Doctor Who: The Tom Baker Years

I've been watching Doctor Who for the last six months or so and today did a tally wherein I realized I've seen less than half of the available stories. That's slightly depressing, but the show has been on for 30 seasons. I recently completed watching the tenure of the longest-serving Doctor, Tom Baker, the Fourth Doctor who played the character from 1974-1981.

Tom Baker was a relative nobody when he took over the role from Jon Pertwee. While Pertwee's Doctor was a suave, sophisticated man of action, Baker played the Doctor with more outward weirdness, a deliberate attempt to make the character more alien. He would often switch from silly to serious at the drop of a hat, making him seem pretty bipolar. It was during Tom Baker's run that the show was at its most popular, being essential viewing for families every Saturday night. When the series was syndicated to America, it was Baker's episodes that most people saw, making him the most recognizable actor to play the role around the world. He is known primarily for his big, toothy grin, curly hair, and ridiculously long, striped scarf.


As one might expect, such a long run has its ups and down, with the middle bit being less than stellar to my mind. Of the Fourth Doctor's 173 episodes comprising 40 stories, I've seen all except the 12 stories that haven't been released on DVD in the U.S. Thanks to Netflix, it only took about six weeks. Seven years of television in six weeks. Amazing. As I'm not about to review everything I've watched, as it would be a waste of everyone's time, I decided to talk briefly about my five favorite stories from Tom Baker's era, five that I recommend to the casual viewer.


Probably the best one to start with is 1979's "City of Death," a four-parter which sees the Doctor and his companion, Romana (Lalla Ward) on vacation that ends up being far less than restful. Set mainly in Paris in 1979, the plot concerns a scheme by an alien, Scaroth, to steal the Mona Lisa to finance experiments in time travel in the hope of averting the accident that marooned him on Earth four hundred million years previously, the furthest back in history the show ever dares tread. The fourth episode was watched by over sixteen million viewers, the highest audience ever attained by an episode of Doctor Who. Writer David Fisher's original script was heavily re-written by script editor Douglas Adams (of Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy fame) and the story benefits from Adams' weird brand of humor. Look for John Cleese's cameo as an art critic at the Louvre, commenting on the blue police box as a fine piece of post-modern art right before The Doctor and Romana casually enter and dematerialize.


The early Tom Baker era was known for its emphasis on Gothic horror-themed stories and one of the best examples of this is the horribly underrated "The Brain of Morbius" from 1976. Essentially a reworking of Frankenstein, this serial follows the Doctor and my favorite companion, Sarah Jane Smith (played by Elisabeth Sladen) as they land on a strange planet littered with wrecked spaceships and dismembered alien bodies. They soon come to a castle atop a hill where the mysterious scientist Solon and his disfigured assistant Condo welcome them with all-too-open arms. We soon learn that Solon is a disciple of the evil Time Lord, Morbius, who was destroyed many years ago, save for his brain. Solon is making a body for Morbius out of the alien remains, but has yet to find a suitable head. Enter the Doctor. This story got a lot of flack for it's overt depiction of violence, and is generally thought of as nothing special, but for my money it ranks as among the best of the era. As far as horror-themed science fiction, you can get no better than the hulking monstrosity of Morbius' new body stalking a temporarily blinded Sarah Jane.


Speaking of horror, I would like to point you in the direction of "Horror of Fang Rock," from 1977. The last of its kind before the show transitioned from tension-driven horror to mind-numbing silliness, where it lingered for the next three years. The action takes place entirely on or around a Southern English lighthouse in the early 20th Century. In a thick fog, three different vessels become stranded on the small island called Fang Rock: a rich man's sailing yacht, the Doctor's TARDIS, and a mysterious and hostile force. The story plays out like a modern-day slasher film with characters showing up and getting bumped off one by one by the unseen alien and if anyone's going to survive, they're going to have to trust the Doctor, something no one ever seems to be able to do. It's like an Agatha Christie mystery with aliens. It also gives some good moments to the supporting cast, all of which are fully fleshed-out characters with faults and treacheries of their own.


For some straight sci-fi, I direct your attention to 1976's "The Deadly Assassin." This is a notable story as it is the only story in the classic run where the Doctor does not have a proper companion, something that was a consolation to Baker who maintained he didn't need a sidekick. It's an interesting experiment, but he really does need someone to bandy ideas off of, otherwise there's a lot of the Doctor talking to himself, spouting exposition. The Doctor is summoned to his homeworld of Gallifrey under strange circumstances. He soon gets rolled up in the assassination of the Time Lord President and has to clear his own name while trying to catch the guilty party. Before I mention this next bit, I want you to remember this is 1976. The Doctor connects his brain to computers and enters the data network known as The Matrix, where the villain is controlling everything, and inside it is a construct where the Doctor and his adversary must battle in a totally virtual realm. Way to rip off "Doctor Who," Wachowski Bros. It's even CALLED The Matrix. Part political thriller, part mind fuck, "The Deadly Assassin" is an anomaly in the "Who" canon that really stands up.


My last pick, and my hands-down favorite in the era, is 1975's "Genesis of the Daleks." Since the second story of the entire series all the way back in 1963, the Doctor's greatest enemies have been the tank-like killing machines known as The Daleks. They can't be reasoned with, they can't be bargained with; all they want is to subjugate or exterminate all beings that are imperfect (meaning anything that isn't a Dalek). This story takes us all the way back to their creation. The Doctor, Sarah Jane, and military medic Harry Sullivan are intercepted by the Time Lords to travel to the planet Skaro at a time before the Daleks existed with the goal of stopping to altering their creation, sparing the universe of their evil. Our three heroes are soon embroiled in the bloody war between Skaro's two humanoid races, the Kaleds and the Thals. Neither side is willing to lose and their methods of warfare have been getting more and more nasty over the years, resulting in a huge portion of the populations of both races mutating thanks to all the chemical weapons. The Doctor learns that the leader of the Kaleds, the deformed and crippled Davros, has been experimenting on his own people in hopes of creating the ultimate being, taking away their physical form and their free will until they are ultra-loyal, single-minded death machines. This story has very overt allusions to Nazi Germany and also tackles some deep moral debates, like whether someone has the right to commit murder to prevent genocide. This is a six-part story, which in some stories can be a detriment, but this one never loses momentum or focus. I would absolutely recommend this one to anyone who enjoys things.

While he isn't my favorite Doctor, Tom Baker and his corresponding episodes are definitely entertaining, memorable, and worth a look. If you can get passed the sometimes laughably low-budget special effects you'll get to see some interesting and fun stories (and some stupid and bad ones, but only toward the end). I'm moving right along to the Fifth Doctor, check back in a few short weeks for another Doctor Who report.

You're welcome.
-Kanderson