Second Doctor...
Episodes to Remember
The Invasion (Episode 046) - In an attempt to get help to repair some circuits for the TARDIS, the Doctor meets Tobias Vaughn, CEO of International Electromatics; a company currently dominating the electronics industry. After their visit, The Doctor and Jamie become convinced that something is amiss there, and their suspicions are confirmed when they are contacted by their friend Lethbridge-Stewart, who is now the Brigadier of the British contingent of UNIT (United Nations Intelligence Task-force). He tells them they have been investigating IE for several months, but Vaughn has too many powerful friends for UNIT to make serious progress. The Doctor refuses to be deterred and eventually discovers that under the sewers of London Vaughn is raising an army through the aid of his insidious allies, the Cybermen. The Doctor, along with his friends, must move quickly to halt the invasion and prevent International Electromatics from ruling the world.
By introducing UNIT and having the Brigadier as a recurring character, The Invasion is a sign of things to come. While it may look intimidating with eight episodes, the viewer should discover that this story will fly by; the action is well paced, and there is hardly any padding. Vaughn is a terrific character, and the tension between him, the Cybermen, and the Doctor is fantastic to watch. Without a doubt, The Invasion has to be one of the greatest stories of the black-and-white era.
By introducing UNIT and having the Brigadier as a recurring character, The Invasion is a sign of things to come. While it may look intimidating with eight episodes, the viewer should discover that this story will fly by; the action is well paced, and there is hardly any padding. Vaughn is a terrific character, and the tension between him, the Cybermen, and the Doctor is fantastic to watch. Without a doubt, The Invasion has to be one of the greatest stories of the black-and-white era.
The War Games (Episode 050) - The Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe appear to land on the ravaged plains of France during World War I, but not all is as it seems. Several of the soldiers they talk to have trouble remembering how long they have been on the front, and the British general there is curiously biased against them. After some investigative work, the Doctor discovers they are not on Earth, the year is not 1917, and that they have stumbled into the biggest war game in history. Soldiers from different wars in Earth's history are being abducted, brainwashed, and placed in simulated environments that resemble their own time; all for the purpose of creating the most disciplined fighting-force in the universe. Events take a turn for the worse when the Doctor recognizes one of the instigators of this plot as a member of his own race...
This is a brilliant story. The plot seems years ahead of its time, and the writers do a phenomenal job of slowly revealing the mystery, layer by layer, always keeping the audience guessing. The production work is nicely done, and the Second Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe get one of the finest send-offs ever. Most importantly, The War Games is a massive landmark in Doctor Who history; by introducing the Time Lords this serial reveals more about the Doctor's past than all the previous serials combined.
Honorable Mention: The Power of the Daleks (Episode 030), Tomb of the Cybermen (Episode 037)
This is a brilliant story. The plot seems years ahead of its time, and the writers do a phenomenal job of slowly revealing the mystery, layer by layer, always keeping the audience guessing. The production work is nicely done, and the Second Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe get one of the finest send-offs ever. Most importantly, The War Games is a massive landmark in Doctor Who history; by introducing the Time Lords this serial reveals more about the Doctor's past than all the previous serials combined.
Honorable Mention: The Power of the Daleks (Episode 030), Tomb of the Cybermen (Episode 037)
Episodes to Forget
The Underwater Menace (Episode 032) - I generally don't enjoy picking on serials that have most of their video missing, but I feel like The Underwater Menace is a special exception. It is not a particularly terrible story in terms of the narrative, though I would say that it has one of the weaker plots of the Troughton era. This story chiefly fails because of its poor production; the Fish People remain to this day one of the strangest creatures to ever grace a Doctor Who set. To make matters worse, the only episode that survives from this serial is the one that has them artistically swimming about for several minutes for no reason other than to fill up the time. The sets seem small and cramped, and the costumes, such as the Doctor's gypsy outfit and Polly's Atlantean attire look absurd.
Last, but not least, there is Professor Zaroff played by Joseph Furst. Although most Doctor Who villains need to be over-the-top to give credibility to the often extreme nature of the stories, Furst goes one step too far. He delivers his lines with such an insane vivacity that it is almost impossible for the viewer to not burst out laughing. His "nothing in the world can stop me now" blunder is one of the most famous dialoguing disasters in Doctor Who history.
Last, but not least, there is Professor Zaroff played by Joseph Furst. Although most Doctor Who villains need to be over-the-top to give credibility to the often extreme nature of the stories, Furst goes one step too far. He delivers his lines with such an insane vivacity that it is almost impossible for the viewer to not burst out laughing. His "nothing in the world can stop me now" blunder is one of the most famous dialoguing disasters in Doctor Who history.
The Mind Robber (Episode 045) - There is no other serial quite like The Mind Robber that provokes such radically different opinions amongst Doctor Who viewers. Whilst it does have a certain amount a whimsical charm to it, it is also probably one of the most unorthodox and strangest stories in Doctor Who. The Mind Robber is a highly inventive story, but by the end your head should spinning, desperately trying to comprehend what happened in only those five twenty-minute episodes.
The story opens with the aftermath of the previous serial, where the Doctor has defeated the Dominators but has started a volcanic eruption. The TARDIS begins to malfunction, and with the threat of being buried in lava upon them, the Doctor uses the emergency unit which takes them outside the space-time continuum. After a brief escapade in a now white featureless world, the TARDIS literally falls apart, forcing Jamie and Zoe to cling to a free-falling console. Upon "landing", they find themselves in a world of fiction where Medusa, Minotaurs, and unicorns all exist. After solving a series of deadly puzzles, the Doctor finally comes face-to-face with the Master who tries to persuade him to become the overseer of the land of fiction... forever. The Doctor refuses and is forced to rely on super heroes and fairy tale characters to outwit the Master's fictional monsters and toy soldiers. Did I mention this story was strange?
Dishonorable mention: The Space Pirates (Episode 049)
The story opens with the aftermath of the previous serial, where the Doctor has defeated the Dominators but has started a volcanic eruption. The TARDIS begins to malfunction, and with the threat of being buried in lava upon them, the Doctor uses the emergency unit which takes them outside the space-time continuum. After a brief escapade in a now white featureless world, the TARDIS literally falls apart, forcing Jamie and Zoe to cling to a free-falling console. Upon "landing", they find themselves in a world of fiction where Medusa, Minotaurs, and unicorns all exist. After solving a series of deadly puzzles, the Doctor finally comes face-to-face with the Master who tries to persuade him to become the overseer of the land of fiction... forever. The Doctor refuses and is forced to rely on super heroes and fairy tale characters to outwit the Master's fictional monsters and toy soldiers. Did I mention this story was strange?
Dishonorable mention: The Space Pirates (Episode 049)