...I’ve never really understood the fuss. I’ve seen plenty of his stories before, and while I know he’s very good in the role, I’ve never been completely floored by his performance in the way that people seem to expect you to be. But I’m excited. Watching through this far has given me a whole new perspective and insight into the first eleven years of the programme, and I’m sure I’ll keep finding things to love as I move into the Fourth Doctor’s era.
All of that sounds cautiously optimistic, doesn’t it? I’m pleased to say that these last seven seasons have given me a great insight in to the Fourth Doctor, and I can understand why people love him so much, even if I’m still not able to call him my favourite Doctor ever. As usual, in the sidebar to the right, you’ll find a list of all the Fourth Doctor stores, listed by their average rating from The 50 Year Diary. You can click on the image for a larger one.
As ever, looking at the figures gives some somewhat surprising results for me. I’d expected my highest rated seasons to be Season Fourteen (for the boost the programme gets when Leela joined), and Season Eighteen, because I’ve felt as though I’ve really enjoyed this one. Actually, though, Season Thirteen takes the lead, with a whopping average of 7.22/10 - making it one of my highest rated seasons ever! Maybe there is something to the idea of calling that period a ‘golden age’!
At the other end of the spectrum, the Key to Time arc in Season Sixteen has come out as my lowest rated season ever - averaging just 5.81/10. I think I’d just grown weary of things by that point, and a dislike for The Pirate Planet really didn’t help matters very much. Indeed, that story came in as my lowest rated of all the Fourth Doctor’s tales - averaging just 3.75 across the four episodes. It’s a score which also (sorry, The Pirate Planet) pushes it in to being my lowest rated story of the first eighteen seasons. Ouch.
That Season Fourteen ‘Leela Boost’ does rear its head in the figures, though, because The Face of Evil has come out as my highest rated Tom Baker story - with an average of 8.25. It’s not enough to push it in to the spot of ‘top story’, but it does make it joint-fourth place alongside The Macra Terror and Inferno. Well done, Evil One!
And that’s that! Seven seasons later, Tom Baker has hung up his scarf and handed over the keys of the TARDIS to Peter Davison. I’m really looking forward to this new era, and seeing how it stacks up against everything that we’ve been through so far. The Tom Baker years have been a bit of an up-and-down, with stories from all three producer- ships doing both very well, and not so well. As with all Doctor Who, there’s good bits and bad bits, but there’s always something to enjoy.
