DWM 60th Anniversary Poll (1)

The new issue of DWM (589) features the first part of the 60th Anniversary Poll. This covers the Hartnell and Troughton stories only. Last month you could vote for Pertwee / Tom Baker stories, and you can currently vote for Davison and Colin Baker, until issue 590 is released.

The plan is, apparently, to identify the top three for each Doctor, then run a further poll to identify the overall winners across all 39 seasons.

The top three Hartnells are:

1. The Dalek Invasion of Earth

2. The Time Meddler

3. The Daleks' Master Plan

One good thing about this poll is that it gives you the three previous poll results for comparison, going back 25 years (1998, 2009, and 2014).

Winner The Dalek Invasion of Earth has always been in the top three, slowly rising from 3rd to 1st). Master Plan has always been in the top five. The rise of The Time Meddler is more significant. In 1998 it could only muster 12th place, then 8th in 2009 and 5th in 2014.

The biggest loser is The Celestial Toymaker, which once ranked 8th (in 1998). It is now 23rd.

One surprise is the poor performance of The Crusade - a story which many regard as one of the very best Historicals. Its recent appearance on the Season 2 Blu-ray collection has done it no favours, as it has dropped out of the top 10 (to 13th).

The recent animation of Galaxy Four has also failed to promote that story, leaving it fourth from bottom.

Bringing up the rear we have The Sensorites (27th), The Space Museum (28th) and finally The Web Planet. Whilst the last story has its problems, the idea that it is the worst Hartnell story I find surprising. Would people really rather watch The Smugglers, or Planet of Giants?

Troughton's top three are:

1. The War Games

2. Tomb of the Cybermen

3. The Power of the Daleks

Number one has become sadly predictable these days. It was the top Troughton (and indeed the top 1960's story overall) in the 50th Anniversary Poll. When even the writers, director and producer remark that it is dreadfully padded, you have to wonder why it is so highly regarded - without going down the "nine episodes of capture / escape while you wait for the Time Lords to arrive" route...

Tomb and Power have always been highly regarded in the polls, though the Cyberman story has been creeping upwards more than the relatively stable Dalek one.

When you compare the two polls, the main thing to notice is the lack of movement in the Troughton one. 13 of the 21 stories have not moved position since the 2014 poll (as opposed to only 3 of the 29 Hartnell stories). The biggest gainer is The Macra Terror - where the animation really has helped - whilst the biggest loser is The Ice Warriors (7th in 1998, 15th today).

The bottom three are The Underwater Menace (19th), The Dominators (20th) and The Space Pirates bringing up the rear.

I sincerely hope that they give us a full, integrated poll once all these sub-polls have been completed. Having a sort of knock-out involving just top three stories will give a warped sense of what people like overall. Personally, my own poll would see a lot more than three Tom Baker / Hinchcliffe / Holmes stories in its top ten, with Hartnell, Troughton and Pertwee filling much of the top 50.