A Look Back at Classic Who: The Fourth Doctor's Era · 6:26am Sep 29th, 2013
Let's continue this look back at "Classic Who" with the era of the Fourth Doctor!
The Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker)
The incarnation of the Doctor considered by many to be the best of them all as well as the one to have the longest era thus far: nearly seven full years. The Fourth Doctor was very different from his predecessor and was definitely the Doctor's most alien incarnation thus far. He was a childish, friendly character filled with wanderlust and a renewed curiosity towards exploring all of time and space. He was charming, funny, and sometimes didn't even take himself seriously; however, he still knew when time called for him to be serious and he had his down moments from time to time. During this incarnation, the Doctor finally returned full-time to exploring the stars, unlike his previous incarnation who was mostly Earthbound. His ties with UNIT also decreased tremendously. He wouldn't stay in one place for too long for there were many places to see and explore. He had a wide variety of companions in his travels and he was close to every single one. He fought a wide arrange of villains from the Daleks and the Cybermen to the Sontarans and the Zygons. After many adventures and many companions, the Fourth Doctor met his end at the hands of the Master, whose maneuvering of a satellite dist led the Doctor to fall to the ground below and regenerate with his then-current companions by his side.
Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen)
Sarah Jane witnessed the Doctor regenerate from his third incarnation to his fourth incarnation. She quickly grew close to the new Doctor and eagerly accepted his invitation to continue traveling with him. She had many wild and exciting adventures with the Fourth Doctor from fighting Davros, the mad Dalek scientist, to facing off against the Sontarans. For a time, Sarah Jane and the Doctor were joined by scientist Harry Sullivan but Sarah Jane remained with the Doctor longer than him. She still kept her confident, courageous, compassionate, and inquisitive traits as well as kept her sharp tongue. She and the Doctor truly made a great team. Alas, Sarah Jane and the Doctor, after tons of adventures together, had to part ways when the Time Lords summoned the Doctor back to Gallifrey, where humans weren't allowed. The Doctor parted ways with Sarah Jane but dropping her off on Earth but ended up accidentally dropping her in Scotland. Sarah Jane would briefly reunite with the Third and Fourth incarnations of the Doctor a few years later. It would then be many decades before Sarah Jane would see the Doctor again, but he would be the Tenth Doctor by that point.
Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart (Nicholas Courtney)
Along with Sarah Jane, the Brig witnessed the Doctor regenerate from his third incarnation to his fourth incarnation. Although he had grown used to the Doctor's ability to change, he still had a rocky start with the Fourth Doctor. He was quickly exasperated by the new Doctor's childish ways. The Fourth Doctor's weak ties to UNIT led to the Brig and the Doctor not seeing each other as much as they had previously. However, the Brig still proved to be a help to the Doctor when their paths crossed. An adventure involving the Zygons marked the last major team-up between the Brig and the Fourth Doctor. The Brig would reunite with the Doctor a few years later, but he would be the Fifth Doctor by then.
Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter)
Harry was a Royal Navy surgeon employed by UNIT who joined the Doctor and Sarah Jane in the TARDIS accidentally. He was slightly old-fashioned and often found himself at the other end of Sarah Jane's sharp tongue for unintentionally talking down to her. He was also brave and faced any obstacle he came across during his space/time travels, even saving the Doctor from a landmine. He was able to adapt well to the strange situations he found himself in but was also quite clumsy and unsubtle. Harry parted ways with the Doctor and Sarah Jane following an adventure with the Zygons but reunited with them one, last time a little bit later during a situation with the Kraals.
Leela (Louise Jameson)
Leela was a warrior who came from a tribe of humans on a distant planet in the far future that descended from an Earth survey team that had crashed on the planet. Following the Doctor's restoration of the computer Xoanon on Leela's planet, Leela joined the Doctor by accidentally activating the dematerialisation sequence. Leela was quite different from previous, modern companion Sarah Jane. She was fierce, quick to act, and wasn't exactly a master of technology. However, she was incredibly brave, strong, and loyal to the Doctor. From Victorian London to Pluto and Gallifrey, the Doctor and Leela had many crazy adventures together. Leela eventually parted ways with the Doctor along with robotic companion K-9 to marry Time Lord Andred, whom she had fallen in love with.
K-9 (John Leeson)
K-9 was a robot dog given to the Doctor by Professor Marius in the year 5000. He was an intelligent, quirky machine who could even sometimes give the Doctor's vast and incredible mind a run for its money. Several versions of K-9 have existed throughout the series. The first K-9, which was created by Professor Marius, joined the Doctor and Leela and grew exceptionally close to Leela over time. When Leela left the Doctor to live on Gallifrey, K-9 went with her. A second K-9 was made and joined the Doctor and new companion Romana on various adventures. The second K-9 parted ways with the Doctor when Romana left. A third K-9 was shipped to Sarah Jane in 1978 and stayed by her side until it met its end in 2006 protecting the Tenth Doctor and Sarah Jane. A fourth K-9 was then made by the Tenth Doctor as a present for Sarah Jane.
Romana I (Mary Tamm)
Romana was a Time Lady who joined the Doctor following Leela's departure. She was somewhat inexperienced but was also exceptionally clever, extremely bright, and slightly bossy. She was a very "by the book" woman and tended to be occasionally annoyed by the Doctor's childish antics. However, much like the Doctor, she liked to think her way out of situations but, on the other hand, she was also not opposed to force when necessary. She had a lower opinion of humans than the Doctor but still found herself entertained by them. A majority of Romana I's time with the Doctor consisted of their quest for the Key of Time with a few extra adventures together afterwards. Eventually, by unknown circumstances, Romana regenerated.
Romana II (Lalla Ward)
By unknown circumstances, Romana regenerated and she made her new body take the form of Princess Astra of Atrios. Romana II was slightly different from her previous incarnation. She was still clever and bright but had a higher respect for the Doctor and humans. She was a little bit more fearful but was also quick to react to a situation. Initially, she wasn't fond of new companion Adric but grew to like him with time. She shared many adventures with the Doctor and a few with Adric along with them. Romana parted ways with the Doctor, along with the second K-9, in Adric's home dimension: E-Space.
Adric (Matthew Waterhouse)
A human who grew up in an alternate dimension known as E-Space. He became a companion by stowing away on the TARDIS and it took some time for fellow companion Romana to grow fond of him. Adric remained with the Doctor following Romana's departure and returned to the Doctor's universe, N-Space, with him. Adric was a mathematical genius but could also be smug and arrogant. He was incredibly loyal to the Doctor and basically became an apprentice to him. Adric had a fair amount of travels with the Fourth Doctor but he soon found himself becoming an inherited companion when he ran to the Doctor's side just before he regenerated.
Nyssa (Sarah Sutton)
Nyssa was a native of the planet Traken who joined the Doctor and Adric following the destruction of her planet at the hands of the Master. She was an incredibly smart girl but held a lot of grief following the death of her species. She was very humble about her abilities and turned the sorrow from her losses into a need to help others. She barely had any time with the Fourth Doctor before she ran to his side just before he regenerated.
Tegan Jovanka (Janet Fielding)
An Australian air stewardess who stumbled into the TARDIS when she went to call for help when her aunt's car broke down. She was unintentionally taken to the planet Logopolis by the Doctor, Adric, and Nyssa. She desperately wanted to return home but the Doctor put her needs second to the situation at hand which involved the Master trying to use Logopolis to control the universe. The murder of her aunt by the Master is what ultimately lead Tegan to put all of her effort into helping the Doctor. She barely got to know the Fourth Doctor before she ran to his side just before he regenerated.
And those were the major players in the Fourth Doctor's era! Next, I take a look back at the era of the Fifth Doctor!
High points: Genesis of the Daleks (my #3 favourite classic story), Pyramids of Mars, The Brain of Morbius, The Hand of Fear, the Deadly Assassin, The Face of Evil, The Talons of Weng-Chiang, Horror of Fang Rock, The Ribos Operation, The Pirate Planet, The Androids of Tara, City of Death (my favourite classic story), Shada, The Keeper of Traken, Logopolis.
Low points: The Sontaran Experiment (the story is over before it's really got started, the Sontaran plan doesn't make sense, and the makeup sucks compared to The Time Warrior), The Invisible Enemy (terrible story, poor effects, and Leela isn't used well), The Creature From the Pit (bad performances and one of the worst monster designs in the show's history), The Horns of Nimon (bad comedy, unintentionally hilarious monsters, and Graham Crowden), most of Season 18 (Christopher Bidmead)
It seems to me that the Fourth Doctor is the first Doctor to be anything like the Doctor we know of now. Probably not surprising since he's the Doctor anyone familiar with Classic Doctor Who would be the most familiar with. You forgot to mention that after Ten gave a new K-9 to Sarah Jane Smith he was also joined by another K-9. Oh, wait that was Mickey Smith.
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