Geek Syndicate Issue 7 | Page 9

Geek Syndicate
uthe tro ’s r “That regene th ble wi ou never Y at ation. ow wh kn to quite going you’re get.”
Image © BBC

Tom Baker. The Fifth Doctor is the most human of all the classic Doctors. He faced a universe that seemed much harsher than it had in the past. The Doctor would do what he had always done in the past, but now instead of saving everyone, they would often die. There was a harsh realism to the Fifth Doctor’s era: the hero cannot always save everyone. He lost companion Adric in an awesome Cyberman story that turned Adric from one of the most annoying companions to someone who really mattered. The Fifth Doctor began to start to see the universe the way it was but never changed his morals. He embodied a pained heroism as he hopped around the universe with his piece of celery attached to his jacket. The Fifth Doctor faced The Master, The Daleks and many other classic villains as Davison steered the show into The Caves of Androzani - Shows WHO The Doctor is its twentieth anniversary. Davison’s true acting chops were shown in his final story, The Caves of Androzani. This story epitomised what this Doctor was all about. He had just met Peri and still when they are both poisoned, on the verge of death, The Doctor still does everything in his power to save Peri. The Doctor doesn’t look for trouble it finds him. In this story Davison manages to convince the viewer that he is actually going to die, that he might not regenerate. This is particularly impressive from Davison because even now, when I watched it knowing that he would eventually become the Eleventh Doctor, I still wondered whether he would survive.
Image © BBC

Colin Baker, The Brash Pragmatist

2. The Second Doctor - Patrick Troughton. (1967-1969)

“Hello. OK, mmm. New teeth. That’s weird. So where was I? Oh that’s right...Barcelona.”

Patrick Troughton had the most difficult job out of all the Doctors. He was given the task of introducing the idea of regeneration, to make it convincing and to get the viewers to accept that although the Doctor’s personality would change drastically, he was still the same man. Troughton’s crazed smile and astonishment at his first regeneration makes him captivating from the get go. Under Troughton we saw a Doctor that acted like a bumbling idiot – a guise that hid his intellect and cunning. This era saw the Doctor meeting his best friend Jamie (played by Frazer Hines). The chemistry between Troughton and Hines is a joy to watch. They bounce off each other continually, adding so much to the script at a time where the cast adlibbed (if the cast added someone you had to keep it in as you had one chance to record it). Further Troughton faced off against the most menacing Cybermen as well as introducing many classic enemies such as the Great Intelligence and the Yeti and the Ice Warriors.

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