The Peter Davison Era: Your Thoughts, Please

[Rosalind]

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.

Indeed. He was so different from any of the previous Doctors. And as I read more about PD, watched more of his interviews, and listened to more of his commentaries, I liked him more.

I watched Snakedance yesterday, with the cast commentary, and one thing I learnt from the commentaries was PD and his cast members were forever trying to put in little jokey things in the stories, but JNT usually catch on, and cut them out. One thing that got past JNT was in Snakedance when Nyssa opened the TARDIS door, then Five pulled the lever the other way waiting to get out of the door before realising he closed it, and then Nyssa opened it again. Davison thinks the reason these little scenes got cut was because JNT felt they just went through 7 years of T Baker with too many silliness.

My favorite episode was The Black Orchid.

Black Orchid was also one of my favourites. Tt was probably the last episode that was a pure historical, no monsters, no aliens, just the Doctor going somewhere for a bit of fun and solve a little mystery while doing it. It was also the first time (I think) we saw him joining in a team sport, and be bloody brilliant at it. I think the next time was Eleven in The Lodger. I think it was also the first story that had 2 episodes, roughly 45 minutes of story in total, so it didn't have a lot of slow setting up and exposition in it.

 

[Shatnertage]

I'm not a big fan of this era--it just feels silly, but not in a self-aware way. It's hard for me to verbalize why I don't like it. When it tries to be serious, it just falls flat.

The only example I can think of is the scene in Enlightenment where Turlough is drifting off through space. Something in his facial expression and his gesturing made me blurt, "Obsession commercial."

Then again I just tore myself away from a mini-marathon of Predator Raw, so I'm hardly an arbiter of good TV. I'm just sharing my own reaction--not trying to proselytize or knock anyone who likes it.

And there are some moments that I really like. The "Persuasion"/"Friendly, I hope" from Four to Doomsday is the kind of stuff that rings my bell, and I think Davison handled it well.

But overall I'd prefer 1-4, depending on my mood. Frankly, there's things about all the eras I enjoy, and other things that make it completely unwatchable at times.

 

[VDCNI]

I love the 5th Doctor era. It helps that he is my Doctor so there is nostalgia but I like a lot of the stories as well and Davison is always watchable plus Tegan is one of my top 4 companions (along with Barbara, Leela & Donna)

I can definitely see why people don't take to it but it works for me and many of the stories are among my all time favourites - Castrovalva, Kinda, Earthshock, Snakedance, Enlightenment, Frontios & The Awakening. It also has some guilty pleasures like The Visitation & Resurrection Of The Daleks. Though I may be the only 5th Doctor fan not to like Black Orchid - it's just so badly written!

As mentioned above the commentaries are also great (as long as Davison & Fielding are on them) - there's a great relationship between the cast (well maybe not with Waterhouse!) and they are usually very amusing. It helps that the cast seem to have a very similar relationship to their characters. All the season 19 ones are worth a listen plus Arc Of Infinity (Colin Baker and his chicken impression make an appearance) & Snakedance though they probably go over the top in their criticism on Warriors Of The Deep - though that story probably deserves it!

 

[Starkers]

Well Five's my Doctor so I like him and his era, and Tegan is one of my favourite companions (along with Donna, odd eh? ) I do accept some of the criticism of the era, there are definitely too many companions, and really they could have done without Nyssa (at least until Adric left). On the whole though I still like it, and interesting to note my interest in Who waned once Davison left.

 

[Steve67]

I'll be watching Castrovalva with the commentary track today. Davison interviews well and seems like a nice fellow...honest, forthcoming...I found it interesting that Castrovalva wasn't the first story filmed, so he had "practice" time at being the Doctor.

I wonder if growing up with a given Doctor forever gives that era a "pass" in terms of determining your favorite Doctor? Is there anyone here who enjoys Davison's stories on a non-nostalgia basis?

 

[The Mirrorball Man]

I wonder if growing up with a given Doctor forever gives that era a "pass" in terms of determining your favorite Doctor? Is there anyone here who enjoys Davison's stories on a non-nostalgia basis?

I do. I enjoy the character and some of the story concepts are pretty good, even though the execution is sometimes less than perfect. That being said, I just enjoy Doctor Who in all its forms, so I may not be totally objective.

 

[Whofan]

Yeah, Davison's next few stories after Castrovalva (Which were filmed earlier) sort of show an evolution of his performance-in Four To Doomsday and Visitation he hardly seems like the same Doctor-but he's "got it" by the production time of Kinda IMO. I kind of see a similar pattern to Smith-he's kind of emulating Tennant in the stories that were filmed first (The Angels two-parter) but by "later" stories he's got the hang of it.

 

[Rosalind]

I wonder if growing up with a given Doctor forever gives that era a "pass" in terms of determining your favorite Doctor? Is there anyone here who enjoys Davison's stories on a non-nostalgia basis?

yep. As I said earlier, I started watching Who with Tennant's Doctor, after Emh pestered me to watch the show for years! Once I got hooked I went and watched all the existing stories that I can get my hands on. So I probably watched Ten, Nine, Three, Four before I got to Five.

 

[Cutter John]

I have to give Black Orchid credit for just being different. No spaceships, or saving the planet, just the crew enjoying themselves (at least at first). Sadly the cast didn't seen to care for it, judging by the commentary.

 

[DWF]

Davison's era wasn't that bad to me, his first and third seasons were pretty good overall in my mind. Davison's Doctor was a throwback to Hartnell and Troughton's Doctors and following Tom Baker and Jon Pertwee's more dominiant Doctor's Davison's Doctor seems to lack personality but in appearance only. I do think he's era is underrated and it's very rewatchable.

 

[Newspaper Taxi]

I wonder if growing up with a given Doctor forever gives that era a "pass" in terms of determining your favorite Doctor? Is there anyone here who enjoys Davison's stories on a non-nostalgia basis?

I'm sure it could, but every era has its own little charms that can still appeal to people. I personally started with Nine, and then started going through previous Doctors by watching VHSes/DVDs from the library and PBS was still playing Doctor Who back then.

I'd actually like to see Modern-Who try a non-manic Doctor who can still be strange/goofy. Judging by some of the reactions to people on Five though maybe that would be a bad idea ratings wise.

 

[Starkers]

The thing is that Five is just as eccentric/manic as some other Doctors, it's just that Davison plays it quite a lot subtly than, say, Tom!

 

[Nerys Myk]

Though I had seen T. Baker a few times, Davison was "my Doctor" the one I was with from start too finish.

 

[davejames]

There was a certain decency about Davison's Doctor that I did really like, and it was kind of nice to see what a more "normal" Doctor might be like ... but in the end he was just a little too bland and uninteresting for my taste.

Of course, I would have gladly had two more years with him than the irritating and unlikeable Sixth Doctor...

 

[C.E. Evans]

There was a certain decency about Davison's Doctor that I did really like, and it was kind of nice to see what a more "normal" Doctor might be like ... but in the end he was just a little too bland and uninteresting for my taste.

Of course, I would have gladly had two more years with him than the irritating and unlikeable Sixth Doctor...

Ironically, the Sixth Doctor thought his previous incarnation was too "sweet" and "effete."

But the earlier Doctors were all studies of sharp contrasts, IMO...

 

[Shatnertage]

The thing I didn't get at the time--when Peter Davison was cast--was that people kept on saying "This Doctor is vulnerable," like that was automatically a good thing. As a ten year-old, I didn't want to see a vulnerable Doctor--I wanted to see the Doctor foiling the evil plans of wrong-doers and making jokes about it (in other words, I was Graham Williams' target audience ).

I just think every Doctor gets cast to be the opposite of what the previous Doctor was (or close to it) because the producer doesn't want to just keep shuffling along with the status quo. That's not a bad thing, but change for change's sake doesn't always end well.

The more I think about it, the writing, production short-comings, and uniform-like costumes are what I really don't like about the era, not the characters themselves. I think that if Davison could have gotten out of that beige suit more often, perceptions would be much different.

 

[C.E. Evans]

The thing I didn't get at the time--when Peter Davison was cast--was that people kept on saying "This Doctor is vulnerable," like that was automatically a good thing.

But it is good for dramatic storytelling purposes, IMO.

The reference of a vulnerability with the Fifth Doctor was usually geared towards that there was a potential that he could be defeated or outmatched, or things may not turn out exactly like he wanted them to ("Warriors of the Deep" is a prime example of an ending the Doctor didn't want). With the Fourth Doctor, though, there was a certain air of almost invincibility, which is good for hero-worshipping, but ultimately makes the bad guys not much of a challenge.

It's really just a case that the Fifth Doctor had to work a little bit harder (at times) to defeat the bad guys, but like all Doctors, he never gave up when he was a tight jam with his brain as his greatest weapon...

 

[davejames]

The more I think about it, the writing, production short-comings, and uniform-like costumes are what I really don't like about the era, not the characters themselves. I think that if Davison could have gotten out of that beige suit more often, perceptions would be much different.

Yeah that costume was the very definition of "bland". As hideous as the Sixth's costume was, at least it had some actual life and personality to it.

 

[Shatnertage]

I didn't like any of the uniform-costumes--it just was so stylized. Naturally, a show about a man who travels through time and space in a little blue box isn't going to be an exercise in gritty realism, but having everyone in the same outfit all the time just seemed weird to me.

I understand that Tegan was a flight attendant so her uniform almost made sense, but I don't wear the same thing two years after I stop working at a job.

I wish they'd have picked up a cop and a construction worker--they would have looked like the Village People.

 

[Bones2]

The thing is that Five is just as eccentric/manic as some other Doctors, it's just that Davison plays it quite a lot subtly than, say, Tom!

When's he eccentric and manic? Just seems like a breathless milquetoast to me, getting chewed out by that aussie bitch as soon as he opens his mouth.

Anyway, I find it difficult to view the Davison era as the Davison era, because the end's so different from the start. Season 21 and where Saward gets more control is undoubtedly the best part. The darker, violent stuff that would also come to the fore in season 22. It's at the tail end that Davo's Doctor starts seeming like more of a character. His determination to save Peri informed at his regret at not being able to save Adric (Adric's his last word), but we can see there's some attempt to show this character's regret that way. After all, he never acts as if he likes Tegan much, but you know he'd fight to the end to save her or anyone he travelled with. His companions are possibly the biggest downside of the era. Tegan is utterly unlikeable, Nyssa is bland, and Adric's a div. Turlough, though, comes over pretty well just from Strickson's complete overracting. You can't help liking him.

I'd say the three years are patchy. Season 19 has the brilliant Kinda and the cool Earthshock, but also some right clunkers. Season 20 even more so, and while Snakedance is almost as good as Kinda, the only other story that stands out for me is Mawdryn Undead. Season 21 has violence and hate and people dying all over the place, and I love a bit of that. Still, whatever else, Caves and Kinda are top 10 stories for me.

To rate the best for me:

*****
Caves of Androzani
Kinda

****1/2
Snakedance

****
Earthshock
Frontios
Resurrection of the Daleks