The next story is The Keys of Marinus, which I remember fondly from when I watched it as a kid.

We'll see if it holds up...

The Keys of Marinus does hold up!

I've decided to put it in my "fast track" recommendation - which means I recommend it for anyone to watch, even if they just want a sampling of episodes.

I may demote it to a regular "watch" recommendation later on, because it is still incredibly slowly paced compared to the later seasons (let alone modern television), but it's there for now.

now it's time to watch "The Aztecs" which is about..... the Aztecs

I'm sure this won't be culturally insensitive at all

Barbara: If we stop the evil sacrifices, then when Cortez lands the Spanish will only see the good in this society, and it will save them from destruction!

hjskhgkjghshg

[ The Aztecs ] - Not worth watching

I think this will probably be my most controversial decision so far, especially since it's not ✨ awful ✨, and in fact is actually tense and good sometimes.

But I still don't think it's worth watching

by the way: I'm going to publish a version of the guide after I finish each season.

I'd publish as I go, but the software I'm using is really convinient for writing in, but not so convinient for... displaying on the web.

Two stories left in this season: The Sensorites, and The Reign of Terror

hrm, now I'm doubting my decision for The Aztecs.... it's actually kinda good?

aside from the whole "completely innaccurate" thing

and saying no for this has made me feel like I should have said no for more of the previous episodes

I changed my mind a bit for some stories, so here is the recommendations:

[ An Unearthly Child ] → Watch the first episode only

[ The Daleks ] → Don't watch, unless you're really curious - in which case I can recommend skipping through episodes 5 and 6

[ The Edge of Destruction ] → Recommended!

[ Marco Polo ] → Maybe, if you're ok with a reconstruction

[ The Keys of Marinus ] → ✨ HIGHLY RECOMMENDED ✨

[ The Aztecs ] → Maybe

[ The Sensorites ] → No

Only one more story left in the first season...

I've now published the draft of my first season of recommendations for Doctor Who!

https://averylychee.neocities.org/doctor-who/

Want to watch Doctor Who from the very beginning, but don't want to slog through the really boring episodes?

Check out my guide!

https://averylychee.neocities.org/doctor-who/

Now with better recommendations, a more clear intro, and better colours!

Currently I've only written the recommendations for the first season - second season will be coming as soon as I finish watching it!

also, in order to make this guide, I had to write a haskell program, which you can find here: https://github.com/AveryGlitch/Doctor-Who-Guide

I've just watched through The Dalek Invasion of Earth.

It's pretty good, as these old episodes go!

Now, onto The Rescue...

I think Season 2 is better than Season 1 – mostly because it doesn't have multiple stories which are 7 episodes long

[ The Dalek Invasion of Earth ] — Maybe, it's good, but very slow

[ The Rescue ] — Highly Recommended

[ The Romans ] — Highly Recommended

Gosh, two highly recommended stories in a row...

next up is The Web Planet.

I loved it as a kid, but the last time I re-watched it, it was painful - so many horrible sounds

I've been updating the official page as I go, by the way: https://averylychee.neocities.org/doctor-who/

my ears ::'(

check out this cutie

fffff

I'm only 2 episodes in to this 6 episode story (the web planet) and the sounds are already driving me insane

This one will definitely be getting a "don't watch" recommendation

@lizardsquid We have this on DVD. I've watched bits of it, popping in and out of the room, and I just remember thinking how *slow* the pacing was. Even compared to 1970s episodes.

@woozle oh yeah, the pacing on all these episodes is SO SLOW

I mention in my full guide that people can skip the first few seasons if they can't stand the pacing, because it really is..... extreme

@lizardsquid I find it interesting that we have that reaction -- like, the pace of life has just accelerated to the point where waiting so long between events in a drama can feel intolerable.

I think this says something interesting about how life must have been back then -- like, it must have felt a lot more relaxed, at least temporally.

@woozle I think at the time, people weren't expected to sit in front of the television and watch the show continuously, they were expected to do other tasks while watching

fiction on tv was still a relatively new concept

@lizardsquid Well, I gather that before TV, sitting around the radio to listen to shows was a thing. So sitting around the TV would seem to follow naturally.

This seems like an interesting question to ask people older than me, though, when opportunity arises ^.^

@woozle yes, that would definitely be a question to ask, rather than just assume like a doofus ::P

@lizardsquid hi! I skimmed this because I am also doing a watch through of old Who (while also reading novels, audios, etc. Set in the same era as these stories. Following/working on the order at www.doctorwhoorder.com) and I guess just wanna say this is neat! Even though my opinions on a lot of these episodes vary wildly from yours, I am always super excited to meet another person watching Doctor Who. 😀

@The_T I'm interested to hear how your opinions are different to mine!

@lizardsquid Hmmm... ok here we go!

An Unearthly Child: Watch. Episode 1 is so important, and I really don't mind the Caveman drama. I like the way the Cavemen speak; it's not "unga bunga" idiot speak, they are eloquent but still have simple thought processes. It's fascinating to me, and is a good precursor to the train of thought of "oh, the TARDIS is translating". Some interesting things happen and the pacing isn't awful, but it could absolutely be better.

@lizardsquid
The Daleks: Watch. Seeing an early version of Daleks so you have a frame of reference for how they go on to differ, and seeing how they were introduced to the world, is so important and outweighs the slower pacing of some of the episodes. Yeah, the Thals are kinda bland idiots and the radiation sickness slows things so much, but the Daleks are still terrifying and interesting; it's neat to see them both afraid while still irrationally hateful.

@lizardsquid
The Edge of Destruction: Maybe. The first episode builds up some interesting suspense, but the 2nd part completely fails to deliver on it, with a subpar resolution that doesn't say much of anything at all. Setting the whole thing in the TARDIS was neat and smart for budget reasons, but it just isn't quite enough.

@lizardsquid
Marco Polo: Maybe. It has a lot of really strong moments, but it's way too long. Ping Cho is a really good character and Susan and Ping Cho's relationship is really good. I'd like to give the audio-only version a try and see if I like it anymore that way. I feel like this serial gives the first shades of The Doctor lightening up, and seeing him wager at board games with Kublai Khan is amusing.

@lizardsquid
The Keys of Marinus: Watch. I actually just think it's ok; a few of the tales in it are weaker, a few are stronger, so it balances out. I feel like the Voord are just kind of dorky (they get to be much more interesting in later audios), and I was genuinely surprised that Arbitan wasn't the villain when he was kind of a manipulative jerk? I really enjoyed the courtroom drama bits though.

@lizardsquid
The Aztecs: Watch. This is a really important arc for Barbara, although it does have problems with introducing inconsistencies on how and when tie can be changed. Still, the bad guys are interesting and weird with believable motives; Ian's role as a fighter is done well, and I just like the way the Aztec culture is presented.

@lizardsquid
The Sensorites: Watch. I guess I feel like it's important for being the first real glimpse of the future of humanity, and I like the main villain a lot. Alien morality, cultures with radically different worldviews than our own, is a good trope to play around with it, and while the sensorites aren't extremely unhuman, they are fairly different.

@lizardsquid Huh. I actually didn't like The Edge of Destruction much. It established a lot of important things going forward, including bringing some much-needed character development... but the actual episodes were kind of a slog, with their weird characterization, confusing plotting, and forced-feeling conflict between the protagonists.

@Nezumi yeah in retrospect I gave it the wrong rating - my next draft downgrades it to a Maybe

@lizardsquid Wow! Nice work! Will you pursue it with the new serie once you're done with the old one?

@lertsenem yep, I'll be making recommendations all the way through!

and thanks!

@lizardsquid Like... that's... understandable from her and the show's social context, but still so utterly, horribly wrong and WTF.