If Tom Baker were to have quit DW sooner than he did...
adam_fransella
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...which story (apart from "Logopolis", of course) would have been an ideal exit for him?
After all, "Shada" (or rather, what exists of it) is not hugely popular with fans on this board, and so, had it been completed and then broadcast, it would perhaps have been more of a disappointing exit for a Doctor, than "Planet Of The Spiders" (where Jon Pertwee exited) before it.
If not "Shada", what about "The Armageddon Factor"?
Had Baker quit a series earlier (and thus not been a Time Lord for too long, compared to the others), one thing would not change - Peter Davison doing three series. It is unlikely he would have done four in the end, given the advice he received from Patrick Troughton, and also his own feelings about being typecast, etc.
After all, "Shada" (or rather, what exists of it) is not hugely popular with fans on this board, and so, had it been completed and then broadcast, it would perhaps have been more of a disappointing exit for a Doctor, than "Planet Of The Spiders" (where Jon Pertwee exited) before it.
If not "Shada", what about "The Armageddon Factor"?
Had Baker quit a series earlier (and thus not been a Time Lord for too long, compared to the others), one thing would not change - Peter Davison doing three series. It is unlikely he would have done four in the end, given the advice he received from Patrick Troughton, and also his own feelings about being typecast, etc.
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It's unlikely he would even have been cast, seeing as it was JNT who cast him, and he did not take over until Baker's final year.
Tom Baker didn't stay too long. That's just an easy piece of received wisdom. His final season suffered because the people in charge of the show didn't want him and were unprofessional enough to work against him rather than with him. Baker was also ill during that season, so you could maybe argue that he stayed too long for his own health.
While the Peter Davison era should have been '1981-84', and that of Colin Baker should have been '1985-89'. No McCoy!
Only problem with McCoy, in my opinion, is that he couldn't do convincing anger.
'Battlefield', where he comes between the 2 knights, for instance.
If Tom were to be written out earlier I would have had him leave at the same time as Lalla or just before E space and spare him Adric.
Too right, he could have been a great Doctor. I think the BBC are the biggest culprit in this, you had a controller who hated a well loved show and wanted to destroy it. Would the BBC have treated that awful rubbish Neighbours so badly? Ironically this lives out its life almost ignored on Channel 5, yet the show Grade hated so much is doing really well.
Then have Peter come into it properly, during the late Summer of 1981. That would give Doctor Who almost one and a half years rest. The production team would have had longer time to come up with new stories for the Fifth incarnation. Not the ten months they actually had.
As adam_fransella said, ''While the Peter Davison era should have been '1981-84', and that of Colin Baker should have been '1985-89".
Yes, and have Sylvester McCoy come in, in 1990 and have the Paul McGann movie as normal in 1996, with McCoy changing to McGann. Then the rest people know.
Wasn't there rumours he had personal issues with Colin Baker?
Ahem, after struggling for a few years Neighbours is doing really well at the moment and going through something of a mini renaissance and the only reason that it's slumming it on C5 instead of BBC 1 is because the Beeb didn't want to pay the big bucks for it.
Doctor Who was tired and old and needed axing in 1989, otherwise we wouldn't have the awesomeness of the revived series
I don't think his first series suffered. I liked it.
Ouch, you'd have been happy to lose Tom's first series?
No, his first series would simply begin a week later than it did - 4th January 1975, instead of 28th December 1974.
No, lose McCoy altogether - from 1990-93...Paul McGann, in proper old-fashioned stories.
Then from 1993-2003, DW would take a rest.
But that story was not supposed to close Season 17 - it simply did so, after "Shada" was abandoned.
McCoy's era at the time of the show's cancellation was getting better and better, moving away from camp pantomime to the dark gothic style that many Dr Who fans love. Some of the stories are considered some of the best in the history of the show.
Yeah 1.7 million viewers is really good and also I could imagine the uproar if the BBC decided to pay £ 40 million a year to renew the rights on Neighbours after losing the FA Cup.
The only reason Doctor Who went downhill was Michael Grade hated it and wouldn't commit to the show, which was a huge export earner. Yet he was quite happy to waste money on imported crap that really belonged on Tyne Tees in the afternoon and where people saw through it after a few years.
The only good story in Peter Davison's first series was Earthshock. A lot of people on DS, have mentioned that in previous years. The scripting seemed quite strong, and the acting was very good.
I really like the bit in the Tardis when the Cyberman shoots the console. The Doctor has got Adric's badge and as it's made of gold, he uses it on the Cyberman's chest to kill it. Then he uses the cyberman's gun to finish him off.
I can't seem to find the scene on YouTube, but another scene that is similar, but with Colin's Doctor that I like is this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXN0ggASRv8
It's from Attack of the Cybermen, with Colin's Doctor killing the Cyber Controller. Scroll to 0.58 secs and it gets better!
Okay, well you've resolved that issue then. The thread may as well be closed. If you were already 100% certain of all this then why ask our opinions? Surely not just for the opportunity to hector us with your opinions? :rolleyes:
Paul McGann wouldn't have done Doctor Who in 1990. It was too early and his interest in doing Doctor Who wasn't until early 1995 when he auditioned for the role in the movie.
Check out the Movie DVD. Not the original DVD release, but the 2010 special edition. His audition is on there as an extra. You can buy the DVD on amazon as part of the Revisitations 1 Box Set:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Doctor-Who-Revisitations-Androzani-Weng-Chiang/dp/B003ZUXZAE/ref=sr_1_3?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1361145011&sr=1-3
From Wikipedia:
I'm so glad this thread was started. It gave me a chance to air my opinions.
Me too. But Adam has now told me I was wrong. End of. so I'll have to reconsider The guy sure knows how to debate! If only he could alter the whole of history to make it better, we could have a perfect world.
Not in Adam's new Utopia. Everything would be exactly as is convenient for him.
True but I don't think Michael Grade is solely to blame, he wasn't even at the Beeb when Doctor Who was axed. The production team made a number of mistakes which didn't exactly help matters... Making Colin Baker's Doctor initially so unlikeable, starting his reign off with The Twin Dilemma! lumbering the whole of season twenty three with the trial plot etc etc
Now if we're talking about the axing of Tripods then I do completely blame Grade. I sat through two series of that, never to know what happens in the end
I think the damage was done when Colin Baker was hired, though Grade certainly wanted rid of the show as Baker was such an unpopular choice. ( Surely the better option would be to improve it when he left, as the show was making millions in exports). However, you had the worst of both worlds- an unpopular Doctor with falling ratings and a controller who wanted to axe a long running show. Had I been in charge of BBC One, I'd have axed Baker after the first series, suspended the show for a year and then brought it back with a big increase in the budget and a primetime Saturday slot. The new DW works because it has moved away from the cheap and nasty approach of the eighties and become a big rating, big budget show.
Also getting a little more on topic. Tom Baker's last series was a bit below par and he had the less than exciting Adrec in the show. I have heard, though, that Baker was drinking too much and was becoming hard to work with.