You can just tell how enthusiastic and excited Colin Baker was to have this role. It's such a shame things didn't go as well as they did in earlier seasons.
Before I saw Colin Baker's first episodes I met him at a convention. He had high praise for his co-stars but when he talked about himself he seemed to enjoy sharing stories of his mistakes or funny things that happened to him. Such a great guy. I looked forward to seeing his turn as the Doctor and was not disappointed.
Colin Baker seems honestly like the sweetest man. I've met him once when he came to Australia 10 years ago, and even though I was nervous as hell meeting him, he was so kind to me and my friend. I'm sitting next to my photo with him right now. He also answered my question about his 1970s pornstache, which I'll never forget.
A talented actor who unfortunately never got the foundation he deserved in the role of The Doctor, due to back stage issues. I'm very glad that he has been able to be such a success in the audio stories.
Haha yes, didn't he say those photos were from a slightly tipsy session with a friend who wanted to take them as publicity shots maybe for an agent, or something? Colin has always been a huge friend to SF and especially Who fans, as he is one himself. He read us a lovely poem about how special it is being an "enthusiast", at one of the Barking conventions. It was very moving.
I agree it was not his faults but rather the faults of the producer John Nathan Turner who seems to have started to lose his mind about half-way through the Peter Davidson series. It's a very delicate character to play and must rely on the genuine personality of the actor that plays him to make it believable AND sympathetic. Colin Baker unfortunately, tried to create a version of the Doctor that was nothing like his true self. For whatever reason that didint work. The best versions of the Doctor are always played by actors that were basically playing themselves. Tom Baker, Jon Pertwee, Patrick Traughton, these are the stand outs and what each has in common is the actor IS The Doctor. In order to really play this character convincingly the actor must actually BE some version of the Doctor and not just be play acting a character.
Colin bakers time reminds me a bit of the more recent whitaker Era. Everyone in front of the camera was giving 1000% and I couldn't fault them. All of the problems were behind the camera with people that either didn't know how to craft Dr who stories or disliked the show so much they were trying to sabotage it.
@@nathanielfarkas4431 I didn't mean chibnal was trying to sabotage the show. I think he really likes the show. But I don't think he has the right mental muscles to do Dr who. Chibnal is brilliant on shows like broadchurch and even torchwood. Shows that are set on one spot with a large cast where he can world build and dig into them. Dr who is not a show like that. Dr who is a show that verges on an anthology. It has to introduce a new place, new characters, new plot every week and resolve it. And you can't do that with 4 main characters also asking for story arcs. So the show got off on the wrong foot with chibnql - he was trying to do what he is good at I a show setting where those talents don't work.
@@TimothyCollins I completely agree with you there Chibnall is an amazing write with other shows. I think if he had of created his era like flux or even a repeat of the 3rd Doctor era where there exiled on earth, Chibnall could of done an amazing job. I really liked flux but will admit it was flawed but that also as to be blamed by the original series 13 being scraped and flux being written last minute. If flux being 6 contained episodes had of been the plan all along I think Chibnall would of had the time to perfect the story.
@@nathanielfarkas4431 well also, let’s remind - flux was done while Covid was rolling little balls of chaos around still. So that fed into it - it was obvious flux wanted about 3 or 4 more episodes and they couldn’t fit it in. And while I was not a great fan of this eras writing I will say - the show has never looked better and at least chibnall really tried to swing for the fences with ambitious stuff.
No it doesn't compare the whole of Chibnall run is bad and the actors did not do a convincing job here everything worked it's just people couldn't move past a terrible costume design.
Met him and Nicola Bryant (bloody hell, she's still quite fine) a few months back at a Comic-Con in Great Yarmouth. I was nervous as hell but he soon put that aside. We had a wonderful chat and the three of us took some great pictures at a prop Tardis.
All I can do is echo the many comments of what a genuinely lovely guy Colin Baker is. There was a Doctor Who appreciation event at my University in the early 90s with many talks, people behind the scenes, model makers and several of the actors. Colin stands out in my memory - whilst understandably the 'big names' were keen to get off as quickly as possible after their talks, with the minimal amount of interaction, Colin was happy to hang around in the bar telling stories for as long as people wanted to hang out. Completely real, no pretences, accepting of the difficulties of his time on ths show and full of praise for those he worked with. His love for the show and it's fans is very real.
I remember almost nothing about watching this series first time around, but I'm sure I did watch it because I remember Peri. Her American accent seems to just come and go whenever, half the time she sounds english. Not that I was listening. It's amazing the actress put up with every single costume having a plunging neckline and lots of jiggling. It was pretty radical for Dr Who at the time.
I met Colin Baker at a con when they were introducing his first season to America. Both he and Turner were charming, witty, and Baker took time to talk to fans at autograph signing. I have him a button that said: “Worst dressed sentient being in the galaxy. “. I was disappointed that he never wore it on screen…. And yes, I rather liked his Doctor.
Quite possibly the greatest ever season of classic Who ... Or at the very least the most bizarre and batshit crazy! As a tween who had followed the series since his families move to England, this commentator was particularly drawn in by the strange but wonderful screwball oddball coupe of Doctor 6 and Peri and the bizarrely blackly comical pantomime world they inhabited. Alas it was it's own undoing and the promised return turned out to be only the pain of watching Doc 6 and Peri die (literally and figuratively) in front of our eyes as the entire production imploded on air. But .... We still remember and we still hold the flame of love! Now whole new generations (2 at least if not a third) of new viewers have brought new found and long overdue respect to the great mad experiment by the late, great JNT and Eric Seward. Colin and Nicola for their part have never given in despite being kicked in the teeth then kicked off the show and have made the characters their own dopplegangers in life as in fantasy thanks to Big Finish and other side projects. Had a chance to meet them in March in London and found them even more inspiring in life ... May their legend be immortal and spoke on the lips of persons far removed and not yet born!
@@thebasedgodmax1163 Yes, the fracture between Turner and Seward was one of the principle causes for the collapse and demise of classic Who. Listening to both sides, each portrays itself as the hero out to avert catastrophe and the other as the obstinate problem. Seward is still around and finally 'out from the cold' so he can keep spinning his story. - Perhaps classic Who might have survived his insurrection against Baker and Bryant if it had happened in isolation, but alas it didn't.
One thing to consider from a continuity standpoint is that at the time, no one could actually watch Tomb of the Cyberman to see what the tombs looked like, so it really didn't matter that much to the set designers.
That's a really good point. At that time, it was thought to be lost in its entirety. It was rediscovered in the early 90s I believe, found in an archive in Hong Kong.
@@thepenultimateninja5797No its not a good point atall, its a stupid point. There were always hundreds of photos available!!! Everybody knew what the Tombs looked like FFS.
Great review and pretty much on the money too, as per usual. I was always a fan of Colin Baker's Doctor I thought it was brave of him to make the character less viewer-friendly, shall we say. It always conjured the spirit of Hartnell for me. Anyway, Colin will always have a special place in my heart because in the 80's I had ticket to see "Doctor Who The Ultimate Adventure" with Jon Pertwee who was and always will be "my Doctor". Sadly, he fell ill. Colin Baker stepped in. I was thrilled, as he would always be my pick after "King Jon". Given his treatment by the BBC showrunners I thought it spoke volumes that he was so willing to step in like that. Top drawer fellow.
I'll add another comment on how nice Colin Baker is. I met him at a con and he was very honest and humble about the highs and lows of his time in the role. He clearly loved playing the Doctor and was poorly served by the material he was given. Not, sadly, the last time that would happen on this show.
I saw Colin Baker at a convention in the Philadelphia area before any of his episodes aired in the US -- possibly before they aired in Britain! -- and I remember someone asked: how long will you play the Doctor, and he replied that Tom Baker had been the Doctor for 7 years and he always liked to set records. Everyone in the audience cheered. He did set a record: shortest tenured.
Oh thanks for the explanation of the strange cliffhangers! I watched this haphazardly on PBS the episode endings seemed SO abrupt! I always liked this doctor, when I was a kid he always seemed like the perfect meld of Tom Baker and Peter Davidson.
Hello Stam, I really enjoy your Dr Who videos in particular. Your dry sense of humour, affectionate but gently mocking tone is quite different to other review channels. Keep up the good work and singing monsters. Best wishes.
Gotta agree with what is said in the film and many comments. Colin Baker is a wonderful guy! I worked an event with him years ago in Chester and we had a queue of people all the way down the street waiting to meet him on a hot summer day. He never complained and was beyond polite and wonderful to everyone and to work with. He was treated very unfairly I feel and his doctor has been vindicated by his Big Finish work which is some of the best audio episodes ever done imho
Vengeance on Varos is one of the best Who stories in general, and I'll fight anyone who says otherwise. As for Jason Connery...he sounded like that in Robin of Sherwood, too, sadly. Didn't inherit his dad's acting talent.
According to one of the commentaries on the RoS DVDs (which is a series I think is worth a review itself), Connery himself says he didn't think that his VoV character really worked as he was trying to play the character as a rebel, doing what he thought a rebel would do.
I simply LOVE Colin's Doctor a LOT. He's absolutely 100% there and giving everything in every scene and really making the most of the character. Being flamboyand, unpredictable, smart, cheeky, lovable, extravagant, extrovert but also combining all these perks in a cohesive fusion and using each one where it's necessary and really adding a lot of entertaining dynamic into scenes. When i was first introduced him as a doctor i was rather unsure but he absolutely convinced me in the first 5 minutes. The care for his companion is what i love a lot and what we later see again with 8th doctor. And that cute nose-poke :) Colin is just an absolutely wonderful Doctor and even though Tom Baker will always be my Doctor, i simply love them ALL and each one for their own good :) Right now i am still discovering episodes and seasons with him i did not see yet and each time i am super excited for the next one because of Colin's performance.
I chatted with Kate O'Mara for a time on Twitter years ago, before it went totally insane... which was about one year after I joined. I fail to see a connection... ;D
For me Revelation is one of the best stories of the 80's. It maintains an ominous tone throughout and provides a bit of an insight into the video nasty/ Satanic Panic mindset of the time
Also a lot of Sevens is pretty good, Five and Nine are decent for the most part, Ten can be good occasionally though they sometimes fail at that, First Doctor Adventures first boxset was great, the samurai story was decent and tik tok world was great, they gave three a Cyberman story and from what I hear three's Audios are improving, sometimes they have decent/good short trips and companion chronicles, they are now making a new continuation to class and they have some good spinoffs or at least good ideas for some, the guy they have playing twelve is pretty poor I've heard better actors in fan Audios like exhausted supplies a great fan Audios where 9 and 12 have a multi doctor story
I lost track what was I talking about again? Oh yeah most of six in audio is really great, but don't undersell eight and war's audio stuff they are just as great if not better
After watching Doctor Who through most of the Pertwee and Tom Baker eras I was busy with other things in the 1980s, and didn’t watch when these stories were first broadcast. I thought the series was going downhill in the latter part of the Tom Baker era. I have watched some of these stories more recently. Vengeance on Varos has a good reputation, but when I first saw it it immediately reminded me of The Sun Makers from the Tom Baker era.
I'm glad to see you're being even-handed about this season. It's one of those that some people love and some people dislike (aside from Timelash, which is disliked by nearly everyone). I think we've gone through the Saward Backlash now and into a more nuanced time where we can see both the good and bad things about his time as script editor. It's just a shame he never realised that his love of stories where The Doctor had the plot happen to him and stories with gory elements gave the BBC an excuse to wield the axe.
I actually enjoy Timelash simply for Paul Darrow, the makeup for The Borad, and the unintentional hilarity of Nicola Brant being menaced by a monster that looks like a giant phallus.
This program is one of the most, if not the most successful family programmes of all time that has ran for 60 years and going. It's a serious work of art in the field of family entertainment. Doctor Who doesn't have bad episodes, just snobby fans.
Well said! - Yes, time has given us a new perspective on what some of us lived through as kids and young adults. The great irony was that the very boldness and daring of Season 22 and of the twisted, almost abusive love story of Doctor 6 and Peri at its core gave the BBC (and Michael Grade) the very excuse they wanted to kill classic Who, something they achieved despite it lingering on painfully for four more years. One can debate for hours whether it was Michael Grade, John-Nathan Turner, Eric Seward, Mary Whitehouse or Shockeye that actually killed classic Who, but it would be pointless ..... Doctor 6 and Peri lived like candles in the wind and yet, they and the wonderful actors who played them are still evolving and developing to the delight of fans and therein lies the triumph!
@@sergiocampanale3882 i mean, I do think this was still a rough patch for Doctor Who, I just think it's not solely the fault of one person. Lets not forget that before the Saward Backlash was the JNT Backlash. We're probably due a Cartmel Backlash soon. Edit: As for my favourite story, it's definitely Varos. Best Colin Baker TV story IMO.
I have just read that the House of Mouse are now funding the 2023 and beyond episodes. After what happened to Stars Wars this should send a chill down every Doctor Who's fans back.
They don't own it... yet... they only have the exclusive rights to stream it outside of the UK, but that does give them leverage, and I'm sure Disney have their greedy monopolistic eye on it.
Another fine episode! Enjoyed this even though by the time this was shown in NZ I was a few years away (Peter Davison was my last as a youth). I almost spit my beer out when you mentioned "Terry Malloy" though. Had visions of Brando reprising an iconic role of his in "Who"!
Etta &Arak featured another ex-Blake’s 7 turn. The bloke appeared as Investigator Reeve in *SAND* largely a Tarrant and Servalan two-hander. (Stephen Yardley??)
So, fun fact about Colin's outlandish costume: Before his first episode even started filming, Colin Baker was ALREADY starting to have disagreements with JNT, over (among other things) his Doctor's costume and the direction the new season was taking. Colin retaliated by picking out the most ridiculous jacket possible, confident that the showrunner would back down at the sheer stupidity of it. Instead, to his shock, the jacket was subsequently approved.
The jacket would have worked well if he had done a Willy Wonka style doctor (Gene Wilder version). However Tom Baker's doctor had touches of Wonka with his madman farce covering dark seriousness....and I've always assumed that was a style of the 70s. Who was always about 5 years post pop-fad as many TV series are. John Pertwee was a bit of "The Prisoner"
That's not true, it was JNT who was responsible for the costume- he was in a meeting with the costume maker and didn't like her designs so to show her what he had in mind he scribbled a load of colours with felt tip pens and that's why it ended up such a garish mish-mash of random colours. Colin Baker says in almost every interview he does that he wanted a darker jacket more like Christopher Eccleston had.
Season 22 was when I stopped watching Doctor Who, I only watched a few of Peter Davison's episodes but once I watched Colin Baker’s portrayal of the Doctor that was enough for me. I never missed an episode of Doctor Who from its very beginning up until Tom Baker, after Colin Baker I never watched another, and subsequently, what I've seen of his time as the Doctor my instincts to move on were correct.
I've always enjoyed the idea of Colin Baker's Doctor, more than the actual series itself. Colin Baker is a lovely man and a great actor, but he was let down by just about everyone else on the production team.
Good to see those subs rising! I share these with my friends, but as I don't have any, the point is mute. Yes that is the wrong spelling, I like to think I am clever like that.
The ABC agreed - there were cuts made to season 22 in Australia when shown in 1986, and repeats in 1994 were still cut. I think this season is somewhat underrated, but some tweaks wouldn't have hurt. Colin deserved better overall.
Great review on Season 22! I do like season 22 and they went into a dark direction. I do like some stories from season 22 like Attack of the Cybermen, Vengance on Varos, The Mark of the Rani, The Two Doctors and Revelation of the Daleks. But hey next time court is in session.
I remember when Doctor Who Magazine did a feature on the upcoming season 22 which carried pictures of the Cryons. Let's just say it didn't seem like the best advertisement for the series. It is very suspicious however that only 2 years after celebrating the show with a 20th anniversary, the BBC was willing to can the show entirely.
37:37 I have no nostalgia for the episode, but the time portal time slash effect seems kind of good. I didn’t recognize it as Christmas Tinsel and I grew up in the 80’s with shiny plastic Tinsel on my tree as a kid. . . .
The POINT of the costume is that it's bad. He specifically chooses it because Peri doesn't like it. He's trolling her. This is covered like five minutes into him being introduced.
The actor was trolling the directors, but they didn't care. So they wrote Peri, the obvious hot 80s girl, mocking him back ....as in YOU WON'T GET LAID you know. He was trolling the producers and it is obvious in S22,23 that they didn't care anymore. It was a paycheck to paycheck job.
I can't honestly say that Colin Baker's Doctor is my favourite. The GOT fan in me appreciates the amped up violence for which this season is infamous, and most of the stories have a great supporting cast. I agree that Lytton shouldn't have been killed off so soon. He could easily have made up to half-a-dozen appearances over a few years, slowly transforming from the outright villain in Resurrection of the Daleks into an unlikely hero.
I grew up with Peter Davison, Colin Baker and McCoy. Yet a can barely remember much about them, other than not finding the later years particularly good (apart from Ace, pwoar). By the time it got canned it was hardly a surprise. I just wish they hadn't also canned the 3rd and final season of Tripods.
What do you mean when you said that Attack of the Cyberman was Sewards worst episode....I beg to differ! It is in my top 10 episodes and I just love the black Cyberman! Thanx again Stam Fine, You did it again!......I`m still waiting for my Rappin` Cyberman!
His Babon(sp?) the Butcher is the most memorable piece of scene chewing you’ll ever see (city at the edge of the world) and is a hoot. You’ll struggle to locate it on RU-vid these days but DailyMotion still has them all if you search for “Blake’s ……- then insert relevant word from the episode title eg “Blake’s aftermath” will give you the ep with the Sarin and S3 lead episode, introduction of Tarrant etc. check out this Baban ep as it was the one written specifically for Michael Keating, whose kids were being teased at school for being one dimensionally cowardly and comical. *THAT* episode changes all that and Vila is a proper hero. 🎉 C Bakers stint was excellent and he’s a fine actor. Although wobbly writing lets it down at times 😂😂
I had heard that Paul Darrow didn't like his scenery chewing, and so seized this opportunity to level the field, apparently concerned it would lead to Blake 7's cancellation.
These men were C. Superb review as usual. Season 22 was the darkest and therefore as realistic as the programme could be. The pendulum had swung a little too far in terms of taste but then it swung too far the other way until it faded away. If those in group C wanted it to be better they should have increased its budget, knowing it was an international flagship. They employed a C Grade business model.
41:14 OK, you've convinced me; This is something I really need to watch. I have no idea how anyone, even kids, put up with K9. Right now, I'm in the middle of the 7 year stretch, stuck between an electronic bark and Tom Baker's hard place and this looks right up my alley. Updated: It most definitely is. Too bad it was too far ahead of its time.
Great run down of season 22 and as you say probably last time who was made with menace .loved Colins time as the doctor and for me was as.good as the doctors before him
Like a lot of Americans I began watching Doctor Who when the Tom Baker series began showing in the US. I followed along every episode. I enjoyed Peter Davidson even if he was not as interesting an actor as Tom Baker. However, towards the end of the Davidson period, about the time the character of Turlough showed up, I began to stop caring what happened to the characters and I just generally stopped watching. I remember seeing the Colin Baker version of the Doctor in a magazine and I knew then the production was heading down stream and then later I saw an image of the sad man with an umbrella and I still wasn't impressed. I finally came back to the series with Matt Smith and watched most of that. and that's been it. It has always been a brilliant concept for a TV show that allows for a near infinite space to write stories in. It literally inspires the viewer to conceive of their own possible stories for the Doctor to experience and the different actors to play the role make it easy for the audience to imagine themselves in the role and how they might respond to such fantastical adventures.
