Sixth Doctor
Sixth Doctor
Doctor: The Sixth Doctor
Companions: Peri Brown, Mel Bush
Through no fault of Colin Baker, disastrous production decisions and a mediocre stable of writers turn in a very disappointing era.
The Review
Here’s the scores for the stories
Timelash: 8.25/10
The Trial of a Time Lord: 8/10
The Two Doctors: 7.9/10
Vengeance on Varos: 7.75/10
Attack of the Cybermen: 7.5/10
Revelation of the Daleks: 7/10
The Mark of the Rani: 7/10
The Twin Dilemma: 6.75/10
My favorite Doctors are the Third and Twelfth Doctors, because I just love the idea of the doctor being crotchety but a good soul at heart. With more input from Colin Baker, he could’ve followed in this mold, but it all turned into one big misfire. The Trial of a Time Lord showed what he could do with more time, and not being given dialogue where he was constantly insulting Peri. This is one of those cases where I think the score for the era is justified, but is going to sell the potential of Colin Baker short. As a character, he’d get a higher score, but as an era, it’s clearly a low point for the show. I’m glad Big Finish has successfully rehabbed the reputation of a man who deserved better.
Now, his best moments.
5. “Dilettante??” Overhearing the Rani calling him a dilettante in The Mark of the Rani, the Doctor’s immediate indignation sums up the ego-Doctor of Season 22.
4. The Doctor’s constant belittling of the Valeyard is amusing, calling him anything that ends in -yard, though I think ‘Brickyard’ might be my favorite.
3. “I don’t think I’ve ever misjudged anybody quite as badly as Lytton.” Following the brutal events of Attack of the Cybermen, the Doctor quietly admits that Lytton was actually a good man, working against the Cybermen.
2. “…you killed Peri?” The Doctor is stunned seeing the supposed proof of Peri’s demise, as ordered by the Time Lords. For once, the Doctor is left hopelessly speechless, until he doubles his resolve to get to the bottom of events.
1. “Ten million years of absolute power, that’s what it takes to be really corrupt!” The Sixth Doctor gets a stinger in right at the end of his tenure, with a cathartic dressing down of the awfully corrupt and self-obsessed society of Time Lords. It’s a perfect capstone to Colin Baker’s tenure.
Colin Baker with better writing and influence could’ve been right there among my favorites, but after his unceremonious firing remains wrongly the face of the perceived collapse of the classic series. It’s an entirely unearned legacy on his part, but it unquestionably was an issue in this era as a whole. I’ve said my piece, now I suggest you check out some Big Finish and see the Sixth Doctor at his best.
7.519/10 A full letter grade decline
Reviewing Doctor Who from Start to Finish 