Doctor Who Fans, What Classic Episode Would You Show Someone?

[Trevor]

STONES OF BLOOD
SPEARHEAD FROM SPACE

and my personal favorite

CITY OF DEATH with its' great Tom Baker line "Patron! Three glasses of water. Make them doubles."  

[mithrandir]

It is difficult for me to pick one episode from each Doctor, especially 3-5.

One episode from each Doctor:
Hartnell :   The Keys of Marinus
Troughton:   The Tomb of the Cybermen (I like The War Games, but it is a long story, 10 epiodes)
Pertwee  :   Inferno
T. Baker :   The Android Invasion
Davison  :   Earthshock
C. Baker :   Vengeance on Varos
McCoy    :   Dragonfire

[Archivist]

I was a huge fan of the Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker and Peter Davison era Dr Who seasons, but have little love for Colin Baker or Sylvester McCoy, and I have not even seen any of the new seasons, however good they are supposed to be.

What would I recommend for someone to get into earlier era Dr Who?

Jon Pertwee - Terror of the Autons.  This introduces not only the Doctor, but also Delgado's Master, who becomes a supervillain extraordinaire.  Delgado's Master was energetic, egotistical, and often prone to violence, unilke Ainley's Master, who was more subtle and sneering.  Delgado's Master would jump onto speeding army trucks, hypnotise the driver through the window, and smash people into walls.  Ainley's Master, while still cool, had more of the theatrical mustache-twirling feel to him.

As an aside, I wish they had resurrected the Master character as a more energetic and violent villain in the new stories.

Tom Baker - The Pyramids of Mars.  Absolute classic in the Hammer Horror vein, involving ancient alien gods, a creepy mansion and robotic mummies!  Another excellent Tom Baker story is the Seeds of Doom, about an intelligent plant alien that is intent on infecting the entire Earth. 

If your friend wants a whole series of stories, give him The Key to Time sequence which includes The Ribos Operation, The Stones of Blood, The Pirate Planet and the Armageddon Factor.  Not to mention the lovely, and now sadly deceased, Mary Tamm as Romana. 

The Tom Baker stories often had a Hammer Horror gothic feel, including The Image of the Fendahl and The Masque of Mandragora.  If he's into the Hammer stuff, he will like those.  Or if he likes the Cybermen, you can't go past any of the Tom Baker Cybermen stories, they are fab.

Peter Davison - I'd go with Earthshock, or Full Circle.  In fact, many of the Davison era stories were great.  The Black Guardian stories involving Turlough, like Mawdryn Undead, were fascinating and show a lot of character development.

[Ted C]

The Robots of Death
(Tom Baker)

[Rev. Powell]

I'm with this guy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6PMy6gUAHk

Sorry.

[Ticonderoga 64]

Going with one from each Doctor:

Hartnell: The Time Meddler
Troughton: The Web Of Fear
Pertwee: The Mind Of Evil
Baker: Talons Of Weng-Chiang
Davison: The Visitation
Colin Baker: Vengeance On Varos
McCoy: Ghost Light
McGann: the TV movie
Eccleston: The Empty Child
Tennant: Doomsday
Smith: The Doctor's Wife

[Sitting Duck]

The Fourth Doctor's "Key to Time" arc has a good plot, good pacing, an effective companion and scripts by Douglas Adams.

That statement is slightly misleading. Adams only wrote The Pirate Planet. The others were written by the usual DW writers, like Robert Holmes and David Fisher.

[Ticonderoga 64]

Trailer for the classic WEB OF FEAR:

http://youtu.be/GPm6zcy_6j0

[Ticonderoga 64]

The Mind Of Evil trailer:

http://youtu.be/EjJBy9mJeCA

[Ticonderoga 64]

Talons Of Weng-Chiang trailer:

http://youtu.be/ST7DALEmSu0

[Ticonderoga 64]

The Time Meddler trailer:

http://youtu.be/tNPBvnWU0g0

[Ticonderoga 64]

The Visitation trailer:

http://youtu.be/lzc7VeXa3gQ

[Ticonderoga 64]

Vengeance On Varos trailer:

http://youtu.be/LptcyA-zSnA

[Ticonderoga 64]

Ghost Light trailer:

http://youtu.be/iZnJtJX2NgI

[Ticonderoga 64]

The Empty Child trailer:

http://youtu.be/iTQhBNCqKQ4