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Revisiting Colin Baker’s era of ‘Doctor Who’

It gets off to the worst start imaginable

If Davison’s era bored us at its inception and left us longing for Tom Baker, then Colin’s appals us and leaves us longing for the gentle Davison. His opening story, ‘The Twin Dilemma’, is easily the worst ‘Doctor Who’ story up to this point in the show’s history, on any objective level of analysis. That it immediately follows Peter Davison’s magnificent swansong, ‘The Caves of Androzani’, certainly doesn’t help. But a clunky script, paper-thin plot, ridiculously silly monster with flapping hands, plodding and inept direction, garish costumes, wobbly sets and gaudy, bacofoil-wrapped design (the alien planet looks like the inside of your gran’s airing cupboard) combine to leave even long-term fans wondering why they are still tuning in. On the plus side, there are two great actors present, Kevin McNally and Maurice Denham, but what a shame their talents are wasted in this mess. In a scene where the Doctor explains the villainous Mestor’s machinations, the exposition is written as if for children’s television. ‘Doctor Who’ has never felt so dumbed down before. Worst of all, ‘The Twin Dilemma’ establishes an abusive relationship between Doctor and companion. The unforgivable throttling of Peri in the TARDIS leaves a bad taste in the mouth and casts a long shadow over the rest of Colin’s era.

Greg Jameson
Greg Jameson
Book editor, with an interest in cult TV.

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