NuWhovian here. It took me a while to watch Classic, and between the pacing and missing episodes the early Doctors were tough going.
Then the Third Doctor regenerates into this tall, shock-haired eccentric, and it just... clicked. Tom Baker was peak Classic Who, he is magnetic to watch. I can definitely understand why his version remains iconic.
Even though I grew up with classic Who, it took me a long time to get into One and Two's episodes, as you said, the pacing is very slow. I've gone back to them since and I enjoy them a lot more now. I'm especially impressed with what they tried to achieve on such a limited budget. It sometimes was a complete failure, but every attempt was interesting.
Oh, I agree. What the production pulled off with tighter and tighter budgets is impressive. The Ark in space bubblewrap monster is phenomenal 😂
I've become quite fond of Patrick Troughton's Doctor as well, and I see some of the same quirkiness in his performance as in Tom Baker's. The Second Doctor with Jamie is as memorable as Four with Sarah Jane, just a pity so many episodes were junked.