The Weekend of the Doctor

Since I was watching "The Day of the Doctor" on Amazon Instant instead of cable, and had to wait a day to see it, I figured I'd make the most of it and turn it into a full weekend celebration. Starting Saturday afternoon, I watched one story from each Doctor as a warm-up for the new episode.

1. The Aztecs - Not my first choice by far, but it was the only first Doctor show I had handy.
2. Tomb of the Cybermen - One of my favorite stories from any Doctor.
3. The Three Doctors - Seemed appropriate, considering what was coming.
4. Genesis of the Daleks - A hard choice because there's so much great stuff in the Tom Baker run and I have a fair amount of it. I almost went with the "The Brain of Morbius" because of the tie-in with "Night of the Doctor," but the awesomeness of this particular episode was too much to resist.
5. Resurrection of the Daleks - The other strong candidate here was "The Caves of Androzani," but this is another good one and I thought it would be a fun pairing with number six.
6. Attack of the Cybermen - I was tempted to go with "Vengeance on Varos," another of my all-around favorites, but like I said, the story arc from the previous Doctor made this seem like a better choice. I wonder now if I shouldn't have picked one of the ones with the Valeyard, though. He was also the Doctor, after all.
7. Ghost Light - Ace is one of my favorite companions, but most of the episodes she's in are just grodawful. This one is pretty crazy, but in a way I enjoy.
8. Doctor Who (Fox TV Movie) - Didn't have much choice here, although I did follow it up with "Night of the Doctor." It's a pity Paul McGann didn't get more of a chance. 
9. Dalek - Eccleston is my Doctor, so I kinda wanted to watch the whole season. "Dalek" seemed like the best single episode for summing up what's distinctive about this incarnation, though.
10. School Reunion - Sarah Jane, K-9, and Mister Giles. How could I not? This one also stands out as one of the few Doctor Who episodes in which I wanted him to side with the villain. 
11. The Name of the Doctor - I didn't pick this episode so much as a representative of the 11th Doctor (since I was about to watch another of his episodes anyway) as for the fact that it looked like it was leading directly into the new one.

I got through the first eight on Saturday and finished up the others Sunday morning. Well, technically it was Sunday when I watched seven and eight, but it was Saturday night to me. I don't have any special insights to share about Day of the Doctor. In fact, I go out of my way to avoid analyzing Doctor Who, at least until I've enjoyed it unfiltered a few times. I'm happy to say that it was lots of fun, though.