The David Tennant Era - Final Thoughts

Harry -

As eras go, this one was as grand as they come. An energetic Doctor, big blockbuster stories, and New Who at its pop culture peak.

Sarah -

Oh, those heady days of the RTD Era! The mere existence of Doctor Who was nothing short of a miracle. Everything was awesome just because it existed. Well, maybe not everything, but I was willing to let some (or maybe a lot of) stuff slide because it was Doctor Freaking Who on my television, which I never thought was going to happen again.

Revisiting the Tennant Era has been challenging. So many of the things I was able to brush off on first watch really got under my skin this time around.

Harry -

Totally agree. The giddiness of watching season after season of New Who was great when it first happened. Having completed a repeat view of this era, there was so much that got under my skin. The arrogance of the Doctor. The season-finale blockbusters that were so much noise without much story. RTD's maternal issues playing out every time we met a companion's mum. And complicated relationships taking over from simple friendships when it came to the Doctor's travelling companions.

Sarah -

Seriously, what is it with RTD and mothers? Writing every companion's mother as difficult is positively pathological!

Harry -

We encountered some brilliant new aliens, from the Sisters of Plenitude to the Weeping Angels to Vashta Nerada. Historically, we met Queen Victoria, William Shakespeare and Agatha Christie. I loved all of these encounters and they delivered on what we love and expect from Doctor Who.

Sarah -

And two fabulous new companions! Martha and Donna are both favorites of mine, despite how they're treated by the show. My favorite Martha moment is when she walks away from the TARDIS because she knows she deserves more. It feels a little obvious to have her end up with Mickey, another companion treated badly by the Doctor, but in my head cannon they're having a wonderful life together.

Harry -

Yes, it was nice to see a couple of characters who endured "complicated relationships" in the show find happiness with each other. While kicking Sontaran asses.

Sarah -

I was so angry when Donna was robbed of all her growth the first time around and was just as angry this time around. I hope Donna has a wonderful life with her husband -- and her lottery winnings.

Harry -

Donna ranks very high on my list of fave companions and I will not forgive RTD for the way he wrote her out of the Doctor's life. Once again, Big Finish saved the day by rolling out new audio adventures for them, and they've been great!

I have to go back to the blockbuster finales as what was most disappointing from this era. The stakes in these stories were so wildly massive and just unfathomable (from the fate of the Earth all the way up to the fate of existence itself) that they were hard to engage with.

Sarah -

Right? I like a good finale, but they got to be just too much.

Harry -

But there were some wonderful gems in this era. "School Reunion", "Human Nature/The Family of Blood", and :Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead" will always be classics of this era for me.

Sarah -

Absolutely. Now that we've finished the era, I'll probably dip back to watch old favorites now and then, but there will be other stories I don't think I'll be rushing to see.

Harry -

Yeah, it was good to rewatch this era right around the 10-year anniversary of Tennant's departure. Given some distance and some contrast with subsequent eras, it settles nicely into the history of the show. At the time it was so loud and mega, seemingly the be all and end all of the revived series, but now I think of it as just one way to do Doctor Who. As with all previous eras, I'll check out certain episodes again, but there are some I'm glad we may never have to watch again.

Sarah - 

We started this project just after Matt Smith's first series ended and I decided at the beginning that I would avoid rewatching stories until we reached them in our marathon. This means I've been waiting to rewatch the Smith era for 10 years! I am so ready to move on. 

Harry - 

Same here!  Farewell Tennant and RTD, on to Smith and Moffat!

Sarah - 

Allons-y!

Our marathon resumes with Story #203: The Eleventh Hour...

The Christopher Eccleston Era - Final Thoughts

Harry -
He burned brightly, but not for very long.


Sarah -
I try not to imagine what could have been.


Harry -
Christopher Eccleston was an inspired choice to resurrect Doctor Who. He was a known name and bona fide star right out of JNT's "bums in seats" strategy. But more than that, Eccleston delivered a combination of darkness and ferocity that was perfect for a Doctor who had just survived the last great Time War.


Sarah -
He was unlike any Doctor we had seen before, but he was undoubtedly the Doctor. In his leather jacket and black trousers, the Ninth Doctor was stripped down and ready for the 21st Century.


Harry -
A no-nonsense selection from the TARDIS wardrobe. This was very appreciated. 

RTD opened the door to a generation of new viewers by going back to the original recipe as you might call it, cloaking this character in mystery before the eyes of a very human character, Rose Tyler.


Sarah -
As we've discussed before, the stakes were high. I'll always remember the anxiety I felt when I heard Doctor Who was coming back. The trauma of "The TV Movie" was still very fresh in my memory and I wasn't ready for another disappointing version of Doctor Who. I sat down to watch "Rose" feeling unsure about what I was about to watch, and almost immediately realized my fears were unfounded. 

I will have many critiques in the coming seasons, but I will always love and adore Russell T. Davies for bringing our favorite show back after 16 long and painful years. He navigated so many potential land mines this first series and almost always got it right.


Harry -
He also brought something new to the Doctor, as in things that would be new to longtime fans as well. The Time War was just as much a mystery to us as to everyone else. It's a great chunk of the Doctor's history that we continue to learn about.

In terms of new monsters, this was a bit of a let down. The Gelth, the Slitheen, the Jagrafess, the Time Reapers... none of them really spectacular. What was spectacular was seeing classic monsters updated with contemporary production values. Restarting the show with Autons was brilliant. The Daleks were the star villains of this season and they never looked or sounded better.


Sarah -
After the Wilderness Years, Doctor Who was finally in the hands of people who loved it and wanted it to succeed. I wonder if RTD could have ever imagined how huge Doctor Who would become. Sometimes, I'm still caught off guard by its popularity.


Harry -
Not a day goes by here in Toronto without me seeing something Doctor Who-related (an item of clothing, a toy, a mini-Doctor figurine -- and that's not just around my household!). The ratings may have dipped in the past season, which had a segment of fandom freaking out, but I'm not worried. The show is a staple of SF and pop culture and will go on forever. Yes, forever!


Sarah -
So say we all!


Harry -
Speaking of going on, that was something that Christopher Eccleston would not do. 

Maybe the biggest shocker of new series one was that this fantastic new Doctor would only be around for one season. I can't remember when we found this out, but it was well before The Parting of the Ways hit the airwaves. What happened? What went wrong? Was Eccleston always meant to be a popular draw for a single season? Why did he abruptly leave? The rumours flew fast and furious, but the consensus arrived at was that Eccleston had a falling out with the showrunners and decided to walk. We still await his juicy tell-all memoir. As the years have passed, everyone's sentiments seem to have softened. In a recent interview, Eccleston regretted that he didn't continue despite the difficulties behind the scenes of series one. 


Sarah -
We can only hope that the recent rapprochement will lead to his eventual return to the fold. 

Harry -
I see that Big Finish have given it a go, rolling out a series of Ninth Doctor stories, but with neither Eccleston nor Billie Piper.  

Looks like we are still some ways off before he'll be back.


Sarah -
Until then, we have thirteen excellent episodes to enjoy. 

You know what? He really was fantastic.


Harry -
So was series one!  While RTD deserves massive amounts of plaudits for reviving the world's greatest television programme, it was Christopher Eccleston who was the first "face" of the new franchise and I'm glad it was him.

The Paul McGann Era - Final Thoughts

Harry -
How to sum up the Paul McGann era of Doctor Who? It's really two eras: the single appearance in the televised Movie, and then the years of BBC novels and Big Finish audios that followed. We've left out these aspects of other Doctors' eras for the most part, but they are almost the entirety of McGann's portrayal of the Doctor.


Sarah -
Once again, we bow our heads in thanks for the wonder that is Big Finish. They've extended the eras of all of the Doctors, but Paul McGann and Colin Baker are the Doctors who have most benefitted from Big Finish. Baker finally got some decent stories, without being encumbered by a clown costume, and Paul McGann got to be a real Doctor. Before listening to his Big Finish stories, I have to admit I considered the Eighth Doctor to be little more than a footnote. Big Finish (and Steven Moffat, but that's a story for another day) finally made McGann's Doctor canon for me.


Harry -
Having just watched the entirety of the televised McGann era, it begs the old question: was it short because it was unsuccessful, or was it unsuccessful because it was short?


Sarah -
It's kind of a chicken-and-egg conundrum, isn't it? In retrospect, the TV Movie is the hinge between the classic and contemporary eras of Doctor Who. I love all the callbacks -- the Fourth Doctor's scarf, finding his clothes in the hospital staff locker room just like the Third Doctor, the return of the sonic screwdriver, etc. -- but it's also mapping out a future for when Doctor Who returns, nine years hence.


Harry -
I remember there was so much uproar over things like The Kiss, and the Master's portrayal, and the half-human thing, and other supposed outrages. But the Movie introduced these things that the new series grabbed and ran with. Watching the Movie again, none of these things boiled my blood as they might have before.


Sarah -
The half-human thing has fortunately been dropped.


Harry -
One thing that still boils my blood is that silly wig they made McGann wear. Luckily, we can imagine that he got a haircut immediately after the events of the Movie.


Sarah -
That wig is the worst. Why would you put a stupid wig on an amazingly handsome actor? I like to think his first stop after leaving Grace was the closest barbershop.


Harry -
Agreed. The next time we see this Doctor, he's still got a shock of curls up top, but the flowing locks have been trimmed around the back and sides. A much better look.


Sarah -
A very good look, indeed!


Harry -
I've read a bunch of the earlier Eighth Doctor novels and what I like best about them is the freedom each author is given to explore the character. The template is so minimal that the Doctor could be whatever that writer wanted him to be. I don't have to be fussed with things like "hmm, that doesn't sound like him," or "that captures him perfectly,". In some books we end up with a generic, stock Doctor, but in others he's bursting with character.

McGann was able to put his own stamp on the Doctor via the Big Finish audios, and he's been great in those. Confident but calm, he seldom raises his voice, but he never hesitates to jump into action either. He's unencumbered by stock phrases or physical gimmicks. Would that be a postive or a negative?


Sarah -
I think of it as a change of pace. And, oh, that voice!


Harry -
As far as his televised era, there's not much else we haven't already covered in our review of the Movie. It's time to wade back into the wilderness years.


Sarah -
And this time, their end is just around the corner.


Harry -
Kudos to Steven Moffat for going back in time to wrap up the Eighth Doctor's era as part of the 50th anniversary festivities. We'll see Paul McGann again, in the future, back in the Doctor's past.


Sarah -
That was one of my favorite bits of the 50th. It just felt so right. I look forward to revisiting the Eighth Doctor in a few years. Until then, it's time for a little comic relief. 

Our marathon continues with the 1999 special, The Curse of Fatal Death...

The Sylvester McCoy Era - Final Thoughts

Harry -
As we take a look back on the final era of classic Who, I can't help but feel sentimental. I didn't watch the McCoy era until I reconnected with Who in my 20s. In my mind these stories are always "early 90s Who."

Of course there's no such thing, as those were the wilderness years following the show's cancellation.


Sarah -
Seasons 24 and 25 were both broadcast on WTTW in 1989, so the McCoy era is firmly rooted in the late 80s for me. I didn't see the season 26 stories until later in the 90s, so they almost felt more like a sad postscript than new Doctor Who.


Harry -
Do you remember when you found out that Doctor Who had been cancelled?


Sarah -
Do I ever! It was announced on WTTW that the BBC had stopped production and I was devastated. It just didn't seem possible. WTTW continued to broadcast Doctor Who until the summer of 1991, but not in its usual Sunday night time slot, so I eventually lost track of when it was on and stopped watching. I had boxes full of VHS tapes, so I could always get a Doctor Who fix when I needed it, but it wasn't the same.


Harry -
I lost track of the show in the late-80s, so the news never hit me as one of those "I remember exactly when..." moments. I just read about it one day and figured that the show was now consigned to be part of my childhood.  I was so wonderfully wrong!


Sarah -
One of my favorite books is The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. In the book, Oscar gets his nickname, Wao, when he dresses up as Tom Baker one Halloween and his friend Yunior (the narrator) says he looks like Oscar Wilde. Later in the book, Yunior observes that he knew things were bad with Oscar when he wasn't upset by the news of Doctor Who's cancellation. The Doctor who references aren't the reason I love the book so much, but I knew exactly what Yunior when I read the book in 2007. If you were a Whovian back in the day, you wouldn't just carry on after getting the news.


Harry -
Not knowing anything about all the behind-the-scenes stuff that led to the show's demise, I initially had negative feelings towards Sylvester, somehow blaming him for being "the last Doctor". It was wrong-headed thinking of course. Once I caught up to his stories and especially when I got to know Ace, I took a real shine to that era.


Sarah -
Poor Syl, just another BBC victim. I'm happy you've seen the error of your ways.


Harry -
He came in after the chaos of the Colin Baker years. JN-T was given one last chance and rebooted the entire show with new production look and feel, new writing and script editing, and a new star. I have to admit that Sylvester's first season is not the greatest, but once they hit their stride the show really took off again.


Sarah -
Season 24 isn't the strongest, but you can see the changes slowly coming.


Harry -
Script editor Andrew Cartmel brought forward expansive stories with big ideas, and JN-T delivered some very cinematic-style adventures like "Remembrance of the Daleks" and "The Curse of Fenric". Even quickie stories like "Silver Nemesis" and "Survival" showed ambition to be bigger than just a TV show.


Sarah -
You could have almost understood canceling the show at the end of Season 23, but each season of the McCoy Era was stronger than the last. In the end, I guess we should be grateful that we got three more seasons.


Harry -
Stupid BBC man. The show was back on an upward trajectory in my opinion.


Sarah -
I really love Sylvester McCoy. To be fair, I'm one of those fans who loves all the Doctors. Some more than others, of course, but every one of them is dear to me. I know there are many who really dislike McCoy's Doctor, which always makes me a little sad. His performance is delightful and his chemistry with Sophie Aldred is among the best in Doctor-Companion history.


Harry -
His hamminess could grate at times, but like the Second Doctor, silly behaviour was part of his cover. I didn't mind it at all this time around.


Sarah -
I will always remember how delightful they were at Chicago TARDIS and Sly's kindness towards my very shy daughter. Meeting them was amazing.


Harry -
It was a highlight of our conventioneering.


Sarah -
Oh, Sophie, Our Sophie! I feel like I could go on and one about Ace for hours. I know we are of one mind on this and both rank Ace as one of our all-time favorite companions. Ace is so different from any companion who came before her and is pivotal in the series history. So many of the the themes in Ace's story will become the prototype for Rose's character sixteen years on.


Harry -
Ace is amazing, end of story.

She was the first of the Doctor's friends to be given depth and backstory. She wasn't just tagging along and asking questions in every adventure. The Doctor challenged her to confront her demons, and pushed her to dark places. He treated her like shit at times! But he always meant well and it made Ace all the stronger.


Sarah -
I think Cartmel gets all the credit for Ace's character development. There were so many companions who started out strong, but fell victim to writers who were more interested in creating their own characters than they were in developing the companions. (I would cite the Fifth Doctor Era as the prime example of this conundrum.) Cartmel developed Ace's story arc and maintained discipline among his writers. For that alone, he will always have my gratitude.


Harry -
In this era, JN-T rolled out all the classic baddies -- including Daleks, Cybermen, the Master and the Rani -- and we also got to catch up with Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart one more time. In terms of new monsters, a lot of them were human. Thinking of scummy types like Gavrok in "Delta and the Bannermen," Helen A in "The Happiness Patrol," and the evil clown in "The Greatest Show in the Galaxy." The two real "monstery" monsters that come to mind from this era are the Destroyer in "Battlefield" and good old, game playing Fenric. I believe Fenric is the only McCoy era creation to have made subsequent appearances in the Whoniverse, via Big Finish.

Which of them stand out for you, Sarah?


Sarah -
I loved seeing the Brig, Sabalom Glitz, and Ainley's Master one more time -- the Brig most of all, of course. Fenric is the most substantial of baddies introduced in this era. We should track down those audios for future listening. 

"Remembrance of the Daleks" has always been, and continues to be, my favorite Seventh Doctor story. This time around, I especially enjoyed "The Curse of Fenric" and "Battlefield", and I still have a soft spot for "Paradise Towers".


Harry -
My McCoy era soft spot goes to "Delta and the Bannermen." Remembrance for sure is a favourite. From the final season, Fenric ranks highest.


Sarah -
So, we did it. We made our way through all 26 seasons of the classic era and here we are in the wilderness years. Having lived through them the first time, it's a relief that we don't have to wait so long for more Doctor Who. If I can borrow a line from the Doctor: 

There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, where the sea's asleep and the rivers dream, people made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice and somewhere else the tea is getting cold. Come on, Harry, we've got work to do.


Harry -
We have a couple of stops to make in the wilderness years. Let's do it!

 





Our marathon continues with the 1993 special, Dimensions in Time...

The Colin Baker Era - Final Thoughts

Harry -
Poor Colin!


Sarah -
Poor, poor Colin.


Harry -
He came into the role dreaming of surpassing Tom Baker in longevity and success, but when he was unceremoniously dumped by JN-T after "The Trial of a Time Lord", he became the shortest-serving Doctor ever (at the time).


Sarah -
Talk about dashed hopes! Poor Colin was the victim of forces far beyond his control.


Harry -
Right place, wrong time. Looking back on his era, it was a maelstrom. The change that the Doctor heralded at the end of "The Caves of Androzani" turned out to be mostly unwelcome. Nastily violent stories, bickering leads, terrible costumes, and a general sense that things just weren't right anymore. The Doctor was still the Doctor, but his larger-than-life brashness took some getting used to. Thirty years later, with the help of Big Finish, I think I've finally gotten used to it.


Sarah -
I stuck with the series through the Sixth Doctor era. Of course, the way Doctor Who ran on WTTW, I always knew it would only be a matter of weeks before we found ourselves back in the Third or Fourth Doctor era, so it was easy to hang in there. 

I will not lie, Colin Baker was a bit jarring, especially after affable Peter Davison. My then deep dislike of Peri did not help at all. And that costume! It was like chopsticks to the eyes. 

This time out, I found myself more open to this Doctor and really enjoyed Colin's performance -- even when the scripts were bunk.


Harry -
Being prepared for the horrors makes them more tolerable.


Sarah -
Good point.


Harry -
JN-T certainly laid out a first season that might have rivalled Tom Baker's. Cybermen, Sontarans, Daleks, The Master, the Second Doctor -- all bums-in-seats stuff. We also met Sil and the Rani for the first time. Plenty of big name attractions to go around, but the stories themselves didn't really live up to their billing. A fault of the writers, or the script editor, or the behind-the-scenes difficulties at the time? Probably a combination of those things.


Sarah -
There's plenty of blame to go around.


Harry -
On to the Trial of a Time Lord season, where the show was literally hanging on and art imitated life. The Doctor survived, but Colin didn't. He and Nicola Bryant have gone on to become great ambassadors for the show and have provided lots more entertainment via the audio adventures.


Sarah -
If I remember correctly, it took a couple years to finally get "The Trial of a Time Lord" in Chicago. It had been long enough since I'd seen any Sixth Doctor stories that I remember being delightfully surprised by Trial of a Time Lord. So I guess Colin went out on a high note for me. Of course, I had no idea what had gone on behind the scenes.


Harry -
Lasting just over two seasons, it's hard to point to anything about this era that left a lasting imprint on the show, other than (regretably) what not to do with Doctor Who.

Sarah, can you find a bright light in all of this?


Sarah -
A bright light is asking for a lot, but I'm glad we rewatched these stories. I have a soft spot for Colin and Nicola these days -- and not just because Colin once asked if my daughter and I were sisters. That rascal!


Harry -
He's charming in person and always larger-than-life, whether you like it or not!


Sarah -
And, of course, we'll always have Big Finish!


Harry -
Very happy for that!


Sarah -
I'll always be grateful they finally gave Colin Baker the stories he deserves.


Harry -
After the 1985 hiatus, the BBC hacked down the number of Doctor Who episodes, leaving the production team with just 14 episodes to tell the entire 1986 season. The classic era would be limited to this allotment the rest of the way. JN-T decided it was time to refresh the series with a new Doctor, new script editor, new writers and hopefully a new direction. Are you ready for the Sylvester McCoy era?


Sarah -
I have mostly happy memories of the Seventh Doctor's era and I'm ready to go!

The Peter Davison Era - Final Thoughts

Harry -
The Peter Davison Era marks the end of an era for me. His early stories were the last ones I watched on TVOntario as a kid. After that, I lost track of the Doctor for a time, as he wandered to other channels and my teenage interests wandered elsewhere. I wouldn't catch up with the Colin and Sylvester eras until years after their original broadcasts.


Sarah -
I did not know that. Perhaps it was a wise time to stop! Peter Davison was my second Doctor. I started watching Doctor Who with "The Ribos Operation", which was just chance, but is an excellent story with which to start. Fortunately, I had been primed by my cousin on the concept of regeneration (and the fact that WTTW would get back to showing Tom Baker again so I could catch up on the rest of my Doctor's stories).


Harry -
There will always be a warm glow about this era for us. I remember Adric as this amazing starchild who travelled with the Doctor. I didn't have any standout memories of the other companions, but I always remember this Doctor as "the friendly young one". Watching all the stories again in order certainly brought a whole new perspective.


Sarah -
In the years I was regularly watching Doctor Who, I would have had the chance to see all of the Fifth Doctor's stories at least twice. I've watched some random stories in recent years, but this is the first time I've watched them all through in order since the the 80's. I concur on having a whole new perspective.

While I loved the Romanas in the Fourth Doctor's era, the Fifth Doctor's tenure is when I really emotionally imprinted on the companions. I immediately understood Adric. I was around the same age and, yeah, he was annoying -- but I was surrounded by annoying teenage boys, so at least I could understand where he was coming from. As I've mentioned, I liked Adric so much that I named my cat after him. I've only named one pet in my entire life and I picked Adric. (So suck it, haters!) I'm still devastated every time I watch Earthshock and had forgotten that the Fifth Doctor's last word was "Adric."

Like all the companions in this era, he only had a few chances to shine and his best moments were with the Fourth Doctor. I’d like to see some Big Finish stories featuring Adric and Nyssa, with whom he always had the best chemistry.


Harry -
Both the novels of the wilderness years and the Big Finish audios have done well in filling the gaps between televised stories.


Sarah -
It was great to have Matthew Waterhouse join the TARDIS team for some stories. I'm hoping there will be more.

Nyssa has never made a strong impression on me and this rewatch made me understand why – she’s constantly being left behind in the TARDIS or shunted to the side. I need to make time to listen to the Nyssa-Fifth Doctor Big Finish stories to develop a better understanding of Sarah Sutton’s portrayal.


Harry -
I concluded that it was a lack of discipline on the show-runners' part at the time that writers were able to boot characters they weren't interested in into the TARDIS for an episode or two, or three.


Sarah -
And then there was Tegan. I loved Tegan and adored Janet Fielding's performance when I was a teenager. As an adult, I am so frustrated by the way the character was treated. Mister-Nice-Guy Doctor is surprisingly hostile towards her far more often than I remembered. While I appreciate the friendship between Tegan and Nyssa, I would say Turlough is her best match of all the companions.


Harry -
I very much enjoyed following Tegan's journey. She stood out from all the other companions by the force of her personality (and her accent). In addition to the far-too-many times that the Doctor dismissed her, it was sad that in the end she decided that she couldn't handle the violence and death that accompanied the Doctor wherever he went.


Sarah -
She suffered some brutal moments during her time in the TARDIS.

As for Turlough, he may be the most neglected companion of all. Once he stopped trying to kill the Doctor, there was almost nothing for him to do. Some of his scenes with Tegan stand out for me, but little else.


Harry -
One thing we got in these three seasons was a lot of returning monsters. Daleks, Cybermen, Silurians, Sea Devils. Of the new monsters, I liked the Terileptils most and would love to see them return. Other than that, we got a lot of slow-moving, sad-looking props.


Sarah -
It was good to give some of the classic foes a break so we could appreciate having them back.


Harry -
In terms of the look and feel of the show as we moved deeper into the 80s, you could hear a much more "synthy" soundtrack in more stories. By the time we get to "The Caves of Androzani", the scenery is dominated by the pastel neons that are so much a part of that decade. Everyone suddenly grew giant shoulders and hair too.


Sarah -
It was a glorious time to be alive!


Harry -
After two consecutive "man of action" Doctors in Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker, Peter Davison gave us a quieter, more affable Doctor. He was certainly one who was content to hold back and let others do some heavy lifting for him. I'm reminded immediately of Tegan and Nyssa hauling his zero room coffin up to Castrovalva!


Sarah -
There's something telling about a Doctor spending much of his first story in a box!


Harry -
One thing that struck me as we were reviewing "The Caves of Androzani": we both loved how much the Doctor returned to his "man of action" persona. It presented me with a bit of a conundrum. Because we liked the most Pertwee/Baker-esque of Peter Davison's stories, does that present an indictment of the entire Davison era? Was this Doctor too content too often to let the action happen around him, rather than driving the action himself? Did he force his companions to do too much, resulting in burn out, or in the most tragic case, loss of life? Having watched the entire era in order, I can't help wishing this Doctor had been more assertive in these stories, to stop events from spiralling out of control. Not sure if that makes sense. Am I being completely loopy here Sarah?


Sarah -
I think you've hit it on the head. I was really looking forward to reaching these stories and spending time with this version of the TARDIS team. Perhaps my expectations were too high, but it felt like a series of disappointments. Poor character development, sloppy scripts, some really, really sketchy sets and monsters -- and this on a series beloved for its sketchy sets and monsters!

There are some high points -- "Earthshock", "The Caves of Androzani" -- and low points -- "Time-Flight" -- but most of the stories are just mediocre. The blame is usually laid at the feet of JN-T and Eric Saward and I can't disagree. No one was taking care with Doctor Who. While devoting himself to the preservation of the series, it feels like JN-T wasn't paying much attention to the actual product. Doctor Who's history is filled with strong producers and script editors who made the show a success Doctor after Doctor.

If you had asked me my opinions of the Third and Fifth Doctors' eras at the beginning of this project I would have said that the Third Doctor's era was OK and the Fifth Doctor's was brilliant. Having rewatched all their stories, the Third Doctor's era has become one of my absolute favorites. I've gone back to rewatch many of John Pertwee's stories since we discussed them because there's so much there. We have Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks to thank for that.

Will rewatch any of Peter Davison's stories as we move along in our marathon? Maybe Earthshock and Caves, but I can't imagine wanting to see anything else for a long while.


Harry -
Knowing what's ahead, this era was the calm before the storm. Onscreen, the Doctor is about to become louder, brasher and more openly manipulative. Less sensitive, less likeable, I guess. As for the show itself, it is about to be plunged into troubled waters, as behind the scenes anxieties influenced the product on the screen.


Sarah -
It will be a big change from Peter Davison. How do you feel about his performance as the Doctor?


Harry -
Peter was only 29 when he signed on to play the Doctor -- the youngest by far to that point. He was bound to be different from the preceeding Doctors for that reason alone. After Tom Baker's larger-than-life portrayal of the character, the new Doctor was calmer by design -- a deliberate shift in character. In various commentaries Peter has said that he would have played a certain scene or a certain story differently, but everyone says that when looking back on their work. What stands out most about his Doctor is the very fact that he stands out. He's not in-your-face, he's more likely to draw you in towards him. He's affable, not bombastic. He's more likely to slip into a room than burst in. When he raised his voice it was in annoyance, not arrogance. Quite simply, he was nice. And that's a nice Doctor to be able to revisit once in a while.


Sarah -
Peter Davison is such a good actor and he's had perhaps the most successful career of all the actors to have played the Doctor. There are so many times when the script gives him nothing to do and his talents feel wasted. It's a pity he wasn't give more to work with.


Harry -
Not to keep harping on it, but knowing what's ahead, we will miss these, calmer, quieter days. Very soon I should think!

Shall we?


Sarah -
Brave Heart, Harry. I'll be right by your side through it all!

The Tom Baker Era - Final Thoughts

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.