What Would You Improve: Fifth Doctor Era
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Now for the fifth addition, the Fifth Doctor. As with the previous topics, what about the Fifth Doctor's era, from "Castrovalva" to "The Caves of Androzani" would you improve?
The changes I would make mostly involve characters; Adric would been some rewritting, so that he could still come off as a bit arrogant, but not in the way where you want to slap him. Nyssa's background as the sole survivor of Trakken is something that should have been explored, I always found it a little odd that is was almost dropped entirely so soon. Kamelion was also a major missed opportunity, and I can't figure out why they couldn't figure out a way around the difficult prop when the character in question was a shape-shifting robot.
First
Second
Third
Fourth
Now for the fifth addition, the Fifth Doctor. As with the previous topics, what about the Fifth Doctor's era, from "Castrovalva" to "The Caves of Androzani" would you improve?
The changes I would make mostly involve characters; Adric would been some rewritting, so that he could still come off as a bit arrogant, but not in the way where you want to slap him. Nyssa's background as the sole survivor of Trakken is something that should have been explored, I always found it a little odd that is was almost dropped entirely so soon. Kamelion was also a major missed opportunity, and I can't figure out why they couldn't figure out a way around the difficult prop when the character in question was a shape-shifting robot.
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I think there are few things they could have fleshed out a bit more. It would have been nice to see Nyssa struggling a bit more with the loss of (first) her father and then her entire world. There seemed to be more focus on the Doctor's efforts to get Tegan home. And there could also have been more long-term repercussions to Adric's death too. It felt as though JNT had the right idea about making the people in the show more rounded, but didn't quite go the whole hog.
For me, the third season was the weakest with a few too many stories that involved (pretty much) everyone dying and no sense of victory for anyone.
I wasn't keen on Davison's costume either. In many ways, it's no better than Colin Baker's.
Don't have stories that lead directly into each other.
Allow The Doctor a bit more humour.
and turn down the sodding stage lights!
Off the top of my head, that is about it. Although I would have had Anthony Ainley's Master not be so pantomime in his acting.
He was rather over the top with his ideas at times. He wanted to do things his way, and with limited help from anyone else! That annoyed a lot of the production team and cast. No wonder Tom left at the end the 1980/81 season! He was fed up with how things were progressing.
Also, Eric Saward was getting frustrated too. He managed to stick around until the end of the Trial of a Time Lord season. That was all he could manage, so he left.
So let's see......
Season 19
Well this my fave Season ever, but there's still changes I would make. The obvious one would be to make Adric less annoying, Tegan less fiery and improve relations between all three companions. Even better, I'd drop the Adric character altogether, but then you wouldn't be killing him off at the end of Earthshock! I'd also improve the dialogue, especially in stories like Four To Doomsday as Tegan's in partcular was more cheesier than a deli counter at times!
I'd also make sure the stories were filmed in order so there isn't so many glaring differences in the hair styles and lengths. That way Davison wouldn't put in the 'bland' performance he described in Four To Doomsday. Though it wasn't that bad but you could see he was trying to find his feet in that story as it was first recorded.
Aside from that, the only big change I'd make in this Season would be to shift Earthshock to the end of the season which would create an even bigger impact. I often find that last episode worthy of an RTD Finale and Time Flight seems such an anti climax after it. And Time Flight itself I would replace all those dodgy mix of studio shots and Concorde taking off with CGI. Plus the studio airport backdrops used as they'd run out of money.
Season 20
For this Season I would have delayed Tegan's comeback until Snakedance so that Nyssa and The Doctor had some time together to work as a team. I think it worked in Arc Of Infinity. In some ways, I wouldn't have had her back at all, but then you wouldn't have had the Tegan/Turlough pairing which I think worked well.
Mawdryn Undead, i'd keep the Brig but have him in a different tole and bring back Ian Chesterton as originally intended.
Terminus I would beef up and inject some pace, it's so dull. Nyssa's exit would also be improved but the skirt drop scene I wouldn't, erm, drop, though a proper explanation of why she did it would be nice
The Guardians pigeon headwear would be replaced and Kamelion would be dumped after The King's Demons, so obvious it didn't work.
Season 21
Warriors Of The Deep. I'd drop the pantomime Myrka and replace it with something more convincing. Plus drop the kung foo kick by Doctor Solow. Plus reduce the lighting as the writer wanted.
The Awakening-Turlough, I'd give him more to do and stop locking him up! Plus keep Will Chandler as a companion, he was such a great character. Frontios I'd beef up as that slacks as well and make the Gravis less comical.
Resurrection Of The Daleks-Have more interaction between The Doctor and Lytton. It seemed in the following story between the two that they knew each other really well, but they hardly spoke in this one.
Planet Of The Daleks- Adopt Peri's Bikini as her regular costume from that point on......;-)
Seriously, though, looking at the Season as whole, I'd have had Davison leave at the end of the Season. That way, the comings and goings wouldn't be so crammed into so few stories. With one extra story between Planet Of Fire and The Caves Of Androzani, my dream team of the Fifth Doctor and Peri would have an extra story. Turlough could have left one story later giving Planet Of Fire time to breath and not have so many requirements attached to it before it started. And yes, I'd have toned down The Master's panto version at this point.
Not only that, with Colin Baker having a dodgy debut, you could leave him until next season and you wouldn't have to wait months on end to see if he'd improve. It just seems weird having a New Doctor coming in at the end of another Doctor's Season. It was such a wrong decision to make, the first of many at this point. Plus I thought it was disrespectful to Davison to cut his last Season short in this way.
As for Davison's humour, would like to have seen more, but not too much to effect contrast with Baker and so his performance in Androzani stood out.
Season 19: Not much I'd change, although obviously attempting to make a story set 140 million years ago in a small studio when they only had about fifty quid left in the kitty didn't turn out to be the best of ideas.
Season 20: No strike, so the Daleks are in the series finale rather than petering out somewhat with that zany Master and his Welsh accent.
Five Doctors: Having subsequently got into the Hartnell era big-time, in retrospect recasting the First Doctor doesn't sit too well. But still, didn't bother me as a kid and I guess it was the only option considering the story!
Season 21: More time and care taken in the production of Warriors on the Cheap as I think it's a pretty good script. Resurrection of the Daleks is actually good IMO although flawed, but the creeping cynicism of some of Saward's material I could've done without.
Hugely biased, but I would have Sir Peter persuaded to do another year. (with a different set of scripts.)
And agree with a point above.....turn the bleedin' lights down!
Whoops, forgot about The Twin Dilemma. Well, it wouldn't have been made cos Peter's still there!
There was a review of Caves of Androzani in (I think) Doctor Who magazine which said something along the lines of: "Caves of Androzani would prove to be the best story Peter Davison appeared in as the Doctor. Unfortunately, it also turned out to be the best story Colin Baker appeared in as the Doctor."
A bit shocking really that such a good story could be followed by Twin Dilemma!
I like Season 19 even though there are really only 2 good stories (The Visitation and Earthshock) I have quite a soft spot for all of them.
Too much reliance on old enemies, overuse of The Master. I would also rewrite Mawdryn Undead to avoid messing up UNIT dating so badly.
Agree with others who say that Caves of Androzani should have ended Season 22. As it happened The Twin Dilemma did Colin Baker no favours.
I actually saw Davidson's Doctor as quite tough and resolute and prepared to be ruthless when necessary, as when he determines to assassinate Davros, or when he vaporizes Omega, despite pitying him.
I actually liked the way Tegan left the Doctor in trauma over all the deaths, and saying that it all 'wasn't fun anymore'. It contrasted with the casual insouciance with which the Doctor and his companion or companions would previously walk away, with a bit of bantering light relief to conclude an adventure in which several people had died violent deaths.
I agree, I do tire of reading such comments that Davison was a weak Doctor when there's enough evidence to the contrary to prove otherwise.
You've provided two very good examples there. I would add the way he confronted Aris/Mara in Kinda, the way he took control everytime Richard Mace got out of order in The Visitation, the way he really lashed out at Captain Striker in Enlightenment over his views on Ephemerals(Where he calls him a parasite) and in Frontios he was uncharacteristically bolshy with everyone due to the way Bidmead wrote the character. There are other numerous examples as well I could say but think I've made my point.
The two reasons I think he's always perceived as wet is because of some moments in Earthshock where he is a bit passive(but he still took control where he needed.) The other is because on the outside he was a nice Doctor and lacked the arrogance and not so much of the authority of Pertwee, Baker and indeed Hartnell. But it did not make him a weak Doctor.
His Doctor was made more vulnerable to get things wrong and I thought that refreshing after Tom Baker's comic turns just a few years earlier.
More emphasis on Nyssa and Adric as the 'last of their kind' and the problems both would have felt as effectively alien exiles along for the ride as they didn't have much choice. Adric may have been annoying but he was nothing to Tegan.
I was never keen on Turlough either but he was an interesting experiment.
I'd have preferred to have Ian as the focus of Mawdryn Undead but won't quibble at the Brig twice over instead:)
And as Black Orchid, Mawdryn Undead and The Visitation are some of my all time favourites and I enjoyed most of the others, I'd keep the Doctor exactly as he was, which was always a lot tougher than he looked and just as ruthless as any of the others, he just hid it better than some.
I really wished the fifth Doctor had more adventures with Peri on the television series. I think he worked better with one companion than a group of them. I also wish he had stayed on for at least another season as I felt his Doctor was getting better by season 21.
out on a high...best way to go!
Not to have lost the sonic screwdriver.
On a positive note i quite enjoyed the master stories. I dont think (unlike pertwee's incarnation IMO) that there was an overuse of that character.
Plus change his costume. Never liked it.
I love The Fifth Doctor...You don't. You know what this means......
FFFFFFFFFIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!
Honestly though, I accept Doctor Who, all eras, as it is, warts and all, even my least favourite, which this one is.
Sexier underwear when Nyssa took off her skirt
I think the problem in the Pertwee era was that the Master's appearances were mostly in consecutive adventures of the same series. From his reappearance in Deadly Assassin, his appearances were more spaced out.
At the time, I could not get used to Davidson in the role, as he seemed bland compared to Baker. Having recently watched rewatched all his adventures, I've completely revised my opinion. He was very competent and dynamic, and could be witty. He was just less overtly a 'character' than was Tom Baker-less 'pantomime' if you like.