TV #26 of 2024:
Classic Doctor Who, season 12
A bright new era for the show, with incoming Fourth Doctor Tom Baker — still many viewers’ platonic ideal of the gallivanting Time Lord hero, who would go on for a record seven seasons in the role — making an immediate impression. This initial material doesn’t always live up to his performance, but it improves as it goes along and finds a better feel for how his version of the character differs from his predecessors. The writing for new companion Harry Sullivan gets tweaked as the year progresses too; he’s rather insufferably misogynistic at the start as an intended contrast for the returning feminist reporter Sarah Jane Smith, but that characterization is thankfully dropped after his first few adventures (just in time for him to be written off soon into the following season, of course).
This stretch also features the introduction of the recurring villain Davros, creator of the Daleks, in a serial that’s so strong throughout it’s a solid contender for the very best story Doctor Who has ever told. And while the others in this season understandably can’t match it in quality, they are linked together nicely, with each tending to flow organically into the next. The Doctor and his friends repeatedly leave one situation only to find themselves in the setup for another, adding a welcome cohesion to the overall run. It’s a great launch and a return to the program’s more rambling roots, with the Brigadier and the rest of the earthbound UNIT team consequently fading in importance from here on out. I’ll miss them, but it’s no surprise that a franchise built on regular change and renewal has managed to successfully regenerate once again.
Serials ranked from worst to best:
★★★☆☆
REVENGE OF THE CYBERMEN (12×17 – 12×20)
ROBOT (12×1 – 12/4)
THE ARK IN SPACE (12×5 – 12×8)
★★★★☆
THE SONTARAN EXPERIMENT (12×9 – 12×10)
★★★★★
GENESIS OF THE DALEKS (12×11 – 12×16)
Overall rating for the season: ★★★★☆
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