This is the first in a series of slightly different anniversary posts: I am going to take every year from 1963, list the Doctor Who and related TV, books, audios, and (in 1965 and 1966) films of that year, and reminisce briefly about the first time I encountered any Who of that year’s vintage, as well as my personal favourite and least favourite moments from the selection. No comics, I’m afraid, as I haven’t located an easy-to-use list (though will be happy to incorporate one if I find it). But otherwise I hope to be fairly comprehensive.

We start rather quietly with 1963:

TV
An Unearthly Child (4 episodes)
The Daleks (first 2 episodes)
(For convenience I am using the generally accepted names of stories before The Savages.)

The first Who from 1963 that I encountered: In common with many fans, I watched the rebroadcast of An Unearthly Child as the opening of the Five Faces of Doctor Who season in 1981, so that was my first exposure to the first calendar year of the programme, at the age of 14. (I didn’t see The Daleks until 2006.)

My favourite Who from 1963: I’m going to be very inconsistent about this, picking stories, episodes, and individual moments as we go. But here it’s pretty simple: the opening episode, “An Unearthly Child”, is a fantastic set-up for a series which was meant to last 3 months and has actually managed 50 years. (Honourable mention for the cliff-hanger at the end of the first epsiode of The Daleks.)

Moving swiftly on from: the scene where Carole Ann Ford is running on the spot while the production team hit her with fronds.

So, what was your favourite of the above? What is the best bit? (And if you like, what is the worst bit?)

1963 | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013