Second came my favourite of the "new" Doctor Who episodes "Blink", with David Tennant. Third came Tom Baker's 1975 "Genesis of the Daleks".
The full top ten is:
1. The Caves of Androzani (1984 - Peter Davison)
2. Blink (2007 - David Tennant)
3. Genesis of the Daleks (1975 - Tom Baker)
4. The Talons of Weng-Chiang (1977 - Tom Baker)
5. The Empty Child (2005 - Christopher Eccleston)
6. Human Nature (2007 - David Tennant)
7. Pyramids of Mars (1975 - Tom Baker)
8. City of Death (1979 - Tom Baker)
9. The Robots of Death (1977 - Tom Baker)
10. Bad Wolf (2005 - Christopher Eccleston)
So that's:
Tom Baker - 5
David Tennant - 2
Christopher Eccleston - 2
Peter Davison - 1
No Jon Pertwee! What about "Frontier in Space" or "Planet of the Daleks" or even "Planet of the Spiders"? The latter which at the time scared me to pieces but is now, I admit, laughable? I seem to have a thing for regeneration stories as "Logopolis" the last Tom Baker story would be in my top 10 as well. I grew up with Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker as Doctor Who and when Tom Baker turned into Peter Davison I was really more upset than I should have been.
So why is "The Caves of Androzani" the top Doctor Who story? Well it is a regeneration story, this time Peter Davison to Colin Baker, but maybe this piece of video will give you some better clues (probably two of them)...
And here's some more of Peri:
... running
... collapsing in a rather fetching bikini
various...
and more - Kids TV?!
Peri/Nicola Bryant seems to have quite a following on the web, look here for one...
Now I know Peri was "the sexy one" but for me Jo Grant was the one, maybe she was "the companion" during my more formative years, maybe I liked blondes back then, I don't know but that's the way it was. So here's Jo as she was normally seen
and now three photos with a dalek that were definitely not in the programmes that I watched (and if they had had been might have influenced me even more)...
Lucky dalek!
Finally for those dreading the new younger Dr Who (Matt Smith) and his even younger companion (Amy Pond) here's an interesting link - 10 youngest Dr Who companions(female, male and mechanoid). So there have been younger "companions" but Matt Smith at 26 years of age will be the youngest actor ever to portray the Doctor. When he becomes the eleventh doctor he will be three years younger than Peter Davison was at the time he began his portrayal of the fifth Doctor.
I stumbled upon "Blink" on late night TV a while ago and I couldn't believe how the script and acting made statues spine chillingly creepy. I haven't seen many of the other choices but they are in good company with "Blink".
ReplyDeleteBlink was indeed the first time in about 35 years of watching Doctor Who where I would have been happy finding sanctuary behind the sofa!
ReplyDeleteI have tertiary syphilis.
ReplyDelete"The Caves of Androzani" was actually a weak episode. The Doctor doesn't really do anything at all, and there is a lot of annoying talking to the camera. I think you struck the nail on the head as to why it was picked. Peter Davison joked afterwards that his regeneration scene was the best bit of acting he'd ever done and no-one was watching it since the camera gave the most perfect view of Peri's cleavage. Peri used to be my favourite of the companions, but Martha would give her a run for her money. I wish Martha had stck around longer instead of giving us the annoying Catherine Tate.
ReplyDeleteWasn't as impressed with the reboot as other people, although the 2-part Ecclestone episode during the Blitz was really great. That was written by Moffatt I think, who took over as script editor from Russell Davies when Matt Smith took over as the Doctor. Then I think there was a definite improvement. Smith is the best Doctor since Baker, and we've finally said good riddance to the totally illogical "Bad Wolf" storyline. Saying that I think the last series got over-ambitious.
I've been watching the old episodes I downloaded from rapidshare. Just finished watching The 2nd Doctor's "The Seeds of Death" today. Despite some holes in the plot I think this is a really good story, certainly one of the best directed. Up there with "Tomb of the Cybermen". Both would probably make my top 10 (I'll know for sure when I've seen them all) The problem with the 2nd Doctor is that there are so many missing episodes.
What's interesting about the old ones is how little of the Doctor's backstory there is. You know he's an alien, but not much more than that. No mention of Time Lords and Gallifrey, and it is only a few episodes ago that the sonic screwdriver made its appearance.
Have to agree with a couple of comments, Peri had a great rack but Jo Grant was way sexier.
ReplyDeleteAlso 'Caves' was really weak, having just watched again this week. it's dated badly, unlike many classic episodes. The music really is quite cheesy and the story is pretty standard fare, certainly not up there with other Davison eps such as Earthshock, a far better directed (& written) piece.
Half of the Top Ten is accurate, especially the Baker episodes but Pertwee should be in there for sure, and not Eccleston, who just wasn't good as the Doctor, he himself said so.
Many of Pertwee's stories are classics, Dalek's, Autons, the Master.. Planet of the Spiders as you mentioned is still very creepy. I mean, please... who the hell voted for this? Clearly not those who have seen the entire series, or at least those on offer.