Fourth Doctor
Fourth Doctor
Doctor: The Fourth Doctor
Companions: The Brigadier, Sarah Jane Smith, Leela, K9, Romana I, Romana II, Adric, Nyssa, Tegan Jovanka
The Fourth Doctor era dominates the cultural imagination of the classic series, and for good reason. Tom Baker’s Doctor is always weird, never dull, and an absolutely unique character.
The Review
Here’s the scores for the stories
Pyramids of Mars: 10/10
Genesis of the Daleks: 10/10
City of Death: 10/10
The Keeper of Traken: 10/10
The Face of Evil: 10/10
The Android Invasion: 9.5/10
The Power of Kroll: 9.5/10
The Ark in Space: 9.25/10
The Stones of Blood: 9.25/10
The Leisure Hive: 9/10
Logopolis: 9/10
The Invasion of Time: 9/10
The Creature from the Pit: 9/10
Meglos: 9/10
The Androids of Tara: 9/10
The Brain of Morbius: 9/10
The Seeds of Doom: 9/10
The Planet of Evil: 8.75/10
The Invisible Enemy: 8.75/10
The Hand of Fear: 8.75/10
State of Decay: 8.5/10
The Terror of the Zygons: 8.5/10
Destiny of the Daleks: 8.25/10
Full Circle: 8/10
Warriors’ Gate: 8/10
The Horns of Nimon: 8/10
Nightmare of Eden: 8/10
The Pirate Planet: 8/10
Robot: 8/10
Horror of Fang Rock: 8/10
The Deadly Assassin: 8/10
The Talons of Weng Chiang: 8/10
The Sun Makers: 7.9/10
The Armageddon Factor: 7.9/10
The Ribos Operation: 7.75/10
Image of the Fendahl: 7.5/10
The Robots of Death: 7.5/10
The Sontaran Experiment: 7.5/10
The Masque of Mandragona: 7/10
Underworld: 7/10
Revenge of the Cybermen: 7/10
There are several distinct eras and tones for the Fourth Doctor, starting off with serious (sometimes gothic horror) stories with Sarah Jane. Several of these stories are excellent, but they did not best suit Tom Baker’s skills as an actor, which are primarily being incredibly bizarre and weird. As the seasons moved along, we hit a speed bump with Leela, a companion the show could never figure out what to do with and some stories that were just generic sci-fi mash-ups. The Key to Time righted the ship, but the Fourth Doctor finally peaked with the irresistible real-life chemistry with Romana II and stories that knew they were silly and weird, and knew that Tom Baker could carry in the day. In his final season, the show winds us down from that high to prepare us for the next era, as the Doctor is finally done in by entropy in the end.
Now, Tom Baker’s best moments.
5. “You commit mass destruction and murder on a scale that’s almost inconceivable and you ask me to appreciate it?” There is a lot going on in The Pirate Planet, but I always love some earned righteous outrage from the Doctor, and Tom Baker delivers with a scathing rebuke to the captain who has miniaturized an array of planets.
4. “That makes you responsible!” More outrage! The Doctor rips into the Deciders in Full Circle for misleading their people and perpetuating their cycle of dithering and delay. The starliner taking off into the deep reminds me of the question mark in the ocean of A Series of Unfortunate Events.
3. “We have the power do anything we want.” The Doctor gives a bug-eyed grin at Romana after the Key to Time is assembled in The Armageddon Factor, and briefly considers that they can now control the whole universe. Of course, he then shatters the Key and throws it to the wind.
2. “Do I have the right?” The Doctor ponders if he can destroy the Daleks in their infancy, to commit genocide on a whole species. While maybe future Doctors would have made that choice, it is one this Doctor simply cannot, but he still manages to delay the Daleks a millennia and hopefully save many lives without compromising his values.
1. Every single time the Doctor was weird. The Fourth Doctor did not have moments like previous Doctors that really stuck out to me, but it was every time he’s alienness and weirdness was on display. Gasping and remarking that Romana really was wonderful in State of Decay, baffling friend and foe alike with his conduct. For one moment in particular I’d give the Doctor’s insane discussion with the Countess in The City of Death, the one story that shows how weird he is beyond all else.
I still think I preferred the straight-edged Pertwee, but Tom Baker was without a doubt utterly the Doctor. In a way Tom Baker was the definitive Doctor, the baseline Doctor, the person to whom all other Doctors including his three predecessors are judged too. I personally think a few people have been better Doctors, but no one has been fully and completely the Doctor like Tom Baker was.
8.538/10 Doctor Who’s golden years, full of crackling stories, all shepherded by an iconic Doctor in Tom Baker who fully deserved all seven seasons of his run, and somehow kept getting better
Reviewing Doctor Who from Start to Finish 