Best/Worst First Episode?

[Jamie McCrimmon]

Which Doctor, from Hartnell to Tennant, do you think had the best first episode?

Conversely, which Doctor had the weakest start?

[Dino]

Can't comment on Troughton, so for me it's between Pertwee, Eccleston or Hartnell having the best first episode.
The Doctor doesn't really do much in part 1 of "Spearhead..." does he?
So I'll go for Hartnell then. Having been conditioned to Tom Baker, seeing this older, impatient man was a bit of a shock and contained more mystery during the 80's "Five Faces Of Doctor Who" repeats.

Is it fair to include McGann for the worst first episode? Bit of a grey area.
I'd say Colin Baker. I'll still take McCoy's "I'LL SMASH IT TO PIECES!" over The Twin Dilemma part one.

[SiHart]

If we're being objective, it's very probably Power of the Daleks, which is really rather good... but of course I haven't actually seen it, so who knows.

My favourite is Castrovalva though. It's a story I keep on coming back to. It's
a small and beautiful start for a Doctor who said that life was about small and beautiful things.

Si xx

[Pip Madeley]

I was tempted to say Power of the Daleks, but Si makes a good point about not having seen it... Spearhead From Space is pretty good, but I have a soft spot for Robot because Tom is so wonderful in it, it made such a big impression on me.

Worst? The Twin Dilemma, closely followed by Time And The Rani - thankfully both Baker and McCoy were much better served towards the end of their eras.

[Andrew Curnow]

Si Hart very wisely points out the best first episode ever is Castrovalva. What a sensible chap he is!

More seriously, even coming right after the stylish new season 18, I can remember season 19 (ie, beginning with Castrovalva) feeling like something so gloriously fresh & new. The combination of a new Doctor, and I guess the introduction of the 'two episodes a week' transmission pattern, made it really exciting.

Worst.... Although personally I like it, I'm going to have to agree with Pip that it's The Twin Dilemma. It's not as bad as it's painted, but it isn't as good as other debuts, and in hindsight, and despite being excited by the idea at the time, introducing the new Doctor in one story at the end of a season wasn't a great way to start an era. They should probably have learned from the tinge of cheapness that infested other season closers like Timeflight!!

[Paul Clement]

The best one for me is Spearhead From Space. It's often an unusual sort of story that kicks off a new Doctor, tending to be somewhat disjointed. I actually really enjoy Spearhead though, which has a more entertaining storyline than any of the others.

The worst one would be Time and The Rani, which is marginally worse than Twin Dilemma.

[Captain Tancredi]

Another one for Hartnell as best, I think- at the end of the first 25 minutes you have a good idea of what his character is going to be like, except that you know nothing about him.

Having watched Spearhead over the last few weeks, what's interesting is that it's structured so that at in the first episode the Doctor barely has a line, but you accept him totally by the end. I think I'll have to be another one for Time and the Rani as the worst start, if only because it's so unrepresentative of the Doctor McCoy would become and saddled him with a lot of baggage almost before he'd started.

[cullsoft]

I'm all up for voting for The Power Of The Daleks as my favourite starting story, but that's a fair thought about not having seen the actual story, just the recon. I really like the way that this strange new fellow who's replaced Ben and Polly's friend is trying to earn everyone's trust and desperately warn them of their impending terror. Spearhead From Space would probably serve as a second favourite, mainly because I liked the way Liz's "nearly equal brainpower" bounced off of The Doctor's arrogant genius, and how he's starting to realise just what the Timelord's have done to punish him. I also want to throw in a plug for An Unearthly Child - the whole 100,000 BC arc may not be one of the strongest stories, but the initial story introduces the characters and the concept well and the rest of the story shows them trying to learn to get along and work together to save themselves and get home... or at least try to...

To throw something different into the mix, I'd say that Tennant's first episodes were fairly weak to me. The Christmas Invasion, despite following Spearhead's style of having The Doctor out of commission for most of the story before saving the day at the end didn't work for me this time (possibly because I wasn't big on a primarily Rose and Jackie story), and I really didn't like New Earth's suggestion that this new Doctor was going to have a far-to-close-to-religious-deity "I am The Doctor and I heal the sick" attitude (perhaps a portent to my dislike for season 3's conclusion?). Whilst The Twin Dillema and Time And The Rani may be universally worse stories, I don't think I've actually seen the former of those and what I did see of the latter was years ago and probably in background.

[MacNimon]

Best first episode is hard, but I think I'd opt for An Unearthly Child. I've also got a soft spot for Spearhead and Castrovalva. Robot was fun but not as memorable, but none of these are as good as Hartnells imo. I'm ignoring Power because, as has already been said, we've never actually seen it.

Worst first story is easy...Time And The Rani, by a mile. The Twin Dilemma might not be that great, but Rani is in a league of it's own.

[Andrew Curnow]

I really didn't like New Earth's , etc...

I'd definitely agree with that (albeit last time I watched it, I enjoyed it more than I had before, but even so...). If NE had been Tennant's debut, it would have easily been my choice for worst - as it is, though, I really like TCI, so he was saved that!

I often wonder how it was, watching The Tenth Planet part 4, and then Power of the Daleks the following week. I mean, presumably the papers of the day carried the story that Hartnell was leaving, and Troughton was taking over, but until it happened I have to assume nobody watching had any idea how it was going to be done, what was going to happen, or anything. And it's such an absurd idea, it could easily have been a disaster instead of an inspired bit of TV history.

[Stuart Wallis]

I'm very much persuaded to look at this from two perspectives. So I will.

So far as the best episode as far as a given actor/Doctor is served, the best is Robot as Tom's put into the story pretty quickly and is given some very good lines ie. "I don't like the word 'indestructible'; it's too much like 'unsinkable'." etc. Fot the worst I was going to say An Unearthly Child, because Billy takes a very long time to appear in it. The Twin Dilemma wins out though; I've mentioned my views on Colin's first appearance before...

As for the overall quality, best would be An Unearthly Child. You couldn't launch any new series, let alone a series of Doctor Who, or a new Doctor, in a better way. It's just an outstanding piece of television. Atmospheric, well-acted, tightly-written, superlatives-a-go-go. The worst: erm... *whispers* Castrovalva. For me it takes two episodes to get going; part one has a lot of running up and down in TARDIS corridors with not much happening. Things don't get going until Tegan and Nyssa reach the city.

[Andrew Curnow]

The worst: erm... *whispers* Castrovalva

Romana (by which I mean me) was appalled!

[Stuart Wallis]

Does this mean the wedding's off...?

[Lord President]

Best - Toss up between Spearhead and Castrovalva, I would probably have to go with Castrovalva, it is a great introduction to the new Doctor without a tedious story getting in the way, the story proper kicks in during epsiode two!

Worst - Time and the Rani - It is just too panto for me!

[Rob McCow]

Best - OK, going out on a limb here, but the best first episode so far is Rose. In terms of sheer pace and excitement there's been nothing in the new series to match it. It's confident, slick and accesible. It nudges over 'An Unearthly Child' for me simply because it's more technically competent.

You could argue that An Unearthly Child is more reliant on dialogue, but Rose has that wonderful tracking shot where Rose interrogates the Doctor about his life. Then you get the Doctor's lines about the Earth moving, which is one of those rare moments of TV vertigo where the ground drops open and anything seems possible. Like An Unearthly Child, Rose wasn't like anything else that was on TV at the time. It was far bolder and less gritty.

And come on, the burping bin IS funny.

As for the worst - well, all of the old series ones are great. They all have a freshness to them that makes them exciting. It might be flawed beyond belief, but I'd happily watch The Twin Dillemma because it's engaging and fun. The same can't be said of the TV Movie or The Christmas Invasion. The TVM is a disaster and The Christmas Invasion fails for me because the Doctor spends too long in bed. I didn't mind this so much in Spearhead or Castrovalva but it feels so wrong for Tennant's Doctor. And then Rose goes to bits and starts whinging and it's all too much!

That said, the killer Christmas tree was astounding.

[Antony Cox]

I'd probably go for Spearhead being the best, though Steve does make a good case for Rose.

The worst for me is Twin Dilemma. Though on paper it's better than Time and the Rani, I have a soft spot for that story so couldn't possibly vote it to last place!

[Jamie McCrimmon]

When I started the thread I was going to say Spearhead, but after a bit more thought I do think it's An Unearthly Child. Perhaps because I know it's the strat of something fantastic that lasted/lasts for many decades, but mainly there is just something about it that always gives me goosebumps. The first sight of the TARDIS, meeting the grumpy old man who's more than he seems, and the bewilderment of Ian and Barbara when they first step inside and see it's bigger on the inside!

The worst is Twin Dilemma. I'm afraid I look at this and just think 'oh dear'.