The Peter Davison Era: Your Thoughts, Please

[Steve67]

I was (and remain) a diehard Tom Baker fan, so when Davison was announced as his replacement way back when, I distanced myself from Dr Who.

I've only seen Castrovalva and that was recently because it came with the New Beginnings 3-disc set. I liked most of what I saw, but there were things that I didn't like so much that has me on the fence with the Davison era. It appears that Davison purposely fades into the background and has his three(!) assistants in the forefront. I like Tegan (hot!) but Nyssa and Adric often come across as children's TV performers. That's either because they're playing that way or they're just not very good actors. Tegan's no Dame Judy Dench, either, but she's the one I actually like.

In the small amount of reading I've done on this period, the likes of Frontios and Kinda seem worthwhile, but other than that, I'm wondering if it's worth buying a few DVDs of the Davison era; I don't rent at all, so I'm strictly vested, or I'm not.

I'd be interested in everyone's thoughts on the Peter Davison era. What worked, what didn't, etc.

 

[Whofan]

Peter Davison's era is sort of a mixed bag-Davison's a likeable enough Doctor (Certainly more than Colin Baker and Sylvestor McCoy), but a lot of his scripts are sort of heavy on the technobabble and weird sci-fi concepts. It was sort of an era where they were trying to make WHO into more serious science fiction (You can see this in Tom's final season as well).


Davison's best is actually probably his last: The Caves of Androzni. Directed by Grame Harper (Who would go on to do several RTD era episodes) and one of the final WHO scripts from major classic WHO writer Robert Holmes, it's a darker story (As was most of Davison's final season) where the Doctor and his companion Peri find themselves in the middle of a dangerous smuggling war and running out of time when they get poisoned.

 

[MacLeod]

I seem to recall reading somewhere that in a poll (I think for the DW Magazine) that "The Caves of Androzni" came out on top and was rated the best ever episode.

Of course like David Tenant, Peter was my Doctor.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

If you're in the US, like me, they went so heavy on the Tom Baker for years that it's understandable you would be wary of his replacement.

I liked Peter Davison fine though, some great episodes, some not so great. All good though in the balance.

 

[C.E. Evans]

I always liked the Fifth Doctor because he was a nice counter-point to the Fourth Doctor. The Fifth Doctor had a certain vulnerability to him--he wasn't smug and sometimes came across as humble at times. But at the same time, though, he could get a little testy when provoked. I agree that that Davison era featured quite a bit of "thinking outside the box" sci-fi concepts and his Doctor was something of tinkerer with very complicated machines.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that in a poll (I think for the DW Magazine) that "The Caves of Androzni" came out on top and was rated the best ever episode.

Yep. That story got a lot of love by fans. I think a lot of it had to do with we had never seen a Doctor in such dire straits before. Yes, there was a sense of impending doom in "Planet of Spiders" and "Logopolis," but "The Caves of Androzani" featured the Doctor pretty much slowly dying for most of that story, and yet still carrying on regardless. It also had quite a bit of action throughout, IMO.

 

[StalwartUK]

The Fifth Doctor's time is one the periods I like the least in the show's history. It suffered from too many low quality scripts most of the time and too many unlikeable companions.

Out of Season 19 I only really liked Earthshock. Other than that it's mostly a plodding mess. Season 20 isn't much of an improvment either and then comes The Five Doctors, a fun if not particularly compelling anniversary special. Season 21 was probably his best and Davison really starts to come into his own but it also probably has his worst story of all, Warriors of the Deep.

Opinions can vary quite a bit though, for example Kinda is apparently regarded as a classic by many but I have nothing but hate for it.

 

[Marc]

Out of Season 19 I only really liked Earthshock. Other than that it's mostly a plodding mess. Season 20 isn't much of an improvment either and then comes The Five Doctors, a fun if not particularly compelling anniversary special. Season 21 was probably his best and Davison really starts to come into his own but it also probably has his worst story of all, Warriors of the Deep.

Is Warriors teally that bad (well about from the dobbin in the horse sorry I mean the Mekyr or what ever it was called) compared to Timeflight?

 

[Newspaper Taxi]

I like the fifth Doctor a lot. He's probably the nicest and kindest of Doctors and also probably one of the most subtle. He wasn't in your face goofy like most of them and was especially a contrast from Four. (Although He got a little less nice near the end of his run, but I think he was getting worn out from all of the evil stuff he kept encountering.) I guess in the end "Innocent" is the word I'd use for the fifth Doctor.

I agree that he had too many assistants. Having both Tegan and Nyssa was redundant as the writers never fleshed their characters out enough for them to be distinct enough to tell apart. I think it would have been best if Five was just assisted by one woman and one boy/man at a time. 'Course, his last story is just him and Peri and Peri works pretty well with Five; much better than she did with Six. So maybe he would have been best served with just one assistant as well.

My favorite fifth Doctor serial was "Enlightenment". "Kinda" was pretty bizzare but pretty cool and had a sequel, "SnakeDance" I hadn't seen before. "Caves of Androzni" is as spectacular a last story as a Doctor can get -- dark, too. I guess I'd recommend The Guardian Trillogy Boxset as an example of the best of the Fifth Doctor. (It's Mawdryn Undead/Terminus/Enlightenment.) It's a three story arc where The Doctor finds himself inbetween two seemingly omnipotent beings in a sort of cold war with each other.

I've heard "Black Orchid" be mentioned alot by fans as classic. It's a decent one and also unusual in that it's a pretty short one. "EarthShock" is a noteworth story. "Warriors of the Deep" is another one that I hear a lot of praise for but it's one of the man ones PBS skipped for me when I was watching since I guess they wanted me to buy the DVD. (I also never got to see Five's Dalek story. Shoot!" I also remember being entertained by "The King's Demons".

I'm a big #5 fan, by the way. And Enlightenment is one of my favorite Doctor Who serials ever.

 

[Saga]

Earthshock is pretty good. The Caves of Androzni is quite good. Kinda is, as someone in this thread stated, pretty bizarre, but its very interesting and worth watching. i thought Arc of Infinity was enjoyable, though i know some people think its kinda rubbish.

 

[Iamnotspock]

I think the fifth Doctor is very much a reaction against the fourth. After seven years of Tom Baker they wanted to go in completely the opposite direction, and I think Peter Davison is arguably the only Doctor to have been cast as a reaction against his predecessor than on his own merits. That's not to say he wasn't very good in the role; he was, but his Doctor is deliberately written to be as anti-Tom Baker as possible.

Only when we get to The Caves of Androzani do we see his Doctor become much more forceful again. The final PD story was written by Robert Holmes, returning to the series after several years' absence, and it was the only time he ever wrote for this Doctor. So, he wrote a fairly generic Doctor, and what's interesting is that Davison later said that if his scripts had generally been more in line with the quality of ...Androzani, he might have been persuaded to stay on for a fourth run.

 

[StalwartUK]

Out of Season 19 I only really liked Earthshock. Other than that it's mostly a plodding mess. Season 20 isn't much of an improvment either and then comes The Five Doctors, a fun if not particularly compelling anniversary special. Season 21 was probably his best and Davison really starts to come into his own but it also probably has his worst story of all, Warriors of the Deep.

Is Warriors teally that bad (well about from the dobbin in the horse sorry I mean the Mekyr or what ever it was called) compared to Timeflight?

I agree that Timeflight isn't worth much either though for me Warriors stands out a bit more. The productions standards are low even for Doctor Who standards (apparently production of the serial was rushed for some reason) and it really drags throughout all 4 episodes. It also suffers from being a followup to two Jon Pertwee serials that featured the Silurians and Sea Devils respectivly.

Half the time John-Nathan Turner didn't seem to know what he was doing and made some really bizzare decisions. For example Beryl Reid was cast as the freighter captain Briggs in Earthshock in a spectacular failure at stunt casting.

 

[Cutter John]

The Fifth Doctor's time is one the periods I like the least in the show's history. It suffered from too many low quality scripts most of the time and too many unlikeable companions.

Out of Season 19 I only really liked Earthshock. Other than that it's mostly a plodding mess. Season 20 isn't much of an improvment either and then comes The Five Doctors, a fun if not particularly compelling anniversary special. Season 21 was probably his best and Davison really starts to come into his own but it also probably has his worst story of all, Warriors of the Deep.

Opinions can vary quite a bit though, for example Kinda is apparently regarded as a classic by many but I have nothing but hate for it.

Thats pretty close to how I feel. Save for Castrovalva, Earthshock, and Five Doctors, I found his first two series dull as dishwater. But starting with The Kings Deamons til the series finale (save WotD) I loved it.

Teagan had her moments, but Nyssa and Turlough just barely registered. And I'm going to avoid Adric completely. A good character with Baker that just went to hell after the regen. Same thing happened later with Peri.

I compare it to Pertwee's first season, when the show went from a somewhat light hearted adventure show to trying to do serious SF drama. Which to me just seemed boring.

 

[Steve67]

I appreciate the honest and well-expressed views on the Davison era. Keep it up!

I like "high concept", even if the storyline itself may not "deliver" with a slam-bang ending. I much prefer the journey than the destination. With that said, Kinda is on order. I also plan on getting Frontios, as I was impressed with the visuals and tone of that story, too.

BTW, my wife is completely NOT interested in Davison-era Who. She sees PD as a sort of "Tristan with TARDIS Keys." She's also aware of my, ahem, admiration for Tegan but I remind her of her own "admiration" for David Tennant.

 

[Sindatur]

Regarding Adric, he doesn't stick around for many stories and regarding Nyssa, she's around longer than Adric, but, she's mostly wallpaper until Adric leaves, so, if you Like Teagan alot, you should be fine companion-wise and not be overly annoyed

 

[Winterwind]

Davison's era is my least favourite. He's also my least favourite Doctor. Someone once described him as a really boring guy having an asthma attack... oh wait... I said that.

Some of his stories are quite good but on the whole, I just didn't care for the Fifth Doctor.

 

[Steve67]

Regarding Adric, he doesn't stick around for many stories and regarding Nyssa, she's around longer than Adric, but, she's mostly wallpaper until Adric leaves, so, if you Like Teagan alot, you should be fine companion-wise and not be overly annoyed

In Logopolis it looked as if Adric and Nyssa might've hit it off as pals, with Adric thrilled to see her--after the future regenerated Doctor brings her back, that is; why didn't she just come along after The Keep of Traken?--so it surprised me to read that later on all three of the companions were back biting one another. Guess the TARDIS wasn't big enough...

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

I quite liked Peter Davison and the fifth Doctor, but I hated all the companions.

 

[spaceballone]

I've always been a big fan of Peter Davison.

Earthshock, Caves of Androzoni and The Five Doctors have always been favorites of mine. Some of the Stories like others have said are a mixed bag of good and bad but I like this era of the show.

 

[Rosalind]

Five is my favourite Doctor, and I started with Ten. I love his subtlety and gentleness.

I get every one of Five's stories, even when they are pretty bad, because Peter Davison and one or more of the companions always do the commentary, and they are the best commentaries in the whole range. Sometimes that's the only version I watch on the DVD. You can tell these guys really loved each other, and have stayed friends throughout the years, so there's always a warmth and fun in these commentaries. Also, these guys are never afraid to point out what wasn't working, why they didn't, as well as how they could've been improved. And they were never afraid to criticise their own performance.

 

[marillion]

Five is my fav as well... There was just something great about him.. After so many years of Baker, it was refreshing to have someone so different. My favorite episode was The Black Orchid.