Why WAS the 6th Doctor era SO BAD?!
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- Опубликовано: 3 июн 2024
- What went wrong with the 6th Doctor era? Was it really that bad? Did Colin Baker deserve to be sacked from his role as the Doctor?
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00:00- Introduction
00:35- The End Of The 5th Doctor Era
02:12- The Twin Dilemma
04:23- Character
07:05- Season 22
12:00- Hiatus
13:33- Season 23
16:56- The Aftermath
18:36- Conclusion
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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?
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
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.
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.
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-Folk-Metal-Hiking 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’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.
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 Baker is the best Dr. Made even better by Big Finish, finally getting the stories and treatment his Dr deserved. Magnificent performance 👍
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.....
Colin Baker got a raw deal in his role as the Doctor. I'm glad he has done well in the Big Finish audios.
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.
Great vid - slight correction - Baker wasn't only offered a regeneration scene, he was offered an entire episode, which he turned down.
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.
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 🤣🤣
I actually like his costume, I think it makes great contrast with his darker personality.
@@TheWatcherOnWhoColin hated the clothes his doctor wore
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
not neither. Colin Baker was stalwart, professional and more than any other Doctor actor, cared about and respected his fans.
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
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.
I'm truly thankful for Big Finish for doing the 6th Doctor justice.
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.
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.
Colin Baker's Doctor was always one of my favourites. The arrogance he played the role with was superb.
I think Baker was great. The ratings really only dropped after the 18 month hiatus.
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
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.
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.
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 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 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.
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.
The 'post regeneration trauma' is not supposed to make the Doctor an arsehole. At least, that had never happened before!
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.
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.
Correction, the She Doctor Jodie toke the Throne as the worst garbage incarnation
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.
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.
Some people: Colin Baker's Doctor is pretty bad.
Chris Chibnall: Hold my soy milk.
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.
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 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.
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.
his era is equivalent of Jodie era.
Great Dr, great companion. Such a shame we didn't get more -- especially the prepared season
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.
Great video, thanks!
No problem
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.
very good and excellent commentary. i agree with your insights into what went wrong. it’s very fair. thanks
Thanks
Lovely review🎉
twin dilemma > 90% of Jodies run
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.
IF Colin's doctor truly was the worst portrayal to date, he's certainly moved up a position since Jodie's doctor, imo
I thought he had a lot of great stories, and is criminally underrated as a Doctor.
Thank you for this of course, which is most interesting too. I guess as we know, the time of Doctor Who from 1984 to 1987 or so was a difficult one for sure, although you could say that went onto 1989 as well really. Well done though too!
Thank you. Have you seen my video on the 7th Doctor era?
@@TheWatcherOnWho No I have not but I will do though so then too. But thank you of course anyway!
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.
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 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.
The Sixth Doctor is my favorite of the Classic Doctors. I liked that he was such a change from The Fifth Doctor and I liked the acid his regeneration brought to the character. The one aspect of The Sixth Doctor that set him apart from his previous personas is that he was an active Doctor. No wandering around and just happening upon something that needed to be fixed, he was gonna go out and fix stuff! His predecessors just accepted that the TARDIS' Chameleon Circuit was broken, but he actually got it working (although he disabled it because he didn't like the results).
I didn't have an issue with his outfit. It made him distinctive, and something to consider is that IIRC the TARDIS was originally a research vessel and thus had a massive clothing area that would allow them to cloth themselves in a way to fit in on any planet they travel to. That means that The Sixth Doctor's outfit was actually normal clothing on some planet. Regardless, I liked the outfit and didn't find it off-putting at all.
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.
Another impressive analysis and review of a turbulent era in DW history. One good thing to come out of troubled times is the background stories and shenanigans make for a fascinating insight into the Television industry at the time, particularly the BBC.
In applying considered thought to the impacts JNT brought to the show I have come to a conclusion. He definitely shook things up beginning with season 18 and then again with the Twin Dilemma disaster. He brought creative and positive changes to the show and equally as many very poor decisions and flops. Therefore I feel the issue with JNT is not so much about the decisions he made. It was his stubbornness to ever accept criticism and alternative ideas and approaches from others. In a later interview, he did start to take some responsibility but it was given in a tone of self-pity.
For instance take the infamous costume of the sixth Doctor.
Colin Baker hated it, Saward hated it, the writers hated it and it soon became apparent that the viewers did too. So why didn't JNT change this outfit for season 23. Even the blue outer coat seen in Revelation of the Daleks gave Colin a more rounded tone. It might seem simplistic to say viewers would switch off over a costume, but the nature of humans to act based on visuals is profound. When those visuals clash with the environment, lessen the visual impact of scenes and so on then you have one mighty big problem on your hands.
Another example is that till his dying day JNT still argued that The Twin Dilemma wasn't that bad a story. So he was completely stubborn or had no capacity to even judge what made for good and bad television. The fact that not only did Colin Baker and Nicolai Bryant stand by JNT but even considered him to be like part of a happy family, showed just how decent the main actors of the show were. So that is my answer. JNT is primarily to blame. His failures were not due to decisions made but because there was obviously no proper decision making process in place. It was JNT's way and everyone had to go along with him on the ride. He acted as a one man band. If he had of had let others have their say, especially the actors, a lot of what lead to the demise of the show may never have happened. Then again I could be wrong.
The 6th doctor is the worst doctor ever,
13th Doctor: Hold my jellybabies.
Out of all the Doctors, Colin Bakers' most memerable ellements was his most out ragous costum and his prepencacey of choking out his companins.
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 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
An excellent analysis on Colin's era! I am old enough to have experienced it at the time, whilst I agree this was neither the best actor or best era of the classic show, it was always interesting to watch and rarely dull, (Except Twin Dillema!) 👍
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.
I don't think he was the worst actor to play the part. The best was Tom Baker.
Peter Davison was the best
No, no, no. Patrick Troughton was the best. It's been all down hill since he left the show... 😂
I think most people thought Sylvester MCcoy was the worst doctor.......before they saw Jodie Whittaker, lol
After listening to a load of Big Finish stories, I have a new found appreciation for this era. Sure, there were some misteps, but none of them were Colin, or the way he portrayed the character. He has now become my favourite doctor, even though other eras have much better stories. And I would much prefer to watch his era than anything made in the last five years. It's better to be bad than boring.
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.
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.
In truth I don't remember anything about Colin Baker's storylines.
But I do remember Nicola Bryant.
I was 15 at the time.
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.
The Big Finish audio drama Trial of the Valeyard parts 1 and 2 fills in the unanswered questions from Trial of a Time Lord. We finally learn the origins of the Valeyard
It was a consequence of those times.
The assassinationey sceney against Peri was too much for me, but it surprised me, sure!
The horrid jacket, I despise it.
But he was good, come on, Colin Baker is one great actor. Honestly, in the nineties this sixth doctor would have fitted perfectly with those times.
Back when I first started watching, Colin Baker was my first Doctor. (Technically Davison was, since my first story I watched was Caves of Androzani, but Baker was the first one I got to watch their entire run).
It’s painful always seeing him near the bottom of the tier lists of best Doctors…tho thankfully Big Finnish has brought him into a much better light, as much of his tv era wasn’t really his fault (tho he is partially to blame)
This is a quite brilliant analysis.
Thank you
I do hope Colin Baker and Jodie Whitaker get together regularly for margaritas to commiserate how two great actors were given terrible scripts and horrible creative decisions.
Great video sir! I wonder if part of the reason why the era was held in such low regard, is that it became, dare I say, trendy, to criticise the show? Granted, it made this quite easy to do at times! However, I've always been a fan of old Sixie. I even love Attack of the Cybermen! Colin is indeed a great actor, who did the very best he could with at times, some very poor material. Lesser leads would not have been able to do this
Colin Baker was faced with the insurmountable task of overcoming bad scripts and that God-awful outfit. He was dealt a bad hand.
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.
Nicely said.
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!
13th Doctor : “Hold my beer”
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.
Colin was better than anything that has been on the past 7 years. By a long shot!
The entire Sixth Doctor era can be summed up as: the dude controlling the BBC at the time hated Doctor Who and he wanted any excuse possible to pull the show off air, including sabotaging the show by cutting as much corners and budget as possible only to later justify its cancellation by saying: "look at this, it looks so bad, just pull this show out of its misery"
Colin’s costume was a brash fashion flash in the pan. The retro 80’s contemporary fashion has got more of that brash fashion now than then.
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 😂
In the Doctor Who unbound Big Finish audio dramas the Sixth Doctor is the War Doctor or The Doctor of war. He uses the Moment to burn Gallifrey. Colin Baker voices The War Doctor and the scripts adds a whole new depth to the Sixth Doctor (alternate)
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.
Also Colin Bakers performance also influenced Capaldis Doctor who went on the journey Baker always wanted for his Doctor in that Capaldis Doctor softened over time which is what Baker wanted for his and we got in Big Finish. Ultimately Bakers era has been unfairly judged with Jodie Whitakers era far worse mostly because Chris Chibnall has only ever been to develop stories on par with Pip and Jane Baker that means it ranged from Awful to Mediocre to just about passable.
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.
The Big Finish stories prompted me to look again at the original episodes.
I had been a kid when Baker had his tenure - coming after Tom Baker and Peter Davison the first thing I saw was Angry Doctor trying to strangle his companion... bad start... then it went dark... and there was THAT costume... hated it.
Now? Colin: Mea Maxima Culpa. You were totally blameless for this and I unfairly blamed you. And massive thanks for the audio dramas showing what could have been!
Colin Baker was screwed over by the BBC, or to put it more precisely, Michael Grade who did indeed use him as a scapegoat for the downturn of its ratings and overall quality. I had the pleasure of attending a special afternoon organized by the fan organization, Glasgow Who when he was in the city with the production of Strangers on a Train with Baker. He was an affable, light-hearted guy who spoke of his annoyance at being fired, and that grade didn't even have the guts to tell him he was being sacked to his face. Instead, he got John Nathan Turner to do his dirty work for him.
Having seen Grade in interviews, and watching hearing his criticism of the series it has become very apparent how much he disliked the program and how unobjective he was towards it. It's clear to me that he went out of his way to sabotage it, and he had no compunction in throwing Baker under the wheels of a truck in a further bid to do so. He comes across as a pompous jackass and if there was anyone who was the reason for the show's demise it was himself.
I lived through that era and have seen every original series episode, I will tell you why Colin Baker failed. The dialog between Colin Baker and Perpugilliam "Peri" Brown was like watching a couple on the verge of divorce. They were always bickering and arguing and it was hard to watch. This is why Colin Baker failed.
Whittakers era was far worse. I can name at least one memorable thing 6 did
He was never really given a chance. By the time he really got his opportunity to shine, he got replaced. Now I do love Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor. But Colin Baker has some underrated gems of performances. Love his speech in "The Ultimate Foe" about "power-mad conspirators".