Doctor Who is 60 years old, and in that time it has changed shape as many times as the leading Time Lord themselves. It’s daunting jumping in as an outsider without any context, whether you’re leaning toward New Who, Classic Who, or whatever we end up calling this new era.
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You have the black-and-white days of the ’60s, the James Bond-style action thriller of the ’70s, Tom Baker’s iconic alien approach to the role that spanned more than any other actor, the guilt-laden revival of a post-war Doctor, the timey wimey Moffat tenure, and Jodie Whittaker with her canon-bending escapades. So, we’ve compiled the ten best episodes for newcomers, spanning the breadth of the show’s six decades.
10 The Dalek Invasion Of Earth
The ’60s have some iconic episodes, introducing equally iconic villains like the Daleks and Cybermen who are staples to this day. You could start at the very beginning with An Unearthly Child, but it was pulled from BBC iPlayer and, to be frank, most of the serial isn’t that good anyway. Most of it is spent in a cave.
Instead, why not jump in with The Dalek Invasion of Earth, an episode so good it was turned into a movie? As it says on the tin, this serial sees the iconic pepperpots a little closer to home, storming a familiar-looking London. The Doctor and his companions join the resistance in fighting back against their occupation in a thrilling, self-contained story that sums up everything great about the show – travelers stumbling into danger and fighting tooth and nail to make the world better.
9 City Of Death
Picking a Tom Baker episode to start with is like trying to broach One Piece. It’s too long. But here’s my crack at it for beginners.
City of Death is one of the funniest episodes in the show’s history. Penned by Douglas Adams of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy fame, the Fourth Doctor and fellow Time Lord Romana visit ’70s Paris to find someone meddling with time, hoarding copies of the Mona Lisa.
8 The Pilot
As much as I love Peter Capaldi, starting with Series 8 or 9 of New Who would be a big mistake. Instead, try The Pilot from Series 10.
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It’s a soft reboot of sorts, beginning with an aged 12th Doctor teaching at St Luke’s University. He takes on a dinner lady, Bill, as his private student. Throughout the episode, she falls in love with a woman who ends up assimilated by an alien puddle and risks sharing the same fate. Given that it’s a blank slate with a new companion introduced, it’s one of the easier episodes of New Who to jump right into.
7 Spearhead From Space
The Third Doctor’s era was a radical shift from the ’60s. He was Earthbound, unable to leave as the Time Lords stripped his ability to fly the TARDIS from him. As such, he’s a more serialised Doctor with a familiar supporting cast hanging around between episodes in the form of UNIT, fleshing out fan favourites like The Brigadier, Benson, and Yates.
The first episode is then the best to jump into, introducing the Autons, the Third Doctor, and setting the stage for his Unit life. You don’t need to know much of his past to enjoy this serial, easing you into one of Who’s best eras.
6 Earthshock
Earthshock is a landmark Doctor Who episode. I won’t spoil why, but there’s good reason for its fame and status. It’s the quintessential Cyberman story, and like so much of the Classic era, doesn’t require prior knowledge. Serials were mostly standalone in those days.
To sum it up, a conference is being held to unite an armed force against the Cybermen who are planning to crash a freighter into the Earth to destroy it. In classic Who fashion, the Doctor and co. stumble in at just the right time.
5 Eve Of The Daleks
In its 60 years, Doctor Who has experimented with all kinds of genres and story conventions to keep itself fresh. Nothing sums that up like the 13th Doctor’s New Year’s special, Eve of the Daleks.
With 2022 on the horizon, an already terrifying prospect, The Doctor, Yaz, and Dan land in a storage facility under siege by Daleks. Every time they die, they wake back up before it all happened. They’re in a time loop, Groundhog Dog-style. It’s a breezy watch that captures the chemistry of this Tardis trio like no other episode and immediately sets the stage for Who’s willingness to branch out while also easing you into the conventions of the show. A bit like Blink, but don’t watch that first, I beg you.
4 Remembrance Of The Daleks
It wouldn’t be a Doctor Who list without Remembrance of the Daleks. If Earthshock is the quintessential Cyberman story, this is the quintessential Dalek story.
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The Seventh Doctor returns to 1963 London, where our adventures with him began all those years ago. He and companion Ace even visit Coal Hill School, where his grandaughter went. But upon arriving, they find the Daleks looking for stolen Time Lord tech he left on Earth years ago. A particular highlight is watching Ace take on a Dalek with her iconic baseball bat.
3 The End Of The World
If you want to start New Who, Rose is the obvious pick. It’s the return of the Autons, sows the seeds of the Doctor’s guilt over killing the Time Lords, and, as you can guess, introduces Rose. But the CGI plastic Mickey and hungry green bins aren’t the most welcoming, as much as I love them.
Cue The End of the World, the catalyst for The Doctor and Rose’s relationship. He brings her to watch her own planet die from an observatory, trying to find a way to relate his trauma to someone who can’t possibly fathom what he’s going through. It captures everything that makes the Ninth Doctor special, with a goofy silliness juxtaposed by the darkness of The Doctor.
2 The Impossible Planet
Doctor Who can get scary. Just look at Kinda, The Empty Child, or Midnight. But a more approachable introduction to that side of the universe is The Impossible Planet, in which the Tenth Doctor and Rose stumble across a stranded space station orbiting a black hole. We meet the Ood and learn of something dreadful lurking below.
It’s a two-parter, making it a longer watch than most New Who introductions, but it immediately paints a picture of Ten and Rose’s toxic relationship and the beginning of his power trip as the last of the Time Lords. It also doesn’t require any prior knowledge, being a mostly self-contained story.
1 The Eleventh Hour
We have quintessential Cyberman and Dalek stories, so why not end the list on the episode that sums up the Doctor most? Freshly regenerated, 11 lands in a little girl’s back garden like he’s in a fairy tale, promising to fend off the monsters behind the crack in her wall.
Afterwards, he returns to the TARDIS and promises he’ll be right back, but he accidentally disappears for ten years. Cue adult Amy, her fiance Rory, and an alien prisoner whose very existence puts the Earth at risk of being destroyed. A Doctor who’s still figuring out who he is steps up to save the day, without any of his gadgets or even his TARDIS. The story embodies the heroism, alienness, and kind heart of every incarnation up until that point.
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