REVIEW OVERVIEW: THE TRILOGIES OF DOCTOR WHO

Once more, we dive into another REVIEW OVERVIEW essay. I've been coming up with quite a few of these, lately. So they will be making some fairly regular appearances over the next while. 

Trilogies in Doctor Who are a fairly unique phenomenon.  We really only see them in the JNT era (although, I have decided there is one more example of a trilogy from a different period - but it's my own personal opinion that defines it as such. I don't tend to hear other fans saying the same thing). Many of the trilogies that appeared in the 80s are fairly clear and distinct. Some are a bit less obvious. We will go through them all and rate them with a scale of sorts. 

To be clear: a trilogy is a series of three self-contained stories that combine together to tell a bigger tale. Or, at the very least, that deal with a single significant theme. Once that ongoing storyline or concept is done, the show very clearly moves on to something else. 

Trilogies, of course, should not be confused with the Three-parters we, sometimes, see in the New Series (or the three-parter we once saw in Season 22). These three-parters can bear a close resemblance to a trilogy. I look, for instance, at the three episodes about the Monks in Series 10 and see some pretty distinct stories that combine to tell a whole. But I'd still be more inclined to call that a three-parter. Trilogies from the Classic Series are much more discernible because they are multi-part stories that come together to tell a bigger tale. Whereas a three-parter is only made of three episodes, trilogies are usually comprised of twelve.    

RATING SYSTEM

Last time we did one of these, we were very thorough and scientific-seeming (totally a legitimate hyphenated term!). Even a little bit ambitious. We did five whole different points of criteria and addressed each of them specifically with every candidate. I was very proud of myself for being so clinical. Check it out for yourself if you want to be legitimately impressed with me (or, at least, mildly impressed with me!): https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2021/04/review-overview-which-doctor-is-best-at.html

This time, we're playing things a bit more loose. I'm only going with two points of criteria that will get, at least, vaguely touched-upon during my reviews of each trilogy. 

Point of Criteria #1: Execution of the Trilogy's Main Thrust

This would be the most obvious. There needs to be a through-theme that connects the three stories and makes them feel cohesive. Otherwise, we really don't have a proper trilogy. 

If we go to the Star Wars trilogies, for instance. The original three movies detailed the redemption of Anakin Skywalker. There were tonnes of other stories going on too, of course. But, behind it all, this plot was there. You just had to be looking for it. 

While many bemoan the Prequels, the main theme of this trilogy is well-displayed. In this case, we were watching the Fall of Anakin Skywalker. This process was shown quite clearly and evidently throughout the course of the three movies. It was also constructed in a very realistic manner. If we had gone through the same experiences Anakin had been put through, we probably would have made the same choice. 

So, if we were to compare these two trilogies, the main thrust of the Prequels is probably the better-executed of the two. Complain all you want about Jar Jar or the apparent wooden acting of certain performers. Or even how the story is just too political. But the Fall of Anakin is better-handled than his redemption (which, in some ways, almost seems to come out of nowhere during the third movie).   

We will be making these same sort of observations about the trilogies we'll be examining in Doctor Who. Do we see an underlying storyline building up throughout the three tales? Or could it have been shown more clearly?    

Point of Criteria #2: Actual Story Quality 

While Point of Criteria #1 is pretty important, this can have a very strong bearing too. The self-contained stories being told within the framework of the trilogy need to be well-executed. Otherwise, the whole thing can fall flat. 

Let's go back to that Star Wars comparison just a bit more. I have just pointed out that the Prequels do a much better job with the through-theme than Episodes IV, V and VI. But ask just-about any Star Wars fan which trilogy is better. Some might say those Prequels get picked on way harder than they should (and I would be one of those fans - I actually find them to be quite enjoyable), but would still admit that the Original Trilogy is the better of the two. Why do they feel that? The individual movies that make up the trilogy are just better-made. It's as simple as that. 

So, while a good through-theme is important, it's not everything. If the parts that make a whole are well-conceived, that can really make a difference in our appreciation of a trilogy. 

Special Note: I intentionally didn't go into the shambles that is the Disney trilogy as it would just get me ranting for way too long. And this is meant to be a Doctor Who blog, not Star Wars! 

THE ACTUAL TRILOGIES

Rather than try to rank them immediately, I am just going to tackle them in chronological order. I'll list each one and give a brief analysis on how well they handled those two Points of Criteria. At the end of the individual review, I will give them a score from 1 to 10. Based on that score, you can determine where I rank them all on your own. 

THE E-SPACE TRILOGY 

What impresses me the most about this particular trilogy was the fact that the production team seems to understand that this is the first time they are trying something like this so they keep it pretty simple. No complex multi-layered theme to examine, here. The TARDIS slips through a CVE that takes them into another universe. They then spend the next three stories trying to find their way back into their own reality. Pretty straightforward stuff. 

Both Full Circle and Warrior's Gate keep a strong enough focus on this theme. Particularly Warrior's Gate. The whole story is really about trying to find a way through to the other side of those mirrors. What is nice, though, is that State of Decay is telling a very different type of story from the other two. It really is more of a classic vampire story. With the Doctor and Romana, sort of, becoming Van Helsing together. But enough is inserted into the story about escaping E-Space that it still feels very cohesive. It's not like the middle story forgot, altogether, about the main thrust of the trilogy and just went for something wildly different. It all stitches up together quite nicely. 

All three stories are quite strong. Warrior's Gate is particularly brilliant. It almost makes it into my Top Ten all-time favorite stories, in fact. I'd definitely say it's in my Top Twenty. Which means that the trilogy finishes off beautifully. There's definitely a sense of progression, here. 

The trilogy does lose a point in Full Circle, though. Christopher Bidmead's desire to give Doctor Who a hard sci-fi edge goes just a bit too far, for once. There is, perhaps, just a bit too much technobabble going on, in places. Which causes the story to feel too remote and even a tad confusing. Overall, it's still a very good story. Particularly when you consider the age of its author. And it does also contribute to the overall arc quite nicely. 

The E-Space Saga also loses a point for, perhaps, just being a little too simple and straightforward. Especially as later trilogies come along and we see them dealing with far more complex and sophisticated matters. 

Overall, thought, still a strong trilogy. Especially for a first effort. 

Final Score:                                                                                8/10

THE REGENERATION TRILOGY 

Hot on the heels of The E-Space Trilogy comes a tale that does go for something higher concept. The production team has a little more confidence, now. Instead of using a plot element to link the three stories, it's something more thematic. They give us a very good product, though. Even if they're doing another trilogy again so soon. 

I would go so far to say that it's not so much the concept of regeneration that is the central premise. But, rather, rebirth. The Doctor's transformation is a natural process that all Time Lords must face. So he deals with it in a more healthy manner. The Master, of course, induces his change through the most ungodly of means. But, in both instances, we are watching these two major characters become something new and different. So that the whole thrust of the show can move in a new direction. Doctor Who, itself, becomes reborn as this trilogy concludes.

On this occasion, I like the middle story best. Logopolis actually makes it into my Top Ten (check it out, right here: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2015/12/book-of-lists-top-ten-who-stories-10.html). Of all the swansong stories we've gotten, nothing beats this one. Nor do I think anything ever will. But the bookends to Logopolis are still quite magnificent, too.  There is a beautiful poetic quality to both Keeper of Traken and Castrovalva. Keeper plays out like a sci-fi Elizabethan drama while Castrovalva seems to almost hail from the Renaissance Period. It's great to see such classical influences in what is meant to be popular family viewing. It's all quite incredible. At a time when most still considered science fiction and/or fantasy to be "kids' stuff", stories like these prove such theories to be grossly inaccurate. This is very heady content. I'm so glad Bidmead was allowed to realize his full vision. Especially since it actually carried into a period he was no longer script editing for. The very fact that this trilogy completes itself in the next season speaks volumes of its potency. 

Having said all that, both Keeper and Castrovalva do have the slightest of sags to them. If the production team had not waited til the Sylvester McCoy Era to become open to the idea of three parters, both of these stories might have benefited greatly from losing an episode. It's still not enough to hurt the final score too much. But the sag is still there and needs to be acknowledged. 

Final Score:                                                                                9/10

THE GUARDIAN TRILOGY

After taking about a season off from making trilogies, the production team comes back with something truly amazing. The Guardian Trilogy just might be absolutely perfect. 

Mawdryn Undead is a timey-whimey work of brilliance that makes you think it inspired a young Steven Moffat to not be afraid to write the sort of complex paradoxes that we would see when he started contributing to the New Series. It does a remarkable job of bringing back the Brigadier, too (even though it was originally meant to be Ian!). I also love the amount of pathos that is created for the supposed "monsters" of the story. 

Terminus, like State of Decay, is the odd-man-out. It's telling a very different story. One that is very gritty and even a bit political (Stephen Gallagher really seems to hate Big Business!). But it's still a very solid middle tale that sees off Nyssa in a way that seems befitting to the character. Her little striptease is quite nice, too! 

And then there's Enlightenment. Sailing ships in space. Empty Eternals feeding off of our souls. A final showdown between the Guardians and the Doctor that feels legitimately epic (something the Classic Series could have a really hard time doing when it built up a longer arc because its budget was so limited). This is also another one of those 80s stories that seems to have an almost poetic quality to it. Not just because of the gorgeous flow of the dialogue. But the imagery, itself, conjures up that feeling of heightened sensitivity and deeper layers of meaning that a good piece of verse can create.  

And how can you not love: "Enlightenment was not the diamond. Enlightenment was the choice." Shivers every time! 

In terms of the through-theme, the execution is also flawless. Particularly in the middle story. Turlough checks in just often enough with the Black Guardian to remind us that the whole central predicament of the plot was caused by their unholy alliance. I also love that the White Guardian doesn't start appearing til the final tale. It gives us a sense that things are building up. That this is no longer just about the Black Guardian's revenge, it really is a clash between Good and Evil. 

Of course, there's also that bit in Mawdryn Undead where Turlough sees his own sleeping form as he realizes his conversation with the Headmaster was all a dream. So mega-cool! 

There really is nothing I can find wrong in this trilogy. 

Final Score:                                                                                10/10

THE TUTELAGE OF ACE TRILOGY

These last few trilogies start to become more and more subjective. With our first three, the production team tended to refer to them as actual trilogies. A very conscious effort was being made to get three stories to link together into a larger narrative. 

The Tutelage of Ace seems to be more of something that the fans have picked up on. There might have been some degree of intention from the creative team, too -  but it's difficult to say.  This really might be more of an afterthought. That, only after watching the last three stories of Seasond 26, we all decided there was a sort of through-theme going on. 

Naturally enough, that sense of continuity between the stories is fairly muddled. In Ghostlight, there is a definite idea that the Doctor has issued a challenge to Ace to assess where she is and what's going on, there. He is very consciously giving her a lesson of some sort. Which is why we come up with this whole idea that she is being specifically mentored (or even groomed) in these three stories. But the other two stories in the trilogy don't take on the same motif. The Doctor does still seem to be moving Ace through certain specific processes, but he becomes less and less obvious about it in every story. In Ghostlight, he is very consciously trying to teach her how to conquer her fear. In Curse of Fenric, he's a bit more discreet. But he is trying to get her to let go of her resentments. His intention in Survival seems even less clear. He's bringing Ace back home to help her come to terms with where she came from. And to, maybe,  help her to just move on from her past, in general. To be in the present. It really is difficult to tell. But, like the other two stories, he seems to have some sort of agenda. He has given her a goal to achieve. She's just not always aware that he's doing that. But this does cause us to believe that all three stories are interconnected in their own way. 

The fact that the through-line is not as clear-cut as it is in other trilogies is not, necessarily, a bad thing. If  anything, it shows that the production team can make three stories relate to each other without having to hit you over the head with what the central theme is meant to be. In some ways, I do feel that this particular trilogy has more artistic merit than the others. 

This is another trilogy where the stories are amazing. Ghostlight is, perhaps, one of the most sophisticated pieces of television ever created. It really demands that the viewers work out for themselves what the actual story is about. To create their own plot from what they are seeing. You just don't really see stuff like that on television. Curse of Fenric is an absolute Classic. In fact, I prefer this story over many of the tales that most fans attach this sort of label to. It's much better than, say, Genesis of the Daleks or Caves of Androzani. Survival might be the weakest entry of the three, but that's only because the bar is so ridiculously high. It's still incredible and takes the whole show out on a very classy note. I was delighted to see Rona Munro come back and write for New Who (where she did yet another amazing job!). She deserved the status of "First Writer from the Classic Series to Return to the Modern Version." 

Admittedly, I do still wonder if we can truly refer to this as a trilogy. As this does seem more like a title fans have ascribed to it rather than a genuine fact. That is about the only thing that really works to its detriment, though. In so many other ways, this is a great piece of work that builds up a fascinating backstory for Ace. Sadly, the arc it set in motion was meant to be completed in Season 27. But we never got to see it come to fruition. 

Final Score:                                                                                9/10

THE "OF THE DOCTOR" TRILOGY

When I posted my What Constitutes a Three-Parter essay a while back (https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2019/09/points-of-debate-what-constitutes-three.html), an interesting point was made in the comments. Some fans felt that Name of the Doctor, Day of the Doctor and Time of the Doctor could constitute a very loosely-linked three-part adventure. 

I would like to take that theory one step further. Rather than call it a three part story, I think it actually constitutes a legitimate trilogy. Yes, these are just three episodes back-to-back. My own definition states that a trilogy is made up of several multi-part stories. But, when you consider the running times of some of the episodes, it is like you are getting multi-part adventures. Day has the length of about a four-parter. And Time is close to a three-part length. So we can "fudge the rules" just a little bit and let this one be a trilogy. 

How well do the stories link together? Fairly well. All three of them do tend to get a bit more introspective about our protagonist than usual. They take a deeper look into the Doctor and the nature of his heroism.We are definitely looking at some of the core issues of the character. Particularly in Day and Time. Both examine the philosophies that the Doctor holds that make him into the hero that he is. Name doesn't quite dive into this as strongly. It gets more into the idea of how he deals with his failures. It is also concentrating quite a bit on the whole Impossible Girl storyline. Almost to the point of distraction. It does link nicely with Day, at least, in that it deals with multiple incarnations a bit. So there is still some cohesiveness, there. 

There is another major theme that the trilogy deals with a bit better. Much of these three episodes narrate the Last Stages of the Doctor's Journey to Trenzalore. Which, in many ways, is meant to be the Doctor facing his Final End. In this sense, Name and Time connect better. Whereas Day only makes some very incidental mentions of it. Moff almost seems to be grafting on the arc a bit in Day rather than properly integrating it. 

What this does basically mean is that the through-themes only seem to work so well. Some stories link well with each other in some ways. And, in other manners, they're only so cohesive. Overall, though, I do think the connections are strong enough that we can call this a trilogy if we want to. 

Not too much problems with the stories. Name is competently-told. Day actually makes it into my Top Ten (https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2015/12/book-of-lists-top-ten-who-stories-7.html). Time is definitely one of the better swansong stories the show has ever produced - particularly in the New Series. So there's little to complain about, there. 

There is, however, a sort of weird disconnect between Name and Day that, again, damages the cohesiveness of the whole trilogy. At the end of Name, the Doctor is still trapped in his own timeline. In Day, he has escaped it without any explanation. One almost expects the Doctor to proclaim: "I'm indestructible! The whole Universe knows that!" 

In some ways, of course, we can only complain so much about the disconnectedness. I don't really think the production team were trying to make this into a legitimate trilogy. Like the Tutelage of Ace, this is more of a fan concept. I would even say it's more of a concept of just one specific fan! 

However, if I am to subject it to my Points of Criteria, I still see that it's a pretty good trilogy. It deserves a decent score even if other trilogies are much better-constructed. 

Final Score:                                                                                7/10 

A FEW FINAL OBSERVATIONS

That, to me, constitutes all the trilogies that exist in the whole of the series. Because of the simple scoring system, I don't really see a need to rank them too formally. You can, pretty much, work it out for yourself. Quite obviously, I think The Guardians Trilogy is the best. "Of the Doctor" comes in at the bottom. 

Like my Review Overview of Visually Comedic Doctors, these scores are all quite high. This is another area where I always felt the show succeeded quite well. These trilogies were always competently-handled. It's not like, say, some of the regenerations that have been portrayed over the years. Some of them really were badly-done. Trilogies always seemed to be quite solid. 

One should take particular note of the strength of the stories that we find in these trilogies. None of them really ever had a "dud". In fact, several of these tales are very highly-regarded. Not just by me. But fandom, in general. It does almost seem like when trilogies were being made, much better attention was given to the execution of the story-telling. Which makes sense. When you're trying to link three adventures together into a bigger tale, you have to concentrate harder on the scripts. Which, in turn, creates stronger plots that are better-told. 

I do hope this latest entry didn't get a bit too lengthy for you. I was tempted to break it down into two parts but the word-count didn't quite constitute the need to do so. As a single entry, however, it does go a bit long. But it did seem better to keep it that way rather than break it apart. Hope you feel the same. 

Having said that, I really do think trilogies have worked excellently in Doctor Who. I would love to do a follow-up, someday, where I review a few more of them... 

 

COMPLETE AND UTTER SILLINESS: HOW TO WATCH THE DOCTOR'S REGENERATIONS "PROPERLY"!

Way back in the 1960s, I wrote my Ranking The Regenerations entry (https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-book-of-lists-ranking-regenarations.html). A half-century later, I had to give it a bit of an update (https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2020/12/book-of-lists-appendix-1-ranking.html). I revealed in those entries how I tend to view the Doctor's regeneration stories a bit differently than most fans do. But I felt that I still really didn't explain myself clearly enough. That there's even more viewing that has to go on as you watch the Doctor move into a new incarnation. 

So I felt it was time to do a true "deep cut" of how I enjoy each time the Doctor changes. The way I observe a regeneration is almost absurd - but I still wanted to share the process with you. And, because I'm a bit ridiculous in how I do it, I felt this qualified as my latest COMPLETE AND UTTER SILLINESS essay. 

As I first pointed out in my Ranking the Regenerations essay, I feel that just watching a Doctor's swansong story is not enough. If you truly want to observe the whole process, you need to also watch the first story of the new Doctor, too. On some occasions, the story starts with a re-cap of the previous incarnation's dying moments. So, from a technical perspective, you are still watching the regeneration. It seems to me, then, that it is crucial to see how the Doctor recovers from the whole transformation and moves on in his new body. That recovery is still part of the whole regeneration process. So if you truly want to follow the experience to its fullest extent, you should be watching more than just a Doctor's final story. If, for example, you put on Time of the Doctor, then you should follow it up with Deep Breath. 

But now it's time go one level deeper. In my ridiculously-skewed and/or warped perspective, I've found that there are often even more stories that should be viewed if you're trying to fully take in a complete regeneration that the Doctor is going through. 

Once or twice a year, I will just decide to go through all the times the Doctor changes. It can be quite the lengthy undertaking since I do throw in so many additional stories that one normally wouldn't bother with. But I want the full impact of the whole transition. So I go to all these extra lengths. 

I should note that I'm not trying to rate these regenerations again. I've done that enough already. I'm just going to tackle them chronologically and site all my reasons for the extra viewing that I feel is required. I do think you'll find most of my reasoning to be outrageously pedantic. But maybe you'll give my way a try, anyway. It might all be a bit silly. But silly can be quite fun. 

So, without much further ado....

FIRST REGENERATION: 

Up until a few years ago, it was pretty straightforward. I watched the first three episodes of The Tenth Planet along with the reconstructed version of Part Four that uses both telesnaps and some recovered footage. Then I went for the telesnap version of Power of the Daleks.

Things have gotten a bit more complicated, now. I'm not a huge fan of the style of animation that gets used for lost stories. The nicest way to put it is to say that it just doesn't really agree with my tastes. I still respect that efforts are being made to make these lost stories a bit more accessible. I just wish they'd do it differently. 

So that means I still tend to watch the reconstructed fourth episode of Tenth Planet rather than the animated version. However, six episodes of telesnaps is a bit tough to push through. So, for Power of the Daleks, I will watch the cartoons. 

But, these days. things have become even more complicated. We now have Twice Upon a Time to contend with. Sometime between the First Doctor leaving the Cyber-ship and entering his TARDIS to shed his first body, he has a whole separate adventure with his Twelfth Self. This must now be factored in if you are to fully enjoy the Doctor's very first regeneration. 

So now I sandwich in Twice Upon a Time between Tenth Planet and Power of the Daleks. It just doesn't feel right if I don't. As this is a special Appendix that has been added to the whole story where we see the First Doctor wrestling with letting go of himself and surrendering to change. It adds a whole new dimension to this pivotal moment in the Doctor's life. 

Important Note: As soon as the First Doctor returns to his proper timeline and initiates the regeneration, I shut Twice Upon a Time off. There's no need to hang around and watch what happens afterwards. That will get its proper viewing much further down the road.    

SECOND REGENERATION

This is another one that used to be a whole lot less complicated. There was a time when you could simply enjoy the long-but-epic War Games followed by the very filmic and colorful Spearhead from Space. 

But then we started having some continuity issues with Patrick Troughton's return appearances in the 80s. In The Five Doctors, how did the Second Doctor know about Jamie and Zoe's final fate when he shouldn't? Why is the Second Doctor doing errands for the Time Lords in The Two Doctors when he is meant to still be running away from them? 

Fandom manages to come up with the very clever Season 6b theory. The belief that the Doctor led a whole secret life between War Games and Spearhead. That, just before his regeneration was triggered, the Celestial Intervention Agency spirited him away and had him undertake a whole series of secret missions for them. When the whole thing was eventually discovered by the High Council, the Second Doctor was re-captured, forced to regenerate and serve his exile on Earth. 

So, now, if you're going to enjoy that second regeneration properly, you're going to have to watch The War Games, The Five Doctors, The Two Doctors and then Spearhead from Space. 

It gets quite a few things to make better sense. Not just the discrepancies that present themselves in the multi-Doctor adventures, but even some things that occur in other stories. Like where did the Third Doctor get his TARDIS homing device in Spearhead from Space when he clearly didn't have it in The War Games? (It must have been another gift he was given by the CIA - just like the Statenheim Remote Control) Or why does the Doctor seem to be describing a very different trial to Jo Grant during Frontier In Space? (When the High Council discovered the Doctor's secret life in Season 6b, they brought him back to Gallifrey and put him through a second sentencing). 

It's a very cool way to enjoy this regeneration. Those 80s tales where Troughton returns have a very different feel to them, now. You're watching the Second Doctor living on borrowed time that you know he will eventually lose. 

THIRD REGENERATION

No actual change to this one. Which you will see from time-to-time in this entry. 

Thus far, there have been no episodes that came out after Planet of Spiders and Robot that have, somehow, added to the whole transition of Third to Fourth Doctor. So there is no need to place more stories in between them like we did with the first two regenerations. The two adventures can stand on their own. 

Which, in many ways, is good for me. I'm not particularly fond of either of these tales (neither of them really seem to have enough story to fill the episodes they've been allocated). So the less time I have to spend on this regeneration, the better! 

FOURTH REGENERATION

Technically, you can just watch Logopolis and Castrovalva back-to-back and be done with it. But I really do think you should include Keeper of Traken. 

These three stories are commonly referred to as The Regeneration Trilogy. So you should keep them all together. Particularly since Keeper of Traken does flow directly into Logopolis. Several key plot points  in Keeper of Traken (the Master's "regeneration", the introduction of Nyssa, etc...) have a direct influence on the Fourth Doctor's final tale. Some of these elements will even bleed into Castrovalva just a bit. 

So, really, you should experience The Regeneration Trilogy as a whole. Rather than cutting it off at the knees by excluding the first four episodes. 

FIFTH REGENERATION

Like the Second Regeneration, this one goes quite a bit longer than one might expect. For me, at least. 

I do even bring this up in my original Ranking the Regenerations essay. The Sixth Doctor's recovery period goes on much longer than usual. For the most part, a new Doctor is running on all cylinders by the end of his first adventure. But I don't think Sixie truly settles in until halfway through Vengeance on Varos. We are still seeing lots of clear signs of instability up until that point. The Doctor has weird memory issues in Attack of the Cybermen and seems to be legitimately scattered during Vengeance on Varos. And, in both stories, he's experiencing uncharacteristic manic outbursts that I  believe to be negative side effects from his latest transformation.

I do sincerely feel that we haven't truly witnessed the full regeneration until the new Doctor has completely recovered. So, this regeneration is not complete until we have viewed Caves of Androzani, Twin Dilemma, Attack of the Cybermen and the first part of Vengeance on Varos. 

The Doctor's near-death experience at the cliffhanger of Part One of Varos gives a shock to his system that finally gets him to stabilise (Thirteen goes through something similar that she describes near the end of The Woman Who Fell to Earth). So you don't have to watch that second part if you don't want to. Truthfully, though, I usually watch the whole story anyway. Because Vengeance on Varos is pretty damned brilliant. I love it this much: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2016/01/book-of-lists-top-ten-who-stories-3.html. 

SIXTH REGENERATION 

Believe it or not, I'm actually not going to add something when others might be inclined to. 

Some would say that you should watch the final two episodes of Trial of a Time Lord (aka: The Ultimate Foe) before embarking upon Time and the Rani. They claim that, because we see the Doctor in the same outfit he wore as he left the space station/coutroom that the regeneration happens immediately after the events of Season 23. 

But I don't subscribe to that particular theory. I'm more inclined to believe that a good 50 years takes place between Trial of a Time Lord and Time and the Rani. The Sixth Doctor just happens to put on the same vest and cravat that he was wearing during Ultimate Foe when the Rani diverts the course of his TARDIS and brings him to Lakyerta. So, as much as I like to watch all the Sixie I can, there is no need to view Ultimate Foe before the regeneration. 

Time and the Rani can stand by itself. Yes, there are parts of it that are a bit difficult to watch. But it's really not as bad as some would lead you to believe. So just enjoy it for what it's worth! 

SEVENTH REGENERATION

No additions necessary, here, either. Just sit back and watch what I believe to be the most visually-impressive regeneration of them all. Watching Seven turn into Eight as Frankenstein plays is absolutely gorgeous. 

Doctor Who - The Movie, like Time and the Rani, can be enjoyed all by itself. And, just like Time and the Rani, there are a few problems with the whole plot structure. But, really, you shouldn't get too hung up on it. There's a lot of fun, here, too. Just check your brain at the door and have a good time! 

EIGHTH REGENERATION

Night of the Doctor can also stand alone. Enjoy the near-seven minutes of the most-anticipated regeneration in the history of the show. McGann is brilliant and the briefest of glimpses of a young John Hurt is an excellent touch. 

NINTH REGENERATION

And, once more, I can start over-complicating things!

Although, really, Moff complicated things, first. He created a hidden Doctor that we never knew existed until the 50th anniversary. So, if you truly want to see every possible moment of the War Doctor's existence, then bother to watch Name of the Doctor. Just so you can see him appear in that final minute of the episode. I don't think it's mandatory, though (but then, is anything that I'm suggesting completely required of you?!). I will admit that, sometimes, I'm in the mood to watch Name of the Doctor when I observe this regeneration. Other times, I choose not to bother with it. So I leave it up to you, too. Watch it if you feel like it. 

Day of the Doctor, on the other hand, is completely necessary. It really is the only story that gives us any legitimate exposure to the War Doctor. John Hurt makes the best of his brief appearance. And, while it still pains me more that we don't get a greater quantity of McGann, it is also a bit sad that we will only ever see Hurt here and nowhere else. 

Like Twice Upon a Time, you are welcome to shut everything down after the War Doctor regenerates. But it's tough to stop things when you know that the Tom Baker cameo is coming. All eleven incarnations of the Doctor standing in dry ice fog is also great fun to watch. So, chances are you will finish things up. 

Once you are done, though, you need to include Rose in the viewing. That briefest of scenes where Nine appears to be seeing himself in a mirror for the first time indicates to me that the regeneration occurred only moments ago. So Day of the Doctor and Rose flow into each other and need to be watched back-to-back. 

TENTH REGENERATION

This is another one where I feel you get some options to play with. 

You do need to watch Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways to get the full experience of seeing Nine die. Some might argue that you should also watch Boomtown since it explains the all-important concept of staring into the Heart of the TARDIS. But I don't think that's necessary. Skip Boomtown. 

Once in a Blue Moon, I will bother with the Children In Need Special that they shot that is meant to take place immediately after the regeneration. But, really, it's so inconsequential that it doesn't need to be included. It really is much better to go straight from Parting of Ways to The Christmas Invasion. 

After that, you have more choices to make. I will, on occasion, pop in New Earth. That opening sequence where the Tenth Doctor is powering up the TARDIS console for the first time in his new body while Rose says bye to Mom and Mickey does feel very poignant. It, sort of, indicates that the regeneration recovery is truly complete. He's feeling better and is ready to go. 

So, sometimes, I will just bother to watch that scene and then be done with it. Other times,  I will watch all of New Earth - just because it feels weird to stop things after the pre-titles! Most of the time, however, it really is just Bad Wolf/Parting of the Ways and The Christmas Invasion. It's just that, every once in a while, I'm in the mood for a bit more... 

ELEVENTH REGENERATION 

Don't get confused, here. We're counting Ten changing back into himself as a proper regeneration. 

For me, this is simply about Stolen Earth and Journey's End and nothing else. Even though some might feel that Turn Left should be included in the mix. 

However, I did do a big POINT OF DEBATE essay a while back about What Constitutes a Three Parter? (https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2019/09/points-of-debate-what-constitutes-three.html). In it, I claimed that I felt that Turn Left stands as its own separate story and that the season finale is just a two-parter. So, once again, I'm trimming things down, here. I really enjoy Turn Left, but I don't include it in this particular study. This is, in my opinion, a completely ludicrous regeneration. So, the quicker we can get through it, the better.     

TWELFTH REGENERATION

This is another one I like to get through fast. I'm really not fond of The End of Time Part 1 and 2. In terms of final stories for a Doctor, I think it's probably the worst one that's been made, so far.  

I am much happier with the The Eleventh Hour. It does, perhaps, move a bit too slowly at the beginning. But it finishes up quite well.  Overall, though, I treat this one in much the same way as I would the Third Regeneration (although with a little bit less disdain since most of Eleventh Hour is rather enjoyable). Essentially, watch End of Time and Eleventh Hour and get on to something better.  

THIRTEENTH REGENERATION 

And so, the first regeneration cycle reaches its conclusion. A truly momentous occasion, but I still keep it pretty simple: Time of the Doctor and Deep Breath. That's all you need, here. Nothing more. 

FOURTEENTH REGENERATION

I just recently talked about my reasoning for this one in my Ranking The Regenerations Appendix so I won't go on about it too much in case you bothered to read that entry. 

World Enough and Time opens with the Doctor stumbling out of the TARDIS at the South Pole and starting to regenerate. So, to me, this is where the regeneration story starts. Because The Woman Who Fell to Earth ends on a cliffhanger, we should also include The Ghost Monument in the whole arc. 

So this regeneration takes a whopping five episodes: World Enough and Time, The Doctor Falls, Twice Upon a Time (you can watch it all the way through, this time - don't shut it off after One dies!), The Woman Who Fell to Earth and The Ghost Monument. This is quite long by New Who standards. But it is fun to watch. For me, at least. Those less fond of Chibnall-era Who may beg to differ! 

SUPPLEMENTAL REGENERATION STUFF:

In the last few years, we've watched the Doctor mess around a bit here and there with regeneration energy. We're not entirely sure what sort of consequence such gestures might have. The Twelfth Doctor joked that it may cause deficiencies in future incarnations but he didn't sound particularly serious about it. If you are doing a deep study into the Doctor's regenerations, you may want to observe all these sequences. So, I'll bother to list them: 

First Time

The first time we saw the Doctor do this was in Angels Take Manhattan. After River's hand gets hurt, he gives her a little regeneration energy to heal it. Up until this moment, we'd never seen him do this. I suppose he could only accomplish this sort of trick with another Time Lord. Or, in the case of River, a partial Time Lord. I even think this might be a special modification that was made to their DNA during the Time Wars. As a means to help cure light wounds during battle, a Time Lord can give some of their regeneration energy to another Time Lord who might be in need of it. 

What makes less sense about this sequence, however, is the fact that the Doctor is meant to be on his last incarnation. How did he find any regeneration energy to give her? It's my guess that, even in the final incarnation, a Time Lord does have some regeneration energy left in them. Just not enough to trigger a complete transformation. 

Second Time

The next occasion that this occurs would be in The Witch's Familiar. Believing Davros to be near death and wanting him to live long enough to watch one more Skarosian sunrise, the Doctor modifies some life-support equipment so that he can donate regeneration energy to the mad scientist. It's all just a big trap that Davros has set up, of course. But that didn't matter, cause the Doctor knew what was really going on and had a trick of his own up his sleeve. It all almost kinda felt like Remembrance of the Daleks again! 

The Doctor does seem to be using a lot of regeneration energy, here. He does, essentially, end up donating it to every single Dalek on Skaro. The regeneration energy is also drained from him for a substantial period of time before it's finally stopped. If there's ever a time when he may have actually used up an entire regeneration, it might be here. 

Third Time 

Finally there's that time he tests Bill during The Lie of the Land. She shoots him with a gun loaded with blanks and he pretends to go into a regeneration. We see that familiar golden glow envelope him for a moment and then he suddenly brings it to a stop. The whole thing was just a big prank! 

This one seems the most inconsequential. He doesn't seem to use up much regeneration energy during this sequence. 

All these incidents lead us to wonder what exactly might be going on with the just how much the Doctor will be able to regenerate in this latest cycle. This could just be "spare" regeneration energy that he can mess with a bit without it really affecting his overall ability to change into new bodies. Or he may have lost an entire incarnation or two. 

Of course, Moff was clever enough not to reveal just how many regenerations the Doctor had been granted, this time. So part of the reason why the Doctor might be more liberal with his regeneration energy is because he has been given a whole lot more of it. Alternatively, it could just be that the Doctor has become quite reckless and doesn't care about how much longer he might be able to live (unlike that moment of reluctance in Mawdryn Undead where helping the weird exposed-brain aliens would have robbed him of his remaining lives). Better he sacrifice some regeneration energy to accomplish a greater good than try to survive for as long as possible.    

Special Note: "But Rob," some of you might be saying (there you go again!), "you forgot about that time in The Impossible Astronaut where the Doctor used some regeneration energy up when he was faking his death! Surely that counts as another one of those occasions!" 

I assume that, because he is safely inside the Teselecta while all of this is happening that he is not creating the effect. But, rather, the Teselecta, itself, is doing it (if they can create a whole motorcycle, they should be able to produce a golden glow!). More than likely, the miniaturized people piloting the whole thing understood how Time Lords worked and knew they had to make it look like the Doctor was attempting a regeneration before he died. Alternatively, the Doctor may have explained this to them. Either way, his death had to look convincing so they added the effect at the appropriate moment. But this is not the Doctor doing this. Which is why I don't qualify it as a "messing with regeneration energy" moment.    

WHAT ABOUT THAT CRAZY TIMELESS CHILD?! 

I suppose, technically, if you want to watch all the Doctor's regenerations, then you will also have to watch The Timeless Children. While some fans are still holding on to a belief that the Master was lying to the Doctor, most of us feel that this is now an important aspect of the Doctor's origins. That, as the Chibnall era progresses, we'll learn more and more of how this whole backstory fits in. So the very first regeneration on Gallifrey also counts as another one of the Doctor's. 

It should be noted, however, that there is one substantial difference between how the Timeless Child and the Doctor regenerate. It really does seem like the Timeless Child had an infinite (or, at the very least, near-infinite) number of regenerations. While we still haven't quite gotten the full story, it would appear that the Timeless Child, somehow, pissed off the Division and was punished by being turned into a normal Time Lord. So, while the Doctor was originally the Timeless Child, he has lost that ability to regenerate endlessly. He really did only have twelve regenerations in his first cycle. Again, we don't know how many this new cycle has (and he might not know, either!). But, at the end of Time of the Doctor, he really was going to die unless the Time Lords interceded. 

I am, very much, interested in seeing what other differences may exist with the regeneration process of the Timeless Child and the Doctor. We have seen that there are things that can kill a Time Lord, outright. That, if enough damage is done, the Doctor won't actually be able initiate a regeneration. He'll simply just die. I do suspect that the Timeless Child really was immortal. That, no matter what damage was done to her, she'll still regenerate. We'll have to wait and see if my theory is correct. More than likely, it won't be. Just about any time I try to predict something on Doctor Who, I am dead wrong. If I'm really lucky, Chibnall just won't actually reveal if the Timeless Child has this ability or not. 

So, there we go: How to watch all the Doctor's regenerations properly. To even insinuate that there is a true way to enjoy them is completely ludicrous, of course. Which is why I've made this a COMPLETE AND UTTER SILLINESS essay. I know how ridiculous all of this looks. 

Still, if you've got a complete collection of all existing episodes - give it a try. It's actually a lot of fun.

   

 

REVIEW OVERVIEW: WHICH DOCTOR IS THE BEST AT VISUAL COMEDY? PART TWO: NEW WHO DOCTOR

At last, we reach our final installment in this very comprehensive REVIEW OVERVIEW. I've explained the stipulations of this particular essay as clearly as possible (including why I excluded Tom Baker from the analysis). I examined the works of two of the Doctors from the Classic Series who made visual comedy a core element of their performance. And now, I'm looking at the one Doctor from the New Series that I think qualifies for this level of scrutiny. 

Who is this Doctor? 

Who else could it be?

 

Matt Smith - The Eleventh Doctor

"The Manboy Doctor", as he is sometimes referred to, reveals his main trait through behavior and physicality. Can we really envision any other Doctor bouncing away on young Kaszran Sardick's bed during A Christmas Carol like a bigger child than the one he's visiting? Or rescuing Victorian-era Clara  Oswald and the two children she takes care of by creating a puppet show (still one of my favorite sight gags in the whole history of the show!)? Or doing a Pete Townsend Windmill in his final moments as he takes out Daleks with regeneration energy? Matt Smith delighted in making his incarnation of the Time Lord as visual as possible. 

But how well does he rank against the other two incarnations that we've examined? Two performers who hailed from a bygone era where actors were allowed to be much "stagier" when they performed on television...

How Well the Jokes Land                                                                                        7

When it comes to visual comedy, Matt Smith does seem to almost suffer from a certain level of timidity during a large part of his reign as the Doctor. Had he been a bigger fan of the show when he got the role, he might have been better aware of the fact that you can "get away with a lot more" when it comes to creating visual comedy with the character. That, thanks to the efforts of Troughton and McCoy (and all the previous Doctors, really, because they all used this style of humor from time-to-time) the audience will accept a Doctor looking downright silly. 

Instead, he tends to hold back quite a bit during the better part of his first two seasons. I'm not saying that there aren't any times where he "really goes for it" during his early days. But there are a lot more times where his gestures almost seem a little too understated. Where, if he had just exaggerated things a little bit more, the behavior would have gotten a much bigger laugh. Which is why his score is a bit lower than his predecessors. 

I will say that, once he does get comfortable with making his character a complete buffoon, he really does pull out all the stops. In his last season, he is especially impressive with this. He is at the top of his game during Series Seven. Which helps him to gain some points back and go out with a bang. 

How Well it's Counterbalanced Against the Drama                                                10

This is where Smith is truly amazing. One of my favorite traits of this incarnation, in fact, is the way he "turns on a dime" from silly to deadly serious. Sometimes several times in one scene. Look at the way he confronts the Silence at the end of Day of the Moon. He flip-flops a few times, there. Looking the creepy aliens dead in the eye one moment as he threatens them, then flirting with River Song a moment later. Then back to mean face. Then back to goofing off. The way he bounces back and forth between intense drama and sheer comedy is a work of art. 

I almost thought about deducting him a point just because he's almost a little too serious too often. He could have injected a bit more comedy to help with the juxtaposition. But I couldn't bring myself to do it. It is just too enjoyable watching him be almost bi-polar with the way he swings between the two temperaments. He deserves his perfect score. 

Room for Improvisation                                                                                               7

Here, again, I'd say Smith's near-shyness gets the better of him for a good part of his tenure. Admittedly, it is much tougher to throw in improvisation during modern-day shooting methods. During Classic Who, rehearsals were much more extensive. So there was real time to discuss opportunities for visual embellishments of what was written on the page. With the way TV is made today, if an actor starts making a lot of suggestions, it can really gum up the works and slow down production. 

Still, as his seasons move on, Smith does start adding more and more little bits in that weren't there, initially. It's harder to spot because editing is so much smoother. But you can, eventually, learn about it. The spontaneous kiss he gives Rory during Dinosaurs on a Spaceship, for instance, was completely improvised. It even became "a thing" for the Doctor as he decides to reward other characters with kisses during Series Seven. The joke being, of course, that none of the people he kisses ever seem to want one from him! 

But the impromptu kissing was what made me realize how little he was improvising. When I heard about it, I legitimately thought to myself: "That's the first time I hear about Smith doing something like that." I did, eventually, learn that there were some other things in earlier seasons that he did create on the spot. But, compared to other Doctors on this list, it was not a lot. This does seem to be another case where it seemed to take him most of his first two seasons to really get comfortable with himself. Only in Series Seven does he really start adding visual comedy that wasn't originally there.

Overall Aesthetics                                                                                                         9

I must give him a high score, here. As reserved as he might have been in his earlier days, he is still this mass of wild flailing limbs and ridiculous postures. While he does allow his body language to get a little looser as he progresses with the role, the basic template was always there. And it was always incredible to behold. 

Just look at something like Amy's Choice where he is stumbling around trying to grapple with reality. He takes such a simple gesture and makes it look so outlandish. Movement was crucial to how he interpreted the part. And, even if he did seem a little shy with visual comedy at first, he still created a delineation that lent itself to the process. So that when his confidence does grow, it doesn't seem incongruous. Like the other two incarnations that made it into the selection, we see that body language was a huge priority for him. And it really shines through in the final product.   

Personal Taste                                                                                                                 8

This one's a bit tricky. I really do like that the other two incarnations have a much more "classic comedy" feel to them. Particularly McCoy, who incorporates a lot of vaudeville into what he does. 

But it is equally-impressive that Smith really does his own thing, here. We don't see him, necessarily, borrowing a lot from the past. There's some traditional slapstick that happens here and there Those first few minutes of Eleventh Hour where he is struggling not to fall out of the TARDIS look like something out of a silent film. When he walks into a tree after meeting Amy Pond, there's a bit of a Three Stooges vibe happening. But even as that first episode progresses, we are already seeing Smith rely less and less on this sort of thing. And, instead, he creates a visual style that is completely his own. 

Because of this, I still want to give him a fairly high score. I like my visual comedy to have a more traditional feel, but I can't deny that Smith really does do something amazing with the part.  

FINAL TALLY 

This next bit should be easy. We just take all the points I came up with in each category for each Doctor and come up with an ultimate sum. Whoever has the highest points wins the contest. Simple stuff, right? 

I find, in life, that I'm never happy with anything unless I find some way to make things more complicated than they need to be!    

Both Sylvester McCoy and Matt Smith site Patrick Troughton as having a huge influence on their performances. It's believed Smith chose a bow tie for his costume because of his love of the Second Doctor. I think, regardless of the score he got on his own, that Troughton deserves bonus points for this. So I will give him one point for each Doctor in this REVIEW OVERVIEW that he's influenced. 

With this in mind, then, let's put together a final score for each Doctor: 

PATRICK TROUGHTON - (including the bonus points)                                                   45

SYLVESTER McCOY -                                                                                                     46

MATT SMITH                                                                                                                    41

As you can see, competition was pretty fierce. Everyone finished within just a few points of each other. There were no huge gaps. As I do feel all of these actors excelled at what they did. But, even with his bonus, Troughton loses by a hair's breadth to McCoy. According to my system of evaluation, at least. 

You might have a different opinion on the matter (in fact, if there's one thing we Who Geeks excel at, it's having different opinions!). You might even use this exact same system that I did and come up with radically different scores to mine. In the end, there is always a certain level of subjectivity to these things. But, for me at least, Doctor Seven does the best job with visual comedy. 

RECOMMENDED VIEWING

Well, it looks like we have a little room left. So let's bring up a story for each Doctor that I feel really shows off their talent for visual humour. Some were already given a bit of an honorable mention when I was doing my analysis. But I'll do a deeper cut, here. 

Seeds of Death 

As I mentioned in the previous entry, this particular tale helped to give Troughton that reputation that he was "Chaplinesque". In truth, this really only happens in a few key scenes. But I am always intensely amused by all of them. 

As if Fury from the Deep wasn't enough, the production team decides to have more fun with foam. Unlike Fury, there is less of an attempt here to imply horror and a stronger concentration on humor. Troughton gurns up a storm during various scenes involving the stuff. Most importantly, while he struggles through these perilous situations, he proclaims some of our favorite Second Doctor exclamations like "Oh my giddy aunt!" and other great quotes of that nature. Even when Zoe eventually gets to the door of the weather control station and lets him in, he looks utterly hilarious with foam all over him. It's great that Wendy Padbury has an accidental slip on the mess he's made and that they leave it in. It's a wonderful flourish to the whole moment!  

As fun as all the foam foolery is, it still doesn't compare to that utterly wonderful chase scene through the corridors of the moonbase when the Second Doctor first runs into the Ice Warriors. This is, essentially, a sci-fi version of a Chaplin film. It might even qualify as my favorite visual comedy moment in the whole history of the show. I even love how it goes surreal for just a shot as we watch Troughton run past multiple reflections of himself. 

Some may argue that Seeds of Death should have taken itself a little more seriously. That we're laughing at it rather than with it. That may be the case. But, for sheer visual comedy value, this is pure gold. 

Greatest Show in the Galaxy 

It was really hard to pick a Seventh Doctor story for this. So many of them are magnificent spectacles of visual humor. Admittedly, some are less funny than others. Delta and the Bannerman, for instance, seems to see a Sylvester McCoy who is not going so much for the site gags. And some of the visual moments that he does create in the three-parter only land so well. You also have stories like Curse of Fenric where the plot is just so serious that there really isn't much room for silly behavior. 

But then you also have a tonne of stories that play out like Silver Nemesis, where the Doctor actually uses some of his greatest foes for a hasty game of live chess. Or Survival, where the Doctor spends the better part of Episode One chasing stray cats. Hell, he's even quite hilarious in Time and the Rani. It may not have been the greatest of scripts, but McCoy constantly has me laughing. I lose it every time I watch Kate O'Mara slap away the spoon-like devices that he's playing across her chest.

Ultimately, the prize of most visually funny story must go to Greatest Show in the Galaxy. I already went on a bit in the previous entry about how great he is as he entertains the gods of Ragnarok in the final part. That whole moment is utter brilliance. The sequence seems to be tailor-made for him. I actually really love when Doctor Who has a story that truly only works for that particular incarnation. In much the same way, (but in a total opposite sense) Six was best suited for Trial of a Time Lord. He was the Doctor who relished his own oratorical skills the most. So courtroom drama was perfect for him. 

There are, of course, all kinds of other really great moments of visual comedy in Galaxy. Lots of gorgeous little touches. Like the way McCoy barks at the robot clowns after Mags snarls at them. Or how he gets the crap scared out of him when he almost bumps into one of Bellboy's androids. Even the way he dives through a hole made in the Big Top is utterly hilarious. He really is amazing in this tale. And not just during his act at the end. His actions, gestures and expressions evoke heavy laughter from me all the way through.

Day of the Doctor 

I do feel this story does have a bit of a rival for best visual comedy. Smith is absolutely hilarious as he darts about through time with his vortex manipulator in The Big Bang. Especially since this is the first time he dons a fez. Big Bang, however, does only qualify as part of a story. The first half of the tale has some nice site gags too. But, in the end, the complete story just doesn't get me laughing at the visuals as much as Day of the Doctor does. 

Part of what gets Eleven's silly mannerisms to stand out is contrast. These other incarnations seem quite static compared to the way he's dashing about like a madman. The place we really see it, of course, is when the War Doctor has to ask: "Can you actually talk without flapping your arms about?!" And Eleven has to admit he can't! We realize, in that moment, that this incarnation really is a whole lot more visual than a lot of other versions of himself. 

There are subtler contrasts that show this off. When they both sit down and put their feet up on the table in the Black Archive, look at how Tennant plays it more seriously and Smith goes for a slightly more comedic flare. I have often remarked how Ten and Eleven (and Thirteen, for that matter) have very similar personalities. But it's a moment like this that shows one of their big differences. Smith's interpretation moves around in a much sillier way!

Like McCoy in Greatest Show, the devil is in the details. It's the little things that make a big difference. Eleven saluting the soldiers outside the museum and suddenly realising he's not sure why he's saluting them. Or the very mocking bow and tip of the hat that he does to the twin versions of Queen Elizabeth. Or the way he starts doing "finger guns" as he works out a way to save Gallifrey from the Time Wars. Those small gestures accomplish so much. 

There are, of course, bigger moments too. Like hanging from the underside of a police box as it is carried through the air by a helicopter! I'm guessing part of that sequence was still done by a stunt person. But I love that they remember to kicks their legs in a wild comedic fashion to establish that this is definitely the Eleventh Doctor hanging for dear life!

And that is our final conclusion on which Doctor is best at visual comedy. It should be noted that no Doctor ever scored lower than a Seven in any category. That is because I felt that, even in their weakest areas, these actors are still quite good at what they do. It should also be noted that those Sevens did not appear very often. 

I'll also say one more time that, even though I do try to make a REVIEW OVERVIEW a bit more objective than just a straight review, there's still a lot of personal opinion at play, here. You may not rank these Doctors in the same order I did. You may even feel that that there should have been more incarnations included in the analysis. That's all perfectly fine. Feel free, in fact, to use the same criteria I did and do your own version of this to determine which Doctor you think does the best job of being visually funny. Or even come up with criteria of your own if you really want!  

Just in case you missed the previous parts, here they are:   

The Prologue

 https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2021/04/review-overview-which-doctor-is-best-at.html

Part One

https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2021/04/review-overview-which-doctor-is-best-at_23.html

 

  

REVIEW OVERVIEW: WHICH DOCTOR IS THE BEST AT VISUAL COMEDY? PART ONE - CLASSIC DOCTORS

That intensely-long Prologue is done (if you didn't read it, you probably should. It lays down some pretty important stipulations: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2021/04/review-overview-which-doctor-is-best-at.html). We can, now, get to the actual topic-at-hand.  

Sort of. 

JUST ONE MORE IMPORTANT EXPLANATION

While I am having fun keeping you in suspense about which incarnations are the "True Visually Comedic Doctors", I do think I should get something important out of the way. Some of you may have a hard time accepting a choice that I've made so I want to explain my reasoning behind it. Let's just break it to you:   

Tom Baker won't be on this list. 

As stated in the Prologue, I am only looking at actors who made visual comedy a core element of their performance. Yes, there is a period during Tom's time as the Doctor where he is using sight gags all over the place. But there are also parts of his era where we don't see him being all that visually funny at all. He's still, in some instances, being quite silly. But it was more with dialogue than actions. 

The Fourth Doctor's period of extreme visual comedy, in my opinion, starts up somewhere during Season Fifteen (right around The Sunmakers, if you want to get really specific) and keeps building up as he goes on. During the seventeenth season, it comes to a climax. I'd even go so far to say that no Doctor acts more like a buffoon than Tom Baker does during that particular series. 

Seasons Twelve, Thirteen and Fourteen do have a Fourth Doctor being silly. Both with speech and action. Right in his first season, we have tales like Robot and Revenge of the Cybermen, where Baker is going quite hard for the laughs. But we also have stories like Terror of the Zygons, Pyramids of Mars or Seeds of Doom where, for the most part, he's playing things pretty straight. He's even quite grim, in places. This strikes me more as an actor who is actually trying to bring out equal measures of comedy and drama in his portrayal. In Tom's case, he almost seems to be picking entire stories where he keeps things serious. And then deciding to just be a big goof during other adventures. 

Feeling that Tom had gone too far with the humor during his penultimate season, the new production team that rolls in at the beginning of Season Eighteen consciously choose to reign him in. Again, there are fun jokes here and there. Some are even quite visual. But, overall, he is a much more stoic Doctor with only hints of whimsy. Rather than the huge clown he had been in the previous season. 

For over four of the seven seasons that he played the role, Tom Baker only seemed to pay so much attention to creating sight gags. There were even conscious efforts to inject more comedy into the dialogue during those "more serious" seasons. But the visual stuff wasn't so important. 

Which means that, to me at least, he does not truly qualify as a visually comedic Doctor. There are too many gaps in his tenure where he just didn't rely that much on this style of humor. 

I hope my elimination of him doesn't incense some of you. 

FINALLY! SOME PROPER REVIEWING!   

All right, we really have made things as clear as possible. Time to start revealing who did make it onto the list. We'll go in chronological order: 

Patrick Troughton - The Second Doctor

This one seems pretty obvious. Particularly since his use of visual comedy stands out in such harsh contrast to the man he has just replaced. Also, the fact that we had no idea the Doctor even could regenerate makes us notice how silly he is all-the-more. Like Ben and Polly, we are in a near state of shock and are almost wondering if this really is the same character. He really has changed radically from the more serious portrayal that Hartnell gave for more than three seasons. 

Okay, let's start using the Points of Criteria to see how well he does: 

How Well the Jokes Land                                                                                              8

First and foremost, we need to factor in a certain handicap. One that will decrease as we move on in time. Patrick Troughton's era took place in the late 60s. Back then, the ability to re-shoot things was kept to a bare minimum. We can see this clearly with all the "accidental visual comedy" that occurs during this period. Props fail to work (like that sliding panel in the opening shot of The Krotons) but the camera just keeps rolling. This means, of course, that poor old Patrick did not get the opportunity to try to re-do a lot of his attempts at comedy that didn't succeed so well. A mistimed gesture will often remain immortalised on film. 

With that in mind, however, we should still be impressed with his score. Because, most of the time, the man would just nail the joke magnificently. Particularly when he had Frazer Hines backing him up. Moments like when the Doctor and Jamie accidentally hold each others' hands during Tomb of the Cybermen are, pretty much, gold. 

How Well it's Counterbalanced Against the Drama                                                7

This is an area where I think the Second Doctor does suffer a bit. Patrick does create some gloriously subtle moments of real drama. His speech about fighting the evils of the Universe during The Moonbase or the quiet talk he has with Victoria during Tomb of the Cybermen are a few really striking examples that come to mind. But I do think that, in the greater scheme of things, he should have found more moments like these. There are periods in certain stories where the actor chooses to be too comedic for too long. Which can actually wear an audience down and make us less appreciative of the jokes being made. This doesn't happen too often. Which is why he's still at a "Seven" for his score. But they happen enough to make it noticeable. I would even say that this is one of the few substantial flaws that exist in the performance of this incarnation. 

Room for Improvisation                                                                                             10

If he lost some points in the previous category, he makes up for it here. 

Adding all these extra little bits of visual comedy to his scenes was an almost constant desire for Troughton. He made a supreme effort to liven up every second he was onscreen in any way he could. Even if you don't normally recognize when something is being improvised by a performer, it was still pretty damned easy to spot these moments. Most of the time, you could just sense that something spontaneous seemed to be happening. 

Learning the stories behind all these moments is actually quite entertaining. Troughton actually had a whole system in place to get a lot of his ideas approved. He would come up with a visual bit during rehearsal. When presenting it to the director, he would make the sequence far more outlandish than he truly intended. He would then get reigned in to the level where he actually wanted to be at. Finally, because it felt like a compromise between him and production, they would let most of his extra bits stay in. After all, he had been quite reasonable about the whole thing! 

It was quite brilliant, really. And it made so many scenes that could have been much duller shine. 

Overall Aesthetics                                                                                                         9

A near-perfect score, here. Troughton gets his character delineation down pretty quickly and gives us very curious posture and mannerisms. While there is very little video evidence left of the earliest part of his era, we do see him going a bit too big in some of the footage that still exists. As he collects scraps for analysis during The Moonbase or becomes some sort of tambourine-playing gypsy during that awful chase scene in Underwater Menace, he does seem to almost be trying a bit too hard. Whereas he does start becoming more confident with what he wants to with his body language by the time he reaches The Faceless Ones. Things do feel much less forced as his first season comes to a close. After that, I can't think of a time where the physical disposition that Troughton chose in any given moment didn't seem to work. How he holds himself as he gets ready to veer into a visually funny moment (or take things in a more serious direction, for that matter) is sheer brilliance. He truly is a master of body language. Oftentimes conveying so much more by what he does than what he is says. Which, if you're going to rely heavily on physical comedy, is a talent you need in abundance. 

Personal Taste                                                                                                                9

And now, at last, a moment to purely express my own blow-hard opinion. How do I feel about the visual comedy of Doctor Two? 

It's hard not to laugh at Troughton's onscreen shenanigans. He just does so well with it. It's especially impressive how he actually manages to steal the show a lot when he reprises the role for the first time in The Three Doctors. The way he just sort of traipses about like a fool throughout the whole adventure is absolutely hilarious. 

Some fans do argue that referring to his performance as "Chaplinesque" is a bit of a misnomer. I tend to agree with the sentiment. I do adore Chaplin's work and have studied him quite thoroughly. About the only time Troughton truly seems to emulate him is during some parts of Seeds of Death. Otherwise, I find he's doing more of his own thing. While I would have loved a Chaplin impersonation, what we do get is equally-magnificent. 

Sylvester McCoy - The Seventh Doctor

Created through a behind-the-scenes Baptism of Fire, the Seventh Doctor stayed with the show til its bitter end in 1989. Because of the energy he brought to the role, Sylvester McCoy helped to make the show go out in style rather than fizzle out in shame. Much of that energy was seen through all the fun that he had with physical comedy. Like Troughton (who he openly sites as a source of inspiration), he always looked for opportunities to inject extra little bits of visual humor into everything he could. 

It was because of that ongoing effort that Sylvester becomes our second candidate in this Review Overview.    

How Well the Jokes Land                                                                                            9

With Doctor Seven, we will reduce that "not able to do re-takes" handicap slightly. The show was still made somewhat-hastily in the 80s, but conditions were much better than they had been during Troughton's time. Some of McCoy's worst fumbles were probably fixed. But some lesser ones remained and will be, ever-so-slightly forgiven. 

Having said all that, I do feel McCoy's timing was near-impeccable. There were a few moments during Season 24 where things felt a bit forced or ill-timed. Particularly during Time and the Rani (but this is also where he is forgiven the most since the story must have been an absolute nightmare to make!). Which is why he doesn't quite get a Perfect Ten. But, for the most part, McCoy's delivery is truly amazing. His very unique career prior to Doctor Who definitely honed his skills immeasurably. 

How Well it's Counterbalanced Against the Drama                                                 9

Again, a near-perfect score that is only marred by some of the Season 24 stuff. During that period, things did seem a tad too skewed in the comedic direction and it does feel like McCoy makes a few bad choices with how he plays certain moments. 

Some fans have remarked on how Seven doesn't seem to deliver an appropriate level of seriousness when he yells. They even feel it's a shortcoming on the ability of the actor. I actually think the gesture was intentional. That he was actually trying to show that, when this Doctor is reduced to yelling, he becomes ineffectual. If you watch, he's usually only doing it when he's losing control of a situation. Whereas we have other dramatic scenes where he doesn't bother to raise his voice and delivers to perfection. Talking the Supreme Dalek into destroying himself during Remembrance is a great example that shows Seven can deliver intensity when he needs to. He is wholly confident in what he's doing in that scene and it comes through clearly. Whereas his shouts seem to be more of a moment where his confidence his wavering. and the actor is trying to convey that by being slightly more comedic in the interpretation. So, for me, he doesn't lose points for this. 

Room for Improvisation                                                                                                  10

Like Troughton, I do believe he merits a perfect score. He tackled all his scenes with that same sort vigor. Any little opportunity he had to spice things up with a visual gag was taken. And, like Doctor Two, he had a good little partner-in-crime. In this case, it was Sophie Aldred. The two loved creating fun little moments. That shot of them during Silver Nemesis where they are resting on the side of a hill listening to the jazz music that is confounding the Cybermen cracks me up every time. That scene could have been so much simpler and still be mildly amusing. But the way McCoy chooses to do that crazy backwards flip to get back on his feet creates such a great little effect. 

It's constant little additions of visual humor or even acrobatic dexterity that make him do so well in this category. In fact, I'm almost tempted to give him an Eleven for this! 

Again, we often get clear impressions that such moments were not in the original script. But, rather, something that was made up to enhance the performance. 

Overall Aesthetics                                                                                                             8

This will be his weakest score. And, even then, he's doing pretty damned good! 

Season 24, once again, hurts him a bit. McCoy does flounder for quite a while as he's trying to truly find the character. Some of this, of course, is reflected in the mannerisms he assigns to the character. There are a few significant times where his entire delineation does seem a bit off. 

But in his other two seasons, he is so perfect in the way he holds himself that he makes a few points back. There is this great sort of nervous energy that he gives to the character (again, inspired partly by the same sort of vibe Two had) that is beautifully counterbalanced by a sense of grace or even elegance. It's very symbolic of the Seventh Doctor's emotional traits. He seems very bumbling most of the time but can suddenly become almost super-human in the way he defeats his enemies. The very way in which he moves conveys so much about who this incarnation is. 

I would even go so far to say that very few actors can deliver body language as effectively as Sylvester McCoy does. He is truly a master at it. 

Personal Taste                                                                                                                10

Another perfect score, here. I really do think the visual comedy of Sylvester McCoy is a legitimate work of art. 

Admittedly, it helps him a lot that I am a huge fan of vaudevillian comedy. Which is something Seven excels at. I have even gone to the trouble of finding some of his old performances on stage (the easiest one to dig up is The Secret Policemen's Other Ball - it's utterly hilarious!) which has deepened my appreciation of him all-the-more.  

All the extra little talents that he brings to the role are what truly get me to fall in love with him as a visual comedian. His love of spoon-playing and performing magic tricks or even his light acrobatics are such wonderful little touches. I particularly adore Episode Four of Greatest Show in the Galaxy where they really allow him to show off those abilities. Doctor Who becoming a legitimate vaudeville act for the better part of an episode was so delightfully surreal!!   

Once more, our word-count is starting to get up there. So this seems a good place to end things, for now. We have one more Doctor to cover and then a final tally to take. Also, if I haven't droned on for too long, I'll recommend a story for each of these Doctors that I feel does the best job of showing off their talents at visual comedy. 

Stay tuned for Part Two....