@pete 

Some of my favorite episodes were City of Death, Planet of the Spiders, An Unearthly Child, Marco Polo,Tomb of the Cybermen, Logopolis, Pyramids of Mars, Robot, and The Wheel in Space. I bought both DVD’s and audio versions (including some novelizations) on CD when they were available. I like listening to the stories that are often read by the original cast members just as much as viewing the television episodes. For some of the lost stories such as Marco Polo the audio versions are all that is available. I would like to see more animation since I have been pleased with most of the restored episodes. I would recommend collecting classic Dr. Who especially because it is not always available here in the U.S. and I am not sure of what is still available in other countries such as Australia. 

I don’t think I would have hid behind the sofa because I wouldn’t want to miss any of the classic programs. But looking at classic Dr. Who now it doesn't look like it was anything more frightening than the shows here in the U. S. when I was a child. I don’t think parents had to be too concerned. Now the shows have more of a nostalgic appeal, which is why I still love watching them. 🙂

@pete

I'm not familiar with the "behind the sofa" phrase being applied to Doctor Who here in the US, but part of that might be because I didn't come across it until it aired on PBS, possibly in the late '70s or early '80s, when I was too old to hide from monsters, even Daleks. 

As I recall, I actually saw some of the Sarah Jane Adventures before seeing her very much in classic Who, so one of my first thoughts upon seeing her with Tom Baker's Doctor was "she's so young!" 

Interesting side note about the "behind the sofa" phrase - two of my older 3 children, reminded me the other day, that they hid "behind the sofa" not when watching Doctor Who (as they haven't really seen much of it) but... when they first watched LWW (the Walden film) back in 2019!  Some of the scenes including when the White Witch is introduced and when she kills Aslan.  I didn't remember that they had reacted like this - but they remembered it so.  

Listening to Dr. Who can be just as entertaining as watching it. I have always loved the audio dramas since they are much like the television episodes of the 1960’s and ‘70’s. I haven’t known anyone to hide behind the sofa while listening to the stories, but maybe some people have done it. For something that isn’t so old (many of them were made about ten or fifteen years ago) they sound pretty vintage. The audio dramas recreate the time setting of the classic Doctor Who very well.  🙂

I am now listening to the Dr. Who audiobook The Waters of Amsterdam.  The story is set in the Netherlands and features Peter Davison as the Doctor. It is a story somewhat similar to Arc of Infinity, a television story from the 1980’s which is also set in the same country. These two stories may be the only Dr Who adventures that take place in the Netherlands.  I would strongly recommend both of them especially if you like the fifth Doctor.  The audiobook is just as interesting as the television story. 🙂

https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/The_Waters_of_Amsterdam_(audio_story)

Listening to The Return of the Cybermen audio story I was amazed at how much Sadie Miller’s voice sounds like her mother Elisabeth Sladen.  Sadie plays Sarah Jane decades after this story was written. It is a lost story, or more accurately, a script that was never used for the television series. I think it is quite good, and it was too bad that it was never included in the Dr. Who TV adventures of the 1970’s.  It works quite well as an audiobook and is very enjoyable. Sarah Jane was the greatest companion on Dr. Who.  🙂

https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Return_of_the_Cybermen_(audio_story)