If you decide to jump back to the original series, also keep in mind the time at which they were filmed. I tried watching the original 1963 run and was just disgusted by how the female actors were treated… The whole “you need a strong man to save you”, and the constant “woman screams every time an alien shows up”. I know we’ve come a long way since then, but it’s really a slap in the face considering how relatively recent that is within our history.
Then again, cartoons from the 1930’s? Hoo boy the massive amount of open racism.
But if you really get interested in Doctor Who and want to see the history of the many story lines, then you just have to bite down and blast through them.
I guess it bugs me more because I’ve watched ST:TOS and never had such a horrid feeling from those episodes. Someone once told me the early episodes showed how much the Doctor grew over time, from an elitist to someone who truly cared for everyone, but I have to wonder how much of that was simply the writers themselves realizing they could do better?