Rank & Rate: The Colin Baker Era

[Marc]

I always liked Twin Dilemma (and indeed, pretty much all of Colin's run). The only real issue is with Romulus and Remus, and that's mainly because their actors were so bad. I also suspect that much of the hate developed in between seasons. I think it was a mistake to introduce a new Doctor, especially one who was set up as such a different type of Doctor, and then have a break before giving the character time to develop. It left fans with just the one story (the majority of which he was wildly out of character for) to form their judgement. So for that long period between seasons the main conversations were around the costume and him strangling Peri. By the time they moved on to further develop the character, most people had already formed their opinion.

going by some of The Lost Stories extras both Colin and Nicola where unhappy with the bickering between the characters and felt it dragged things down and wanted it gone as soon as possible.

Colin seems very happy with how "old sixy" has progressed in the big finish stories.

 

[DigificWriter]

As somebody who loved Six from pretty much the word "go", it's really frustrating to me how popular sentiment has tainted his tenure because I was looking forward to listening to a podcast covering "Classic Who" where the hosts hadn't seen Colin's era, but that has changed because they openly admitted their immediate dislike of the character from two seconds of dialogue and the strong possibility that the only thing their review of his first story would consist of would be them making fun of both it and him.

 

[DigificWriter]

Double-post again (sorry).

Here's my thoughts on Vengeance on Varos.

In the video retrospective/documentary that initially prompted me to delve into both "Classic Who" and Colin Baker's Sixth Doctor era, this story was singled out as a particular standout, and I have to say that, after watching it, I would have to agree with the sentiment.

I continue to really enjoy Peri and Six's relationship, which has settled into a kind of playfully argumentative status quo as demonstrated by their early scenes in the TARDIS but which is also full of genuine affection and trust as demonstrated throughout the remainder of the story once they arrive on Varos.

Narratively, the story doesn't come off as being nearly as dark and grim as 1980s audiences apparently thought it was, but it's still a very effective commentary on "reality TV culture".

Sil was an interesting antagonist who reminded me a little bit of the Face of Boe and Cassandra from the nuWho episode "The End of the World", although I was a little bit confused as to what happened to him at the conclusion of the story.

With 8 episodes and 3 stories under his belt, Colin has fully settled into character as Six, with his bombasity not being as pronounced as in both The Twin Dilemma and Attack of the Cybermen, thus allowing more of his heroism and compassion to shine through more overtly, although his witty quirkiness remains at full bore as evidenced by his remarks of "You'll forgive me if I don't join you" and "I think he needs more than water, Peri, eh?".

I'm still trying to work out my full rankings for the four stories I've seen thus far, but my initial instinct is to rank Vengeance on Varos as the second-best of Colin's era thus far, trailing Attack of the Cybermen, and is an episode that I would join the creator of the Sixth Doctor vid I mentioned - Richard D. Carrier - in highy recommending.

 

[Qonundrum]

So, I did end up deciding to watch "Planet of Fire" to get Peri's introduction and as a 'lead-in' to Colin's era, and I have to say that I really like(d) her character. She reminded me very much of Rose in terms of her archetype and role as a Companion, although she is a bit more of a "shrinking violet" than Rose.

Since I started pretty much "in media res" with the Fifth Doctor, there were ongoing story elements that I didn't have full context for, but the structure of the writing - as well as my basic understanding of Doctor Who and the insight I'd gained from watching a Youtube retrospective/documentary on Peter Davison's era - made it so that I didn't feel completely lost and was able to pick up on the Fifth Doctor's personality almost immediately.

As both an entry point for me into "Classic Who" and as an introduction to Peri and the Fifth Doctor I rather enjoyed "Planet of Fire" and found it to be a fun romp that felt familiar without being cheesy or "tropey".

Peri has a great start, if not forced at times, but feels like a new beginning with her inclusion. The themes of the story are poignant as well, especially the feud between Amyand and Timanov.

Sorry for the double post, but I wanted to review The Caves of Androzani while it was fresh in my mind.

In the Fifth Doctor video retrospective that I mentioned, this episode was cited as a particularly standout representative of the era, but I personally found it a bit convoluted and overstuffed in contrast to Planet of Fire, with far too many things going on at one time and too many ancillary characters.

I also found the scenario into which the Doctor and Peri became embroiled and which directly led to his regeneration to be far less gripping than the video had led me to believe that it was.

Having said that, I did like the way Peter Davison and Nicola Bryant played off of one another and can see, even with only one prior episode of exposure to him, why the Doctor would go to the lengths that he did in order to save her life.

I also liked the flippancy with which Colin's Sixth Doctor made his debut, even though I did find his closing line a bit too on-the-nose and not entirely appropriate for the context of his appearance, although I suppose that that's kind of the point.

With Colin having made his official debut, I'm looking forward to delving into his first full episode as the Doctor and finding out if my assessment of him as a sort of "alien Willy Wonka" rings true.

I'm also looking forward to seeing if his schizophrenic and manic attempt to strangle Peri is actually as offputting as the Sixth Doctor video I watched painted it as being or if the darker nuance I sensed from it in the clips I watched holds true, so stay tuned.

I've now seen "The Twin Dilemma" , Colin's first full story as the Sixth Doctor, and what I'm about to say is probably going to generate a lot of weird and confused reactions: I really enjoyed it, especially when I contrast it with my response to The Caves of Androzani.

To start off my discussion of the story, I want to address two of what seem to be the biggest issues taken with Colin's Doctor: the costume and his schizophrenic attempt to kill Peri.

First, the costume: my immediate first impression of Colin's Doctor and the thing that motivated me to make his era my first foray into "Classic Who" was how much his mannerisms and behavior were reminiscent of Willy Wonka, and the costume fits perfectly with that. I also think that, in spite of Peri calling it awful, it actually does work, especially when you look at it in the context of what the Fourth and Fifth Doctors chose to wear. It's an over-the-top evolution of the frumpy Bohemian and out-of-place Cricketer looks chosen by those two incarnations, but also bizarrely fits the Sixth Doctor's "jackass" personality and schizophrenic and darker nature in the same way as Willy Wonka's purple suit ensemble does.

Now, let's talk about the strangling scene: Having seen it in context, I can honestly say that it's not as appalling as I've seen it made out to be, especially since it's actually set up in the previous scene when the Doctor collapses in a manic laughing fit and then briefly discusses the inevitability of side effects from the regeneration process.

It's also certainly not anywhere close to the darkness that permeates the Willy Wonka character in both the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory novel and Johhny Depp's filmic realization of the character, or anywhere near to the level of the things that he either causes to happen or passively allows to happen over the course of that story.

I also want to address the accusation that Peri shouldn't have stayed with the Doctor after he tried to kill her by saying that, based on what we see, I think that she realizes that he is far more remorseful than his theatrical reaction may make him seem, which gets borne out - although not in her presence - when he later privately admits how much guilt he's carrying over the incident.

Okay, now let's talk about The Twin Dilemma a bit more specifically. Despite it apparently being panned as a horrible episode, I thought that it worked quite nicely as an introductory adventure for Colin's Doctor, who is very much an "alien Willy Wonka" like I've described him, with Colin brilliantly shifting from scizophrenically unstable to arrogantly heroic to privately compassionate in the blink of an eye.

The story itself is a little bit frivolous, but is much more straightforward in comparison to Caves, which helps put the focus on how chaotically dark Colin's Doctor is supposed to be (just like the Willy Sonia character) and gives him the perfect vehicle for establishing just how alien the Doctor truly is in a way that is both darkly humorous and instantly compelling.

I also didn't mind the supporting characters, even Romulus and Remus, and felt like they were perfectly used in the context of the story. I do kind of wish Hugo had stuck around because it would've been interesting to see him continue to play off both Peri and Six, but I can also see why he was just a one-off character.

Even after only two full stories with him, plus a Regeneration scene, I've fallen completely in love with the Sixth Doctor for pretty much every reason that he seems to be hated and cannot wait to watch the rest of his adventures.

Also, in closing, I wanted to point out something that I think has gotten lost in the morass of dislike that impacted the character's tenure originally, which is that Peri clearly reacts positively to his seemingly egotistic declaration of "I am the Doctor. Whether you like it or not", which I think is telling for both her internal psyche and for how and why Colin's portrayal of the Doctor ends up working, and also wanted to say that in watching this story, it's easy to see why Colin continues to celebrate and champion his tenure as the Doctor despite the rather ignominious ending to the onscreen portion of it.

Davison and Bryant have great on-screen chemistry. Limited to 2 stories, I still wish they had more.

After episodes 3 and 4 rewritten by Saward, and his dislike of Colin, it does explain a lot with his last line in the story. It is more a 4th wall break than anything else. As Peri might say, "Yuck." Colin's OTT flippancy is just what his quoting literary figures needed and it's wonderful stuff.

"Twin" is underrated. There's some great sci-fi going on, even if some of it is flawed. The strangulation scene is direct continuity from the previous story's worth of being told the regeneration due to the toxicity would be different. It's almost 4th wall but I doubt Holmes had read "Twin"'s draft to see what would become of the regeneration. People not seeing "Caves" would miss the narrative entirely. Was the scene right to do? Not exclusively for 6 year olds, but the show was clearly aimed at older audiences with accompanying attention spans (older teens and long-term fans to see how a new Doctor could be made. The occasional incarnation exploring its own lore for expanded possibility isn't always bad, if not overdone.)

I am glad Colin embraced his era. He was given some shoddy scripts but did a lot of positivity for them and there is much to like. And writers that had an inkling for his incarnation, such as Robert Holmes, Pip and Jane Baker, and Philip Martin, knew how to get enough positive mannerisms into the new Doctor despite the misfires (excessive bickering, etc.)

And 547 likes if I could for "alien Willy Wonka" (the Gene Wilder version) alone BTW.

Hugo needed to stay on. The Doctor and Peri needed a third character to counterbalance them both. Colin's era shows via Hugo, Herbert, and Jamie how true this absolutely is.

JNT wanted boys for the twins instead of the girl actors initially chosen. If I recall, one of the boys got pretty far in television. But the girls may have been a better choice, but I wasn't in the casting room. Most math geeks don't have extroverted personalities anyway, I always let it slide.

 

[DigificWriter]

547 likes if I could for "alien Willy Wonka" (the Gene Wilder version) alone BTW.

The Sixth Doctor is equal parts "Gene Wilder Willy Wonka" and "Johnny Depp Willy Wonka", and that duality is what makes the character work.

The more I see of Six's era, the more I want to go and experience the Twelfth Doctor's era because of Colin - and others - comparing the two incarnations, but I'm not sure if I'd be "lost" given that nuWho is far more dependent on overtly interconnected serialization than Classic Who.

Anybody got thoughts on this?

 

[Qonundrum]

I don't think the problem lies with the story, the costume, Colin's performance, or making his introduction be the final story of Series 21.

I think the problem lies in people not not thinking critically and just reacting negatively.

Anti-80s bandwagon, of which even numerous DVDs for episodes of that decade sometimes unfairly reveal.

I've now made it through Attack of the Cybermen, which marks my first exposure to that eponymous race, and I was at first a bit put off by the fissures that existed early on in Part 1 between Six and Peri, especially coming directly off of him getting her to smile at the conclusion of The Twin Dilemma, Part 4, but things smoothed out as the story progressed.

I've seen some criticisms levied against the change in format from 4 25-minute episode parts per story to 2 45-minute episode parts per story and how the structure wasn't shifted to compensate, but as someone who came to the franchise through nuWho first, I honestly don't see why that's a problem.

I was a little bit underwhelmed by the character's of Stratton and Bates and was prepared to write the story off as being overstuffed in the same way that I felt The Caves of Androzani was, but the scripts eventually made their inclusion make sense.

It's my understanding that there was a lot of backlash in the 80s to the violence quotient of the story, which, with the context of having seen both parts of it, strikes me as odd given what else was out there in popular culture at the time and given the perspective of looking at things through a modern lens.

I did think that it was funny that Peri kept questioning whether or not the Doctor had stabilized, and thought that his realization that he might not be as stable as he kept insisting was played perfectly by Colin. I also loved the further glimpses we got beneath Six's OTT veneer into his compassion and heroism, particularly when he gave Flast the means to destroy the Cybermen and when he felt horror at having misjudged Lytton as badly as he had.

As both a Series Premiere story and my first introduction to the Cybermen, I thought Attack of the Cybermen was quite good and very reminiscent of nuWho, which, as a modern TV watcher, was nice.

I had no problem with it when I first saw it. Cyber conversion isn't going to be clean (nor cartoon campy, like NuWHO CGI), and Cybermen understand emotions and exploit them. This is the one story where WHO uses them most effectively. Earthshock and Tenth Planet being the other two contenders IMHO.

Colin, as usual, nails it as the Doctor. The violence works for this story and the 80s had violence all over the place. And was a trendsetter for some of today's shows in that regard.

Saward may have disliked Colin but it didn't stop him from writing the new Doctor with a robust mix of cynicism with compassion, and it's appreciated that he didn't overdo personal bias into the job too much as such. I can imagine where he or anyone could.

How could Flast remain in that cell and eat and live? How did she get in there and how long ago, back when this Cyber base was constructed? (is it that important?)

Sonic lance = sonic screwdriver party deux as Saward also destroyed the thing thankfully in "The Visitation". Now it's back, bigger than ever... oh, and purple. And glows when touched. More trendsetting. Unfortunately.

The Doctor must have known Lytton more offscreen, there wasn't enough onscreen treatment to show Lytton and the Doctor - but enough had been told in "Resurrection" that Lytton could indeed be nothing more than a paid mercenary. So it's a nice twist but Colin still goes into Davison-mode at the end. Final shades of the preceding predecessor persona in display. And Lytton is an inspired choice, as mercenary with a heart AND to show the Doctor being compassionate as a bridge of sorts.

Halley's comet was topical but not in a pompous way as well.

And as complex as it was, I didn't know at the time (or needed to) the previous Cybermen stories to understand what this sequel was trying to do. It had enough deft handling.

Still wish Stratton and Bates could have been more likable but we do see how they can lop off Cyber heads (conversions that failed!)

You're right, but in terms of The Twin Dilemma specifically and the original and continually perpetuated negative reaction to Colin, I think some critical thinking was sorely needed.

I don't think I've said this here, but while Christopher Eccleston's Nine was officially my "first Doctor", Colin's Six has become my favorite Doctor even after only 6 episodes plus one Regeneration scene because of how fabulously chaotic and layered he is.

"Twin" was a mess and with Eric having to fix so much and even effectively redo the final two episodes, ugh... JNT was right in making Six so uneven - especially after Davison and Tom.

Stratton and Bates - yup. The making-of has Saward bringing up a great plot point but the characters themselves don't have enough to really latch onto. Griffiths had (and had some great comedy as well.)

I do wonder why "Attack" was made in part on modern day Earth, but it succeeds in being a sequel that loosely ties up old ends from eras that had no continuity, while being its own story without needing continuity to draw from in its own way.

Double-post again (sorry).

Here's my thoughts on Vengeance on Varos.

In the video retrospective/documentary that initially prompted me to delve into both "Classic Who" and Colin Baker's Sixth Doctor era, this story was singled out as a particular standout, and I have to say that, after watching it, I would have to agree with the sentiment.

I continue to really enjoy Peri and Six's relationship, which has settled into a kind of playfully argumentative status quo as demonstrated by their early scenes in the TARDIS but which is also full of genuine affection and trust as demonstrated throughout the remainder of the story once they arrive on Varos.

Narratively, the story doesn't come off as being nearly as dark and grim as 1980s audiences apparently thought it was, but it's still a very effective commentary on "reality TV culture".

Sil was an interesting antagonist who reminded me a little bit of the Face of Boe and Cassandra from the nuWho episode "The End of the World", although I was a little bit confused as to what happened to him at the conclusion of the story.

With 8 episodes and 3 stories under his belt, Colin has fully settled into character as Six, with his bombasity not being as pronounced as in both The Twin Dilemma and Attack of the Cybermen, thus allowing more of his heroism and compassion to shine through more overtly, although his witty quirkiness remains at full bore as evidenced by his remarks of "You'll forgive me if I don't join you" and "I think he needs more than water, Peri, eh?".

I'm still trying to work out my full rankings for the four stories I've seen thus far, but my initial instinct is to rank Vengeance on Varos as the second-best of Colin's era thus far, trailing Attack of the Cybermen, and is an episode that I would join the creator of the Sixth Doctor vid I mentioned - Richard D. Carrier - in highy recommending.

Six and Peri grew on me, though they needed more time to show the happy side of things. Both work well together thanks to Colin and Nicola, it'd be worse if they had actors without the screen chemistry.

Sil is just left there hanging, and what the Governor might do - we just don't know. Sil has his own animated story coming out in the UK in November on blu-ray BTW...

Six seems like a James Bond Roger Moore style Doctor with his quips. And a Craig-like Bond style in terms of violence if he has to do it.

Reality TV was there in a more primtive form but Vengeance does predict what has happened, in some countries, where people are humiliated or, in some cases, physically harmed, without knowing about it, for a thrill.


Can't wait to read your reviews for upcoming stories!

 

[DigificWriter]

Six and Peri grew on me, though they needed more time to show the happy side of things. Both work well together thanks to Colin and Nicola, it'd be worse if they had actors without the screen chemistry.

I don't have enough of a "sampling" to pick a favorite Companion , but I do genuinely like Peri as a character and think she and Six play off each other brilliantly (which, for me, is as much a product of the subtle ways in which the writing lets us as an audience see beneath Six's outward veneer as it is the palpable chemistry between Colin and Nicola).

My appreciation of her also isn't hurt by the fact that I see a lot of archetypal similarities between her and Rose, who is the first Companion I was introduced to.

 

[Mr Soak]

The Doctor must have known Lytton more offscreen, there wasn't enough onscreen treatment to show Lytton and the Doctor - but enough had been told in "Resurrection" that Lytton could indeed be nothing more than a paid mercenary. So it's a nice twist but Colin still goes into Davison-mode at the end. Final shades of the preceding predecessor persona in display. And Lytton is an inspired choice, as mercenary with a heart AND to show the Doctor being compassionate as a bridge of sorts.

Lytton first appeared in Resurrection of the Daleks, a couple of stories before Caves. He was working for the Daleks then, but their defeat trapped him on Earth, along with his two “cops”.

 

[publiusr]

His hands being crushed was probably the most gory that Who ever got.

 

[DigificWriter]

His hands being crushed was probably the most gory that Who ever got.

And it honestly wasn't all that gory, even by 80s standards.

People like Mary Whitehouse just wanted something to crusade against back then, and "too gory and violent" was a convenient talking point even if it wasn't actually an accurate one.

I ended up being able to find myself a podcast featuring discussion of Collin's era where the hosts didn't go completely and immediately negative (although one of them did talk about how he didn't like Six's rudeness immediately upon regenerating), which makes me happy.

This isn't really related to Colin, but I'm thinking about checking out Peter Capaldi's Twelfth Doctor once I finish Colin's era because of the parallels that I've seen drawn between the two actors' incarnations (Six and Twelve), but am not sure if I can just jump straight into Twelve's stories without first watching the rest of nuWho due to the fact that the new series is much more reliant on overtly interconnected serialization, and was wondering what other people thought.

 

[jaime]

The Sixth Doctor is equal parts "Gene Wilder Willy Wonka" and "Johnny Depp Willy Wonka", and that duality is what makes the character work.

The more I see of Six's era, the more I want to go and experience the Twelfth Doctor's era because of Colin - and others - comparing the two incarnations, but I'm not sure if I'd be "lost" given that nuWho is far more dependent on overtly interconnected serialization than Classic Who.

Anybody got thoughts on this?

Capaldis Doctor is very, very, similar to Colin’s in some key areas...or more accurately, to what we were told about Colin’s planned Doctor. He’s that plan being done again...right down to Clara as something of a new Peri (not to mention he also has a bit of a run in with corrupt time lords, and the matrix....and the Sleep No More episode in particular is knee deep in Saward era nostalgia. The lead scientist and lab look like they were Dastari’s neighbours.) Unfortunately it makes some of the same mistakes, in forgetting the younger members of a family audience, and occasionally carrying the Doctor too far into a lack of empathy (seeming to rather much not care a child has died falling through ice as long as his screwdriver is ok really doesn’t suit after the ‘wherever a child is crying’ of Smiths incarnation, because that should be core to being The Doctor. It’s the same problem old spider-suffocation thirteen is having, but for entirely different reasons.) and sometimes being so clever it forgets to think about other things. It does offer some very eighties Who positives in places though...there’s a lot of depth to the Moffat era, and I think real depth in subtexts started for Who in the eighties...reaching its pinnacle in the last two seasons of classic who, though sometimes there’s glimmers of it more by accident much earlier. (Which is not to say the writers hadn’t been trying for it since at least Pertwee.)

 

[DigificWriter]

Since asking for people's thoughts on whether or not I could just jump into the Twelfth Doctor's era, I've sadly concluded on my own that it's not possible to do so without being lost and confused, but wouldn't be adverse to somebody changing my mind.

 

[jaime]

And it honestly wasn't all that gory, even by 80s standards.

People like Mary Whitehouse just wanted something to crusade against back then, and "too gory and violent" was a convenient talking point even if it wasn't actually an accurate one.

I ended up being able to find myself a podcast featuring discussion of Collin's era where the hosts didn't go completely and immediately negative (although one of them did talk about how he didn't like Six's rudeness immediately upon regenerating), which makes me happy.

This isn't really related to Colin, but I'm thinking about checking out Peter Capaldi's Twelfth Doctor once I finish Colin's era because of the parallels that I've seen drawn between the two actors' incarnations (Six and Twelve), but am not sure if I can just jump straight into Twelve's stories without first watching the rest of nuWho due to the fact that the new series is much more reliant on overtly interconnected serialization, and was wondering what other people thought.

The gore then, as now, is a problem, because people forget who was watching the show. I was six when watching six. Many many of his stories that teenage or adult me really enjoys, emphatically were *not* suitable for the me that watched when the shows were on. Resurrection of the Daleks is a wonderful piece of dark theatre, but the Doctor And Peri may as well not have been there, and it’s full of nasty concepts and imagery. There’s too much cannibalism through that era...The Two Doctors, Vengeance on Varos, Resurrection of the Daleks...it’s like a theme for nihilist Saward. Then there’s the heavier body horror elements (which come up earlier...the novelisation of Frontios is scary as fuck, because of the unaffected by budget version of the screen concepts.) like Lytton and Peris deaths. (Deaths in general of sympathetic characters go up in this era, and the problem is..as Tegan points out...the Doctor doesn’t seem to care anymore.)

In trying to be edgy and clever, they sometimes forget their audience, and sometimes forget the difference between a bug eyed monster chasing a hero, and an intelligent human looking one. The dark stuff is supposed to over little ones heads, but this era dripped it so much it sort of smacked us between the eyes a little too much. Cartmel gets it right ing season 25 and 26, but season 24 could have done without Paradise Towers. Much as it’s one of my absolutely loved stories, Greatest Show could have done with a little less violence too.

 

[jaime]

Since asking for people's thoughts on whether or not I could just jump into the Twelfth Doctor's era, I've sadly concluded on my own that it's not possible to do so without being lost and confused, but wouldn't be adverse to somebody changing my mind.

You can do it and be fine, but I would recommend a little Matt Smith first. But the Matt Smith era is really good if you like eighties Who anyway, in my opinion...it really feels like that same universe in way it perhaps didn’t under RTD.
As a compare and contrast with Colin, it works really well.

 

[jaime]

His hands being crushed was probably the most gory that Who ever got.

Less violent. Less gratuitous...but...

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[DigificWriter]

You can do it and be fine, but I would recommend a little Matt Smith first. But the Matt Smith era is really good if you like eighties Who anyway, in my opinion...it really feels like that same universe in way it perhaps didn’t under RTD.
As a compare and contrast with Colin, it works really well.

I worked out that I'd have to watch at least 6 Eleventh Doctor episodes (Asylum of the Daleks, The Snowmen, The Bells of St. John, The Name of the Doctor, The Day of the Doctor, and The Time of the Doctor) before even getting to Twelve's era, which is why I concluded that just jumping into Twelve's era "cold" wouldn't be possible, although, as I noted, I'm open to people convincing me otherwise.

 

[Emperor-Tiberius]

Honestly, I'd rather suggest you try and hunt down Sixie's audios rather than go all in Twelve. Ultimately, for me, they're incarnations are nothing alike. Both started rude and irate, sure, but Six had developed into the cuddly Old Uncle you wish you had and 12 became the saner version of Rick from Rick and Morty.

 

[DigificWriter]

I'm finally back with reviews of Mark of the Rani and The Two Doctors (which is my first official multi-Doctor story).

Mark of the Rani
This story is my first "Classic Who" historical, and it's an interesting one to start with because not a whole lot is actually made of the setting, which is essentially just a backdrop to bring back the Master and introduce the Rani, a character whom I'm pretty sure is one of just 3 female villains in the history of the franchise, and it is in that regard that I found myself comparing it to the Ninth Doctor episode/story "The End of the World".

Another area where I saw similarities with The End of the World is that the story allowed for the development of the relationship between Peri and Six to a degree that hadn't quite been possible in previous stories, and is the clearest representation of the genuine affection and trust that has developed between the two characters even as they continue to verbally spar with each other.

The Mark of the Rani also gives Colin his best opportunity yet to demonstrate the intelligence and heart that underpins his brash "outer" personality and further highlight why I've rubber him "the alien Willy Wonka" .

The Two Doctors
I mentioned above that this story is my first official multi-Doctor story, but more than that, it's also my first exposure to both the Second Doctor and the character of Jamie McCrimmon, and one of the very first things that leapt out at me is just how similar Two and Six are.

This is particularly noticeable during the climactic moments of Part Three when Two and Six are chained up and have to cooperate in order to get themselves out of danger so that they can then get Jamie out of danger. The dialogue and banter between the characters is pretty much interchangeable and could've been believeably spoken by either Patrick Troghton or Colin Baker.

Another thing that I think the story does extremely well is to demonstrate once again just how much heart and compassion the Sixth Doctor actually does have and to deepen the bond between him and Pefi by ironically giving him a 'new' bond with Jamie.

The villains of the story are also quite strong, with the concept of the Androgams being one that would be interesting to see revisited. The appearance of the Sontarans also has me interested in experiencing their reappearance in nuWho as both adversaries and allies.

The Two Doctors was a fun story that brought together two very similar Doctors ("the cosmic hobo" and "the alien Willy Wonka") and used the situation to deepen the relationships between characters and show sides of the Sixth Doctor that I think many members of the fandom have inexplicably intentionally chosen to ignore.

 

[Qonundrum]

I'm finally back with reviews of Mark of the Rani and The Two Doctors (which is my first official multi-Doctor story).

Mark of the Rani
This story is my first "Classic Who" historical, and it's an interesting one to start with because not a whole lot is actually made of the setting, which is essentially just a backdrop to bring back the Master and introduce the Rani, a character whom I'm pretty sure is one of just 3 female villains in the history of the franchise, and it is in that regard that I found myself comparing it to the Ninth Doctor episode/story "The End of the World".

There weren't as many female villains in the run of the show, but there were more than three: The Rani, Cessair of Diplos, Queen Xanxia, Lady Adrasta, Lexa, Enlightenment (sort of), the Queen of the 8-Legs, Captain Wrack, and others... sadly, not as many as male villains but they all had quality to make up for lack of quantity, and even Lexa had the talent of Jacqueline Hill to really improve the role with.

Another area where I saw similarities with The End of the World is that the story allowed for the development of the relationship between Peri and Six to a degree that hadn't quite been possible in previous stories, and is the clearest representation of the genuine affection and trust that has developed between the two characters even as they continue to verbally spar with each other.


The Mark of the Rani also gives Colin his best opportunity yet to demonstrate the intelligence and heart that underpins his brash "outer" personality and further highlight why I've rubber him "the alien Willy Wonka" .

Pip and Jane Baker weren't perfect (rare is a thing called "perfect writer") but they definitely understood the lead characters well, and how to really make use of them.

"The Alien Willy Wonka" is fab. The Gene Wilder version, I presume? Wilder nailed it...

The Two Doctors
I mentioned above that this story is my first official multi-Doctor story, but more than that, it's also my first exposure to both the Second Doctor and the character of Jamie McCrimmon, and one of the very first things that leapt out at me is just how similar Two and Six are.

I found it fun that Jamie and Peri worked so well with the Six and Two respectively. Now that you mention it I can fathom more of Six's spikiness in Two's stories (which I'd seen quite a few times, LOL!) and that's got to be partly why their interchangeability works so smoothly.

This is particularly noticeable during the climactic moments of Part Three when Two and Six are chained up and have to cooperate in order to get themselves out of danger so that they can then get Jamie out of danger. The dialogue and banter between the characters is pretty much interchangeable and could've been believeably spoken by either Patrick Troghton or Colin Baker.

Another thing that I think the story does extremely well is to demonstrate once again just how much heart and compassion the Sixth Doctor actually does have and to deepen the bond between him and Pefi by ironically giving him a 'new' bond with Jamie.

Robert Holmes at his near-best...

The villains of the story are also quite strong, with the concept of the Androgams being one that would be interesting to see revisited. The appearance of the Sontarans also has me interested in experiencing their reappearance in nuWho as both adversaries and allies.

The Sontarans are not well used in this story, but Two Doctors shows them at their best since "The Time Warrior" - also penned by Holmes.

Two Doctors had so much going on with Chessene that exploring them and Two/Six interaction instead of the double double cross plot that just seems superfluous and not really satisfying, made worse in that Chessene, Shockeye, Dastari, Oscar and Anita, et al, are all terribly more interesting.

The Two Doctors was a fun story that brought together two very similar Doctors ("the cosmic hobo" and "the alien Willy Wonka") and used the situation to deepen the relationships between characters and show sides of the Sixth Doctor that I think many members of the fandom have inexplicably intentionally chosen to ignore.

 

[Qonundrum]

Since asking for people's thoughts on whether or not I could just jump into the Twelfth Doctor's era, I've sadly concluded on my own that it's not possible to do so without being lost and confused, but wouldn't be adverse to somebody changing my mind.

I'd still jump in. Maybe do Flatline and Time-Heist and then jump to series 10, which feels almost like a soft reboot that will leave you wanting more by the end despite the issues with scripts over Capaldi's era (and those preceding his).