, it’s surprising just how many are clunkers. On the other hand, final stories...

My List: 15. The Time And The Rani 14. The Twin Dilemma 13. Doctor Who: The Movie 12. The Christmas Invasion 11. The Woman Who Fell To Earth 10. The Star Beast 9. Rose 8. An Unearthly Child 7. The Church On Ruby Road 6. The Eleventh Hour 5. Robot 4. Spearhead From Space 3. Castrovalva 2. Deep Breath 1. Power Of The Daleks

13) Spearhead from Space 12) Time and the Rani 11) Castrovalva 10) The Christmas Invasion 9) Rose 8) The Twin Dilemma 7) The Woman Who Fell to Earth 6) An Unearthly Child 5) Doctor Who 4) Robot 3) The Power of the Daleks 2) Deep Breath 1) The Eleventh Hour

13. Time and the Rani 12. Castrovalva 11. Deep Breath 10. The Twin Dilemma 9. The Christmas Invasion 8. The Movie (admittedly, this one is high is because of the well thought out consequences that are put out in the EDA books and it introducing my favourite Doctor) 7. Rose 6. The Woman Who Fell to Earth 5. Robot 4. An Unearthly Child (yes I love the other three parts as much as the first part) 3. Power of the Daleks 2/1. Spearhead from Space/The Eleventh Hour (Love both equally, can't choose between the two)

My favourite is Spearhead From Space, or The Eleventh Hour

nah no issues lol u put the 11th hour almost first and that's all i needed from this tbh lol. to me its #1 but i cant even argue w ur #1 pick

I completely agree with you for your top 2 choices. An Unearthly Child was the first episode I ever saw, and it blew me away. Saw it on PBS during a pledge drive, so I didn't see the cavemen story that was attached till years later (love that, too), just this first bit, and it is what hooked me on Doctor Who. Eleventh Hour was an amazing regeneration story, and definitely let viewers know what they'd be in for with Matt Smith's Doctor. I'm surprised that Castrovalva ranked as highly as it did, given how little the Doctor is actually in the episode (then again, he's barely in An Unearthly Child as well), and how much filler is in it (Tegan and Nyssa carrying the Zero Coffin through the woods and up the hills to get to Castrovalva). I'd seen it on its own well before I saw Logopolis, but I've found, for me, Castrovalva works better if you watch the two in tandem, since there is so much direct follow-through from one to the other, especially with the Master. For me, The Woman who Fell to Earth is one of the top five. Jodie WAS the Doctor the moment she popped up on the train at the beginning. I think I imprinted on her like a baby duck. I can see it isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I was watching with happy tears the whole way through, and on a recent rewatch to show my brother, months after the first few viewings, it still holds up for me. I also think I'd rank the TVM a little higher, but I'm not sure. How do you choose among your favorite things? I appreciate the discussion you have about why you've ranked each where it is. I have trouble being analytical when it comes to Doctor Who - I found it as a 14 year old and what I saw resonated with me so hard that I have a very strong emotional attachment to it, even 25 years later. I watch certain things, like the TVM and I am right back in that mindset, sitting in front of the television, finger ready to hit pause on the remote so I wouldn't have commercials on my tape when I recorded it, transfixed by the ideas and characters and just in awe that there was Doctor Who on TV and I could watch it new with every one else. That feeling is why I'd put it higher up if I had to rank the first episodes of each Doctor.

Ok, I'll have a go: 13. Time and the Rani 12. The Twin Dilemma 11. The TV Movie 10. The Christmas Invasion 9. Deep Breath 8. The Woman Who Fell to Earth 7. Robot 6. Rose 5. Power of the Daleks 4. Spearhead from Space 3. Castrovalva 2. An Unearthly Child 1. The Eleventh Hour

The unaired pilot of 'An Unearthly Child', while similar, is equally good if not even stranger, with some seemingly sinister elements of the Doctor keeping the viewers in suspense.

Excellent, well thought out list, Nathaniel. I expected you to rank The Eleventh Hour over An Unearthly Child based on your previous fanboy rapture, but you are right that AUC excels in its concise nature and how well it established the long running series we so adore. My list would look something like this: 13. Time and the Rani 12. The Twin Dilemma 11. Doctor Who (TV Movie) 10. The Christmas Invasion (Tennant should have come in earlier) 9. Robot 8. Spearhead from Space (Pertwee is commanding) 7. The Woman Who Fell To Earth (love the spoons!) 6. Rose 5. Castrovalva (trippy and thoughtful) 4. Power of the Daleks 3. Deep Breath (Attack eyebrows! I'm SCOTTISH! I can be cross at people! Why did I choose this face; and how that came full circle in The Girl Who Died) 2. An Unearthly Child 1. The Eleventh Hour

You'll probably not be aware of McCoy's work in BBC children's programmes before being cast as the Doctor - my sense is they wrote his first series based on his characters in "Vision On" and other kids shows. Later the portrayal developed into maybe the darkest version of the Doctor there's been.

IO, for the most part called it right on most of your rankings. I thought Robot and Spearhead would have been the other way around and that Deep Breath and Rose would be the other way round but apart from that no surprises there.

Lovely review. Lovely review, but I would have swapped the top 2 and put Eleventh Hour first. It was one of those rare things I would consider a perfect story (BttF trilogy turned out to be one, Buster Keaton's The Cameraman another), both as an episode and as the launch for a perfect series arc. This one brought me in after knowing of Doctor Who since the 70s.

@Council of Geeks in the classic era writers would stay on for the 1st ep. Which is why Robot looks strange. It is basically a 3rd doctor story instead of a 4th doctor story but with a different doctor. It is why I give new doctors a pass for a few eps, the actors and creative team have not found their feet yet. [Side note: I guessed Jodi would be #10 .... yep.]

(Applauds the obv top slot) Did you see the Auton story where toys were coming to life and one literally crawled down a young lads throat and killed him? Oh right they cut thst scene. Its in the Dvds though.

8:56 Nice Clock sound

The Eleventh Hour is my favorite, though admittedly I've not really seen much Classic Who, so for all I know watching the ones I haven't seen could change my mind, but seeing as you put it second on the list, I sort of doubt it. Eleven is my favorite Doctor, seeing clips of Tennant online made me go "Oh yeah, I can see why this show is really popular" but didn't make me want to watch as I didn't consider myself much of a sci-fi fan. Seeing some of Smith's Doctor however convinced me to give the show a try, and I'm so glad I did.

My list would be thus (from best to worst): 1. An Unearthly Child - episode 1 only, the other 3, meh. 2. Spearhead From Space - Liz Shaw is great and it's got the Brig. What more do you need? Channing is genuinely creepy. 3. The Eleventh Hour - oddly, the food bit I found stupid, but other than that. 4. The Power of the Daleks - Whitaker wrote a cracking story. 5. Rose - it has it's faults but a strong return. Davies did a splendid job. 6. Castrovalva - we need a bit more weirdness in modern Who. 7. Robot - feels more like a Pertwee story but Baker, Sladen & Marter make a good team + UNIT. 8. The TV Movie - McGann is charming as the Dr. It has it's moments. 9. The Twin Dilemma - some suspect acting, but I quite liked Baker. 10. The Christmas Invasion - a bit too much silliness, but had a few nice moments. 11. Deep Breath - Capaldi was great. Greatly dislike the Paternoster Gang and Clara. 12. The Woman Who Fell To Earth - just dull. Neither good nor bad. Meh. 13. Time and the Rani - I can think of nothing good to say about this episode.

What's miraclas is Unearthly Child and the first Daleks story survive in tact, given so many of the early stories no longer exist.

Love this opening gag

Who else thinks that the old Autons are terrifying? They're appearance anyway.

13. The twin dilemma 12. Time and the rani 11. Tv movie 10. Deep breath 9. The woman who fell to earth 8. Christmas invasion 7. Rose 6. An unearthly child 5. Castrovalva 4. Robot 3. The 11th hour 2. Spearhead from space 1. The power of the daleks

I’m hoping that 11th hour is high up on this

We all have our preferences. Mine, from best to least favorite, 11, 1 (like you, only 'An Unearthly Child,' the next episodes would drop it to near the bottom), 9, 3 (I like the Auton stories), 2, 13, 10, 5, 4, 12, 8, 7, 6.

I haven’t watched this list before but here are my guesses for what your favourite are and least favourite are: Favourite: eleventh hour Least favourite: twin dilema

Woo some love for Power of the Daleks. That episode really got me excited for the show and instantly love the second doctor

I can think of one good Auton story: The Pandorica Opens/The Big Bang.

Spearhead From Space was actually shot entirely on film and on location. That's why, compared to other stories of the era, it has such a high resolution, and how we can get a proper blu ray.

I would have Spearheaded from Space at number 5 and moved everything else down one slot. But that's just me.

I can't do a ranking, because I haven't seen all of them, but Castrovalva is one of my favourite Doctor Who stories ever.

1. The Eleventh Hour (Matt Smith knocks it out of the park from the beginning, making it clear who his Doctor is, Amy gets a brilliant introduction and the whole episode is just awesome and wastes no time introducing you to an exciting new chapter of the show) 2. An Unearthly Child (basically just the first episode but what you get is amazing. Hartnell is really intriguing and Susan, Ian and Barbara are really great companions to start with. You can see why the show became so successful to begin with. Endless possibilities) 3. Power of the Daleks (actually watched it for the first time yesterday and it's a pretty great Dalek story and Troughton is great too even though you can see that he's clearly holding back compared to his later appearances) 4. Rose (Eccleston is amazing from the very beginning and it got many of us to continue watching the show so it deserves its spot) 5. Deep Breath (maybe I'm a bit biased because Capaldi is my favorite Doctor but I just freaking love Deep Breath) 6. Spearhead from Space (Jon Pertwee is great from the beginning and I really love Liz and the Brigadier but a slightly overrated episode even though it is quite good) 7. Robot (everyone knows Tom Baker and his companions are just incredible, the episode is nothing special tho) 8. The Woman Who Fell to Earth (actually really liked Whittaker's introduction even though I'm not a big fan of her Doctor) 9. TV Movie (I love McGann to death but the Master is very weird and the story itself is kinda meh) 10. Christmas Invasion (I love Tennant's introduction even though he's far from being my favorite but the episode is mostly just lots of stuff without the Doctor even in it) I haven't seen Castrovalva, The Twin Dilemma and Time and the Rani yet so I can't rank them

Best to worst(that I've seen) Tv movie Rose Christmas invasion An unearthly child Deep breath Power of the daleks Castrovalva Time and the rani Woman who fell to earth

The Christmas invasion is one of my absolute favourite episodes as well as The Eleventh Hour lol

I have never seen An Unearthly Child ranked this high on one of these lists (number one is usually The Power of the Daleks or The Eleventh Hour), but after hearing your reasoning, I can see why you'd put it there. Anyway, here's my personal list: 13. Time and the Rani 12. The Twin Dilemma 11. Doctor Who 10. Castrovalva 9. Rose 8. Robot 7. The Christmas Invasion 6. The Woman Who Fell to Earth 5. An Unearthly Child 4. Spearhead from Space 3. Deep Breath 2. The Eleventh Hour 1. The Power of the Daleks

I think you saw Rose and Spearhead in the wrong order. The autons in Rose are pretty poor. But in Spearhead, this was our introduction to them. It's like watching Blink after you've watched The Angels Take Manhattan and Flesh and Stone - of course it will lose its impact.

My top 5: 11th hour Spearhead Deep breath Robot Castrovalva

Considering slyvester McCoy is my second fave doctor based on two seasons alone. That first episode he did was dire. 11th hour is my fave first story followed by rose. But I also really like woman who fell to earth not sure if definitely top 3 but I do really love it.

My favorites are easily the Eleventh Hour followed by Power of the Daleks.

Nnnnngh Spearhead From Space includes one of my earliest memories, and Pertwee is MY Doctor... but seeing that it's you, I'll let that slide. Don't make a habit of it, y'hear?

I'm loving your nail polish! What colour/brand is it?

am i the only one who likes the autons? i just need to know, they are not my favs but they're still cool

My top 5: 5) Robot 4) The Eleventh Hour 3) Deep Breath 2) Power of the Daleks 1) An Unearthly Child

Personally The Eleventh Hour is my favourite opener

This episode is fantastic but I'll be honest I spent the entire time focusing on those *awesome* arm warmers and nail polish. Me want.

I have to agree with most of your rankings. I'd certainly agree with your bottom 3 and top 3, but there's room to quibble with the ones in between. And FWIW, I've always considered An Unearthly Child a separate story from the caveman adventure.

From only the nu series (because i haven't seen classic who) 5. The Christmas Invasion 4. Rose 3. The Woman Who Fell to Earth 2. Deep Breath 1. The Eleventh Hour

Good list, just drop Castrovalva a bit and swap the 2 Auton stories and I'm pretty much in agreement. However, your Ignoring 3/4 of the first Doctors story if applied to other Doctors might have helped out those stories as well.

Actually I couldn't agree with you more except for Castrovalva(but then again where else would you put it) The first Doctor Who episode I actually saw completely was the power of the Daleks in England as a child. The previous week I had seen the last 5 minutes of Doctor Who with the number one transformation into Patrick Trouton. I have always regarded 11th doctor's intro as one of the best in the series so it's nice to see you agree too And of course the very first episode deserves everything you say

Reflecting on my initial comments, I am far more interested in the portrayal of the Doctor on their first outing, and weight the story less. Unfortunately I can't really credit the Christmas Invasion as a good episode as all I can think about is how much better it would have been had Tennant been around with that regeneration swagger for the full hour. 1. An Unearthly Child (without equal) 2. Eleventh Hour (10/10) 3. Power of the Daleks (10/10) 4. Spearhead from Space (8/10) 5. Rose (7.5/10) 6. Deep Breath (7/10) 7. Castrovalva (6/10) 8. Robot (5.5/10) 9. The Woman Who Fell To Earth (5/10) 10. Doctor Who (4.5/10) 11. The Christmas Invasion (4/10) 12. The Twin Dilemma (2/10) 13. Time and the Rani (2/10)

5. The Christmas Invasion 4. Deep Breath 3. The Woman Who Fell to Earth 2. Rose 1. The Eleventh Hour

I think overall your list is good. Though I disagree with divorcing "An Unearthly Child" from the rest of its episodes. During the first doctor's era, each part of a serial had a unique title. The ones for the very first serial are "An Unearthly Child", "The Cave of Skulls", "The Forest of Fear" and "The Firemaker". But all four are considered "An Unearthly Child" and as one continuous narrative both within the BBC and by fans. This practice lasted until Hartnell's last stories during Season 4 in 1966. So I feel it's a bit unfair to allow only 1 part of a 4 part serial to decide a placement when the same isn't done for others on the list. I agree part 1 is great, but it's still only part 1 of 4. The whole serial shows the Doctor starting to learn a bit from his new unwilling companions, setting up some of the dynamics and fleshing out the characters bit by bit that we'd get to know over the next year or more. While the overall story isn't great, it does have moments that are important both within the first part and beyond it. That being said, I would place the first stories a bit differently. (Best to Worst) 1: The Eleventh Hour 2: Power of the Daleks 3: Rose 4: Castrovalva 5: Breath 6: Spearhead From Space 7: Robot 8: An Unearthly Child 9: The Christmas Invasion 10: The Woman Who Fell To Earth 11: Doctor Who TV Movie 12: The Twin Dilemma 13: Time and the Rani I think the list was pretty spot on in most aspects, just a few i felt were ranked higher or lower than i personally felt they should be. While others I feel you and I agree wholeheartedly on.

My list: 1. Robot 2. Spearhead From Space 3. The Eleventh Hour 4. The Power of the Daleks 5. Castrovalva 6. The Television Movie 7. An Unearthly Child 8. The Christmas Invasion 9. Rose 10. The Twin Dilemma 11. Time And The Rani 12. The Woman Who Fell To Earth 13. Deep Breath

Great list, Nathaniel. My list would be almost identical, except I think "Spearhead From Space" is a better story than "Robot", so I'd swap them around. I find the latter rather generic and, though Tom Baker, Lis Sladen and Ian Marter are excellent in this story, the guest cast aren't as strong as the one we get in Spearhead - Hugh Burden as the icy Channing is a memorable one-off villain, and even the minor characters (e.g. Mullins the hospital porter, Sam Seely the poacher) are nicely observed. Nicholas Courtney's Brigadier is also on screen for longer in Spearhead than he is in Robot, and that's always a bonus. As to the monsters... well, give me a possessed shop-window dummy over a metal King Kong any day, and that scene of mannequins mowing down the shoppers on Ealing High Street is as iconic as the Dalek emerging from the Thames, or the Cybermen marching down the steps outside St Paul's Cathedral.

I doubt Christopher Eccleston will return to the television series Doctor Who, but I hear he's doing Big Finish. No pun intended haha. I would love to see more of him in a future tv anniversary special like the 60th anniversary coming up in a couple of years. Even though I love David Tennant, I wished that I saw more of Chris. He really was fantastic!

I agree with you 100% on Spearhead from Space, glad somebody finally also has this opinion. Maybe I didn't love it because the pacing and tone are kind of dated, but it's just alright in my opinion. Terror of the Autons was better

There are 2 stories on here where the Doctor regenerated in the episode, the TV movie and Time and the Rani.

Now I love the Second Doctor, but I think it took him about half a season to hit his stride, so I would put that a bit lower. I'd put Castrovalva way lower, as it's a bit of a mess I thought. Robot a bit higher, because Baker really hits the ground running (especially after Pertwee's last season was lifeless). Maybe bump Spearhead up too. I was thinking Eleventh Hour at #1, but you might be right about Unearthly Child being better.

when are you doing final stories

I was so surprised to see Eleventh Hour usurped. But a good case was made, so well done.

This is about your intention to rank regenerations in the future. Regenerations are so personal and emotional to each person. The episode may not be good, but if your doctor is in it, it’s going to be number one. You’re really brave if you do that one. Bless. Do love this list, though, your observations here are interesting.

I like this liat, but I thought Deep Breath should have been way higher. I think it’s one of the best for establishing the Doctor for dedicated fans, but not necessarily newcomers. I think The Eleventh Hour is the best story for newcomers (though I HATE IT when people tell newcomers to start with this episode). I think An Unearthly Child is great for both!

I love this video.

To be fair to the Twin Dilemma sure the Sixth Doctor was a bit of a jerk but he did mellow out a little bit about halfway through season 22 and he mellowed a lot (and became one of my favourite doctors) in season 23