LogFAQs > #968600924

3. 6th Doctor (Colin Baker)

Best Serial: Vengeance on Varos (Season 22, Serial 2)
Worst Serial: The Two Doctors (Season 22, Serial 4)

If you don't know anything about classic Doctor Who, and all you had to go off of was cursory information about the various Doctors...it's hard to imagine getting excited about Colin Baker's run. His design is over-the-top flamboyant in a way that makes him seem like someone TRYING to stand out as wacky and crazy, and his exodus was so bad that he got fired before the producers could even realize that "oh shit, we need to be able to film a regeneration sequence for his replacement". Yeah, I wouldn't have come back to help them out after that bullshit either. But those two stats, plus the fact that, during his introductory episode, he chokes his companion...not the best first impression.

However, I LOVE Colin Baker's two-season run on the show. Ultimately, his third place finish on this list comes down to the fact that I love all of my top three, but Colin Baker is hurt by the fact that I personally find the episodic format of the reboot more conducive to quality characterization than the serialized format of the classic series. Funnily enough though, I feel like the Colin Baker era, as short as it is, was the producers' attempt at the kind of long-form storytelling that would later become commonplace in the reboot era. As I mentioned, his first episode on the show has him freaking out due to his regeneration and strangling his companion at the time. This was meant to show that Colin Baker's Doctor was rough around the edges, and he would soften over time to show growth and character development.

Unfortunately, he was never given the chance to truly shine in that regard, since he only got one season before being shoved into the "Trial of a Time Lord" storyline that was going out of its way to paint the Doctor as reckless and impulsive and cavalier with regards to the lives of others. That being said, I still really liked Colin's portrayal, since it deconstructed the Doctor almost. He was still extremely intelligent, but with Colin, that intelligence reached the point of obnoxious arrogance. And he wasn't the kind of brave Doctor that faced down bad guys without breaking a sweat; no, instead he was somewhat cowardly and fallible, which was a nice change of pace, in my opinion. It made the stories feel like they had more weight to them, because wasn't guaranteed to win every time with this new persona.

The other thing about Colin's run is that, while other Doctors of the reboot were certainly stars, I feel like Colin was THE Doctor who, more than anyone else, was able to carry the series on his back. Other Doctors were still good, or had good moments, but they also had strong companions to fall back on. I can't count how many times I was watching Colin's serials, and I thought to myself "Thank GOD this guy is such a strong character, because this plot would be nowhere near as interesting with someone else in the role". I think that's why he's so polarizing, because if you DON'T like the more negative portrayal of the Doctor, then there's not really a lot to enjoy about the episodes themselves.

But I do enjoy that more complex portrayal, and I find Colin Baker's Doctor EXTREMELY interesting as a result, enough to not only rank top three (and my favorite classic Doctor), but he's also responsible for my favorite overall serial of the classic era in Vengeance on Varos. Honestly, I perhaps overrank the reboot episodes in my overall list (and again, I still need to fold series 10-13 into my story ranking), but Vengeance on Varos is one of only two serials to crack my top twenty-five stories overall. That's a shining beacon for a season absolutely carried by Colin Baker as the Doctor.

Hint for #2: Reboot era Doctor, and that's the only hint you'll get.