It is about that one story that shows who a Doctoris.
Andrew Cartmel thought he could do it with his great unrealised Masterplan.
And of course, there is the always-to-be-relitigated Timeless Child reveal under Chibnall.
But the Doctors real origin story was already told in 1964.
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Doctor Who, starring William Hartnell, had been around for about a year.
The TARDIS gets stuck as a police box just because.
However, the hero known as the Doctor is nowhere to be found.
And we must dare to stop them!
This was the era that codified the base under siege storyline while offering a conveyor belt of monsters.
Troughton also had a quality that, frankly, newDoctor Whocould stand to learn from.
He was a Doctor who didnt mind being underestimated.
It also introduced a new enemy for the Doctor in the form of the goatee-loving Master.
The Claws of Axos brings us the full Third Doctor toy box.
It is frankly, everything you want from a Third Doctor story in one neat little box.
Yet if you want the quintessential Fourth Doctor story, you need only look at that Doctors fourth story.
Genesis of the Daleks,in many ways, has the perfect Doctor Who premise.
Why dont you just kill Hitler?
It gives Baker room to flex every muscle he has.
Say what you like about Nazis, but their arrogance and self-seriousness make them a great comic foil.
And of course, there is the famous Have I the right?
Among the Doctors of the classic series, he was the Young One.
And one of the definitive strikes in that battle was Earthshock, where the show killed off Adric.
It set the tone that would eventually lead to the All-Time-Favourites-List regular, Caves of Androzani.
Which is all just a long way of saying poor Colin Baker.
And Battlefield shows us a nice halfway house between those two Seventh Doctors.
Of the two TV storiesPaul McGannstarred in as the Doctor, it isnt much of a contest.
In The Movie, nobody is sure of themselves.
Everyone, McGann included, is still finding their way.
The Ninth Doctor Boom Town(2005)
This isnt a best-of list.
Boom Town is probably not anyones favourite.
Its probably not anyones favourite Christopher Eccleston episode.
But this is where we see the Ninth Doctor at his height.
Hes got his TARDIS crew, Rose and Jack and even Mickey turning up to join in.
But here is also where we find out who this Doctoris, and in the best possible way.
This isnt a Doctor who will let you underestimate him.
This isnt a Doctor who will ask if he has the right.
Hes decided he does, and has done, over and over again by this point.
Until David Tennant came along, on some level all Doctor actors were doing a Tom Baker impression.
After Tennant, a bit of them was always doing a Tennant impression as well.
So its fitting that the best showcase for Tennants Doctor introduces him to a companion of the Fourth.
Here we see the seeds of the Tenth Doctors ultimate arc.
The Eleventh Doctor A Good Man Goes to War(2011)
Remember the Second Doctor?
The Columbo in a line of Sherlock Holmeses?
That man is long gone.
By this point, the Doctor barely even needs to outwit the enemy anymore.
He just needs to tell them to look him up.
This is where it peaks.
Clowning and silly (Point a gun at me if it makes you feel better!
), menacing (Telling the newly-crowned Colonel Runaway I want you to tell them your name.
Then he loses, and that paves the way for what comes next.
Which is why its such a good showcase of Capaldi.
This time rather than raging against the dying of the light, he throws a party.
See, once again, Capaldi is one of those dark Doctors.
Spends his first series wondering if hes a good person while making trolley problem decisions left and right.
But this whole two-parter, this entire story, comes down to one decision.
Davros tells the Doctor hes dying, and asks him to come and visit, and the Doctor agrees.
Even though Davros is his worst enemy (sorry Missy).
Even though Davros will probably kill him.
It encapsulates a lot of what was best about her and Chibnalls era.
The finale of the 60thanniversary specials trilogy is almost like an exorcism.
This is what defines the Fourteenth Doctor the Tenth Doctor with the brakes well and truly off.
But his first full, non-Christmas special episode in the role provides a pretty strong mission statement.
It puts the Doctor exactly where the Doctor most likes to be between some children and a monster.
Then he does the thing the Doctor is best at finding the humanity in that monster.
right from the start, but also adding that he is so glad to be alive.
ThatsDoctor Who, right there.
