Lets make something very clear: There is no way Robot is better than Shada. That is all.
Rank & Rate: The Tom Baker Era
- Thread starter Emperor-Tiberius
- Start date
While the according Jon Pertwee Era thread wasn't the resounding success, participation-wise, that I wanted it to be, I nevertheless still want to continue this trend for the following Doctors, in hopes of attracting more people in the talks.
This time, we follow Tom Baker, the legendary Fourth Doctor, the most iconic Doctor of them all. His time was also distinct for having three different producers work on the show, applying their own sensibilities and understanding of DW to it. Specifically, Phlip Hintchcliffe, Graham Williams and John Nathan Turner. He's also the Doctor who's era was most influenced by the late, great Robert Holmes, a writer whose influence was very visible previously, but whose untold importance bloomed during this time.
Personally, its a shame he wasn't invited to write this Doctor's final story. But ah well...
Which one of his 42* stories do you like best? Which one do you like worst? Which season's your favorite? Which producer-driven period was your favorite?
Discuss!
* I count Shada. Any version other than the BF one. I know some of you don't care, but I also don't. It was written for this Doctor. Period.
PS: No multi-Doctor stories after he's left, thus his cameo in The Five Doctors doesn't count.
I love The Deadly Assassin, the only story where the Doctor is without a companion. Tom Baker carries the show and doesn't need an assistant. The Timelords are amusingly stuffy, cranky and effete. What really separates this story from most is the surrealism and believability of the Doctor's fight against Goth in The Matrix. Runners up: Genesis of The Daleks, The Talons of Weng-Chiang, The Invasion of Time, Pyramids of Mars, The Masque of Mandragora, City of Death. The Robert Holmes/Hinchcliffe era was my favorite. I enjoyed The Graham Williams era for the most part but each season seemed to decline in quality. I haven't managed to sit through any of The John Nathan Turner Baker stories.
I thought The Horns of Nimon was the weakest Tom Baker story that I have watched all the way through.
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For me, its probably between Image of the Fendahl, Underworld, The Creature from the Pit and Leisure Hive. None of them are especially engaging, and most of them are dreadfully boring. But honestly, by and large, its the last era of OldWho that is consistently decent, for the most part - excepting season 15, really, all of them have something to offer, including Doug Adams' solo season 17 and JNT sophomore season 18.
I'm guessing it was either a marriage of convenience or an open marriage.
I'm guessing that the countess figured he was gay and was doing him a favor by being his beard.
I mostly think your list works. I don't know that I could do a straight-up list. It's been over a decade since I've seen some of these stories, particularly most of the Key to Time ones.
My favorite story is "City of Death." It's not perfect. There is some travelogue padding in Parts 1 & 4 but Pars 2 & 3 are solid and the whole thing is Tom Baker at his most Tom Bakeryest.
Coincidentally, my least favorite story is the story right before it, "Destiny of the Daleks." It starts off very poorly with an oddly lifeless "comedy" scene of Romana trying out various forms before settling on her new regeneration. Then we're saddled with a bunch of Dalek props in a very poor state of disrepair, a ridiculously gaudy design for the Movellans, a script that seems to have forgotten that the Daleks aren't actually robots, and a rather uninspiring guest actor playing Davros. (No wonder he didn't return for any subsequent Davros stories.)
I would argue that most of the lists here have been putting "Revenge of the Cybermen" too far down for my liking. I really enjoy it. "HARRY SULLIVAN IS AN IMBECILE!!!!"
I don't know why people are so down on "Image of the Fendahl."
I mostly like "The Invasion of Time." I particularly like the fake-out ending of Part 4 and the glimpses we get of the inside of the TARDIS. Leela's departure was pretty lame though.
"Logopolis" is way overrated. It exemplifies the feeling that I've gotten from most of Season 18 that Tom Baker clearly didn't want to be there anymore.
"The Leisure Hive" is OK once you get past the overused synthesized music in Part 1.
"Underworld" is a mediocre story made so much worse by the horrendous blue screen.
"The Horns of Nimon" has a lot of decent bits, particularly from Romana. However, it's got 2 of the worst guest performances in the show's history. "Weakling scum!" "My dreams of conquest!"
I don't care much for the villain in "Shada," so that brings the ranking of that story down for me quite a bit. Meanwhile, "Robot" has the benefit of Harry Sullivan, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, and another great nebbish scientist played by Edward Burnham (who played a similar, if less sinister role in "The Invasion").
Maybe. I would suspect that money and a title were the primary attraction.
I don't mind the "travelogue" part. It's more of Paris than I've seen in most TV shows and movies, and I'll never get to see it in person.
There are some stories I don't care for overall, other than one or two favorite scenes. For instance, my favorite part of "Robot" is when the Doctor and Harry Sullivan get acquainted by having that little skipping exercise (that must have been either fun or exasperating to shoot, depending on how well the actors could skip).Coincidentally, my least favorite story is the story right before it, "Destiny of the Daleks." It starts off very poorly with an oddly lifeless "comedy" scene of Romana trying out various forms before settling on her new regeneration. Then we're saddled with a bunch of Dalek props in a very poor state of disrepair, a ridiculously gaudy design for the Movellans, a script that seems to have forgotten that the Daleks aren't actually robots, and a rather uninspiring guest actor playing Davros. (No wonder he didn't return for any subsequent Davros stories.)
I would argue that most of the lists here have been putting "Revenge of the Cybermen" too far down for my liking. I really enjoy it. "HARRY SULLIVAN IS AN IMBECILE!!!!"
I don't know why people are so down on "Image of the Fendahl."
I mostly like "The Invasion of Time." I particularly like the fake-out ending of Part 4 and the glimpses we get of the inside of the TARDIS. Leela's departure was pretty lame though.
"Logopolis" is way overrated. It exemplifies the feeling that I've gotten from most of Season 18 that Tom Baker clearly didn't want to be there anymore.
"The Leisure Hive" is OK once you get past the overused synthesized music in Part 1.
"Underworld" is a mediocre story made so much worse by the horrendous blue screen.
"The Horns of Nimon" has a lot of decent bits, particularly from Romana. However, it's got 2 of the worst guest performances in the show's history. "Weakling scum!" "My dreams of conquest!"
I don't care much for the villain in "Shada," so that brings the ranking of that story down for me quite a bit. Meanwhile, "Robot" has the benefit of Harry Sullivan, Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, and another great nebbish scientist played by Edward Burnham (who played a similar, if less sinister role in "The Invasion").
Leela's departure scene was just plain stupid. There was no reason at all for her to leave for Andred's sake, unless she honestly felt that he was so inept that he'd kill himself tripping over his own feet.
And speaking of Leela and annoying scenes, the only thing that I still don't get about Image of the Fendahl is why she kissed one of the scientists (I've forgotten his name). That episode creeped me out, but the kiss is the only part of it that makes no sense. It's out of character for her.
I've just finished watching all the Tom Baker adventures. I enjoyed all of them to be honest, even the weakest ones had some great moments. Anyway here's how I rank them:
1. The Brain of Morbius
2. The Seeds of Doom
3. The Talons of Weng-Chiang
4. Genesis of the Daleks
5. Planet of Evil
6. Pyramids of Mars
7. Image of the Fendahl
8. The Stones of Blood
9. State of Decay
10. The Ark in Space
11. The Keeper of Traken
12. The Robots of Death
13. Logopolis
14. The Masque of Mandragora
15. The Ribos Operation
16. The Deadly Assassin
17. Terror of the Zygons
18. Horror of Fang Rock
19. Nightmare of Eden
20. Meglos
21. The Armageddon Factor
22. The Creature From the Pit
23. The Invasion of Time
24. The Pirate Planet
25. The Androids of Tara
26. Shada
27. City of Death
28. The Android Invasion
29. The Sun Makers
30. The Power of Kroll
31. Warriors’ Gate
32. The Invisible Enemy
33. Revenge of the Cybermen
34. The Face of Evil
35. Robot
36. The Sontaran Experiment
37. The Hand of Fear
38. The Horns of Nimon
39. Full Circle
40. Destiny of the Daleks
41. The Leisure Hive
42. Underworld
1. The Brain of Morbius
2. The Seeds of Doom
3. The Talons of Weng-Chiang
4. Genesis of the Daleks
5. Planet of Evil
6. Pyramids of Mars
7. Image of the Fendahl
8. The Stones of Blood
9. State of Decay
10. The Ark in Space
11. The Keeper of Traken
12. The Robots of Death
13. Logopolis
14. The Masque of Mandragora
15. The Ribos Operation
16. The Deadly Assassin
17. Terror of the Zygons
18. Horror of Fang Rock
19. Nightmare of Eden
20. Meglos
21. The Armageddon Factor
22. The Creature From the Pit
23. The Invasion of Time
24. The Pirate Planet
25. The Androids of Tara
26. Shada
27. City of Death
28. The Android Invasion
29. The Sun Makers
30. The Power of Kroll
31. Warriors’ Gate
32. The Invisible Enemy
33. Revenge of the Cybermen
34. The Face of Evil
35. Robot
36. The Sontaran Experiment
37. The Hand of Fear
38. The Horns of Nimon
39. Full Circle
40. Destiny of the Daleks
41. The Leisure Hive
42. Underworld
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