2 – Genesis of the Daleks

Everyone remembers their very first Doctor Who adventure. This one was mine. Sure, I had been in the room when my dad had occasionally watched the odd older episode on UK Gold, but I had never taken in any of it. Not until 1993, when the BBC repeated the adventure on BBC Two, did I finally sit down to actually watch a Doctor Who adventure from start to finish. By the end of the episode one cliffhanger, I knew I was hooked, as thirty years after they first appeared on British TV screens, I experienced the same thrill that six year olds in 1963 must have felt when they first saw a Dalek on their television screens. Six weeks later, each week all the more painful as I was itching to find out what happened next, I had very firmly transitioned from mild interest to absolute adoration. From this point on, countless teachers would lament my regular attempts to cover my school books with drawings of the menacing pepperpots from Skaro …

4 – Pyramids of Mars

Weirdly, number four in my classic Doctor Who countdown comes an adventure that I took a little while to warm to as a child, quite possibly because it is very much the epitome of the Philip Hinchcliffe gothic horror era of Doctor Who, and features a rather high body count. It is a sign of how much I now enjoy the adventure, that when I travelled recently to visit my family, this was the adventure I chose to sit down to watch with my dad – and we both enjoyed every minute of it!

6 – The Deadly Assassin

Of all the stories in my top ten, I think The Deadly Assassin is the one that will be most surprising. Not because it is in any way a bad story – but it is not necessarily one that is universally acclaimed as a classic. The story however is very important in Doctor Who’s history on two counts; it is the first time we travel to the Doctor’s home world of Gallifrey (not counting the brief scenes in The War Games and The Three Doctors), and it is the first time we see the Master portrayed by an actor other than Roger Delgado.

7 – City of Death

City of Death is perhaps the finest example in the entire classic series run of how a simple science-fiction concept can be elevated to superb drama with the right author and the right cast. The story was developed from its initial concept by Douglas Adams, aided by producer Graham Williams, and the result is an adventure that was a wonderful blend of Adams’ esoteric style of humour, and good old fashioned British storytelling. Which is ironic given that the story is set in Paris, and features the theft of a famous Italian painting …

8 – The Robots of Death

When it comes to iconic villains, fans often think of the Daleks in Trafalgar Square, or the Cybermen advancing from St Paul’s Cathedral. It is amazing therefore that one villain has become firmly lodged in the memory of fans despite only one appearance – but oh what a glorious appearance it was!

9 – The Stones of Blood

What do you get when you combine the gothic horror of that typified the era when Philip Hinchliffe was producer (Seasons 13 and 14) with the humour that that typified the era when Douglas Adams was most involved with the series? Well, my humble opinion is that you would get The Stones of Blood – and that is what makes it such a masterpiece!

11 – Shada

In what I am confident will be a surprise to some readers, this week we are reviewing an incomplete story! Unlike stories like The Invasion we are not talking about an adventure which is missing some of its televised episodes, but instead an adventure that was cancelled mid production, leaving only some studio and location footage as a tantilising glimpse of what might have been …

13 – The Ark in Space

A very firm favourite in the Stafford VHS collection, The Ark in Space set the tone and the standard for the Tom Baker era, with an utterly superb four episodes of story telling. Written by Robert Holmes, one of the finest story tellers to grace the classic era of Doctor Who, the story is a triumph of using a limited set and cast to tell a compelling science fiction adventure. The fact that episode one only features the three main cast members, and nevertheless is among the finest 25 minutes of television ever produced, speaks volumes for how superb this adventure is.

15 – The Talons of Weng Chiang

This was among my very first DVD purchases, a story I’d wanted to own on VHS for one simple reason – the Doctor is dressed up like Sherlock Holmes! Set in Victorian London, this atmospheric and creepy adventure is made all the more enjoyable as Tom Baker dons, for one story only, classical Victorian dress, complete with deerstalker: “After all, we don’t want to be conspicious, do we?”

26 – Logopolis

It’s the end. But the moment has been prepared for …

Logopolis is a story I both love and hate all at once. A fitting end to Tom Baker’s seven seasons as the Doctor, I remain unable to watch this story without believing that maybe, just maybe, if I wish hard enough the Doctor won’t die at the end of episode four. But he always does, it’s always heartbreaking, and I am always moved by Baker’s calm implacability as he acknowledges his time has come to a close … and a new season is about to begin.