The Eighties The decade of
gag me with a spoon, leg warmers, parachute pants, Duran Duran and of course
Ronnie and Maggie. It was also the decade of the aids epidemic, Falkland Island
War and of course the unfortunate Space Shuttle Challenger exploding on lift
off. The Eighties also gave us the last
2 Star War movies and a boatload of great movies like Raiders of The lost Ark,
Star Trek 2, Blade Runner and a slew of others.
It was also a decade that saw four Doctors helm the TARDIS controls in
Doctor Who and it was the decade that I got hooked on this wonderful show.
The Eighties in a nutshell was the end of an
era the beginning of an era and a definite end of era. The Eighties will forever be remembered as
the decade that the show had its plug pulled.
After Twenty Six years on TV 1989 were the last time diehard fans
watched the show for the last time. (Luckily it wasn’t.) The show came to an end after episode three
of Survival with the Seventh Doctor and Ace walking off into the sunset. But we are getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s go back to 1980 and the start of the
decade.
This is the end of an
era. 1980 was Tom Bakers last season as
The Doctor. Season 18 was the season of change and new direction for the
show. John Nathan-Turner wanted to return
to a more serious tone and away from the silly stuff that previous seasons
had. He also wanted to reign in his star
and try to stop him doing goofy improvisation.
This act more than likely caused a lot of bad feelings and brought the
end to the Fourth Doctor. We may never
really know why Tom Baker left but it could have been Tom Baker really hated JN-T,
Tom was losing control of the way he used to do things, or he just didn’t want
to be the Doctor anymore which is the one I always leaned towards.
So season 18 began and Christopher Bidmeads entropy
season heralded the beginning of John Nathan-Turner era of Doctor Who and also
closed the chapter on one of the most beloved era in Doctor Who’s history and
one of the most popular Doctor’s in Tom Baker.
This takes us to Peter
Davison era of Doctor Who. When it comes
to The Fifth Doctor I’m a little biased.
Peter Davison is my favorite Doctor and I just enjoy watching his three
seasons of stories. Yes even Time –
Flight. Well maybe when I’m punchy or want to do Mystery Theater 3000 to it. But Peter Davison had the best run of the
Eighties and his era is considered to have some of the well written stories in
Doctor Who history.
If there is a negative
about The Peter Davison years is that there were too many companions in the
TARDIS. For some reason or another JN-T
wanted to have a crowded TARDIS and I thought that was a bit much. Two companions ok but three just seemed to
much as one would always be regulated to being captured or being left in the
TARDIS to make something or other. In
other words one companion was the odd on out.
So they killed one
off. That’s right in the Eighties they
killed off a Doctor Who companion for the first time since Sara Kingdom and
Katarina way back in 1965’s The Dalek’s Master Plan. Adric was the one to go and go he did by
getting blown up trying to save the Earth from the Cybermen bomb in a
spaceship. The Fifth Doctor era also had
an era of companions that were too intelligent.
Nyssa was almost on par with The Doctor that it seemed like they could
have a conversation and forget to dumb it down for the audience. Well luckily for us Tegan was around to ask
the questions for us unscientific folk.
The Davison era was also
known for the Twentieth Anniversary celebration. You see season twenty was a theme season in a
way. The theme was recurring enemies
from The Doctors past. Villains like
Omega and a trip back to Gallifrey and The Black Guardian and a trip to Earth
to meet new companion Turlough and of course visit the Brigadier. Of course what season of the eighties would
not be complete without The Master making an appearance.
The Davison era also had
the second multi Doctor story The Five Doctor’s. A wonderful story that celebrates the
anniversary in style with at least four Doctors and one stand in for William
Hartnell. Old friends and old enemies to
fight make this story a real gem in the history of Doctor Who and a great
celebratory piece of its history.
We now move on to the
third man to helm the TARDIS in the eighties and that man is Colin Baker
otherwise known as the Sixth Doctor. Another thing that was unique in the
eighties. The Davison to C. Baker
regeneration was in the penultimate story of season twenty one. His debut story The Twin Dilemma
was the closing story of
the season. This happened before in 1966
when William Hartnell passed the baton to Patrick Troughton at the end of The
Tenth Planet which was the second story of season four.
While not very well received
The Sixth Doctor in The Twin Dilemma was very violent and boisterous. Having The Doctor choke Peri, while suffering
from post-regeneration syndrome, was not a good way for the producer and script
editor to get people to like the new Doctor.
Colin Bakers first full
season is a real gem of a first season. He
gets a crown jewel of baddies to go up against. Colin Baker goes up against The
Cybermen to start it off and then The Master and the Rani and Sontarans and
Daleks to finish it up. Plus the Sixth Doctor
is reunited with the Second Doctor and Jamie in an adventure that is filmed in
Spain. Unfortunately this would be
Patrick Troughton last appearance as the Doctor as he would pass away two years
after this story. It was good seeing him
in that restaurant as an Androgum with Shockeye having a feast.
Colin Baker’s first season
had some controversy. It was deemed too
violent. The BBC was not happy with the
violence The Doctor was resorting to which resulted in the show going on
hiatus. The fans did rally to the Doctor’s
defense and helped to get the show back on and thus helped save it from
cancelation.
The show would be retooled
and brought back with season twenty three’s fourteen part story The Trial of a
Timelord. Gone were the forty five two
part stories and now back to the traditional twenty five minute episode four
part story. The production crew cut down the violence and
came up with a good idea for a season but the BBC was not satisfied. Ratings were low and the morons at the BBC
decided to fire Colin Baker.
In fairness to Colin Baker
it was not his fault. The BBC hierarchy had
it in for the show and was looking for excuses to throw it to the curb. The show had one more chance. With a reduced budget and reduced amount of
stories the show would enter the Sylvester McCoy era and enter the Seventh
Doctor.
The one problem with the
McCoy era is his first season. It was a
season that was planned for Colin Baker. At least the first two stories were.
Then they had to do a redo for a new Doctor who they didn’t know how they
wanted him to act like. Plus Sylvester
McCoy was handcuffed by his assistant Mel played by Bonnie Langford. In fairness her character was horrible but
she was supposed to be with Colin Baker not Sylvester McCoy so the chemistry
was not there.
But luckily script editor
Andrew Cartmel fixed that by creating Ace, played brilliantly by Sophie Aldred,
and changed the direction of the Seventh Doctor to be more mysterious, alien
and darker.
But unfortunately it wasn’t
enough as the fans weren’t there. What would you expect when the BBC schedules
it against Coronation Street. The BBC
was really helpful there. The cards were really stacked against the show and
the end was near. Not even the Daleks,
Cybermen or The Master would help. Sylvester McCoy’s different take on the
Doctor would not be expanded upon and the show was taken off the air until its
cameo appearance in 1997 and back for good in 2005. People blame Sylvester
McCoy for the shows demise but that is truly unfair. It was the BBC and the fact that he kept the
show afloat for three years is a testament to his popularity.
The Eighties was awesome
time for Doctor Who. It gained popularity
in the USA by showing the show on their PBS channels. In fact that is how I got hooked on the show
during the early eighties and have been with it ever since even during The
Wilderness Years. It was a time of
celebration twice during the shows history for the twentieth and twenty fifth anniversaries. It was
also a time of bad times and conflict and at the end the demise of a great
show.
While not a popular decade for Doctor Who it
is a decade that I enjoy watching and have a warm spot for it in my heart. Plus it is the only decade that can boast
having four different actors playing The Doctor a feat that will never happen
again. So here is to the 80’s a decade that
is rich with history and some great stories for Doctor Who.
"There are worlds out there
where the sky is burning, and the sea's asleep, and the rivers dream. People
made of smoke, and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere
there's injustice, and somewhere else the tea's getting cold! Come on, Ace -
we've got work to do!"
