Summary
- Doctor Who offers multiple jumping-on points for new audiences, making it accessible to newcomers.
- There are key moments in the show's 60-year history that form the ongoing story of the Doctor and their companions.
- Episodes like "An Unearthly Child" and "The Daleks" are essential for understanding the show's origins and its most iconic enemies.
As a brand-new era of Doctor Who launches on Disney+, viewers may be looking for a road map as to how to navigate 60 years of important stories and mythology. The beauty of Doctor Who is that its very format provides multiple jumping on points for prospective audiences. Unlike other big TV shows, Doctor Who is not anchored to one particular time and place, and so there's the possibility that every trip in the TARDIS is someone's first. All that being said, there is a rich tapestry of mythology that ties Doctor Who's six decades together, and inspecting the details of that lore can be an intoxicating experience.
It can also be an incredibly daunting prospect, what with almost every Doctor Who story for all 13 Doctors now available at the click of a button. Piecing together Doctor Who's history at random is a hugely enjoyable jigsaw puzzle, but there will always be people who want to cut to the chase. With that in mind, there are a number of important Doctor Who stories from the past 60 years that form key moments in the ongoing story of the Doctor, their companions, and their many enemies.
20 An Unearthly Child - The First Doctor (William Hartnell)
Broadcast 23 November - 14 December 1963
While the ongoing Doctor Who rights dispute makes it harder to watch the first adventure, "An Unearthly Child", it's worth tracking down on DVD. This is where Doctor Who began, and the pilot episode is a masterclass in building atmosphere and tension. Ian Chesterton (William Russell) and Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill) accidentally stumble into the TARDIS while investigating the living arrangements of their strange pupil, Susan Foreman (Carole Ann Ford). The subsequent caveman adventure isn't quite as atmospheric, but William Hartnell's Doctor immediately makes an impression as an angry and suspicious alien traveler, whose irascibility belies a more sensitive side.
19 The Daleks - The First Doctor (William Hartnell)
Broadcast 21 December 1963 - 1 February 1964
Terry Nation's "The Daleks" is when Doctor Who truly arrived, as it introduced his arch-enemies. The Daleks became cultural icons in their own right, with a short-lived movie franchise, comic strip adventures and merchandising. The serial has been re-edited and colorized as part of Doctor Who's 60th anniversary celebrations, which makes it a perfect time to revisit this first encounter between the Doctor and the Daleks. Terry Nation essentially established the format of Doctor Who's alien adventures; the Doctor and their friends teaming up with oppressed rebels to overthrow their oppressors.
18 The Tenth Planet - The First Doctor (William Hartnell)
Broadcast 8 - 29 October 1966
Regeneration in Doctor Who is the key to the show's longevity as it provides a science fiction explanation for changing the leading actor. With William Hartnell's health failing, the BBC had to find a way to replace their leading man. And so, the concept of the Doctor regenerating every cell in their body to become someone else was born. "The Tenth Planet" was the story that introduced this idea, alongside being the first appearance of Doctor Who's other big bad, the Cybermen. Steven Moffat later paid tribute to the importance of "The Tenth Planet" by sending Peter Capaldi's Twelfth Doctor back there prior to his regeneration into Jodie Whittaker; the first regeneration from a male to female actor.
17 The Invasion - The Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton)
Broadcast 2 November - 21 December 1968
Patrick Troughton's Doctor Who era established both the affectionately named "base under siege" trope, and also introduced the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce into canon. "The Invasion" is UNIT's debut story, in which the newly formed organization has to combat a Cyber invasion of contemporary Earth. They're aided in their battle by the Second Doctor and Jamie (Frazer Hines), who had both previously met now-Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge Stewart (Nicholas Courtney) in "The Web of Fear". UNIT are now an indelible part of Doctor Who canon, and will be seen fighting the Toymaker (Neil Patrick Harris) in the 60th anniversary special "The Giggle."
16 The War Games - The Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton)
Patrick Troughton's final Doctor Who story, "The War Games" is an epoch-shifting moment for the show. It's the first story to properly introduce the Doctor's people - the Time Lords - and it's the story where their difficult relationship with their own people is first teased. The Doctor summons the Time Lords to help him to defeat the War Chief (Edward Brayshaw) who had been enslaving armies from across human history in brutal games. The Doctor sacrificing their freedom and their life to save the lives of countless others would become a defining trait of the character, and it starts here with Doctor Who's forced regeneration.
15 Terror of the Autons - The Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee)
Broadcast 2 - 23 January 1971
The Doctor's arch-nemesis, the renegade Time Lord known as the Master (Roger Delgado) is introduced in "Terror of the Autons." Effectively the Moriarty to the Doctor's Sherlock Holmes, the Master would become a key part of Doctor Who mythology from 1971 onward. The Doctor and the Master's rules of engagement are firmly established in this story, in which the Master tries to kill the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee), right up until he realizes he needs the help of his nemesis to survive the coming of the Nestene Consciousness. This is generally how their fractuious friendship would play out for the next five decades.
14 The Three Doctors - The Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee)
Broadcast 30 December 1972 - 20 January
"The Three Doctors" is essentially Doctor Who's first anniversary special, even though - as the season 10 premiere - it aired months before the special day. It established that the Doctor's regenerations don't always like each other and that they can team up during the gravest emergencies. In "The Three Doctors", William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton and Jon Pertwee are brought together by the Time Lords to defeat their fallen idol, Omega (Stephen Thorne) from destroying the universe. As well as establishing the multi-Doctor story, "The Three Doctors" establishes some of Gallifrey's pre-history, lending some texture to the Doctor's mysterious origins.
13 The Time Warrior - The Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee)
Broadcast 15 December 1973 - 5 January 1974
It took over a decade before Doctor Who revealed the name of the Doctor's home planet, and it gets it's first mention in Robert Holmes' classic story "The Time Warrior." The story also introduces one of Doctor Who's best second-tier villains, the Sontarans, and beloved companion Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen). Sarah was such a beloved companion that she would later return to Doctor Who opposite David Tennant's Tenth Doctor, and even got a show of her own. The arrival of Lis Sladen as Sarah signalled the start of a golden age for Doctor Who that still resonates today, and it starts in "The Time Warrior."
12 Genesis of the Daleks - The Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker)
Broadcast 8 March - 12 April 1975
When Russell T Davies brought back Doctor Who in 2005, he conceived of the Time War as a key part of the show's mythology. RTD established that Doctor Who's Time War began with "Genesis of the Daleks", when the Time Lords tasked the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) with averting their creation. The Doctor's moral dilemma over whether to commit genocide is one of Doctor Who's finest moments as it tackles the complexities of such a decision. The Doctor's decision would later have wide-reaching consequences for the entire Doctor Who universe, but it also fleshed out the Daleks' backstory by introducing their creator Davros (Michael Wisher).
11 The Deadly Assassin - The Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker)
Broadcast 30 October - 20 November 1976"
Almost 13 years after Doctor Who debuted on BBC One, "The Deadly Assassin" is the first example of a story fully set on Gallifrey. It's also a gripping political thriller, in which the Master (Peter Pratt) frames the Doctor for the assassination of the Lord President of Gallifrey. The story is notable for expanding the mythology of the Time Lords and establishing the 13 regenerations rule. 47 years later, and that limit has been shattered by various later revelations. However, Robert Holmes' portrayal of the Doctor's home planet as a corrupt society continued to influence future Gallifrey stories in the Doctor Who canon until as recently as 2020.
"The Deadly Assassin" was "The Timeless Children" of its day, inspiring fury from fans, including a memorable review from the Doctor Who Appreciation Society which asked: "WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THE MAGIC OF DOCTOR WHO?"
