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!
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