Pretentious Doctor Who Essays: DOCTOR WHO: SEASON BY SEASON

And the Season Reviews continue. This time, we'll be looking at Patrick Troughton's final year on the show.

The Almighty Season Five has ended. Doctor Who seems triumphant, once more. Britain is in love with Patrick Troughton and the interesting new monsters his era seems to be ushering in. After a troubled Season Four, all is well in the World of Doctor Who, again.

There's only the shortest of breaks where the show cleverly broadcasts a re-run that is, apparently, being telepathically projected by the Doctor (even the Doctor's own psyche recognizes that Part One of Evil of the Daleks is completely extraneous and seems to be jumping right to Episode Two!). When the repeat concludes a few weeks later, we launch straight into Season Six.

Perhaps there should have been a bit more of a rest, though.

While I don't, necessarily, think Season Five is quite as great as most fans do, it's still very strong. And, regardless of my own personal opinion, it went over quite well with its audience. Even on its initial broadcast, it received some high appreciation. There are other periods of Who that don't get the love they deserve until some time later. Even the famous Hinchcliffe/Holmes Era was under some pretty heavy fire when it first came out. It's only a bit further down the road that it starts getting heralded as "The Golden Age of Doctor Who". But, from what I understand of Season Five, it was greatly enjoyed right from the moment it was first transmitted.

Which means, of course, that a lot of expectations were heaped on to Season Six. It had to shine just as brightly as its predecessor. Production decides that they want to keep riding the success of the previous season as much as possible and start creating new material as quick as they can.

This may not have been the best move, however, It might have been smarter to take a bit more time to reflect on what exactly they wanted to achieve with the new season before leaping into it. At the very least, they needed to line up their scripts better. The episode counts for several stories that season end up getting messed around with because submissions from certain writers weren't quite working, after all.

But this does not seem to be the only problem Season Six suffers from. All in all, audiences seemed a bit disappointed with it. It's not considered a terrible season, either (at least, not by most fans!), but people do feel let down by it.

Season Five was definitely a tough act to follow.

ANOTHER SILLY QUESTION

As I write these reviews, I'm going to do my best to keep them engaging. To do more than just say: "I liked this, but I didn't like that!" (although, with so many seasons to review, at least a few of them will probably be that straightforward). In my last review, for instance, I made the entire entry revolve around one significant question: "Is Season Five as great as they say it is?".

In case you didn't read the Review, I did say Season Five was great. But that I didn't think it was as great as Fandom claims it to be. This is, essentially, how I like to roll. Regardless of what the consensus is among the fans, I find my own voice and express it. Because of this, my opinions can frequently go against the grain.

Which leads us to another interesting question that we can make this essay answer. Perhaps I like Season Six more than most fans feel about it. At the same time, I don't think the fifth season is quite as great as the reputation it's received. So, maybe, just maybe, I feel these two seasons are equal in quality.

So this entry's Big Question will be:

"Was Season Six actually as good Season Five?"

Sounds crazy, I know. So, once more, I will break things down a bit....

OFF TO A GREAT START

None can deny the Great Beginning of Season Five. Tomb of the Cybermen really grabbed the attention of the viewers when it was first shown and got everyone to perk up and pay attention. We can't quite say the same of The Dominators, though. But I also wouldn't say that we've gone back to the weak openers we were getting for quite a few seasons prior to Five.

Dominators is a solid enough five-parter (thank God someone in Production was honest enough to admit that it just couldn't fill six episodes and gave us something tighter, instead). Its central premise is nothing too original - not even to Doctor Who. The very second story, ever, had a similar plot. What keeps Dominators enjoyable is that there are enough variations on the "Pacifist Race Going Up Against a Tyranical Race" trope that is the crux of the adventure. The best nuance being the use of Cully in the plot. Usually, everyone in a sci-fi story involving a non-violent society is the same. There are no misfits that break the rules like Cully does. Putting him into the plot gives it some nuances that make us feel like we're not just getting a re-tread of The Daleks.

The Dominators, themselves, are an interesting enough species. Their dependence on Quarks makes them quite unique from all the other intergalactic conquerors out there. They are still full of bluster and think that no one's better than them. But, really, if it weren't for their Quarks, there wouldn't be much to them. Again, another great example of variation on something we have seen over and over.

While The Dominators doesn't quite pack the same punch as Season Five's Opener did, it's still quite decent. And the next stories that follow it are really quite remarkable.

The Mind Robber is another beautiful excursion into the surreal that we have not seen since The Celestial Toymaker back in Season Three. Like Toymaker, I label this one an Oddball Story, too. And I adore the cleverness of it all. Particularly the way Lemuel Gulliver only speaks in quotes from the book. That, alone, was a hell of a lot of extra detail that a writer went to! But the story is quite delightful, all around. Imaginative and unique. The sort of thing that makes you almost proud to be a Doctor Who fan. Because, quite honestly, no other sci-fi franchise would do a story this weird! Whereas Who embraces a tale like this with open arms!

There are some minor flaws to the adventure that are barely worth mentioning. Part One is very visually fun - but it is clear that it was tacked on just to compensate for some editing issues that Dominators had. And just suddenly twisting a lot of dials on the Master Brain computer is a bit of an anti-climactic ending. But, otherwise, this is a damned brilliant adventure. I'm more likely to label this a Classic than a lot of other Who stories that have received the title.

From there we move on to the 8-part saga that is The Invasion. Another Classic. In fact, if you look at my Best Cybermen Story Countdown that I recently did - Invasion kicks Tomb's ass. This is one of the longer stories the show has ever done. Impressively enough, there's no real "sag" to it, anywhere. There's also some really great action sequences that still hold up quite well to this day. And, of course, a great turn by Kevin Stoney. No one plays megalomaniacs like he does!

Like Tomb, I won't do an extensive review, here. You can just read the one I wrote, already: https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2021/12/book-of-lists-top-five-cybermen-stories_28.html

Season Five's first story might have been stronger than Six's - but the next two stories more-than-make-up for Dominators' deficiencies. Which makes the beginning of Six just as strong as Five. Maybe even stronger. Tomb is great but has a few problems. Abominable Snowmen is awesome. But then The Ice Warriors is just okay. Six's first three stories, in my book, represent a better standard of quality

THE NEXT STORY IS SPECIAL

Before we get to The Krotons, there is one more thing I'd like to bring up about our first three stories of Season Six. Another trait that I feel puts it ahead of Five. One that almost seems to indicate that lessons were learnt from the previous year.

Many have remarked how Season Five relies too heavily on the Base Under Siege formula. And I can't deny that they make a valid point. How nice to see, then, three stories at the beginning of the next season that are so wildly diverse. An attack on an alien planet involving characters that come from nowhere near Earth. A mad adventure in a fantasy land. And then an invasion plot in the modern-day world (or is it the near future?!) being executed by an old foe. And not a single headquarters is being defended at any point. This is definitely one more point in Season Six's favor.

But then we get to The Krotons. Admittedly, we are returning to a similar premise that we saw in The Dominators: An antagonistic group of aliens is exploiting an alien race less-capable of defending themselves. They even titled the stories in a similar way. Both use the the "evil alien" as the name of the tale.

Of course, there are still enough variations between both adventures to make us feel like we're getting a very different plot. But something else very important is happening here:

We are getting our first script from Robert Holmes.

Without a doubt, Holmes was the best writer for the Classic Series. While I am the Great Contrarion, I will not disagree with this sentiment. The Krotons is a simple enough tale that doesn't really show off any of his signature style, yet. But it is definitely a very tight plot that stays engaging throughout all four parts. Like Dominators, it is very solid. Although I would say it's a little better than the season opener.

This is a great first offering from Holmes. He would write far superior stories in the future, but he's off to a very good start with The Krotons.

SECOND ONE NOT SO GOOD!

Thus far, I've been tackling the stories of this season in the order they were transmitted. But now, for the sake of thematic purposes, I'm going to jump ahead a bit.

As exciting is it is to see Bob Holmes finally writing for the show, it does seem like the production team may have put a bit too much weight on his shoulders too quickly. A four-parter during Season Six might have been all he was really capable of at such an early stage in his career.

The Space Pirates is the final tale in Classic Who that we must piece together from what's left of it. Thankfully, from this point onwards, all stories are, more-or-less, intact (although some have had to be re-colorized because only black-and-white versions still existed). I am grateful that Part Two of Space Pirates is still around. It does display the first appearance of Milo Clancey - a character archetype that would appear in several more of Holmes' scripts.

Many fans talk about how much they enjoyed the double-acts that appeared regularly in a Robert Holmes story. But he also loved to write about what I liked to call: The Colorful Rogue. A sort of misfit character that looks and behaves eccentrically. Almost flamboyantly, in some cases. He's not even, necessarily, a likeable character - but he is a lot of fun! Sometimes he's even part of a double-act (Garron in Pirate Planet or Sabalom Glitz). But he definitely stands out from the person he's playing off of. Milo Clancey is, essentially, the first personality of this nature that Holmes creates. I'm glad we can still witness his entrance into the adventure. It's quite funny watching him try to have breakfast as he first appears!

Other than that, though, Space Pirates does plod on quite a bit. There's really not enough to it to fill the six parts it's been allotted. Certain elements of it are also fairly predictable. It's still not terrible, of course. But it's definitely the weakest offering from Holmes' repertoire. He was probably happy that quite a bit of it was lost!

MORE LATE SEASON DIFFICULTIES

While I would say Space Pirates is probably the Achilles Tendon of Season Six, Seeds of Death has its fair share of problems, too. It does hold together fairly well most of the time. But there are moments when the plot seems to meander a bit in some strange directions that don't really make sense. This is probably the story where efforts to write out a lead for an episode so that they can have a holiday seem the most obvious. Slaar's sudden weird choice to transmat the Doctor into space really does come from out of nowhere. Not to mention that transmat doesn't really seem to work that way. You need to be sent from one cubicle to another. Suddenly, however, the rules change so that Troughton can have an unconscious stand-in for a week while he gets a much-needed break!

Having twelve episodes of content that's on fairly shaky ground during the latter half of the year definitely works to the season's detriment. Again, there are elements of Seeds of Death that I quite like. Patrick Troughton running around the corridors of the moonbase in a purely Chaplinesque fashion is, oddly enough, one of my favorite moments in the entire Second Doctor Era. I just adore that scene! But, when the rest of the season is doing so well, to suddenly have a story with some structural issues really does make it stand out. To then follow it with The Space Pirates - a six-parter that is dragging quite a bit in places is definitely tarnishing the shine of things even more.

But then, Season Five is hardly perfect, either. Enemy of the World is far from being a masterpiece and both Ice Warriors and Wheel in Space have some significant weak points. So maybe Season Six hasn't lost this race, yet....

AND THEN WE REACH THE END....

And so, we come to the final adventure of Season Six. The Biggie is upon us. Not only do we say farewell to the Second Doctor but we actually get a decent account of his origins. This story is making, quite possibly, the most important contribution to the show's Lore that any one tale has made.

But is it good? Beyond: "Goodbye Doctor Two, it's been nice to learn about you!" - does the story have any real merit? There's been more trouble with script submissions and the production team has a ridiculous ten episodes to fill. This could just be one huge over-padded mess rather than the epic masterpiece it's meant to be.

Fortunately, The War Games is amazing.

What is most impressive is that it does stay engaging for all ten parts. We really don't feel much of a sag anywhere. Even the subplot in Part Six with the soldier played by David Troughton guarding the War Lord keeps us interested. It is chiefly there to allow the occasional cutaway when the central action of the story needs a break, but we still enjoy it (David must have done his Dad proud!). The writing, here, really is well-done. On top of introducing Robert Holmes, Season Six also had the wisdom to bring back Malcolm Hulke. He and Terrance Dicks do a great job with handling the challenge of filling the outrageous episode count.

I'm especially impressed with how well the whole story arc is defined. In Part One, it really does seem like the Doctor, Jamie and Zoe are stranded in World War I. But those one or two strange inconsistencies have intrigued us and get us to realize something more sinister must be going on. I love how the layers slowly-but-surely peel back over the next few episodes til we see the Big Picture. New characters get introduced at just the right time in the middle episodes to allow the plot to move in new directions and develop still further. By the end of the tale, we are now deeply immersed in a genuine science fiction adventure rather than the historical we originally thought it to be. It's all done quite remarkably.

And then there's the final episode. Where the Doctor's past catches up with him. Troughton does a remarkable job with the huge info dump he must deliver in the console room to his companions. He really does personalise what could have been a fairly dry backstory. We admire the Doctor so much more now that we understand where he came from and what decisions he made to get him where he is. The fact that he sacrifices his freedom to fix a problem that he knows is too big for him makes him even more heroic. The conclusion to The War Games does feel truly epic.

Have I any objections? Yes. But they border on irrelevant. Whenever the aesthetics of a Classic Who story bothers me, I tend to ignore it as best I can. The show was doing the best with the money it was given. But I do have to wonder if the costume designers from this era were really into BDSM. So often, the guards in various futuristic stories are given the most outrageous of fetish outfits! The military personnel of the War Lords look especially gimp-like in their uniforms. It doesn't help that a few of them really didn't have the physique to pull the outfits off! Which just made them look all-the-more like we should be seeing them tied up in a basement somewhere waiting for a dominatrix to arrive rather toting laser rifles and fighting human soldiers from the past.

Speaking of fights, the stunt choreography with the War Lord soldiers is some of the worst the show has ever seen. But, again, I try not to hold this against War Games too much. They were trying as hard as they could with the budget and time restraints working against them.

Which means that, overall, this is a brilliant conclusion to the season. And to the whole Second Doctor Era. Probably one of the greatest farewells an incarnation of the Doctor ever got. Logopolis will always be my favorite swansong story. I also really enjoy how both Eleven and Twelve went (I have a feeling Thirteen's passing will also be awesome), but I do still think War Games ranks Second Place as best "final" story for a Doctor.

FINAL VERDICT

As Season Six closes, there are a few important things to point out about it:

1) This isn't just the end of Doctor Two. This is the end of 60s Who. What we will get next year will be very different from what we have gotten so far. War Games does a great job of setting up the transition (so does, to some extent, The Invasion) by having the Time Lords sentence the Doctor to his exile. It's also just a very strong story. Which causes the whole era of 60s Who to end on a high note.

2) We should be very impressed with how this period handled its longer stories. Both Invasion and War Games had a high episode count. But both were quite enjoyable spectacles that did a great job with pacing so that we barely felt any of the padding.

3) We should also be genuinely impressed with just how seriously the show takes its title. Doctor Who milked its sense of mystery for all it was worth. There aren't too many other shows that keep their protagonist's origins a mystery for an entire six years!

Okay, okay, I'm stalling again. I need to answer this entry's Big Question. But I also felt it was important to highlight those last few details. The Final Verdict Section seemed the best place to do it.

FINAL FINAL VERDICT

Is Season Six as good as Season Five?

Would I really spew that level of heresy and claim that Six could even compare to the incredible awesomeness of Five?!

I might. Five is a tad over-rated. Whereas Six is stronger than most people give it credit for. I did also compare Season Four to Season Twenty-Four. It was a weak season where lessons were learnt and the next two seasons that followed were amazing.

I continue to hold fast to this comparison. I do think the last two seasons of 60s Who were outstanding. The best that were produced in this decade. After floundering for quite a few years, the show really is on solid ground, now. There are still flaws here and there. But, overall, we get a show that is very slick and confident in what it's doing. Which makes for some great television.

However, in the final analysis, I would say that Season Five is just that little bit better. I can't pinpoint exactly why I like it more. On paper, these two look pretty evenly-matched. But if I truly search my heart, Season Six loses the race.

But he was hot on Five's heels.

Every season of 60s Who has been thoroughly picked part. Time to move on to what is, probably, the most popular decade of the show.

I might have something different to say about it, though....

...Who am I kidding?! Of course I will! I am the Great Contrarion!

The Other Season Reviews of the 1960s

One:

https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2022/06/doctor-who-season-by-season-season-one.html

Two:

https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2022/07/doctor-who-season-by-season-season-2.html

Three:

https://robtymec.blogspot.com/2022/07/doctor-who-season-by-season-season-three.html

Four: