[Glenn A]

To me this era is when Doctor Who was brought bang up to date and made more like an action series. Out went the cramped old studios at Lime Grove and black and white and the Doctor as a down at heel figure, in came an action man style, dashing Doctor with UNIT to help him out and stunts that were as good as anything the Americans could make. Also ratings- Doctor Who was almost cancelled in 1969 when ratings fell to 5 milion- doubled during Pertwee's watch and the show became must see television for over 10 million people by the time he regenerated.
I don't think there was a bad story in his four year reign and since most of the stories were filmed on seventies earth, this added a new dimension to them as it made the situations and villains more relevant if they were seen in the middle of London rather than in space. Pertwee was also blessed with three excellent companions and Jo Grant in particular is still a fans favourite.
For me the best stories were The Daemons, The Sea Devils, The Time Monster, The Green Death and Terror of the Autons.

[JohnnyForget]

My least favourite Classic Who era with one of my least favourite Doctors, but each to his or her own.

[Shane54]

I love the Pertwee era. Jon was such a larger than life character he really made the role his own and brought the show bang up to date.
The era was blessed with some truly amazing supporting actors - all 3 companions were faultless and when you add Nicholas Courtney and Roger Delgado, well how can you go wrong?
We also had some classic monsters coming out in these years like the autos, axons, Silurians and sea devils to name a few.
It was all so colourful and larger than life. When I just want to chill out, unwind and be entertained then slipping a DVD from this era on fits the bill perfectly.

[CELT1987]

Not a huge fan of the Pertwee years, but I do like Spearhead from Space,Inferno,Terror of the Autons and Day of the Daleks. Roger Delgado was suberb as the Master.

[jerseyporter]

I will always like Jon Pertwee if only for the fact that he was the first Doctor I saw at the age of 6 in 1973, and thanks to that I've been a DW fan every since. For that alone he is worth my consideration! Is he my favourite Doctor? No, because I haven't seen many of the classic episodes he was in since they were first broadcast (and was really too young to appreciate the ones I did see when they were first on!) and you need more than that for a Doctor to be your favourite, but I still feel very sentimental about him! You never forget your first Doctor/Doctor Who story - it's like first love !!

[codename_47]

Always found the Pertwee era too prim and proper and far too serious for my tastes.

Also I never quite worked out how the Master thing worked:

"Ooooh a suspicious character is luring some aliens to Earth, I wonder who it could be?"

"Well, it's clearly the Master isn't it? It was last week and the week before that.....and the week before that! Why are you surprised?"

[daveyboy7472]

I too have never been a fan of the Pertwee Era or the Third Doctor come to that, though Pertwee played him well enough. The exile format was tiresome and not only that, it really limited a lot of the stories to alien invasion of the week and The Master showing up every story in Season 8. Plus the constant moralising was annoying as well.

However, what I do like about the Pertwee Era is the team ethic between the regulars and you can see in stories such as The Daemons the bond that had grown between all the actors concerned. What I find remarkable is how well Roger Delgado ,playing the one bad guy of the group, still worked effortlessly with all the other actors. Aside from all The Doctor/Master tussles with Pertwee there were some great scenes with Katy Manning as Jo and each of the UNIT regulars got to do at least one story where they had proper scenes with him, such as Benton in The Time Monster and Yates in The Mind Of Evil.

The one big regret for me is that The Brigadier didn't have more scenes with him as aside from The Claws Of Axos there weren't that many stories with them together.

[CoalHillJanitor]

Not the most spectacular era of the show, but comfortable as a pair of old shoes.

[JohnnyForget]

Originally Posted by Glenn A

I don't think there was a bad story in his four year reign and since most of the stories were filmed on seventies earth, this added a new dimension to them as it made the situations and villains more relevant if they were seen in the middle of London rather than in space.

I can't agree with that statement.

The main premise of Doctor Who is a Time Lord travelling through Time and Space in a Tardis. This didn't happen for most of the Pertwee era, with the Time Lord in question just being stuck on (what was then) modern day Earth, so I find that era difficult to enjoy, as it doesn't seem to me to be "proper" Doctor Who.

Had they changed the name of the show back then from "Doctor Who" to "Quatermass" or even "Torchwood" the enjoyment factor for me may be somewhat different.

[Glenn A]

Originally Posted by JohnnyForget

I can't agree with that statement.

The main premise of Doctor Who is a Time Lord travelling through Time and Space in a Tardis. This didn't happen for most of the Pertwee era, with the Time Lord in question just being stuck on (what was then) modern day Earth, so I find that era difficult to enjoy, as it doesn't seem to me to be "proper" Doctor Who.

Had they changed the name of the show back then from "Doctor Who" to "Quatermass" or even "Torchwood" the enjoyment factor for me may be somewhat different.

His punishment was to be exiled on earth, but by the fourth Pertwee series he was travelling again. Also I think some of the stories were set a little ahead of the early seventies, as in The Daemons the television has BBC Three on, 30 years before the real one started.

[dorkjacksn]

Seem to be alone in considering it my favourite era of the show, with my favourite Doctor. Each to his own I suppose...

[meglosmurmurs]

I like his 'action man' type of Doctor. He kind of made the Doctor rather cool and sexy (to some people) for the first time which is clearly influencing the show even today.

I don't think he had any really bad stories, but I do find Colony in Space, Time Monster and The Mutants to be dreadful bores.
My faves are Spearhead from Space (think this is the best debut of any Doctor), Inferno, The Daemons, Sea Devils and Curse of Peladon.

[bp2]

The daemons is vastly overrated in my opinion. I think colony in space and the time monster are much better than the daemons.

[CoalHillJanitor]

Originally Posted by bp2

The daemons is vastly overrated in my opinion. I think colony in space and the time monster are much better than the daemons.

Are you sure you mean Colony in Space and not Frontier in Space?

[Face Of Jack]

Not one of my favourite eras I'm afraid. I found the first half of Jon's time on it rather tedious.....and The Master (brilliant a villain that he was) got a bit annoying - being the 'Villain of the Week' EVERY week for a whole series! Being a Tardis fan - I was beginning to lose interest - until The Three Doctors. Then things began to look up a bit. At least he went back into time and space for a FEW stories. But it was too Earth-based for my liking. They may as well have re-named it UNIT !
They had a few 'classic' episodes which I enjoyed though such as Inferno, The Daemons, Three Doctors, Carnival of Monsters and The Time Warrior.
And I still persevered the entire series (which I finally gave up on by 1988)

[TRT1968]

The second best Doctor, IMHO, with some of the best stories. Day of the Daleks. Classic.

[TEDR]

I'm afraid I have to side with the camp that labels most Pertwee serials to be tired, predictable and often just outright boring. The focus on car chases, people falling off tall things, kung fu and the rest is just painfully unambitious if nothing else; it reeks of laziness.

[Glenn A]

Originally Posted by meglosmurmurs

I like his 'action man' type of Doctor. He kind of made the Doctor rather cool and sexy (to some people) for the first time which is clearly influencing the show even today.

I don't think he had any really bad stories, but I do find Colony in Space, Time Monster and The Mutants to be dreadful bores.
My faves are Spearhead from Space (think this is the best debut of any Doctor), Inferno, The Daemons, Sea Devils and Curse of Peladon.

You could never imagine Patrick Troughton dressing like Pertwee or doing martial arts moves and racing around. Pertwee really brought the Doctor up to date and doubled its ratings- even now the show is still watchable in a way a sixties one isn't.

[daveyboy7472]

Originally Posted by Glenn A

You could never imagine Patrick Troughton dressing like Pertwee or doing martial arts moves and racing around. Pertwee really brought the Doctor up to date and doubled its ratings- even now the show is still watchable in a way a sixties one isn't.

Personally, I prefer the Troughton Era stories to the Pertwee ones as they really encapsulated what Doctor Who should be about. Which is The Doctor travelling in the TARDIS visiting alien planets and various setting etc.

Though the Pertwee Era did eventually do this and a lot of later Troughton Stories were set on Earth, they didn't have UNIT shooting at everything that moved nearly every story. They had a mystique, which with being in Black and White gave it an edge over the Pertwee Era.

IMO off course.

[Jodster223]

Pertwee was my first doctor!! I loved him. I thought he brought a newness and excitement that wasn't there before.

[Dr. Linus]

Inferno is possibly my favourite classic story - the end of episode 6 is one of the most haunting moments in any episode of Doctor Who IMO. Astounding story.

I love all of Season 7, actually. I can take or leave much of the Master/Jo Grant years, having seen around half of it. The Three Doctors is great for the most part but marred by the most ridiculous overacting I've ever witnessed from the guy who plays Omega. And finally, Season 11 is a nice farewell to the Third Doctor, but feels more like a precursor to the Fourth.

All in all, an era I like quite a lot with some outstanding highlights, but not perfect.

[TEDR]

Originally Posted by Glenn A

Pertwee really brought the Doctor up to date and doubled its ratings- even now the show is still watchable in a way a sixties one isn't.

Hats off to that creative team for saving the series but I disagree on your opinion about watchability. Even as a child of the 80s I find most of the non-Pertwee serials (including those from the 70s) more watchable than most of the Pertwee serials.

Probably the only two I could find the energy to watch again are Inferno and Spearhead from Space. I even like the trial run of The Invasion much more than I like most of the actual Pertwee stories, and that's deliberately the same sort of stuff.

[Jon Ross]

Originally Posted by Glenn A

You could never imagine Patrick Troughton dressing like Pertwee or doing martial arts moves and racing around.

Is that the definition of what makes a great Doctor then? Doing martial arts and racing around?

Originally Posted by Glenn A

even now the show is still watchable in a way a sixties one isn't.

Unfortunately, we can't test that theory very well as so many Patrick Troughton stories are partially or completely missing from the archives. At least all the Pertwee stories are still available to see and judge in their entirety. Many of Patrick Troughton's are not, so it's really an impossible comparison to fairly make.

[Jon Ross]

Originally Posted by TEDR

Probably the only two I could find the energy to watch again are Inferno and Spearhead from Space. I even like the trial run of The Invasion much more than I like most of the actual Pertwee stories, and that's deliberately the same sort of stuff.

I agree on The Invasion. That's my favourite of all the UNIT stories. I'm also incredibly sad that most of The Web of Fear has gone (the first to feature Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart).

My other favourite UNIT stories are actually Terror of the Zygons and The Seeds of Doom (though UNIT hardly feature in Seeds), both from the Tom era.

I think the problem is that Pertwee just made too many UNIT stories.

[HandsomeBB]

Can I give a shout out to this month's DWM which has nine pages of a three hour interview with Jon at his most candid. Recorded in 1994 for a local newspaper by two fans and never before published. It's a fantastic read.