Colin Baker: The Beginning, End and In-Between (Part 1)
John Hussey continues his series, this time reviewing stories from the Sixth Doctor era.
‘The Twin Dilemma’
By Anthony Steven (1984, 4 Episodes)
“Well, look at me. I’m old, lacking in vigour, my mind’s in turmoil. I no longer know if I’m coming, have gone, or even been. I’m falling to pieces. I no longer even have any clothes sense… Self-pity is all I have left.”
Contrary to popular belief, there are some fans out there that actually like this serial. I believe ‘The Twin Dilemma’ to be an impressive event within Doctor Who, showcasing a bold new direction. It was startling to see the Doctor become unlikeable, an especially brave move after Peter Davison’s polite, charming and courageous incarnation.
I think in the case of regeneration the Doctor does need to be shaken up, granting us a different perspective on the character and of course something totally different to what we have gotten used to. So in that sense it was perfectly understandable why John Nathan-Turner decided to go in the direction he did, creating such a complete contrast to Davison.
Colin Baker took the role in stride. Despite the somewhat pantomime dialogue he was given post-regeneration, he worked with what he had and still, in my eyes, represented what his Doctor was going to be. I really do enjoy the Sixth Doctor’s persona. He’s rash, arrogant, self-obsessed and disregarding to those around him, whilst at the same time showing a sense of charm and kindness when he’s in the right mood. The idea of his regeneration going so wrong was another take of what we’d seen during ‘Castrovalva’, only this time in a horrific manner that caused the Doctor’s emotions to be constantly battling one another, as well as suffering from mental breakdowns.
One of the most iconic scenes from this serial was the Sixth Doctor accusing Peri Brown of being an alien spy trying to kill him and therefore attempted to end her life through strangulation! It was interesting watching the Sixth Doctor suffer through his shifts in behaviour, often coming across as a soulless, uncaring person which was horribly directed at Peri. Having said that, I didn’t always like how Peri reacted to the change, often reacting very rudely herself. I do sympathise with her though. This was without a doubt the worst transition for a companion to witness as you felt Peri was always in danger. The Sixth Doctor would sometimes breakdown in a cowardly fashion, making Peri vulnerable to the enemy. True to Peri’s loyalty she shed a tear when she thought the Sixth Doctor had been caught in the explosion to which intriguingly the Sixth Doctor questioned about, unable to comprehend human behaviour.
As for the narrative itself, it wasn’t bad. Not anything special, but certainly nowhere near dull in my eyes. I enjoyed the character of Azmael and the connection he had with the Doctor. It was in many ways sad to see the conflict he had to endure throughout. His best interests were with his people on Jaconda. His resolution was perhaps expected, but still shocking, and the little moment he had with the Sixth Doctor before perishing was memorable and quite emotional. I also quite liked how we’d never seen him before and yet the story allowed us to have some commitment to his character and allowed us to understand the chemistry he shared with the Time Lord, something that allows the Doctor more depth through off-screen adventures.
Mestor was without a doubt a shocking specimen when it came to design, along with the rest of his race. Humanoid Slugs aren’t what I’d call the most inventive idea on the planet, but as we’d seen in ‘The Green Death’ with giant maggots, it isn’t impossible to incorporate strange ideas into Doctor Who and make them work. Mestor’s character was certainly threatening and gave the Sixth Doctor a nice little villain to face on his first outing. The creature stayed true with the new direction of darker tone and he was a sinister being who craved power and carnage, with his plans seemingly believable.
Overall, I believe ‘The Twin Dilemma’ is a good story that brought about a bold change within the show. What I liked about this serial was that it wanted to make it very clear to the audience that Colin Baker was the new Doctor, despite whether or not they agreed with this new incarnation. This was delivered perfectly in the final scene by the Sixth Doctor himself, “Whatever else happens, I am the Doctor, whether you like it or not.” The massive shame is that, unknowingly, this was where the show would decline due to outside influences. At least Season Twenty-Two wasn’t affected too much and had some great stories.
‘The Two Doctors’
By Robert Holmes (1985, 3 Episodes)
“When you travel around as much as I do, it’s almost inevitable that you’ll run into yourself at some point.”
My favourite phenomenon within Doctor Who is where multiple incarnations of the Doctor come together for an adventure. Usually these special treats are saved for special occasions (anniversary events) but with ‘The Two Doctors’ we had a multi-Doctor adventure during the middle of a season.
I find this serial to be clever in all kinds of ways. Firstly bringing back another incarnation along with another companion was a neat idea for a normal everyday serial. Then there was the return of the Sontarans (who hadn’t been seen since ‘The Invasion of Time’). And on top of that was the brilliantly crafted Androgums. This ghastly and barbaric race brought about a dark nature to the narrative, especially through Shockeye, because of their desire to cook anything they could get their hands on. Shockeye constantly craved to eat a human, nearly cooking both Peri and Jamie McCrimmon. The ironic thing about the serial was Shockeye’s intent on calling humanity primitive in comparison to his own race.
The biggest task of the serial was choosing which Doctor returned and I think they went with the right choice. Patrick Troughton really added to the plot and brought about his usual charm. It was great that Frazer Hines also got to return as Jamie. What worked out well was the fact that Jamie got to help the Sixth Doctor and Peri throughout the plot. The narrative was inventive by the simple notion of the Sixth Doctor landing in the same place that the Second Doctor did, dragging himself into a conspiracy that intertwined timelines. A lot of the narrative, strangely enough, was a rescue mission. The Second Doctor was a prisoner to the Sontarans and quite horrifically prepared him for experimentation in order to grant the clone-race and the augmented Androgum Chessene time travel.
The location also added to the narrative because it was beautiful scenery and wasn’t your usual Doctor Who setting. Spain is a charming country and its brightness and culture gave the show scope, showcasing how amazing it can be when the production team manages to film abroad. The interesting part was having the two Doctors apart for the majority of the narrative, only coming together for Part Three (which was when they first interacted). The Second Doctor’s presence didn’t take away the spotlight, allowing for the Sixth Doctor to remain in control and driving the story. The Second Doctor added in a nice little bonus for fans and it was a genuine pleasure having him along for the ride.
The serial was one episode longer than the rest of the serials that season (being the longest episode) and it used its time wisely. None of the story was out of place and there weren’t many instances where it felt padded. Maybe during the search of the space station in Part One or the whole incidence of the Second Doctor being partly turned into an Androgum in Part Three, but even then they didn’t detract (with the latter adding in some intriguing elements). Upon the Second Doctor changing we saw the affects slowly take effect on the Sixth Doctor, adding in that fun sense that the different incarnation’s adventures can interact in different ways.
I think one of the main reasons ‘The Two Doctors’ is my favourite multi-Doctor story is because it’s simple and straight to the point. The Doctors weren’t called together for a universal catastrophe but rather a normal adventure in which one incarnation required the help of the other. It was great adding in the mind connective scenes which incidentally aided in bringing them together, though more coincidentally than usual multi- Doctor events, showcasing how a past incarnation’s adventure can affect a future incarnation’s adventures.
Even the Sontarans were on fine form (perhaps their best). In particular I found Stike and Varl good characters that represented the clone-race perfectly. It was disappointing to see them pushed to the sidelines and so easily defeated at the hands of their supposed allies but this merely added to the fact that the Androgums were the bigger threat. The whole moral of the narrative was Dastari’s idiotic ideals of turning a primitive creature, driven by pure instinct, into a god-like creature. Slowly he learned that the Second Doctor’s wisdom in Part One was correct and in the end realised he had to stop Chessene before she destroyed everyone.
‘The Two Doctors’ was a huge success and I love the serial dearly. It’s one of my favourites and perhaps my favourite Robert Holmes story (next to ‘The Caves of Androzani’). He simply got everything right and it never grows tired; an enjoyable watch every time.
Continued in Part 2.
