The Third Doctor Review

Third Doctor

 

Third Doctor

Doctor: The Third Doctor

Companions: The Brigadier, Liz Shaw, Jo Grant, Sarah Jane Smith

Taking Doctor Who into a new more modern era, the Third Doctor era features tons of stories set in contemporary England and grounds the show for the first time.

The Review

Here’s the scores for the stories

The Claws of Axos: 10/10

The Curse of Peladon: 10/10

Doctor Who and the Silurians: 10/10

The Sea Devils: 9.5/10

Planet of the Daleks: 9.5/10

Colony in Space: 9.5/10

The Evil of the Daleks: 9.25/10

Spearhead from Space: 9/10

The Ambassadors of Death: 9/10

The Dæmons: 8.75/10

The Three Doctors: 8.5/10

The Green Death: 8.5/10

The Time Warrior: 8.5/10

Terror of the Autons: 8.5/10

The Mind of Evil: 8.5/10

Planet of the Spiders: 8.25/10

Invasion of the Dinosaurs: 8/10

Death to the Daleks: 8/10

The Monster of Peladon: 8/10

Inferno: 8/10

The Time Monster: 7.75/10

Frontier in Space: 7.5/10

The Mutants: 7/10

Carnival of Monsters: 7/10

Compared to some of the formulaic stories of the previous era, Pertwee’s era knows when the UNIT stories have ran out their welcome and ventures into a more sci-fi direction. The Season 7 stories are long thrilling epics, and all of Season 8 featuring the Master seems not to grow old because of the variety of plots. When the show finally returns to the future and outer space, we encounter the Daleks and more exciting foes to battle. Liz’s effectiveness as a companion wears off, but Jo and Sarah Jane’s never do. The Brigadier and the UNIT ‘family’ are a constant beneficial presence, finding just as much success in aiding the Doctor as they do in disagreeing with him. While some might feel Pertwee’s era to feel out of step with later eras, I think its homebound philosophy finally grounded the show in our day and age.

Now, Pertwee’s best moments.

5. “I had to face my fear. That was more important than going on living.” After meeting his teacher K’anpo Rimpoche, the Doctor realizes that he is responsible for the crisis in Planet of the Spiders and that fixing it will cost him his life. Facing his fear of failure, the Doctor lays dying and comforts Sarah Jane.

4. “Right. Cut it open!” The head-spinning epic of The Ambassadors of Death gets even freakier when the Doctor tries to communicate with the astronauts supposedly in a recovered spacecraft. When they appear to not respond to his questioning, the Doctor demands the hatch cut open. It is a moment of drama where anything could happen.

3. “They were intelligent alien beings. A whole race of them.” The Doctor’s shock and dismay as he watches the Brigadier and UNIT kill all the Silurians is a poignant and dark ending to an absolute classic in Doctor Who and the Silurians.

2. “I want to see the universe, not rule it.” The best of the Doctor’s verbal spats with his arch-enemy in the Master comes in Colony in Space. The Doctor explains that the universe is better to be seen, not ruled, and turns down another villainous ‘join me’ offer.

1. “It was the daisiest daisy I’d ever seen.” Locked up with Jo in The Time Monster, the Doctor gives us a rare look into his Gallifreyan past. He describes the blackest day of life, and how his monk teacher on a mountain got him past it. By having the Doctor focus on the color and beauty of the daisy, the Doctor started seeing everything more beautifully. It’s a sweet, truly touching moment.

For five whole seasons, Pertwee supercharged Doctor Who into the color era with the help of all the fabulous iconic actors that did it with him: Nicholas Courtney, Katy Manning, Elisabeth Sladen, and Roger Delagdo the principal heroes of the time. This is an era that should be remembered fondly.

8.271/10 The Pertwee era was a success for Doctor Who and ensured that the show would continue for decades to come