10. 'The Power Of The Daleks'
As he would later say 'Logic,my dear Zoe, merely enables one to be wrong with authority'. But in this case we think its entirely right that we begin at the beginning. Bill Hartnell's body wears a bit thin in the final moments of 'The Tenth Planet', and the first regeneration (here called a renewal) reveals a new man, a chap his companion Ben Jackson is initially more than a little suspicious of. His good lady Polly Wright though, takes the whole thing in stride. Confirmation that this man really is the Doctor arrives in the worst possible manner when he's recognised by a Dalek on Vulcan, but not before he sheds his old incarnation's signet ring and reading glasses while finding both a recorder and his 500 Year Diary, which he reads while crossing a mercury swamp. As you do. An early talent for disguise is revealed when he impersonates the murdered Examiner of the Earth colony he's been deposited on, enabling him to get to the bottom of the latest universal conquest scheme by his most popular foes. They need power (hence the title) and have manipulated Lesterson, the chief scientist of the place, into helping them get it. Rule one of early 'Who' is set in stone. And though simple, it's well worth remembering 'don't trust the homicidal robots'. Nobody listens until its too late, sadly. But it's also rightly remembered as one of the best-ever introductions to a new Doctor. Many of the quirks which established the Second as a favourite get their first outing here, and it's a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire. Tristram Cary's incidental music should also prove of interest to the tunefully minded!