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Post by omega on Mar 13, 2018 9:21:13 GMT
As the title says, what's your favorite season of TV episodes starring Tom Baker as the Doctor?
Personally, I've got a soft spot for season 18. The E-Space trilogy is great and Keeper of Traken is a fine story. It does stumble at the start with Meglos, but I can overlook that one.
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Post by mark687 on Mar 13, 2018 10:10:42 GMT
12 or 16
But the overall quality doesn't dip until Series 17 which as long term forum Members are aware apart from City of Death I detest.
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mark687
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2018 11:16:09 GMT
Quite a predictable answer but Season 13. It's one of the seasons where what we see on screen seems to be exactly what the creatives are aiming for. Hinchcliffe is pushing things - which would bring him down a year later - and you've got some absolutely terrific stories. Robert Banks Stewart might be one of the most undervalued classic Who writers. Seasons 12 and 14 are also pretty wonderful, and Season 16 with a more adventure-led tone is pretty fab. I don't think any of Tom's seasons are flawless though.
Season 17 has clunkers but it's got BAGS of imagination even outside of City Of Death so I give it credit for that but Tom is so lazy and disinterested in much of that year the show suffers massively. Season 18 is a fascinating soft-reboot years before that term was coined and I really like most of the stories there. Tom's performance is muted but that just adds to the funereal tone of the year. I'd also cite Season 15 as quite undervalued - there's good stuff there.
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Post by omega on Mar 13, 2018 11:21:52 GMT
Quite a predictable answer but Season 13. It's one of the seasons where what we see on screen seems to be exactly what the creatives are aiming for. Hinchcliffe is pushing things - which would bring him down a year later - and you've got some absolutely terrific stories. Robert Banks Stewart might be one of the most undervalued classic Who writers. Seasons 12 and 14 are also pretty wonderful, and Season 16 with a more adventure-led tone is pretty fab. I don't think any of Tom's seasons are flawless though. Season 17 has clunkers but it's got BAGS of imagination even outside of City Of Death so I give it credit for that but Tom is so lazy and disinterested in much of that year the show suffers massively. Season 18 is a fascinating soft-reboot years before that term was coined and I really like most of the stories there. Tom's performance is muted but that just adds to the funereal tone of the year. I'd also cite Season 15 as quite undervalued - there's good stuff there. Season 15 has Image of the Fendahl, one of the last of the gothic horror stories for the Fourth Doctor. It’s a proper scary one, and I’m surprised Big Finish hasn’t used the Fandahl yet.
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lidar2
Castellan
You know, now that you mention it, I actually do rather like Attack of the Cybermen ...
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Post by lidar2 on Mar 13, 2018 11:29:18 GMT
Season 13 for me is the epitome of classic Who, season 14 is just a tad too dark. So sad that Lis Sladen's death means this is one era BF cannot recreate.
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Post by thethirddoctor on Mar 13, 2018 11:59:14 GMT
Although I love Genesis of the Daleks, Tom is more comfortable in series 13.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2018 12:19:58 GMT
I voted for Season 13 but it's a fairly close call as season's 12 & 14 were very good too... there are some really great Doctor Who stories in all of those seasons. Doctor Who at it's best.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2018 12:23:33 GMT
Season 13 for me is the epitome of classic Who, season 14 is just a tad too dark. So sad that Lis Sladen's death means this is one era BF cannot recreate. Eh, a different tone for a different companion.
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shutupbanks
Castellan
There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
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Post by shutupbanks on Mar 13, 2018 14:55:36 GMT
Season 13 is probably the best run of stories in the history of the show: there's not a dud in it (apart from Mr Simpson, obvs).
Now, if you'd asked for favourite season...
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2018 15:02:01 GMT
Whilst i love season 17 for how mad and funny it is, the storys themselves bar some less than super so i went for season 12 instead as i dont think theres a dud story, (not even Revenge of the Cybermen)
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2018 15:14:44 GMT
Season 17 is the kind of classic Who that I think still stands up today- it is low budget and it knows that it's low budget.
Although I have a massive soft spot for Season 18 as well- it used to be rerun a lot on UKTV when I was small and I've been fascinated by it ever since- especially the Melkur and Adric yelling "The Marshmen!", which are two things that have stuck in my mind. My mum also used to call Romana "Sarah Jane" so I was very confused when I came back to the classic series again years later.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2018 15:16:14 GMT
The Keeper of Traken is also the best story in the classic series and that is a hill I am willing to die on.
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mbt66
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Post by mbt66 on Mar 13, 2018 20:36:08 GMT
Hmmm
This is made more difficult as there are a lot of stories I haven’t seen for a very long time.
If i could have included Shada it may well have been season 17 (but that would be cheating)
Very tempted to select season 16 with the introduction of Romana and an overarching storyline
But if I had to choose it would be season 14
The Masque of Mandragora A bit of a guilty pleasure, but I love it
The Hand of Fear The end of the line for Sarah Jane
The Deadly Assassin A solo Fourth Doctor, with the return of the Master and on Gallifrey!
The Face of Evil The introduction of a new companion - it’s Leela!
And then two of my all time favourite Doctor Who stories of any era
The Robots of Death A wonderful concept and design. Plus I remember watching it feeling ill and being so scared.
The Talons of Weng-Chiang Victorian London, The Doctor in a dearstalker hat and those most gentlemanly of gentlemen - Jago & Litefoot.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2018 21:12:00 GMT
Hmmm This is made more difficult as there are a lot of stories I haven’t seen for a very long time. If i could have included Shada it may well have been season 17 (but that would be cheating) Eh, it was intended to be part of Season 17, so I think it's a perfectly legitimate choice
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Post by sherlock on Mar 13, 2018 21:24:41 GMT
It was a difficult one but I gave it to Season 14. The Deadly Assassin, Robors of Deaths and Talons of Weng-Chiang all absolute classics, the Doctor and Leela's early partnerships is one of my favourite pairings, Baker's completely assured in the role and Sarah Jane gets a nice exit. Plus it has the Secondary Control Room, I love that design.
This poll has just reminded me how good these seasons are, I must dig out my DVDs over Easter holiday.
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Post by omega on Mar 13, 2018 21:28:46 GMT
No love for season 15?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2018 21:59:18 GMT
Apart from Horror of Fang Rock it doesn't have a lot going for it... well, for me anyway.
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Post by barnabaslives on Mar 13, 2018 21:59:47 GMT
I could probably put season 15 third behind 16 first and 17 second. I loved having a companion on relatively equal footing with the Doctor, and even with the stakes raised to absurdity, the Key to Time arc makes an amazing epic out of the whole season, not to mention featuring some stunning stories - Stones of Blood is one my absolute favorites.
(I saw the whole arc as a pledge drive marathon on PBS in the 1990s and was totally enthralled by it. It rekindled my interest in the series considerably, although at the time I couldn't quite think of what to do about it except be completely intimidated by the idea of collecting the series on VHS).
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2018 22:03:23 GMT
I loved them all. I really did. But Series 18 remains my favourite. Dull and dusty according to some, but I don't care. It has electronic music, a star-field credit sequence, a NEW version of the theme, new TARDIS, a new look for Tom and seven of the most wonderfully eccentric, imaginative stories. Also, they did the near-impossible - they wrote a story that made it seem reasonable that the Fourth Doctor would demean himself by dying: a story that contained that wonderful, brooding, hilarious, wide-eyed, grinning personality and created a threat - the end of the universe, of course - that was bigger. I don't know what Christopher H Bidmead had been drinking before he dredged up those two pretty odd stories for Big Finish, but here, he produced some genuine magic. ("The back-blast back lash will bounce back and kill us all!" - Steve Gallagher, I know, but CHB script-edited it!) And series 18 is encased in that magical, impenetrable bubble of nostalgia, which makes it a tough act to follow. Oh, and Lalla Ward dressed in that tweedy suit for State of Decay deserves an essay all of its own ...
... so yes, Series 18 for me.
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shutupbanks
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There’s a horror movie called Alien? That’s really offensive. No wonder everyone keeps invading you.
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Post by shutupbanks on Mar 13, 2018 22:21:11 GMT
I love Season 15: it's got my favourite TARDIS team (Doctor, Leela, K-9) and I think the stories are amazing. I love the Williams era in general: the stories are clever and literate and are as ambitious as all get out. They just lose out in the delivery... and it really shows in Season 17, which I've never understood the love for, outside of the performance of Lalla Ward, who was one of the best actors ever cast in the show. Season 15, though... Greek myths, Fantastic Voyage remake, Flannan Isle "remake", Sontarans invade Gallifrey, Pluto invaded by taxmen, deadly caterpillars from the dawn of time... Love it! (Season 18 would get my second vote for favourite and best season, if anyone's interested)
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