Hello GWC’ers, I’m finally just getting into the Doctor, and i’m just falling in love with the stories and the mythology. I just finished up the 2nd series and before i forge ahead i would like to get a feel for the classic Doctor Who. So i was hoping you folks could give me some suggestions of which classic episodes to watch. If you can suggest your favorites that are available on netflix instant as well it would be a HUGE help. Thanks in advance 
This may not be particularly helpful, as I have no clue what’s available on Netflix instant, but when I went through Classic Who last year, I kept track of my favorite stories for each Doctor. Some Doctors had better stories than others (mostly due to changes in the writing/production staff), but if you want a feel for the different eras, these were my favorites:
1st Doctor- The Daleks, The Celestial Toymaker, The Savages
2nd Doctor- The Mind Robber*, The Seeds of Death, The War Games
3rd Doctor- The Ambassadors of Death, Inferno, The Three Doctors*, The Time Warrior
4th Doctor- The Genesis of the Daleks, The Deadly Assassin, The Robots of Death, The Talons of Weng-Chiang, The City of Death*
5th Doctor- Earthshock, The Five Doctors, The Caves of Androzani*
6th Doctor- Vengeance on Varos, the Mark of the Rani, the Two Doctors
7th Doctor- Ghost Light, The Curse of Fenric*, Survival
8th Doctor- There’s just a TV movie. It’s not good.
If that’s too many, I’d cut it down to:
The Daleks (not the First Doctor’s best, but a good intro to the characters and the Daleks- it was the second ever story), The Seeds of Death, The Ambassadors of Death, The City of Death*, The Caves of Androzani*, Vengeance on Varos, and the Curse of Fenric*.
That’s one per Doctor (skipping 8)- those aren’t the best 7 stories (The 5th-7th Doctors’ eras had some pretty terrible writing), but it should give a bit of an overview. I’m sure many others will have different favorites/suggestions. Let us know which you end up watching and what you think!
ETA: I went through Netflix instant watch and, while there are many available on DVD, I didn’t see very many good ones streaming. I’ve added an asterisk next to the above stories that are streaming. Two good ones that are streaming that aren’t above are The Aztecs (First Doctor) and Pyramids of Mars (Fourth Doctor).
I don’t rememember specific episode names, but the John Pertwee doctor and the Tom Baker doctor episodes were the ones that I watched the most and liked the most. Especailly Tom Baker.
Katebo’s list is great, but I also recommend The Romans from the First Doctor. Most of the First Doctor’s stories were a lot more serious in nature than the rebooted series, but The Romans had a lot of silly humor in it. If you’re a fan of the goofiness of David Tennant, you’ll like this story.
Thanks a bunch for all the suggestions guys My netflix queue just ballooned up!
are you coming to the met up kid eh? #i may be able to hook you up with some not-otherwise-available dr whoy goodness
Phaze
on the “the long drive to Dublin has recharged my car battery, now if i could only do the same for my mental batteries” ID
Unfortunately i will not be able to, but its very kind of you to be that considerate hopefully next year!
I’ll second the Tom Baker episodes recommended by Katebo and also add Ribos Operation and Pirate Planet (first and last of the Key to Time series). It was this season that was my intro to the good Doctor many years ago.
Where’s a good spot to start for someone who has seen absolutely no Dr Who?
The ninth Doctor (Eccleston) is a good place to start. It was a re-start of the franchise. Once you’re caught up you can visit the earlier ones.
Yes. I went back to watch the first Doctor. They are hard to watch after seeing the new ones. 
I found a couple of the early Eccelston episodes to be nearly unwatchable. The one with the fat aliens who farted all the time was juvenile at best. Though the first 3 episodes (Rose, The End Of The World, and the Unquiet Dead) are quite good in my book, and give a good smattering of Doctor Whoishness (Present Day, Far Future, and Earth’s Past).
If you can avoid judging a show on a couple bad early episodes, then start with Eccelston. If you give up easily, I’d say jump forward a season and start with Tennant.
or you could start off witht he excellent “key of time” series starring romana and tom baker, gret classic who imo.
Phaze
on the “have the sunday afternoon skype meet ups stoped then, not seen anyone on in ages” ID
Awhile ago I made a list of recommendations that was on Netflix Instant Watch at the time:
First
The Aztecs
Second
The Tomb of the Cybermen
The Mind Robber
Third
Spearhead from Space
The Green Death
Fourth
The City of Death
Horror of Fang Rock
The Talons of Weng-Chiang
Pyramids of Mars
Fifth
Earthshock
The Caves of Androzani
Sixth
Vengeance on Varos
Seven
The Curse of Fenric
Special Mention:
The 3 Doctors
Some of these for some reason may not be available on IW anymore (but were when I made this list)
Thanks gwensdad! I just put a bunch of those on my instant watch! All were there except these four, which are available in disc still. Guess I know what I’m doing tonight!
Second
The Tomb of the Cybermen
Fourth
The Talons of Weng-Chiang
Fifth
Earthshock
Sixth
Vengeance on Varos
Tom Baker is probably the most beloved of all the classic Doctors! I think you should start with the Tom Baker episodes (all), after that, all the Jon Pertwee episodes.
One thing though, I ask all of my friends watching old Who: please pay attention to the story, not the production value. You will notice that for years, the BBC had little money to put into Doctor Who. I love old Who for what the writers created, and what the production designers were able to do with meager amounts of money.
Also, an old family friend took the official BBC pattern I gave her and knitted me a full-length Tom Baker scarf! I still wear it on the coldest winter days here in Wisconsin.
Baker is My Doctor, but I hesitate to tell people to start there these days (unless they’re my age and ‘get’ the production values. Same with Trek.) Eccleston did a great job at giving the franchise a jump start (Now run!,) and the latter two have proved quite good as well. So, pick one of the latter three and then work your way backwards.
I agree completely. I wonder if going from Eccleston to Classic Who would be very jarring for the unprepared…
Yes. Actually, I started with Eccleston, and watched episodes in order til the middle of the 3rd season and today I’m checking out “the Ark In Space” from the 4th Doctor. I was prepared for the '70s special effects, but so far the episode just hasn’t grabbed my interest like the new ones do. Plus the acting is kinda bad.
That’s one of the reasons to watch it.
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk