Wow, things go quiet in this thread when there's no Who on the TV!
Continuing my plan to post what I think to be the highlights of every season of Doctor Who, old and new.
For each series I choose 2 or 3 of what I consider to be the best stories, and a selection of also-rans. "Stories" may comprise any number of actual episodes (somewhere between 1-14, typically 4 or 6). Older Who is nearly always episodic, with NuWho most episodes are self-contained. Feel free to expand on my brief comments, agree, disagree etc. This is, after all, purely subjective.
First Doctor
Second Doctor
Third Doctor
Fourth Doctor
This season is a bit of a mixed bag, to be honest. Storywise, Douglas Adams took the best elements and recycled them in Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency - compare that book to City of Death and the unfinished series finale Shada. Lalla Ward makes a good version of Romana, despite the dodgy outfits and the dubious scene where she regenerates like she's trying on clothes, mostly because she plays the role absolutely straight. The same cannot be said for the quality of the scripts, which tend towards the camp end of the spectrum.
Season Seventeen (1979-1980)
Fourth Doctor/Romana 2
City of Death – elements of the Pink Panther movies are evident here, and you can see which bits Adams recycled in Dirk Gently, but probably the best story of this season even if it isn’t as good as fan myth has made it out to be. The title makes no sense, either, there not being a city particularly associated with death featured in the story.
The Horns of Nimon – the Discontinuity Guide describes this as “rather wonderful with some friends and a bottle of wine”. The special effects are poor (even for Doctor Who), but it's fun spotting the references to Greek mythology, and it's got Graham Crowden hamming it up – what more do you need? Plus the Nimon crop up in Eleven's
The God Complex.
Honourable Mentions
Destiny Of The Daleks – honestly, this season is quite hard to find honourable mentions, but I guess this one will do. Lalla Ward establishes herself well as Romana. The Movellans look like disco rejects and Terry Molloy is not Michael Wisher but the story does represent a new chapter in the history of the daleks. It's a pity that the resurrection of Davros doesn't get a more robust tale to support it.