Colin Baker was a gifted and energetic actor, (similar to Tom Baker I think), who, from everything I've heard, had wanted to play the Doctor for many years, and, once he got there, thoroughly enjoyed the part and gave it everything he had. He was let down by some terribly written stories and a BBC that wanted any excuse to cancel the show. It's amazing to me that, in spite how he was treated, he still loves the show and the fans as much as he does.
Yes I think he told the radio Times in 1984 that he would like to play doctor who for as long as tom Baker had done. A shame of course it was not to be as we know as by 1987 he was not on it alas.
Colin was great and treated horribly being fired over the phone. This man deserved much more and was a great Doctor. He didn't write the stories and theres only so much one can do to overcome those limits. However as a character, he did nail the Doctor. If you want to point a finger at who would be to blame here it would very obviously be the producer JNT. The more I learn, the more I believe JNT was being pushed out. Instead of taking the axe himself I believe JNT instead canned poor Colin.
After Season 23's "The Trial of a Time Lord" came and went, bosses like BBC1 Controller Michael Grade and head of serials Jonathon Powell still were not happy with the results and let producer John Nathan-Turner know they would renew the show for another season but felt it was time to recast the Doctor role with another actor. Nathan-Turner let them know that Colin Baker had not even fulfilled his 4 years contract especially the enforced 18 month hiatus between Seasons 22 and 23, but the bosses told him they counted the 18 months gap as part of the duration (cast and crew were paid to do nothing in the gap). Nathan-Turner also let them know that he too wanted to leave the show, and they granted him his request if he would do the terrible news to Colin Baker. Nathan-Turner informed Baker by phone, but Baker wanted to meet with Jonathon Powell and had a meeting with him and counter offered to give him the entirety of the next season and then he'll leave at the end while Powell only offered Baker what the BBC wanted, just to appear in the opening serial of the next season at 4 episodes. Powell said he would think about it but it was sad, as Baker never heard from Powell again regarding his counter offer. Some of this information was in the Trials and Tribulations documentary that was among the bonus features in the Trial of a Time Lord DVD set, and among various factual reference books on the show's production history. Nathan-Turner was screwed over by his BBC bosses as he was informed after a few months had passed, that they wanted him to continue on as producer on Doctor Who, which JNT was upset about as he wanted to move on to do other things but his job was on the line as they told him if he wanted to remain employed at the BBC he must stay on as producer. The BBC was also unable to find anyone else to take over as producer of the show as there was just so much disdain for Doctor Who within the BBC that nobody else wanted to touch it at all. Sadly JNT himself never got produce other TV shows of any sort after Doctor Who ended in 1989 and holds the record for longest serving producer on the show's history.
I keep thinking that there isn't a worst Doctor as much as there is a least satisfying Doctor, with a great majority of the actors who played this character being very talented in their own right. I'd honestly rather see more of a blunt critique of the writing staffs responsible for the unsatisfactory stories and arcs. I'm very confused why it's easy to put the actors down for doing their job and not the writers who haven't taken their job seriously enough.
No way, Colin Baker was great and took the best approach to a show whose budget was getting smaller - he played it big and had fun with the stories and the Doctor role (but has provided a strong degree of gravitas in the Big Finish audio adventures).
One big issue with Colin Baker's Doctor is that he did have his moments, but whenever he was allowed to "settle in" as the sixth Doctor, the writers would resort to making the Doctor go insane. The first couple of episodes, CB's insanity can be chalked up to regeneration sickness, and as severe as it is, it kind of adds depth to Peter Davidson's sacrifice IMO. Then, after CB recovers, he's put in a mind control device by Sil and turned evil, in one of the Trial of a Time Lord stories, he appears to sabotage emergency communications (false evidence), and in the Two Doctors, he becomes more primal as a result of Patrick Troughton being spliced with an Androgum. At least five storylines depicts him as acting out of his mind (which is an issue when you don't have much opportunity to define what his normal state of mind should be).
@@TheManInBlueFlames Oddly enough, no. CB's Doctor was insane as part of the regeneration sickness for two storylines IIRC, but his personality started to stabilise after that, and you see signs of CB starting to grow into the character (when he's allowed to). The other instances of insanity were all externally imposed (Sil's brainwashing, genetic splicing, evidence tampering). Beyond making fun of Peri's Americanisms and being occasionally overdramatic, he was probably less "mad" than Tom Baker or Patrick Troughton.
In 2001, I found out I was going to be a father. And it was a boy! So I went through every Doctor actor's name with my wife. She liked Colin. My son is now almost 21. Now he wonders why I named him after the "worst" 😷 Doctor. I told him, Colin Baker had a very small chance to succeed. He was set up to fail, he was a great actor and could've really grown into the role. My son Colin, is doing fine BTW. Mainly because there's no Mel.
A young lad worked for me, he had a daughter and they called her Tegan. I said "oh you're a doctor who fan", completely blank look and I had to explain. But also had a similar thing happen when a customer said her brother was called Ethan, said is your dad a John Wayne fan? Had to explain the he played Ethan Edwards in The Searchers, I think his best role and one of the top 5 movies in the Western genre
Colin’s Dalek story is absolutely up there with the best stories and is my favourite of his adventures (oh and Peri shone too, having a proper adventure and not just being about her outfits) He had some duds but it wasn’t his fault.
Agreed. I have been rewatching and there are some duds like "the mark of the Rani" where the episode turns into a "last of the summer wine" episode. The doctor is tied down on a stretcher and escapes down a hill. The master is a bit of a pantomime villain almost sneaking around on tip toe. I have the dalek episode to come.
@@johnhoran9840 Mine too - mainly for the great social commentary on the gladiatorial nature of certain types of TV programs - it was very well done. I do like Revelation of the Daleks as well - and that would be a close second for me, for Colin's stories.
Colin was and is a brilliant Doctor. There were some bad scripts during his era, but a few really good ones in there too. In any event, Colin proved his amazing talent in the Big Finish Doctor Who audios.
Having grown up with Dr Who from the late Troughton era onwards, Colin Baker did not go down well at the time, mainly because of the storylines, and the costume he was forced to wear. But he was soo underrated, and re watching his era now you can see just how brilliant he was, and still is. He also wanted to break Tom Bakers record which was admirable, all things considered. Some of his adventures were very good considering what he was up against, and how he was eventually treated. Colin Baker I salute you.....
Don't feel so bad for him. Colin Baker is a jerk in real life. Met him in the elevator at the 2013 TARDIS con in Chicago and he came across as obnoxiously rude. Sort of like his sixth Doctor persona.
Colin didn't deserve to be fired. I met him at a convention in the 90s and he seemed a nice guy. I came dressed as a Cyberman and he let me have a picture with him strangling him. The face he made while my mum took the picture was hilarious 😂
A few years ago me and some friends decided to watch all of old Doctor Who in chronological order. I enjoyed all the old Doctors but I actually think Colin Baker may be my favorite, but the fact that he's such a nice person may have had something to do with that.
Because JNT lost the plot and refused to collaborate with Baker who had a much more nuanced take on the character. The Big Finish audios took Baker onboard and completely rehabilitated the character, he regularly tops polls as fans favorite audio version. As for the original show it wasn't entirely terrible. It had some bright spots.
@@DoodleThis Yeah, Colin Baker was voted best audio Doctor by the listener's a few years back. He doesn't lose all the edge but it's sanded down a lot.
Over the years, Colin’s Sixth Doctor has grown on fans, myself included, especially with how his character was finally allowed to evolve through Big Finish stories. One can’t deny that his era was Doctor Who at its lowest point, but I’d say it’s aged better, or at least in my experience it has. I don’t know about everyone else, but I’ve come to find most of his episodes to be more enjoyable upon rewatching, and his outfit is a lot of fun to cosplay as at conventions
While not my favourite incarnation, I still like him. It doesn't mean I dislike him, from the clips I see from him, Colin Baker is underrated as the Sixth Doctor. I'm glad he got justice in Big Finish audio dramas.
Working with some of those TV scripts must have been like trying to do somersaults in a toilet cubicle. What more could he have done? It's like he wanted to play it 'tetchy', but the scripties wrote 'tw*t'. Big Finish Colin has been a joy.
@@richardgale4827 Mhm, probably the best to describe it, Colin Deserved better, and it didn't help that script editor at the time Eric Sayward (Correct my spelling if I got it wrong) disagreed with his casting.
@@johneeeemarry34 It's so ridiculously weird that you brought up the 13th Doctor for no reason... I'm not even a fan of her, but she is living in your head rent free.
After listening to a lot of big finish stories the 6th doctor has quickly become one of my favourites. Colin Bakers voice just comes across so well in the audio medium. And the stories they gave 6 are great. I just love the dynamic between 6 and evelyn, easily one of my favourite doctor and companion pairing. But big finish stories with him and Peri, Mel or frobisher are also great.
Your video is brilliant. A lot of wise, measured judgements and opinions. It's about time Colin Baker was let off the hook for the problems in his era. And you're quite right, what with the costume he was forced to wear, a lot of stories with awful scripting and dialogue, the nasty, background TV politics driven by a management who were actively working against the show, the guy didn't stand a chance. Thank God for the Big Finish comeback.
The Five Doctors is actually the five-ish Doctors. The Three Doctors is two Doctors and a half where the Two Doctors is actually two Doctors and Patrick Troughton refuse to dye his hair
Colin Baker was always my favourite Classic Who Doctor. Sure, the costume was terrible, but I liked several of his stories, such as Two Doctors, Vengeance on Varos, Revelation of the Daleks, and Mark of the Rani. I even (ahem) like Twin Dilemma, to be honest. I'm glad he got to show off what we should've gotten at Big Finish.
I grew up in this era (the 3rd and 4th Doctors were "mine") and it was devastating for us at the time to lose Tom Baker. Peter Davison was okay, but our interest was waning. Then Colin Baker came in with his ridiculous multi-colour outfit, plus trying to strangle Peri, and it was obvious the show had jumped the shark. It wasn't the Doctor we knew and loved anymore. Not just my opinion, but of a lot of fans at the time (as discusssed in conventions, etc). The "I am the Doctor, whether you like it or not!" speech was testament to how the fans felt, and it was a slap in our face from JNT, whom we all hated at the time. We didn't like it, and lots of us turned off the show for good - myself included.
I don't understand why BBC didn't just get rid of John Nathan Turner as Executive producer? He made all disasters decisions nearly killed the franchise.
I was always told Colin's Doctor was the beginning of the end and a horrible doctor. But after watching him myself and absorbing the stories I really enjoyed the darker tones, and the way his character was changing as time went on. I know trial of a timelord is a mess but I really liked the main story of the Valyard. I also love the audio dramas for Colin. The audios give us stories that show the doctor in a better like and the voice work is amazing. The same can be said for Paul McGann's 8th Doctor. Thank you for this video, it was well made and really shows what was going on behind the scenes.
I honestly think he gets better with age. I still think he was better than Jodi and McCoy. I think he needed an extra companion. The two doctors worked with perry and Jamie.
This video is very informative and very well done. Your dialogue is very to-the-point and it’s quite interesting to hear. I do think there is a lot of microphone noise coming from breath hitting the mic’s surface, and it’s unfortunately a bit distracting. It would probably be good to either place the microphone further from you or use an iPhone microphone with a good recording app instead to achieve better results. Video was good, but I think that could be a positive change.
Some of Colin Baker's episodes are some of the best episodes from the classic era. Trial of a Time Lord, obviously. Vengeance on Varos. Revelation of the Daleks. What was wrong in the Baker era was the BBC, not Colin Baker, the SIxth Doctor, or Doctor Who.
@@thefonzkiss Trial was a great concept, let down by factors beyond their control. I'm guessing you didn't like it, and that's fine. Dr Who doesn't have one target demographic who has to love all episodes equally.
Vengeance on Varos is a great DW story, equal to set with any other great story. Well written, well performed and well tempered with serious and comic moments, along with the kind of commentary on contemporaneous society the best of sci-fi gives you. Revelation of the Daleks was quite good, and The Two Doctors pure fun and joy, just to see Troughton's second doctor one last time!
I heard there was going to be a story of where they where going to do a blackpool story where they bump into the toymaker again with the original actor but that got turned down by the BBC I dont think the BBC can handle a show like Doctor who. I think they never liked it and underfunded the show and look at it now they use it for a political statement
The 6th doctor was the worst until the Whitaker Era took over as the worst doctor ever. So Colin should be happy now, he no longer at the bottom of the list.
Peri was an absolute bunny. Only when she was not on-screen, would your eye roam about the cheesy cardboard sets and cybermen wearing cricket gloves. Top 5: Peri, Rose, Leela, Amy and Sara Jane.
Formally worst Doctor, Jodi took the Crown. Colin really just had a terrible first story... Bad script, bad costume, bad design & direction + TWO "Adrics"
It will take a hell of a bad doctor to take the crown from Jodi I'm afraid. I just close my eyes and hope the last three seasons didn't happen, that Capaldi's doctor will wake up in the shower and realise he hasn't regenerated yet and it was all just an awful dream. No timeless child (why couldn't they have made the timeless child Susan? That would have been very interesting) no Yaz and those Godawful other companions. I thought companions didn't get any worse than the screeching Bonnie Langford, but I was wrong. The only good things to come from the last seasons were the brief return of Ace and Tegan and the new Master who is pretty decent and I'll be interested in finding out where he fits in the order of regenerations. Oh, and seeing Ian and Jo and the other companions (even you Mel.)
I enjoyed the Sixth Doctors era it had some great stories Vengeance On Varos,Attack Of The Cybermen Revelation of the Daleks to name a few.He's arguably the best Big Finish Doctor as well.
I think Colin Baker was very enthusiastic for the role and was all in. I think it was a combination of many things. He should have been given a proper chance.
I think the show had been going wrong ever since Tom left, with the production team failing to have a clue about the show or the lead character and mostly just covering it with fan-bait. Colin's era was especially troubled because it started so horribly on The Twin Dilemma, giving us the worst impression possible of the new guy. Colin could've been a great Doctor. Sometimes his better stories demonstrate such (Revelation of the Daleks, Terror of the Vervoids). His worst, however leave us finding him detestable, obnoxious and not rooting for him to survive. Trial of a Time Lord is where the problems become really apparent. Where it's clear the makers never actually had a clue how to deal with the can of worms of moral ambiguity they're determinedly going for. The result is an era easy to dismiss as a write-off, not worth caring about. And Colin really deserved better than that.
Watching this as a kid in the '80s, I really really liked how dark and extreme season 22 was. In retrospect I can see that something was going a little bit wrong with the writing at times, but I always wanted doctor who to push harder, be edgar, more extreme, whatever, when I was younger. Now I can appreciate why it's not for everybody. But I think season 23 is where stuff really really started to go wrong, it started to feel like you could sense the fighting going on behind the scenes, and people didn't really know what they were doing. Like mind warp, only writer Philip Martin really understood what was going on with the script. Nobody thought to ask him about it or anything. Just ridiculous. Also, those guys at the BBC needed to have more confidence in what they were doing. Comparing doctor who to movies like Star wars is ridiculous. Trust your audience, we know the difference. We're not here to be wowed by George Lucas style special effects.
Colin Baker’s take on the Doctor was fine IMO. I like exploring different personality quirks with the Doctor. It was the brightness of it for me. Even in the 80’s the show had just taken on too much of a look of the times. I enjoyed the older looks or production of the 60’s and 70’s to what they put out in the late 80’s. Not bc I was old I was born in 75. I just didn’t like the “feel” of the late 80’s Doctor.
He never had a chance. I remember first seeing him and thinking they tried to bring a Tom Baker clone back. I was never a fan of Peter and I thought it was a step backward.
For my money, early Sylvester McCoy wasn't that hot, either, and it wasn't until we got Ace and the Cartmel Masterplan that things got better. This is from a guy who absolutely loved Colin Baker's Doctor, in spite of the outfit, and he was an absolute trooper when the higher-ups didn't want him.
Colin Baker was camp and cranky and actually not that bad a Doctor. The writing often let him down, and the costume was awful. But I actually liked him more than Peter Davison. My vote for "worst Doctor" would go to Sylvester McCoy. Somehow made it through his first four or five episodes before I turned away from the series altogether until the 2005 reboot.
I have not seen the run of the 6th Doctor yet but I have heard that he has the reputation of being the worst. Personally, I don't see how he could be worse than any of the Chibnal era Doctors, but I will reserve judgement until I can see his contribution for myself.
You're only as good as the material you're working with. Fortunately Colin's gotten much better material with Big Finish. Maybe in the future Big Finish can rehabilitate Jodie Whittaker as well.
People are too unfair to Colin Baker, he was a fabulous Doctor and he had to put up with a lot on set and off set.He will always be my favorite Classic Doctor.
Although I haven't seen much of the 6th Doctor era, I can't help but notice one thing. The fact that the 13th Doctor era and the 6th Doctor era was littered with bad writing.
I have to admit the title is designed to provoke debate rather than my own personal opinion. I actually believe that the 6th Doctor gets a unfair bad rep which was one of my motivations for making this video.
i remember hearing something about the sixth doctor's coat being the way it is so they could use it to help the camera to properly correct itself to the location it would be in each scene and section of a scene.
Colin wasn't really given a fair shake, IMO, and did the best he possibly could with what he was given to work with. I think it's sad that some people, including BBC upper management in the 80s, unfairly blamed him for what was clearly the result of John Nathan-Turner's mismanagement. The substandard writing, ridiculous costuming (Colin himself had wanted a simple black outfit to reflect the Sixth's darker personality, but was overruled) and more violent tone were JNT's decision.
No way! was the first thing that entered my mind as well. I suppose that even, in the end, the explosion in a cloth factory that Colin was made to wear was a fit for the personality. It is indeed fortunate that in Colin's audio adventures no-one, especially Colin, had to clap eyes on it. Sadly, the coat offed somewhere, mated with a bolt of rainbow cloth and that gave forth the tacky costume that 13 wore.
Also Colin Baker has admitted he was sometimes arrogant at the time he play the Doctor. In my opinion fans was not ready for such a arrogant and cocky Doctor, also Colin Baker wanted to make his Doctor memorable. Plus after Peter Davison's nice guy 5th Doctor and then having a arrogant and cocky 6th Doctor is a brilliant contrast. Colin Baker went to the opposite end of the spectrum with his version of the Doctor and it works
No Dr was as arrogant as Tom Baker! He refused to participate in the 5 doctors because he wasn't the "star" Tom was good in first 3 seasons, but then he thought he was bigger than the show, similar to the first Dr
@@RavenThom Very true but you can have a love/hate relationship with the character. Leonard Nimoy had to be begged to return as Spock in The Motion Picture plus Paramount settle a lawsuit with him. Eventually Leonard Nimoy embrace Spock and had a much more comfortable time playing him
I never seen any of the 6th or 7th doctor who episodes until the past fall, and I overall, like both of them in the roll. They both needed another two or three years to establish themselves.
As someone who wasn’t really wanting to see the 6th doctor’s era for a very long time, I got around to it, and 100% probably my favorite era, favorite doctor, etc. yes, it absolutely has its hiccups, but, it feels like it’s got so much to offer, especially if you are looking for more doctor who. I’d definitely recommend more than just the vengeance on varos and the dalek story, but also the supplemental material, like the missing adventures books, like time of your life, killing ground, and state of change, as well as some of the big finish audios. I’ve talked to one of my doctor who discord friends about the 6th doctor’s era, and there really is a certain sadness to it, it’s really hard to explain why, but it’s definitely not the worst stuff. I’m probably one of the few people who actually likes twin dilemma and timelash, two of the 6th doctor’s more infamous stories. They really aren’t that bad. Just confusing on what direction they’re going. If that makes sense.
Yep, the writing, the budget, and the realisation of the ideas in the scripts and so the production values, too. It all looked terribly amateurish and half baked. Colin Baker, in particular, and the other actors were badly let down. And the B.B.C. were antipathetic to the show ( thank you, Mr. Grade ) but to compare it with American products in the same genre, which always seemed bland and clichéd to me, revealed a mindset that would never continue to accommodate a programme like Dr. Who. I believe there was talk that Mr. Grade favoured a replacement called " Space Cops " or something similar, for heaven's sake ( correct me if I'm wrong with that ). You can see where that idea was going: something better suited to channel 4, perhaps; liberal, jokey, silly and overly camp, with some perverse behavioural tendencies thrown in. Dr. Who was probably too conventional or orthodox for Mr. Grade. Oh well, we were at least saved from that, thank Rasillon's beard.
A few inaccuracies here, Pip and Jane Baker didn’t finish off the writing on Episode 14, of Trial. Saward wrote a completed script, which initially JN-T approved he then asked Saward to rewrite the cliffhanger ending which he refused to do. In the end Saward withdraw his script completely. Pip and Jane Baker were than approached to write a completely new final episode.
I adore every clip of old Doctors including this guy its just so surreal an funky instead of surreal but kinda stuffy feeling of more modern ones also holy frick his outfit is great
My theory is a simple one: the show had been running two decades, and was quite simply in a bit of a doldrums. Not unlike the modern version this year, hitting 20 years since it came back. There's a certain level to which any long running TV show starts to lose steam and feel like it's just circling the horses. Colin Baker's era was hamstrung by a production team that thought self-referential storylines were 'what the fans wanted', when truthfully all the fans actually wanted was good stories well told. And poor old Colin, bless him, just didn't get handed very many of those.
Colin Baker nailed the character of the Doctor from the word go. But sadly became a victim of the prejudiced view of Michael Grade who detested the entire series and thereby set out to destroy it.
To be honest, I thought he was great in the Trial of a Time Lord episodes... The problem is, for me, that was the moment he became great in the part... and that was his last series of episodes. Had he continued beyond this point, I feel he honestly could have turned his career as the Doctor around, if he maintained what he did here for future episodes.
Colin Baker is no longer the worst Doctor thanks to Jodie Whittaker. Colin deserved a third season and a much better costume. That outfit helped sabotage him.
Simple...two answers, the writers were garbage, just like what we have just put up with for the last two year, and the costume design, what the hell was Colin wearing. Colin didn't have a chance.
Thanks for sharing this with us. I liked Colin and felt his tenure wasn't handled well and he wasn't given a fair shake. True, his stories weren't perfect, but I liked many of them much more than Davidson's. If they did some AU stories where he didn't regenerate, I'd buy them!
The WORST Doctor by far is Jodie Whittaker! I was really looking forward to seeing how she'd do and she failed spectacularly. IDK why everyone hates 6 so much. I liked him when I was a kid and I like him when I re-watched it decades later... Or maybe it was Peri.... LOL!! But seriously, in all fairness EVERY actor that plays the Doctor can't be a bang on 10!! But, lets all pray that it never dips as low as 13 ever again!! I've been a Doctor Who fan since the early 1970s. My 1st Doctor was Jon Pertwee!
Colin's sixth Doctor is my favorite! After the increasing blandness of Peter Davison's Doc, Colin's Doc was a stunning revelation. Right from his first lines, he was distinctive, wonderfully vivid, and compelling. His Doctor was quite right when he complains that his immediate predecessor had, at best, a feckless charm. As for his costume, again after Peter Davison's bland one, his crazy quilt outfit perfectly matches his quixotic nature.
When I discovered him after the TV show revival, I was jealous. I LOVE his coat. Colin Baker was a great doctor ... But he had to work with what was written for him. He did the best he could with what he was given. Like Jodie Whittaker many years later.
Yes, but at least they didn't retcon the entire show's history under Colin's tenure like they did with Whitaker's and then do nothing with that retcon.
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Colin Baker was a gifted and energetic actor, (similar to Tom Baker I think), who, from everything I've heard, had wanted to play the Doctor for many years, and, once he got there, thoroughly enjoyed the part and gave it everything he had.
He was let down by some terribly written stories and a BBC that wanted any excuse to cancel the show. It's amazing to me that, in spite how he was treated, he still loves the show and the fans as much as he does.
Colin was a tv actor who was on the decline before WHO. He never was the lead in a show and got very little work on tv after WHO.
@@matthewcheHe was never the lead, so hiw could he be in decline?
Yes I think he told the radio Times in 1984 that he would like to play doctor who for as long as tom Baker had done. A shame of course it was not to be as we know as by 1987 he was not on it alas.
Exactly
Colin was great and treated horribly being fired over the phone. This man deserved much more and was a great Doctor. He didn't write the stories and theres only so much one can do to overcome those limits. However as a character, he did nail the Doctor. If you want to point a finger at who would be to blame here it would very obviously be the producer JNT. The more I learn, the more I believe JNT was being pushed out. Instead of taking the axe himself I believe JNT instead canned poor Colin.
After Season 23's "The Trial of a Time Lord" came and went, bosses like BBC1 Controller Michael Grade and head of serials Jonathon Powell still were not happy with the results and let producer John Nathan-Turner know they would renew the show for another season but felt it was time to recast the Doctor role with another actor. Nathan-Turner let them know that Colin Baker had not even fulfilled his 4 years contract especially the enforced 18 month hiatus between Seasons 22 and 23, but the bosses told him they counted the 18 months gap as part of the duration (cast and crew were paid to do nothing in the gap). Nathan-Turner also let them know that he too wanted to leave the show, and they granted him his request if he would do the terrible news to Colin Baker. Nathan-Turner informed Baker by phone, but Baker wanted to meet with Jonathon Powell and had a meeting with him and counter offered to give him the entirety of the next season and then he'll leave at the end while Powell only offered Baker what the BBC wanted, just to appear in the opening serial of the next season at 4 episodes. Powell said he would think about it but it was sad, as Baker never heard from Powell again regarding his counter offer. Some of this information was in the Trials and Tribulations documentary that was among the bonus features in the Trial of a Time Lord DVD set, and among various factual reference books on the show's production history. Nathan-Turner was screwed over by his BBC bosses as he was informed after a few months had passed, that they wanted him to continue on as producer on Doctor Who, which JNT was upset about as he wanted to move on to do other things but his job was on the line as they told him if he wanted to remain employed at the BBC he must stay on as producer. The BBC was also unable to find anyone else to take over as producer of the show as there was just so much disdain for Doctor Who within the BBC that nobody else wanted to touch it at all. Sadly JNT himself never got produce other TV shows of any sort after Doctor Who ended in 1989 and holds the record for longest serving producer on the show's history.
They just put this video out to take the heat off of the 13th doctor... Who's clearly the worst..
And wasn't the worst in Doctor who History Jodie Whittaker is fact the worst
I keep thinking that there isn't a worst Doctor as much as there is a least satisfying Doctor, with a great majority of the actors who played this character being very talented in their own right. I'd honestly rather see more of a blunt critique of the writing staffs responsible for the unsatisfactory stories and arcs. I'm very confused why it's easy to put the actors down for doing their job and not the writers who haven't taken their job seriously enough.
Check out Colin's big finish work it's incredible
No way, Colin Baker was great and took the best approach to a show whose budget was getting smaller - he played it big and had fun with the stories and the Doctor role (but has provided a strong degree of gravitas in the Big Finish audio adventures).
One big issue with Colin Baker's Doctor is that he did have his moments, but whenever he was allowed to "settle in" as the sixth Doctor, the writers would resort to making the Doctor go insane. The first couple of episodes, CB's insanity can be chalked up to regeneration sickness, and as severe as it is, it kind of adds depth to Peter Davidson's sacrifice IMO. Then, after CB recovers, he's put in a mind control device by Sil and turned evil, in one of the Trial of a Time Lord stories, he appears to sabotage emergency communications (false evidence), and in the Two Doctors, he becomes more primal as a result of Patrick Troughton being spliced with an Androgum. At least five storylines depicts him as acting out of his mind (which is an issue when you don't have much opportunity to define what his normal state of mind should be).
Perhaps that was the point? He was the 'mad' Doctor at the time.
@@TheManInBlueFlames Oddly enough, no. CB's Doctor was insane as part of the regeneration sickness for two storylines IIRC, but his personality started to stabilise after that, and you see signs of CB starting to grow into the character (when he's allowed to). The other instances of insanity were all externally imposed (Sil's brainwashing, genetic splicing, evidence tampering).
Beyond making fun of Peri's Americanisms and being occasionally overdramatic, he was probably less "mad" than Tom Baker or Patrick Troughton.
@@TheBlackSeraphand way less mad than Matt Smith.
In 2001, I found out I was going to be a father. And it was a boy! So I went through every Doctor actor's name with my wife. She liked Colin. My son is now almost 21. Now he wonders why I named him after the "worst" 😷 Doctor. I told him, Colin Baker had a very small chance to succeed. He was set up to fail, he was a great actor and could've really grown into the role. My son Colin, is doing fine BTW. Mainly because there's no Mel.
I think Mel was written poorly and should being close to Donna noble way but she isn't
@@Mark-nh2hs yes I'm sure he would love a Peri right now. College is the time ⏲
"We are billions and billions of years beyond your pretty obsession with gender" - The 12th Doctor talking about Time Lord society.
Get him some big finish and he’ll see that Colin’s one of the best doctors
A young lad worked for me, he had a daughter and they called her Tegan. I said "oh you're a doctor who fan", completely blank look and I had to explain. But also had a similar thing happen when a customer said her brother was called Ethan, said is your dad a John Wayne fan? Had to explain the he played Ethan Edwards in The Searchers, I think his best role and one of the top 5 movies in the Western genre
Colin’s Dalek story is absolutely up there with the best stories and is my favourite of his adventures (oh and Peri shone too, having a proper adventure and not just being about her outfits)
He had some duds but it wasn’t his fault.
Agreed. I have been rewatching and there are some duds like "the mark of the Rani" where the episode turns into a "last of the summer wine" episode. The doctor is tied down on a stretcher and escapes down a hill. The master is a bit of a pantomime villain almost sneaking around on tip toe. I have the dalek episode to come.
It is fantastic.
Vengeance On Varos is my pick for top story.
@@johnhoran9840 Mine too - mainly for the great social commentary on the gladiatorial nature of certain types of TV programs - it was very well done. I do like Revelation of the Daleks as well - and that would be a close second for me, for Colin's stories.
Even the "bad" ones, like Timelash, are campy fun when I'm in the right mood. I picked up both of Colin's seasons on blu-ray. @@alphabetaxenonzzzcat
Colin was and is a brilliant Doctor. There were some bad scripts during his era, but a few really good ones in there too. In any event, Colin proved his amazing talent in the Big Finish Doctor Who audios.
Having grown up with Dr Who from the late Troughton era onwards, Colin Baker did not go down well at the time, mainly because of the storylines, and the costume he was forced to wear. But he was soo underrated, and re watching his era now you can see just how brilliant he was, and still is. He also wanted to break Tom Bakers record which was admirable, all things considered. Some of his adventures were very good considering what he was up against, and how he was eventually treated. Colin Baker I salute you.....
Felt sorry for Colin Baker. Can hardly blame him for turning down the regeneration scene.
Don't feel so bad for him. Colin Baker is a jerk in real life. Met him in the elevator at the 2013 TARDIS con in Chicago and he came across as obnoxiously rude. Sort of like his sixth Doctor persona.
I have met him twice @@DANGERMAN991
He never came off like that
@@DANGERMAN991 So you didnt really meet him did you, You just happened to be in a lift with him.
Colin Baker got a raw deal in his role as the Doctor. I'm glad he has done well in the Big Finish audios.
I could watch the Colin Baker episodes on repeat rather than watch any one of the Chibnall era.
Facts
Sorry, you can moan all you like about Chibnall but until you have had an episode where Bertie Bassett is the bad guy, then you have not hit a low.
@@lestat1uk That was the seventh doctor.
@@Ceolskog yes, I personally think the seventh is worse than six...hence the jab about Bertie Bassett. That was an all time low in doctor who
Colin Baker the worst Doctor ever? Not anymore! 😂
Colin didn't deserve to be fired. I met him at a convention in the 90s and he seemed a nice guy. I came dressed as a Cyberman and he let me have a picture with him strangling him. The face he made while my mum took the picture was hilarious 😂
Would love to see it
A few years ago me and some friends decided to watch all of old Doctor Who in chronological order. I enjoyed all the old Doctors but I actually think Colin Baker may be my favorite, but the fact that he's such a nice person may have had something to do with that.
Because JNT lost the plot and refused to collaborate with Baker who had a much more nuanced take on the character. The Big Finish audios took Baker onboard and completely rehabilitated the character, he regularly tops polls as fans favorite audio version. As for the original show it wasn't entirely terrible. It had some bright spots.
So I’m not a fan of his series but based off what you’re saying, you think I’d enjoy the Big Finish Audios much more?
@@DoodleThis Yeah, Colin Baker was voted best audio Doctor by the listener's a few years back. He doesn't lose all the edge but it's sanded down a lot.
@@richardwilliams5387 I’ll check out one of his works then
not neither. Colin Baker was stalwart, professional and more than any other Doctor actor, cared about and respected his fans.
Baker and Peri were great, the show itself went off the rails because of JNT.
JNT had his good points but I feel that his bad decisions certainly overshadowed them.
The 6th doctor is the worst doctor ever,
13th Doctor: Hold my jellybabies.
Some people: Colin Baker's Doctor is pretty bad.
Chris Chibnall: Hold my soy milk.
Great vid - slight correction - Baker wasn't only offered a regeneration scene, he was offered an entire episode, which he turned down.
Over the years, Colin’s Sixth Doctor has grown on fans, myself included, especially with how his character was finally allowed to evolve through Big Finish stories. One can’t deny that his era was Doctor Who at its lowest point, but I’d say it’s aged better, or at least in my experience it has. I don’t know about everyone else, but I’ve come to find most of his episodes to be more enjoyable upon rewatching, and his outfit is a lot of fun to cosplay as at conventions
While not my favourite incarnation, I still like him. It doesn't mean I dislike him, from the clips I see from him, Colin Baker is underrated as the Sixth Doctor. I'm glad he got justice in Big Finish audio dramas.
Working with some of those TV scripts must have been like trying to do somersaults in a toilet cubicle. What more could he have done? It's like he wanted to play it 'tetchy', but the scripties wrote 'tw*t'. Big Finish Colin has been a joy.
@@richardgale4827 Mhm, probably the best to describe it, Colin Deserved better, and it didn't help that script editor at the time Eric Sayward (Correct my spelling if I got it wrong) disagreed with his casting.
Thank the Guardians for Big Finish! They salvaged & made the 6th Doctor one of the best incarnations.
I agree. His Big Finish stories take the 6th Doctor to a new level.
Thank the Guardian for the extremely unpopular and ridiculous female Dr Who..
@@johneeeemarry34 It's so ridiculously weird that you brought up the 13th Doctor for no reason... I'm not even a fan of her, but she is living in your head rent free.
After listening to a lot of big finish stories the 6th doctor has quickly become one of my favourites.
Colin Bakers voice just comes across so well in the audio medium. And the stories they gave 6 are great.
I just love the dynamic between 6 and evelyn, easily one of my favourite doctor and companion pairing. But big finish stories with him and Peri, Mel or frobisher are also great.
Your video is brilliant. A lot of wise, measured judgements and opinions. It's about time Colin Baker was let off the hook for the problems in his era. And you're quite right, what with the costume he was forced to wear, a lot of stories with awful scripting and dialogue, the nasty, background TV politics driven by a management who were actively working against the show, the guy didn't stand a chance. Thank God for the Big Finish comeback.
Colin Baker is the best Dr. Made even better by Big Finish, finally getting the stories and treatment his Dr deserved. Magnificent performance 👍
I'm truly thankful for Big Finish for doing the 6th Doctor justice.
The Five Doctors is actually the five-ish Doctors. The Three Doctors is two Doctors and a half where the Two Doctors is actually two Doctors and Patrick Troughton refuse to dye his hair
The 'post regeneration trauma' is not supposed to make the Doctor an arsehole. At least, that had never happened before!
Colin Baker was always my favourite Classic Who Doctor. Sure, the costume was terrible, but I liked several of his stories, such as Two Doctors, Vengeance on Varos, Revelation of the Daleks, and Mark of the Rani. I even (ahem) like Twin Dilemma, to be honest. I'm glad he got to show off what we should've gotten at Big Finish.
Vengeance On Varos is so underrated. When I did my review on it I pointed out that it's arguably more relevant today than it was back in the 80s.
He's not my favorite classic Doctor, but he is certainly my favorite of the three 1980s Doctors.
I always liked his costume lol wish they would do a dressing gown of his coat 🤣🤣
@@TheWatcherOnWhoColin hated the clothes his doctor wore
I think Baker was great. The ratings really only dropped after the 18 month hiatus.
Colin Baker was faced with the insurmountable task of overcoming bad scripts and that God-awful outfit. He was dealt a bad hand.
I grew up in this era (the 3rd and 4th Doctors were "mine") and it was devastating for us at the time to lose Tom Baker. Peter Davison was okay, but our interest was waning. Then Colin Baker came in with his ridiculous multi-colour outfit, plus trying to strangle Peri, and it was obvious the show had jumped the shark. It wasn't the Doctor we knew and loved anymore. Not just my opinion, but of a lot of fans at the time (as discusssed in conventions, etc). The "I am the Doctor, whether you like it or not!" speech was testament to how the fans felt, and it was a slap in our face from JNT, whom we all hated at the time. We didn't like it, and lots of us turned off the show for good - myself included.
I don't understand why BBC didn't just get rid of John Nathan Turner as Executive producer? He made all disasters decisions nearly killed the franchise.
I was always told Colin's Doctor was the beginning of the end and a horrible doctor. But after watching him myself and absorbing the stories I really enjoyed the darker tones, and the way his character was changing as time went on. I know trial of a timelord is a mess but I really liked the main story of the Valyard. I also love the audio dramas for Colin. The audios give us stories that show the doctor in a better like and the voice work is amazing. The same can be said for Paul McGann's 8th Doctor. Thank you for this video, it was well made and really shows what was going on behind the scenes.
No, it started in tom bakers last season. The stories got worse from then on.
@@lotsalube I have to agree with you.
Colin was better than anything that has been on the past 7 years. By a long shot!
I honestly think he gets better with age. I still think he was better than Jodi and McCoy. I think he needed an extra companion. The two doctors worked with perry and Jamie.
One companion is fine if you have the right companion. Peri and Mel were awful companions for the Doctor.
This video is very informative and very well done. Your dialogue is very to-the-point and it’s quite interesting to hear. I do think there is a lot of microphone noise coming from breath hitting the mic’s surface, and it’s unfortunately a bit distracting. It would probably be good to either place the microphone further from you or use an iPhone microphone with a good recording app instead to achieve better results. Video was good, but I think that could be a positive change.
In truth I don't remember anything about Colin Baker's storylines.
But I do remember Nicola Bryant.
I was 15 at the time.
Some of Colin Baker's episodes are some of the best episodes from the classic era. Trial of a Time Lord, obviously. Vengeance on Varos. Revelation of the Daleks. What was wrong in the Baker era was the BBC, not Colin Baker, the SIxth Doctor, or Doctor Who.
Can't see Michael Grade or Jonathan Powell being guests of honour at a Dr Who Convention anytime soon.
@@TheWatcherOnWho not unless they've suddenly acquired a passion for having stuff thrown at them.
@@MichaelJohnson-kq7qg I show up to that one.
Trial of a Timelord is unwatchable trash. Almost as bad as Flux.
@@thefonzkiss Trial was a great concept, let down by factors beyond their control. I'm guessing you didn't like it, and that's fine. Dr Who doesn't have one target demographic who has to love all episodes equally.
Vengeance on Varos is a great DW story, equal to set with any other great story. Well written, well performed and well tempered with serious and comic moments, along with the kind of commentary on contemporaneous society the best of sci-fi gives you. Revelation of the Daleks was quite good, and The Two Doctors pure fun and joy, just to see Troughton's second doctor one last time!
It was still magical. He was the first I saw and the main problem in retrospect is the budget; it was still on the same level as 10 years previous.
I heard there was going to be a story of where they where going to do a blackpool story where they bump into the toymaker again with the original actor but that got turned down by the BBC I dont think the BBC can handle a show like Doctor who. I think they never liked it and underfunded the show and look at it now they use it for a political statement
@@DavidTyler They don't like positive role models for boys/men so they symbolically strip them away by replacing them with female actors etc.
The 6th doctor was the worst until the Whitaker Era took over as the worst doctor ever. So Colin should be happy now, he no longer at the bottom of the list.
I think most people thought Sylvester MCcoy was the worst doctor.......before they saw Jodie Whittaker, lol
Reception to Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy was far worse than Jodie Whittaker. The show is yet to reach those lows
@@unclekarl5219 jodie is universally hated, baker and mCcoy are not, so i dont agree. :)
Peri was an absolute bunny. Only when she was not on-screen, would your eye roam about the cheesy cardboard sets and cybermen wearing cricket gloves. Top 5: Peri, Rose, Leela, Amy and Sara Jane.
You do realise that the character was still of school age when the Doctor "kidnapped" her?
I hated Peri, but I do agree on some of your five. My top five companions are Sarah Jane, Zoe, Rose, Jamie, and Leela being #1.
Sarah Jane, off the chart, then Leela, then the rest of the pack.
JNT killed the show.
Formally worst Doctor, Jodi took the Crown. Colin really just had a terrible first story... Bad script, bad costume, bad design & direction + TWO "Adrics"
Yes, The Twin Dilemma certainly didn't give the 6th Doctor the best of starts.
It will take a hell of a bad doctor to take the crown from Jodi I'm afraid. I just close my eyes and hope the last three seasons didn't happen, that Capaldi's doctor will wake up in the shower and realise he hasn't regenerated yet and it was all just an awful dream. No timeless child (why couldn't they have made the timeless child Susan? That would have been very interesting) no Yaz and those Godawful other companions. I thought companions didn't get any worse than the screeching Bonnie Langford, but I was wrong.
The only good things to come from the last seasons were the brief return of Ace and Tegan and the new Master who is pretty decent and I'll be interested in finding out where he fits in the order of regenerations. Oh, and seeing Ian and Jo and the other companions (even you Mel.)
There were two good things about the Colin Baker era in Dr Who...
And both of them belonged to Nicola Bryant!!!
Had'nt seen this in decades but I remembered her twin personalities. Very pretty face too.
Yes, it had humanity, today it's sterile and must abide to the PC culture ironing away the spices of life.
I enjoyed the Sixth Doctors era it had some great stories Vengeance On Varos,Attack Of The Cybermen Revelation of the Daleks to name a few.He's arguably the best Big Finish Doctor as well.
Bad writing is key, not the lead actor. I wish Baker had stayed in the role as long as he wanted and better writers were hired.
JNT chased away all the better writers.
I think Colin Baker was very enthusiastic for the role and was all in. I think it was a combination of many things. He should have been given a proper chance.
I think the show had been going wrong ever since Tom left, with the production team failing to have a clue about the show or the lead character and mostly just covering it with fan-bait. Colin's era was especially troubled because it started so horribly on The Twin Dilemma, giving us the worst impression possible of the new guy.
Colin could've been a great Doctor. Sometimes his better stories demonstrate such (Revelation of the Daleks, Terror of the Vervoids). His worst, however leave us finding him detestable, obnoxious and not rooting for him to survive.
Trial of a Time Lord is where the problems become really apparent. Where it's clear the makers never actually had a clue how to deal with the can of worms of moral ambiguity they're determinedly going for. The result is an era easy to dismiss as a write-off, not worth caring about.
And Colin really deserved better than that.
Watching this as a kid in the '80s, I really really liked how dark and extreme season 22 was. In retrospect I can see that something was going a little bit wrong with the writing at times, but I always wanted doctor who to push harder, be edgar, more extreme, whatever, when I was younger. Now I can appreciate why it's not for everybody. But I think season 23 is where stuff really really started to go wrong, it started to feel like you could sense the fighting going on behind the scenes, and people didn't really know what they were doing. Like mind warp, only writer Philip Martin really understood what was going on with the script. Nobody thought to ask him about it or anything. Just ridiculous. Also, those guys at the BBC needed to have more confidence in what they were doing. Comparing doctor who to movies like Star wars is ridiculous. Trust your audience, we know the difference. We're not here to be wowed by George Lucas style special effects.
Colin Baker’s take on the Doctor was fine IMO. I like exploring different personality quirks with the Doctor.
It was the brightness of it for me. Even in the 80’s the show had just taken on too much of a look of the times. I enjoyed the older looks or production of the 60’s and 70’s to what they put out in the late 80’s.
Not bc I was old I was born in 75. I just didn’t like the “feel” of the late 80’s Doctor.
He never had a chance. I remember first seeing him and thinking they tried to bring a Tom Baker clone back. I was never a fan of Peter and I thought it was a step backward.
Imagine if Colin's Doctor would've been allowed to take the road afforded him in the Big Finish stories. We'd have some of the best Who seasons.
For my money, early Sylvester McCoy wasn't that hot, either, and it wasn't until we got Ace and the Cartmel Masterplan that things got better.
This is from a guy who absolutely loved Colin Baker's Doctor, in spite of the outfit, and he was an absolute trooper when the higher-ups didn't want him.
Colin Baker was camp and cranky and actually not that bad a Doctor. The writing often let him down, and the costume was awful. But I actually liked him more than Peter Davison. My vote for "worst Doctor" would go to Sylvester McCoy. Somehow made it through his first four or five episodes before I turned away from the series altogether until the 2005 reboot.
IF Colin's doctor truly was the worst portrayal to date, he's certainly moved up a position since Jodie's doctor, imo
Correction, the She Doctor Jodie toke the Throne as the worst garbage incarnation
Ncuti (sp) is there too
@@ronaldstone1285 Ncuti is a good doctor. He reminds me of John Pertwee if he was gay
One of the sadder things about how short Colin's run was cut is that he'd gone into the role fully intent on breaking Tom Baker's record.
Well he even said it was stupid of him to say it as he did not even earn it.
I have not seen the run of the 6th Doctor yet but I have heard that he has the reputation of being the worst. Personally, I don't see how he could be worse than any of the Chibnal era Doctors, but I will reserve judgement until I can see his contribution for myself.
You're only as good as the material you're working with. Fortunately Colin's gotten much better material with Big Finish. Maybe in the future Big Finish can rehabilitate Jodie Whittaker as well.
People are too unfair to Colin Baker, he was a fabulous Doctor and he had to put up with a lot on set and off set.He will always be my favorite Classic Doctor.
Although I haven't seen much of the 6th Doctor era, I can't help but notice one thing. The fact that the 13th Doctor era and the 6th Doctor era was littered with bad writing.
If you think he was the worst you never had to sit through the following three seasons of tripe.
I have to admit the title is designed to provoke debate rather than my own personal opinion. I actually believe that the 6th Doctor gets a unfair bad rep which was one of my motivations for making this video.
Following one season of tripe. Seasons 25 and 26 were fine.
i remember hearing something about the sixth doctor's coat being the way it is so they could use it to help the camera to properly correct itself to the location it would be in each scene and section of a scene.
Colin wasn't really given a fair shake, IMO, and did the best he possibly could with what he was given to work with. I think it's sad that some people, including BBC upper management in the 80s, unfairly blamed him for what was clearly the result of John Nathan-Turner's mismanagement. The substandard writing, ridiculous costuming (Colin himself had wanted a simple black outfit to reflect the Sixth's darker personality, but was overruled) and more violent tone were JNT's decision.
The , Colin Baker era was Awful - but compared with the , Jodie Whitaker era , it was Brilliant
Colin Baker's Doctor was always one of my favourites. The arrogance he played the role with was superb.
He was better than Whitaker.
No way! was the first thing that entered my mind as well. I suppose that even, in the end, the explosion in a cloth factory that Colin was made to wear was a fit for the personality. It is indeed fortunate that in Colin's audio adventures no-one, especially Colin, had to clap eyes on it. Sadly, the coat offed somewhere, mated with a bolt of rainbow cloth and that gave forth the tacky costume that 13 wore.
well he was the least favorite...until the Thirteenth Doctor came into existence.
Also Colin Baker has admitted he was sometimes arrogant at the time he play the Doctor. In my opinion fans was not ready for such a arrogant and cocky Doctor, also Colin Baker wanted to make his Doctor memorable. Plus after Peter Davison's nice guy 5th Doctor and then having a arrogant and cocky 6th Doctor is a brilliant contrast. Colin Baker went to the opposite end of the spectrum with his version of the Doctor and it works
No Dr was as arrogant as Tom Baker! He refused to participate in the 5 doctors because he wasn't the "star" Tom was good in first 3 seasons, but then he thought he was bigger than the show, similar to the first Dr
@@RavenThom Very true but you can have a love/hate relationship with the character. Leonard Nimoy had to be begged to return as Spock in The Motion Picture plus Paramount settle a lawsuit with him. Eventually Leonard Nimoy embrace Spock and had a much more comfortable time playing him
Colin was fine, he was just let down by the production decisions and budget of the time. Still better than the last few years of Who.
I never seen any of the 6th or 7th doctor who episodes until the past fall, and I overall, like both of them in the roll. They both needed another two or three years to establish themselves.
Whittakers era was far worse. I can name at least one memorable thing 6 did
The worst Doctor apart from Doctor Karen was McCoy.
Under him it was so bad that the show was cancelled in 1989. It returned in 2005.
twin dilemma > 90% of Jodies run
As someone who wasn’t really wanting to see the 6th doctor’s era for a very long time, I got around to it, and 100% probably my favorite era, favorite doctor, etc. yes, it absolutely has its hiccups, but, it feels like it’s got so much to offer, especially if you are looking for more doctor who. I’d definitely recommend more than just the vengeance on varos and the dalek story, but also the supplemental material, like the missing adventures books, like time of your life, killing ground, and state of change, as well as some of the big finish audios.
I’ve talked to one of my doctor who discord friends about the 6th doctor’s era, and there really is a certain sadness to it, it’s really hard to explain why, but it’s definitely not the worst stuff. I’m probably one of the few people who actually likes twin dilemma and timelash, two of the 6th doctor’s more infamous stories. They really aren’t that bad. Just confusing on what direction they’re going. If that makes sense.
Out of all the Doctors, Colin Bakers' most memerable ellements was his most out ragous costum and his prepencacey of choking out his companins.
Colin wasn't the problem. It was the shit writing.
Yep, the writing, the budget, and the realisation of the ideas in the scripts and so the production values, too. It all looked terribly amateurish and half baked. Colin Baker, in particular, and the other actors were badly let down. And the B.B.C. were antipathetic to the show ( thank you, Mr. Grade ) but to compare it with American products in the same genre, which always seemed bland and clichéd to me, revealed a mindset that would never continue to accommodate a programme like Dr. Who. I believe there was talk that Mr. Grade favoured a replacement called " Space Cops " or something similar, for heaven's sake ( correct me if I'm wrong with that ). You can see where that idea was going: something better suited to channel 4, perhaps; liberal, jokey, silly and overly camp, with some perverse behavioural tendencies thrown in. Dr. Who was probably too conventional or orthodox for Mr. Grade. Oh well, we were at least saved from that, thank Rasillon's beard.
A few inaccuracies here, Pip and Jane Baker didn’t finish off the writing on Episode 14, of Trial. Saward wrote a completed script, which initially JN-T approved he then asked Saward to rewrite the cliffhanger ending which he refused to do. In the end Saward withdraw his script completely. Pip and Jane Baker were than approached to write a completely new final episode.
I adore every clip of old Doctors including this guy its just so surreal an funky instead of surreal but kinda stuffy feeling of more modern ones also holy frick his outfit is great
My theory is a simple one: the show had been running two decades, and was quite simply in a bit of a doldrums. Not unlike the modern version this year, hitting 20 years since it came back. There's a certain level to which any long running TV show starts to lose steam and feel like it's just circling the horses. Colin Baker's era was hamstrung by a production team that thought self-referential storylines were 'what the fans wanted', when truthfully all the fans actually wanted was good stories well told. And poor old Colin, bless him, just didn't get handed very many of those.
Colin Baker nailed the character of the Doctor from the word go. But sadly became a victim of the prejudiced view of Michael Grade who detested the entire series and thereby set out to destroy it.
To be honest, I thought he was great in the Trial of a Time Lord episodes... The problem is, for me, that was the moment he became great in the part... and that was his last series of episodes. Had he continued beyond this point, I feel he honestly could have turned his career as the Doctor around, if he maintained what he did here for future episodes.
Colin Baker is no longer the worst Doctor thanks to Jodie Whittaker. Colin deserved a third season and a much better costume. That outfit helped sabotage him.
Simple...two answers, the writers were garbage, just like what we have just put up with for the last two year, and the costume design, what the hell was Colin wearing. Colin didn't have a chance.
I didn't like Colin Baker back in the day. But watching the Whitaker/Chibnall Era, they've set a new hyper-low for the series.
Full agreement here!
Thanks for sharing this with us. I liked Colin and felt his tenure wasn't handled well and he wasn't given a fair shake. True, his stories weren't perfect, but I liked many of them much more than Davidson's. If they did some AU stories where he didn't regenerate, I'd buy them!
My pleasure. Glad you enjoyed the video.
I am just going to say he did a better job the Chibs and Jodie Whittaker Colin now can rest now as he no longer the worst in Doctor who History
The WORST Doctor by far is Jodie Whittaker! I was really looking forward to seeing how she'd do and she failed spectacularly. IDK why everyone hates 6 so much. I liked him when I was a kid and I like him when I re-watched it decades later... Or maybe it was Peri.... LOL!! But seriously, in all fairness EVERY actor that plays the Doctor can't be a bang on 10!! But, lets all pray that it never dips as low as 13 ever again!! I've been a Doctor Who fan since the early 1970s. My 1st Doctor was Jon Pertwee!
13th Doctor : “Hold my beer”
Colin's sixth Doctor is my favorite! After the increasing blandness of Peter Davison's Doc, Colin's Doc was a stunning revelation. Right from his first lines, he was distinctive, wonderfully vivid, and compelling. His Doctor was quite right when he complains that his immediate predecessor had, at best, a feckless charm. As for his costume, again after Peter Davison's bland one, his crazy quilt outfit perfectly matches his quixotic nature.
Oh I don't know myself But those 13th Doctor stories were a lot more Boring if you asked me Crew?😆
I don't think the 6th Doctor is half as bad as suggested.
When I discovered him after the TV show revival, I was jealous.
I LOVE his coat.
Colin Baker was a great doctor ... But he had to work with what was written for him. He did the best he could with what he was given.
Like Jodie Whittaker many years later.
Yes, but at least they didn't retcon the entire show's history under Colin's tenure like they did with Whitaker's and then do nothing with that retcon.
Much like Peter Capaldi. Was a family-friendly Malcolm Tucker whom the Daleks hide behind the sofa from all that much to ask?
Well done. If there’s clearly a problem with scripts, direction , budgets and a dreadful costume it seems bizarre to blame the actor.
I thought he had a lot of great stories, and is criminally underrated as a Doctor.
0:41 The Fifth Doctor was Peter DAVISON, not "Davidson"...
Colin was persecuted by BBC bosses for personal reasons. Season 22 had four good stories. Trial was patchy but okay.