Between 1963 to 1989 the BBC aired 159 adventures of DOCTOR WHO. Most of these were 90 minutes long consisting of four 25 minute episodes. Each episode ending with a cliffhanger. Some were lame, but most were very good. Those cliffhangers were essential in getting us new fans addicted (and I mean ADDICTED!) to the show. The Doctor (he has no known name) is a renegade Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey who stole a time machine called a TARDIS (Time and Relative Dimensions in Space) and with at least one companion, travels throughout time and space. As a Time Lord, The Doctor can "regenerate" up to 11 times, which means all 7 actors who played him ARE the same character! I have seen every adventure every made that wasn't erased by the BBC, so I'll cover each Doctor in order:
William Hartnell: (1963-1966) Of the surviving stories, only LAND OF THE GIANTS is a classic. I can't stand crappy b/w film, but that one was a clever one. Sadly, Mr. Hartnell left the series because he had MS. He died in 1975, before the show reach it's international fame.
Patrick Troughton: (1966-1969) Almost all of his adventures were lost, but of those that survive, THE WAR GAMES is his best. It was also his last. He died at a fan convention in Atlanta in 1987...how sad!
Jon Pertwee: (1970-1974) The problem with his era was the tiresome use of UNIT and The Master (Roger Delgado, who died in 1973). However, Pertwee did 6 classics: INFERNO, THE DEAMONS, THE THREE DOCTORS, CARNIVAL OF MONSTERS, PLANET OF THE DALEKS, and DEATH TO THE DALEKS. In retrospect, Pertwee made a huge mistake leaving the series, it was just about to get extraordinarily great with a new producer (Phillip Hinchcliffe) and script editor (Robert Holmes). Pertwee died in 1996.
Tom Baker: (1974-1981) With Hinchcliffe and Holmes at the helm, DW deliberately focused on Gothic-horror, and it absolutely worked! Baker's first 3 1/2 years (or the pre-K9 years) were the greatest in the show's history. From ROBOT through IMAGE OF THE FENDAHL, almost every adventure is a classic or near-classic! So what happened? DW became too controversial for many. Conservative citizens like the late Mary Whitehouse lobbied the BBC to fire producer Hinchcliffe and make changes! (Why can't these people just change the channel?!) The 1976-1977 was the greatest single season in DW history, but it was also the last for Hinchcliffe. When he left so did script editor Robert Holmes. He still wrote for DW but he was no longer re-writing all of the scripts personally. Also, David Maloney, the series' greatest director, left to produce the BBC series BLAKE'S 7(1978-1981). That show flourished at the expense of DW, since it was created by the late/great Terry Nation (Daleks/Davros creator). Another talented writer, Chris Boucher (ROBOTS OF DEATH) also left DW for B7! Not to mention all the technical, f/x, designers, and so forth that would have been working for DW. Talented director Douglas Camfeild (SEEDS OF DOOM) left as well! New producer, Graham Williams got off to a great start with HORROR OF FANG and FENDAHL. But after those two-the smart, scary stories were gone forever! DW was now a gimmicky, sci-fi junk series. The K9 dog was the essence of that changed philosophy. Between THE SUNMAKERS (when K9 became a full-time cast member) through WARRIOR'S GATE, (of those 20 stories) there are only 3 classics: THE PIRATE PLANET, STONES OF BLOOD and STATE OF DECAY.
Peter Davison: (1981-1984) Producer John Nathan-Turner (JNT, who died in 2002), did so many right things: A new glossy title sequence, updating the music, more money into the series, killing Adric off, casting Davison, creating Tegan and Nyssa, promoting the show abroad, bringing back the Cybermen, The Master (a wonderful Anthony Ainley!) and other classic monsters. Sure he made mistakes, but of the 19 Davison adventures, few are turkeys. THE FIVE DOCTORS launched the second best season ('83-'84) the show ever had with winners like FRONTIOS, PLANET OF FIRE, RESURRECTION OF THE DALEKS (with a moving farewell scene from Janet Fielding's Tegan). And of course...THE CAVES OF ANDROZANI. For fans who still worship the Tom Baker era only, Baker himself has admitted in interviews over the years that he made a mistake in leaving the show when he did. The JNT-Davison era was wonderful!
Colin Baker: (1984-1986) From this point on I can't defend JNT, script editor Eric Saward or DW. REVELATION OF THE DALEKS is a classic but all the other stories are awful. On Feb. 27th 1985, BBC-1 head Michael Grade stunned fans (especially those in America) when he put DW on hiatus for 18 months...effectively killing it. I wish Grade had just canceled the show outright. We would've been spared the dreadful TRIAL OF A TIME LORD season, easily the worst season in DW history!
Sly McCoy: (1987-1989) Many fans insist that DW was making a comeback. Perhaps it was, and McCoy was good if a bit "lispy". But all the fun of the show was long gone! The untimely death of writer Bob Holmes in 1986, was the final nail in the coffin for DW. So long as Holmes was around, there was still some hope...
Before I go, let me give you my 5 favorite DW adventures:
1) THE CAVES OF ANDROZANI (1984) Easily the greatest DW adventure ever made!
2) THE PIRATE PLANET (1978) From the mind of the late/great Douglas Adams!
3) EARTHSHOCK (1982) JNT's finest moment as producer. He somehow kept the two big secrets from both the media and viewers!
4) REVELATION OF THE DALEKS (1985) Are you picking your nose? (!)
5) PYRAMID OF MARS (1975) If you see only one DW story, make it this one!
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