The 6th Doctor: A Look Back

9/3/08

Colin Baker's tenure as the Doctor was perhaps the most tumultuous of the entire 40 plus year history of the show. He was hired at a time that I consider to be part of the Golden Age of Doctor who, from around 1974 to 1984. Those ten years saw Doctor Who become an international phenomenon, led largely by Tom Baker and a host of stories that weren't afraid to go too scary and too creepy. Peter Davison continued this, and his stories fit well with Tom Baker's era, though he played it differently.

But Colin Baker's era...it's a bit difficult for me to describe. I no longer felt like the Doctor was a man I would follow anywhere, like he was a traveling detective or an intergalactic explorer full of wide eyed innocence. Colin Baker played him with an edge. He played him finicky, and at times even mean, and almost always rude. He was a lot harder to like, really. The tone of the stories became darker, and whereas the previous Doctor Who entries had always skirted the edge of giving kids nightmares, I found these stories not really appropriate for kids at all, more often than not. In Vengeance on Varos, two men die by falling into a vat of acid. The Doctor looks down at them, and coldly says "you'll forgive me if I don't join you." Then he turns and walks away. This was a more cynical Doctor for a more cynical time. And I think it's also a reflection of where the world was at that point in time.

It's not Colin Baker's fault. He's a wonderful actor, and was just trying to do something different than his predecessor. He wildly succeeded, and he really gave the role his all. He has been quoted as saying that if he hadn't been fired, he may have surpassed Tom Baker's 7 years in the TARDIS. Who knows what changes would have occurred had he been allowed to stay on? But it was all said and done, in my opinion, this was the beginning of the end for Doctor Who. It would take a few more years to die completely, but it all started here.

I've spoken previously of how Michael Grade, the head of the BBC during this time, was adamantly against Doctor Who, finding it to be a waste of time and money. But was the downfall of Doctor Who all his fault? No, I don't think so. John Nathan Turner didn't really want to be doing this anymore, and he was not allowed to leave. Therefore, his heart and soul weren't in it, and if the producer isn't giving his all, your show is not going to succeed. I think as a result of this, the writing suffered as well. Eric Saward, who had been script editor since the Davison years and who was also one of my favorite writers, quit in 1986, frustrated that he and John Nathan Turner couldn't see eye to eye on the direction of the show.

But Colin Baker would definitely get a chance to shine on. While he refused a regeneration scene for the introduction of McCoy's 7th Doctor, he still had a lot of affection for the role of the Doctor, and has supported it in conventions, video appearances such as "The Colin Baker Years" and even did a sort of generic Doctor Who imitation series called "The Stranger" which was released over 6 videos in the 1990s, featuring himself as the Stranger, Nicola Bryant (companion Peri Brown) as Miss Brown, and Michael Wisher (Davros) as the baddie, not to mention several other connections to Doctor Who. He also was able to return to the role of the Doctor via the Big Finish audio adventures, of which he has done many.

I find myself fondly remembering the first Colin Baker season, and I think that this is where he was really able to shine. It was brief, but he definitely made the role his own. He's a remarkable actor, and thankfully, has had many opportunities to do justice to the role in recent years. He's not my favorite, but you know what? When the obstacles he faced are considered, one cannot deny that he triumphed in the long run.