Doctor Who anniversary specials have a narrow line to walk. The line is operatic on one side, marking out some grand story about Time Lord past, present, or future, something with currents as deep as you want to go. “The Three Doctors” had the story…

Number 1 on my Doctor Who favorites list is City of Death. This is a solidly uncontroversial choice. There are some people who prefer the guns, germs, and steel of “The Caves of Androzani,” and some new-series devotees who reckon Doctor Who is best when…

Number 2 on my Doctor Who favorites list: Kinda. My first exposure to this Fifth Doctor story was running across the novelisation in a bookstore. The title was written as “Doctor Who — Kinda” and I thought: so, it’s kinda Doctor Who and kinda not?…

Number 3 of my Doctor Who favorites: Enlightenment. It’s such an obvious idea it’s amazing Doctor Who hadn’t done it before: sailing ships in space, crewed by hypnotized humans, captained by aliens. But what makes it really sing is that the aliens are Eternals, immortal…

Number 4 of my favorite Doctor Who stories: Snakedance. This is a sequel to the first appearance of the Mara, in “Kinda.” Many people consider this one superior, and it’s easy to see why. The Manussan Empire is an unusually well-written human society by Doctor…

Number 5 of my all-time Doctor Who favorites is the Third Doctor’s regeneration story, “Planet of the Spiders.” To be honest, my top 4 are the definite ones. They’re easy choices, stories that stand out as anomalies even within their historical contexts, stories so good…

We finally come to the new series, of which I’ve chosen 15 favorites (vs. 35 from the classic series) in observance of the fact that it’s only been on for 7 official seasons (and a few specials), while the classic series lasted 26 seasons. I…

We should probably think of this project as “50 OF my favorite stories,” and not “my 50 favorite stories.” As predicted, I’m already second-guessing the list; I’ve watched half of “The Mind of Evil” for the first time in at least 20 years and I’m…

Here are the first 15 favorite stories I picked, in chronological order. They’re not numbered or ranked; it was hard enough just choosing them without also trying to weigh them against one another. It just so happens that the list ends at season 14. The…

For the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who, I’ve decided to attempt something that normally I find excruciatingly difficult: picking favorites. I’ve chosen 35 stories from the classic series and 15 from the new series that I personally think most fondly of. They’re the stories I’ve…