Anyway, I am nearing the end of the Third Doctor's era now, and it has definitely had a flavour all its own, quite different from the First or Second eras. Action Doctor Now With Moving Parts is in full effect, and I have come to chuckle at every "Hai!"
When I did my rewatch of the Hartnell and Troughton eras (and first-time watch of the reconstructions) a couple of years back, I was surprised to discover that the First Doctor was portrayed as quite the ass-kicker in his second season. In both "The Rescue" and "The Romans," and possibly others, he got into hand-to-hand fights with deadly foes and dispatched them quite easily, through the wonders of stage fight techniques where the throw-ee does all the work.
Which resolved a question I'd had for decades, which is how the Third Doctor already knew Venusian aikido upon his regeneration. I gathered there was a novel,
Venusian Lullaby, that showed the First Doctor learning it, but it still seemed incongruous to me, because I had this image of the First Doctor as a frail man. But that was mistaking the actor for the character. The First Doctor was more of a man of action than I'd realized. I mean, I should've known that all along, since "The Rescue" and "The Romans" were part of the original '80s syndication package, but I guess the details had slipped my mind over the years.
The relationship with the Master was absolutely delightful - you can really tell that for all they are on opposite sides, they respect each other, and I'm not sure that tone has ever been captured quite as well again in future regenerations.
Yeah. It was a bit formulaic how they almost invariably ended up working together at the end to solve the problem the Master had helped create, but it did define a very interesting friend-foe dynamic between them.
The three companions. Liz and Sarah Jane both made brilliant entrances - strong, intelligent, capable women who captured the screen and the respect immediately. Unfortunately after such strong beginnings, they both seemed to get a bit screamy in the middle of their seasons, before ending strong again. Jo seemed to go the opposite way - started as a simpering nothing, but over three years had believable development and became a warm, loving, dependable and loyal woman, even if she was still a bit of a ditz at times.
I think Jo was underrated by fandom for a long time. And not just by them. Jo is probably the only classic series companion who ever single-handedly saved the world with no help from the Doctor; it was her self-sacrifice that destroyed Azal in "The Daemons" while the Doctor and UNIT were mucking about fruitlessly with heat barriers and gargoyles. And nobody ever gave her so much as a thank you. That always ticked me off. More generally, Jo saved the Doctor as often as he saved her -- and unhesitatingly threw herself into perceived danger to come to his aid, like in "The Curse of Peladon" when she thought Aggedor was trying to kill the Doctor and rushed in to save him. That impulse may have been misguided, but it was incredibly heroic. She may not have been a tough girl like Leela or Ace, but she had the strength that came from love and compassion and the pure instinct to help others. The Doctor once said that "Courage is being afraid and doing what you have to do anyway," and that makes Jo just about the most courageous companion ever.
Sarah Jane is awesome too, but I don't think she really came into her own until her later seasons with Baker. In her first couple of years, she was too self-consciously written as men's idea of a strident feminist. Once she was allowed to simply show her worth through her actions rather than words, she worked better as a character.
