Harry -
Well, I wondered how we'd feel after watching all 42 Tom Baker stories in a row. The strongest thing right now is nostalgia. Watching all of his stories took me back to childhood days, being curled up on the living room floor -- way too close to the TV -- and watching that funny man with the funny scarf as he and his nice friends faced all sorts of dangers and saved the day, time and again.
Sarah -
I'll be honest, I kind of want to start over and watch them all again. Tom Baker's Doctor always makes me very nostalgic, too. Having a few years on you, I was a young teenager, staying up late on Sunday nights to watch Doctor Who on public television. It was the best part of the week -- Monty Python at 10:00 p.m., Dave Allen at Large at 10:30, and Doctor Who, run in the movie format, from 11:00 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. I spent Monday mornings in high school in a constant state of exhaustion, but it was so worth it!
Harry -
Tom is the colossus at the centre of the classic series. He made the show an international sensation and cemented its place in pop culture.
Sarah -
For decades, he was the one Doctor who was recognizable to non-viewers. If you mentioned Doctor Who in the 80s and 90s, the inevitable response was, "Oh, the guy with the scarf." He even made three appearances in The Simpsons in the 90s!
Harry -
He was also the only actor to play the Doctor long enough to have visibly aged from his first season to his final one.
Sarah -
Having watched them all in just over a year, it's really striking how much he aged, being a Time Lord and all. He looks so tired at the end, which is perfect for a Time Lord on the verge of regeneration. My first story was the Ribos operation, so I started in Season 16. This meant that I saw Tom's final three seasons first. When WTTW got back around to the beginning of his era, it was like meeting an entirely new Doctor.
Harry -
He started wearing a little thin by the end, but in the beginning he required no breaking in period to get into the role. Tom himself has said countless times that he was the Doctor. He immersed himself in the role from the get-go, grafting his own madcap persona onto that of the character, and he never stepped out of character in public. How's that for method acting?
Sarah -
From the very first moments, he was absolutely the Doctor. There was no growing into the role. He simply WAS.
Harry -
I agree it's tempting to watch this era all over again -- right now! So many stories I could watch over and over and I'm not exaggerating. It's quite possible that Season 12 (Tom's first) is the one season of Doctor Who that I have re-watched the most.
Sarah -
That may well be the case for me, too.
Harry -
It's nearly perfect. Tom is fresh and energetic, UNIT is still part of the scene, Sarah Jane and Harry are fantastic companions, and the stories (Robot, The Ark in Space, The Sontaran Experiment, Genesis of the Daleks, and Revenge of the Cybermen) are all brilliant. Revenge of the Cybermen was my first story and it hooked me forever.
I'd be hard pressed to pick a different season as my favourite. How about you?
Sarah -
I would have to agree on Season 12. Every story is so strong and the entire cast is spot on. Elisabeth Sladen did some heavy lifting as a crossover companion, letting us know that this Doctor was still THE Doctor and ushering in a new era.
Harry -
Once they cleared the remaining UNIT stories out of the cupboard, we entered the era of the Hinchcliffe Horror Homages, easily the high point of classic Who. Planet of Evil, Pyramids of Mars, The Brain of Morbius, the list goes on and on. As much as the stories were "borrowed", they were still undeniably Doctor Who and I'm glad Sarah Jane stayed around for those.
Sarah -
Season 13 is a very close second on my list of favorite seasons. While the stories are mostly homages, they are all perfectly Doctor Who. One of the delights of the season is the perfect chemistry between Sarah Jane and the Doctor. They're both wonderful and Sarah's departure is still one of my saddest moments in Doctor Who. Have you ever listened to the commentary tracks they did together? You can just feel the love they have for each other, even all those years on.
Harry -
If I remember correctly, Tom still had a boyish crush on Lis ,and who wouldn't? Anyway, Hinchcliffe Horror eventually gave way to the zany fun of the Douglas Adams years, represented by the Key to Time season and the high point of the year that followed, City of Death.
Sarah -
These seasons also feature the only Time Lord to have traveled with the Doctor so far -- Romanadvoratrelundar. I'm a big fan of having a companion of equal (or perhaps superior) intelligence traveling with the Doctor. The two Romanas have very different styles, but they've both got the Doctor's number! Going from Leela to Romana may have been one of the most dramatic changes in companion ever.
Harry -
The biggest course change came in the final season. Under John Nathan-Turner and Christopher H. Bidmead, Doctor Who veered towards serious, sober science fiction.
Sarah -
Season 18 has such a different feeling. We say goodbye to Romana and eventually meet the three companions who will carry us over into the Fifth Doctor era. Adric is the only one who has significant screen time with the Fourth Doctor, so I don't usually think of of Nyssa and Tegan as his companions. On this viewing, I couldn't help but feel the weight of the inevitable regeneration getting heavier and heavier with each story. It was a very bittersweet experience.
Harry -
So many varieties of Doctor Who, all with the same lead man. We'll never see something like that again until the new series, where the genres will change from week to week.
Sarah -
It's unlikely that any future Doctor will serve as long as Tom Baker, which is probably for the best -- both for the series and the actor's career.
Harry -
It's great that so many of our favourite companions travelled with Tom, from Sarah Jane and Harry, to Romana and K-9, and finally we watched as Peter Davison's future team of companions was assembled.
It was thrilling news when Tom finally dipped a toe into the world of Doctor Who audios, with the BBC and with Big Finish. It's wonderful to hear his voice again. And his appearance in the 50th anniversary story was sublime. After decades away, there was our Doctor again, face to face with Matt Smith, and being as playful and enigmatic as ever. For me it was the high point of the story. I'm so glad he returned.
Sarah -
Listing to his audios is like seeing a beloved friend after a long absence. The 50th anniversary appearance was a delightful surprise. I have to admit that I started crying the moment he appeared and it's almost the only thing I still remember about the story right now.
Harry -
News of his cameo leaked the day before, but I was still rendered a dripping mess when he appeared. Oh Tom Baker, you will always be our Doctor! I wouldn't give up all the time we've been together for anything.
Sarah -
He's Our Doctor always and forever -- and we have him to thank for making our friendship possible in the first place. Thanks, Tom!
Harry -
Well, shall we check out this new fellow? He's got an excellent team around him already.
Sarah -
I think I'm ready. Let's do it.
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