I decided to start my classic watch from Pertwee onward and still haven't reached the end of the Third Doctor era yet so this is vaguely good timing for me (if it happens).
Heh, as it so happens, I just got started on the Pertwee phase of my classic watch, too.
I had only seen two Pertwee stories before this -- The Daemons, which I more or less hated, and The Three Doctors, which I liked more, but mostly for Troughton's inclusion and the way he and Pertwee play off each other. There was a lot of stuff I disliked about both serials, but chief among them was the Third Doctor himself. He just seemed like too much of an asshole to the people around him, particularly in The Daemons, for seemingly no reason. He was unlikable to me in a way that even someone like Capaldi's Doctor, in his meanest moments, never felt to me. So I kicked off Pertwee's run not really looking forward to what I was about to watch -- more eager just to see the fallout from The War Games than watch the Third Doctor himself, really.
Spearhead from Space
But goddammit, this was a fantastic run of episodes. First off, it just *looks* wonderful (well, maybe relative to classic Who standards, but good looking is good looking!). The film look is so much better that it's almost cruel to have to go back to videotape after seeing how great the show looks this way. It's not even just the picture quality, or the use of color - the first time Doctor Who appeared in color -- but even standard production design stuff, like the sets and even the costumes, are all noticeably stronger.
The Brigadier is back, now in what will be a full-time role, and is as charming in his gruff military manner manner as ever. This is also the first appearance of new companion Liz Shaw, who right off the bat proves she can her own against both the Brig and the Doctor, matching wits -- scientifically and rhetorically -- with either one. The burgeoning rapport between the Brig and Liz, and the way the mystery of the Autons unfolds (who are exponentially creepier and more interesting here than whatever RTD was doing in Rose), is so interesting on its own that it doesn't even matter the Doctor does little or nothing in the first two episodes. This is a really excellently paced story, with some solid creep factor going on and lines that feel as sharp as any modern episode's dialogue.
And as much as I had railed on Pertwee's Doctor when I first watched a few of his episodes last year, he comes off as immediately likable and compelling to me here. I'm not sure what changed -- maybe seeing the Second Doctor's end in The War Games, and how the Third Doctor comes into the action here, helps put the chip on his shoulder into better context. Or maybe he'll develop into more of an asshole later on. Or maybe The Daemons was just a poor pick for a first-time Pertwee story. Whatever the case, Pertwee makes the Doctor his own in no time. For me, this ranks just below The Eleventh Hour as one of Doctor Who's best 'new Doctor' stories ever. Fantastic stuff. Whatever sour taste The Daemons and The Three Doctors left in my mouth about the Third Doctor's era has been totally wiped out by this, and I'm really looking forward to seeing more.
