Ranking Hartnell- 20-16
20. "The Ark"- Season 3
The main reason this serial ranks so low is probably summarised by the fact that I've seen it about three times and still can never remember what it's about without looking it up, beyond the elephant, everyone getting cold and abject tedium. Though there is a kernel of a good idea in this one- specifically the idea of a time jump between two eras where the actions in the former have an impact on the latter- the execution is terrible and what should be exciting is really tedious. It's also just all over the place tonally. The Monoids are a slave race but the script can't decide if we're supposed to sympathise with or fear them, and them overthrowing their masters and killing them is characterised as bad rather than good which is a bit problematic.
19. "The Celestial Toymaker"- Season 3
Famously condemned by the always readable and provocative (though often deliberately, and sometimes tediously, iconoclastic) Elizabeth Sandifer's blog of Who criticism as irredeemably racist, I think the argument is massively overegged to be honest. Michael Gough may wear stereotypically Oriental clothing, but neither wears yellowface, nor speaks in a racist accent. He just seems like a pantomime villain drawn from fairy tales rather than a Fu Manchu type (contrast with some of the characters in The Talons of Weng Chiang). The main problem with the story is that while the concept is again quite good, the execution is tedious. The devious traps are all variants on simple children's games and it all wears a bit thin. There isn't really ever a sense of peril and Gough is sort of wasted. We will also see the same concept done a lot better elsewhere.
18. The Rescue- Season 2
This one isn't bad but was kind of OK and forgettable. It really only exists to introduce Vicki, which it does fairly well, but it's just a fairly stagey bottle episode ultimately, with a silly monster and a twist that, from me at least, just elicited a shrug. It's not awful as stories go but it's very lightweight and forgettable and I gave no real desire to watch it again soon.
17. The Gunfighters- Season 3
While it has quite a bad reputation, The Gunfighters is actually alright. The musical bits are quite annoying, but it's pretty funny in parts and is seldom boring. It's not as sophisticated or as funny as a number of other episodes however and is kind of forgettable. OK if you want something lighter.
16. The Daleks- Season 1
Possibly controversial putting it so low down but after an iconic opening episode, which is moody, well shot, tense and brilliantly directed, and the brilliant and iconic design of the Daleks themselves, this becomes very tedious very fast with endless scenes of camp and/or wooden Thals bickering, people getting captured and recaptured, Susan screaming and the abandonment of post apocalyptic bleakness for silly adventuring, tedious runarounds and general daftness.
