I guess the only way you can do it is just to go over your own experience with the show. I grew up in Australia, the Australian bush specifically. The first doctor I was old enough to actually appreciate was Slyvester McCoy. I had seen all the Pertwee and Tom Baker episodes as a kid but hadn't taken them in, so my first episode I have any real memory of is Time and the Rani. And I was hooked pretty much from there. As a child of 7, I had no concept of good Doctor Who or bad Doctor Who, or, as I prefer to call them both as a grown adult; "Doctor Who." I just knew he was a Time Lord, from the planet Gallifrey, that he drifted around through time and space in a Police Box and helped people. I didn't care about effects or acting, I just liked the premise.
It took about 5 years after the McCoy era ended in 1990 (in Australia) for the show to return, at 4am in the morning, and it was Peter Davison episodes they were showing. Every morning I would get up and watch the show and Davison ended up becoming MY Doctor.
I spent a lot of the so called "Wilderness years" watching the old episodes, becoming acquainted with Hartnell's Doctor and re watching some Tom Baker episodes I never really followed as a child. I could see the changing world views on show, from the fear of nuclear destruction in The Daleks to the sympathetic look at Christianity in The Romans, to attacks on consumerism in the Sun Makers and anti-Thatcher sentiments of the Happiness Patrol and the increasing prominence of secular humanism within the show's ideals.
I could notice stylistic changes from action oriented in early 70s, to hammer horror influences in the mid 70s, to bonkers Monty Python silliness in the late 70s and then glossy and pessimistic kill fests in the early to mid 80s. I came to admire the way the show changed and adapted as it got older. Season 22 was a disaster, both stylistically and thematically, but it was the only real clunker the show had in its original run which lasted 26 seasons. The key idea that the show had to keep was that the Doctor was an alien with a magic box who flies into a town, finds a problem, fixes said problem, and flies off.
I'll list briefly the episodes that I enjoyed the most as a youngling and then take off, probably not having achieved anything apart from indulging myself.
Remembrance of the Daleks- First episode I ever watched obsessively. Devious doctor, dalek civil war, creepy little girl, lots of deaths and a satisfying resolution. I hear criticism of this being too continuity heavy. All I will say is I was 8, and had no problems understanding that the daleks were fighting each other over Davros, the doctor had left the hand in a previous incarnation and he had got it from his home planet. Kids really aren't as stupid as some adults seems to think. As Peter Davison later paraphrased "The challenge with writing Doctor Who is keeping it simple enough for the adults to follow, but complicated enough for the kids to stay interested." Deadly Assassin- loved it. Crispy Master. Decadent Gallifrey. Awesome Castellan. Big stakes and Tom Baker at his best. This was another one fans at the time hated because it showed the Time Lords and Gallifrey in a different light to ever before.
The Romans- got the VHS in 1996(I think) and loved this one. Ian became one of my favourite companions. Felt like such an epic. Again was criticized for its tone, but out of context it's a fun epic romp.
Anyway, that's my personal experience with Doctor Who. Thanks for reading.
It took about 5 years after the McCoy era ended in 1990 (in Australia) for the show to return, at 4am in the morning, and it was Peter Davison episodes they were showing. Every morning I would get up and watch the show and Davison ended up becoming MY Doctor.
I spent a lot of the so called "Wilderness years" watching the old episodes, becoming acquainted with Hartnell's Doctor and re watching some Tom Baker episodes I never really followed as a child. I could see the changing world views on show, from the fear of nuclear destruction in The Daleks to the sympathetic look at Christianity in The Romans, to attacks on consumerism in the Sun Makers and anti-Thatcher sentiments of the Happiness Patrol and the increasing prominence of secular humanism within the show's ideals.
I could notice stylistic changes from action oriented in early 70s, to hammer horror influences in the mid 70s, to bonkers Monty Python silliness in the late 70s and then glossy and pessimistic kill fests in the early to mid 80s. I came to admire the way the show changed and adapted as it got older. Season 22 was a disaster, both stylistically and thematically, but it was the only real clunker the show had in its original run which lasted 26 seasons. The key idea that the show had to keep was that the Doctor was an alien with a magic box who flies into a town, finds a problem, fixes said problem, and flies off.
I'll list briefly the episodes that I enjoyed the most as a youngling and then take off, probably not having achieved anything apart from indulging myself.
Remembrance of the Daleks- First episode I ever watched obsessively. Devious doctor, dalek civil war, creepy little girl, lots of deaths and a satisfying resolution. I hear criticism of this being too continuity heavy. All I will say is I was 8, and had no problems understanding that the daleks were fighting each other over Davros, the doctor had left the hand in a previous incarnation and he had got it from his home planet. Kids really aren't as stupid as some adults seems to think. As Peter Davison later paraphrased "The challenge with writing Doctor Who is keeping it simple enough for the adults to follow, but complicated enough for the kids to stay interested." Deadly Assassin- loved it. Crispy Master. Decadent Gallifrey. Awesome Castellan. Big stakes and Tom Baker at his best. This was another one fans at the time hated because it showed the Time Lords and Gallifrey in a different light to ever before.
The Romans- got the VHS in 1996(I think) and loved this one. Ian became one of my favourite companions. Felt like such an epic. Again was criticized for its tone, but out of context it's a fun epic romp.
Anyway, that's my personal experience with Doctor Who. Thanks for reading.