Tom Baker was The Doctor
for 41 stories, 42 is you include the aborted Shada, so this list of stories
was very hard to make as there were so many good stories to choose from. I’m sure some ones favorite Tom Baker story
is going to be left off the list and, well, that’s the way it goes sometimes
and this is after all my list and the stories I think are the best. So instead
of doing a top 10 I’m expanding it to 11 as we have our first tie in the top
10. So here we have it the top 10 or 11
stories of the Tom Baker era.
10. The Keeper of Traken
Written By Johnny Byrne
Directed By John Black
Why It’s In The Top 10:
The Keeper of Traken
returns The Master back to human form.
The Master gets a new body “At last” and returns to a recurring role in
the years to come. It is also a really good story focusing on the Melkur which
we find out is The Master in a TARDIS getting his hands on one of the greatest
powers in the universe. It also introduces us to Nyssa who in turn loses her
father to The Master as Tremus body is the one The Master takes over.
10. The Pirate Planet
Written By Douglas Adams
Directed By Pennant
Roberts
Why It’s In The Top 10:
The Pirate Planet is
written by Douglas Adams for one.
It is also the biggest over the
top story in the history of Doctor Who.
It is funny and fun to watch and it would stand out on its own without
the Key to Time tie in. The Pirate Captain is one of the funniest and over the
top characters that it was fitting that he was the puppet of his Nurse who just
happened to be Queen Xanxia. A wonderful story that is in true Douglas Adams
style.
9. Logopolis
Written By Christopher H.
Bidmead
Directed By Peter Grimwade
Why It’s In The Top 10:
Logopolis is the last story
for Tom Baker and the 4th Doctor.
What is unique about it is that even though The Doctor stops the Master
from destroying the universe The Master actually wins and causes The Doctor to
regenerate. It also ends an era and
ushers in another as the seven seasons and longest tenured Doctor’s era comes
to an end. It is also a pretty good
story as it deals with entropy and what happens when time collapses onto
itself. It is also the return of a human
Master played by Anthony Ainley continuing The Master trilogy from The Keeper
of Traken. Plus it also takes a page
from Planet of Spiders as we see the future Doctor walking around and thus
becoming The Doctor at the end.
8. Horror of Fang Rock
Written By Terrance Dicks
Directed By Paddy Russell
Why It’s In The Top 10:
Horror of Fang Rock is a
classic that it falls into the category that I really enjoy in Doctor Who. The base under attack and there is nowhere to
escape to. In this case a lighthouse and
a Rutan are the center pieces for the story.
Leela has a good part to do in this and she actually is smarter than the
men they are protecting. Plus we learn
more about the Rutan and Sontaran war as the Rutans are the sworn enemies of
the Sontarans.
7. The Ark In Space
Written By Robert Holmes
Directed By Rodney Bennett
Why It’s In The Top 10:
The Ark in Space is
another Robert Holmes masterpiece. This time he uses bugs as the main catalyst.
Not just any bugs but a wasp like creature that absorbs the human conscious into
the swarm. The Wirrn are a cool creature
that deserves to come back and wreck mayhem in Doctor Who. They are just that cool and this story was
just so good and scary that it defined the Robert Holmes era of Doctor Who.
6. Pyramids of Mars
Written By Stephen Harris
Directed By Paddy Russell
Why It’s In The Top 10:
This is one of my
favorites ever since I saw it as a kid.
I just love the whole Egyptology of the story and especially the mummies
that wreak havoc throughout the story.
Robert Holmes wrote this one under an alias and you can tell just by how
everything fits into place. It’s a really
good Sarah Jane story as she actually fires a gun and helps save The Doctor
also. Plus it is cool seeing The Doctor
solve the puzzles in the temple on Mars.
5. Terror of the Zygons
Written By Robert Banks
Stewart
Directed By Douglas
Camfield
Why It’s In The Top 10:
Terror of the Zygons is a really
great monster story with a monster that is finally getting another chance at
The Doctor later this year. It’s also
the last of the true UNIT stories and the last time we see the Brigadier in
active duty. I love how it uses the myth
of the Loch Ness Monster as the basis for the story. It is a great way to disguise and explain the
Skarassen and keeping the myth alive. Of
course The Zygons are in it and they are a fan favorite but do little as they
do more in their human form. It is a
classic monster story that is well done and this story you really get a feel
for what Tom Bakers Doctor will become.
4. The Robots of Death
Written By Chris Boucher
Directed By Michael Briant
Why It’s In The Top 10:
I love the fact that
robots are used to kill off the crew.
Since it is set on a star miner there is nowhere to go and it gives you a
really freaky paranoia feeling to the whole story. The robots are so cool looking and they do
have certain creepiness to them as Leela so aptly labeled them. The Robots of Death is such a great story that
it also has quite a bit of action to it that gets forgotten mainly to the great
writing of the story. It also is a good
mystery as you try and figure out who is in making the robots kill.
3. City of Death
Written By David Agnew
Directed By Michael Hayes
Why It’s In The Top 10:
It’s a Douglas Adams story
written under an alias. It is pretty brilliant
the way the whole story takes place and comes about. The Jagaroth played brilliantly by Julien
Glover is split to pieces through time and is trying to get home by pulling
himself together. It is just a well
written story that has some great moments and has that Douglas Adams humor that
you would expect from him. Plus the
story isn’t all that silly which is not the norm for this era of Doctor Who. Plus it is filmed partially in Paris, France
and is the first story filmed outside of the UK. Plus the Jagaroth with its spaghetti style
head and one eye does look pretty cool. Plus there is that little sub plot of trying to
steal the Mona Lisa also.
2. The Talons of Weng - Chiang
Written By Robert Holmes
Directed By David Maloney
Why It’s In The Top 10:
It is one of the best
stories that Robert Holmes has written. It has a everything you would want in a
Doctor Who story. It has a great villain
in Magnus Greel and the way he uses his puppets the illusionist Li H'sen Chang and the
Peking Homunculus Mr. Sin is brilliant and using a theatre as cover is brilliant
and scary in itself. It also works
because it takes place in Victorian Times and that sets the whole story up to
be brilliant as it is in the past and it derives on the fears of that
time. Plus Jago and Lightfoot make a
good team and add a sense of comedy in what is a pretty serious story. I just love that murderous Mr. Sin played by
Deep Roy. He is a truly evil character
and eventually tries to kill everyone.
1. Genesis of the Daleks
Written By Terry Nation
Directed By David Maloney
Why It’s In The Top 10:
It is the ultimate Dalek
story and is the best story that Terry Nation has written for the show. It shows how the Daleks came about and was a
true origin story. We see what madman
would make such a creation and we see how far Davros would go to see them
become a reality. Plus you get to see
the true evilness of The Daleks as the start to think on their own and disobey
Davros and then eventually turn on him at the time and believing they had
killed him. Genesis of the Daleks is
just an all-around great story with lots of great lines and has The Doctor
second guessing himself if he should exterminate The Daleks himself.
No comments:
Post a Comment