Another tie: Tenth Planet and Tomb of the Cybermen. Early versions of the silver nemesis (haha, pun). While the 1980s version of the Cybermen was what I was most familiar with in my early fan days, there is something about the first few Cybermen stories, especially the Mondsian Cybermen with their bare hands, that is really appealing. Maybe the early sci fi tv look, along with the excellent out-of-this-world music. At first I thought both versions looked really bad and sounded so weird. Both over time I grew to like them.
Tenth Planet is a true classic, not only do we get the first Cybermen story, we also have the first regeneration. While sadly there are parts missing, there is enough that survived that the recons (reconstructions) are very good (I am more of a fan of the telesnaps than the animation, to be honest.)
And below is what survives of the 1st regeneration:
A cool thing about this story is that it takes place in 1986, which is the year that I became a Whovian :).
Tomb of the Cybermen is another great one, this time with the 2nd Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria (not to be confused with Vicki)
And below, the sweet little chat the Doctor and Victoria have. This made the rounds last year when Deborah Watling, who played Victoria, passed away.
This story also introduces us to the nasty little pests known as the Cybermats.
Audio Adventures
For the audio adventures, I had already mentioned how Real Time scared me silly, so much so I can’t listen to that again because it creeped me out.
One story I have not heard yet, but I have heard many, MANY good things about is Spare Parts. One day (yes, one day) I’ll buy it. And be creeped out yet again!
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Story arcs are ok, if they come to some kind of conclusion and not leave you saying “What about the thing?” I still wonder “What about the thing?” with the whole Bad Wolf arc and years later with the Hybrid.
There are things that are sort of story arc-like, like drips of Vote Saxon being mentioned in passing, then finding out who Saxon really is later that series.
I also liked how Missy is introduced in Series 8, first with Clara calling a “help line”, which is the Doctor’s Tardis, and she tells him that a lady in the shop gave her his number. You don’t see the mysterious woman. That is from the beginning of the second half of series 7. You don’t find out who she really is until the end of Series 8.
I two at the top, (yes, yet another tie) and they are both from the Classic era.
The War Games
The Second Doctor’s final story story,The War Games, which I recently saw earlier this year (I don’t think I saw this before, outside of clips). It has ten parts which lasted the whole of season 6. That sounds like it would drag somewhere in the middle, or the end, but it moves along at a good pace as certain things are revealed. (And how about that Steve Jobs look-a-like 30 years before Jobs got that look?) And it is also when we are first introduced to the Time Lords. As well as the departure of Zoe, Jamie, and the Second Doctor.
Trial of a Time Lord
Trial of a Time Lord is my other favorite, a 14 parter taking up all of season 23. I did see this as a young teenage fan, and later bought the VHS boxset because I loved it so much (I still have it with it’s wonderful Tardis designed box art!). Unlike The War Games, this is divided up into 4 smaller stories:The Mysterious Planet, Mindwarp, Terror of the Vervoids, and The Ultimate Foe. I loved the twist of finding out who the Valeyard was (wrote about that here), and also the alternate endings to characters. Also loved the bantering between the Doctor and the Valeyard, the discovery of what the mysterious planet really was, and the other characters. But yes, I felt it had a good closing on the arc as to why the Doctor was really summoned to court.
While looking up this, I found out there was a Big Finish audio that not only brings back Colin baker as the 6th Doctor, but Lynda Bellingham as the Inquisitor (love her!), and Michael Jayston as the Valeyard. Info here, but don’t listen to the trailer if you don’t know the identity of the Valeyard.
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