10 - Unbalanced Stories – Doctor Who always had good and bad stories but it seemed that with the 7th Doctor that format became more stable. How can we go from" Delta and The Bannermen" to "Dragonfire" and from "Remembrance of the Daleks" to "Happiness Patrol."
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| What a cutie.... |
9 - Confusing mess – the stories during the 7th Doctor continue to get more complex, bordering on confusion at times. The limitations of the production seemed to have compromised some of the more complex stories and left out some important elements. Stories like "Ghost Light" had me personally shaking my head thinking David Lynch was involved. We were not used to this type of story telling in Doctor Who. There was an attempt to make the stories more sophisticated but limitations prevented this form being successful.
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| See, even he doesn't know what is going on. |
8 - Doctor Who? There are hints of a mystery going on when we start to learn that the Doctor might have a ton of hidden secrets. He is more than a Time Lord, he might have been more connected to Rassilon than we originally thought. The show began to create an ongoing back story with hints and reveals which is exactly the blueprint for what the current series today does all the time. Go back and watch the 7th Doctor and you will see lots of similarities.
7 - Reimagining – another theme within the 7th Doctor era is the writers taking existing elements and making them more interesting. The mystery of the Doctor is one example. Taking the Daleks and introducing the two factions not only makes that monster more interesting right away, but also explains why in the past some Daleks had claws and others were green blobs. The show also put a spin on the first story, "An Unearthly Child."
6 - The Last Episode – since this is the last classic series Doctor, one can watch in fascination how the series was handled and perhaps blame some of what was going on during this era. The show got horrible ratings throughout this season even though the stories were improving. It is hard to imagine that much of what made this era bad is actually what is making the current series popular. Calling the 7th Doctor era ahead of its time is certainly a fair assessment. Seeing the final moments with the Doctor and Ace you can be saddened but so much stemmed from this era including a huge and excellent range of novels and audio adventures.
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| So sad..... |
5- Remembrance of the Daleks – At the
time I thought this episode was epic and one of the best ever. It
has everything in it. A tip of the hat to the series itself,
floating Daleks, Weapons Dalek, the Emperor Dalek, A twist on An
Unearthly Child, Dalek factions and so on. The special effect of the Dalek blast was as spectacular then as the Time Lord Ship in "Trial of the Time Lord."
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| Elevate!! |
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| Don't mess with that one... |
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| WOW! |
4A - The Kandyman – just to see this in
the episode… you just have to.
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| Imagine if he was battling Colin Baker? YUCK. |
4B - Mel - just to see her in the series... you just have to.
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| I don't blame Bonnie Langford for this - it was the writers and designers of the character |
3 - Ace – For the first time in Doctor
Who’s history we have a companion that almost is more important
than the Doctor. We also see the Doctor’s fascination with Ace as
if he is trying to study and fix her, very much like what happens in
season 7 of the current season with Clara Oswald. Sophie Aldred
played the part as a moody independent teenager, making her very
realistic.
2 - Sylvester McCoy – the Doctor becomes
less violent and more goofy. McCoy may not be well liked for some of
his over the top performances but he is a hilarious entertainer both
on and off the screen. His energy level shows in his portrayal.
1 - The Blueprint for the Current series –
In so many ways the 7th Doctor era is the blueprint for
the current series. We started seeing an ongoing mystery about the
Doctor that would be brought up again and again. This ‘arc’
plotting happens all the time now with “One will die”, Bad Wolf,
the Crack and so on. Creating more complex and layered stories
become commonplace as it is these days. The show becoming self aware
of itself began as early as "The Trial of the Time Lord" but in the
story “The Greatest Show in the Galaxy” the analogies of the show
Doctor Who were frequent. The current series often panders to the
audience with statements directed at no one in particular that only
the audience would get. The handling of characters and the companion
are also changing during this time period, resembling today’s
series.
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| Putting companions through emotional torture started in the original series. |
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| Ace thought Fezzes were cool before the Doctor did. |
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