Season 4

Without doubt the most momentous season since the first. If nothing else, the Doctor’s regeneration at the end of “The Tenth Planet” guaranteed that this season would remain one of the most important in the whole run of classic Who. Put simply, if Patrick Troughton hadn’t pulled off the Doctor in such spectacular fashion, then it could have meant the end of the show. It wasn’t just the Doctor who regenerated and changed, though. The fourth series saw an end to the Historicals – and let’s not forget that my own top rated Hartnell serials were Historicals. It saw the first two Dalek stories to be scripted by anyone other than Terry Nation – and as a result these two are actually the highest rated of all the incomplete stories.Season 4 saw the introduction of, and refinement of the Cybermen, who would feature in a further three Troughton stories, and become the series’ second most enduring monsters after the Daleks.

What I’ve personally seen in this series is the start of the show becoming something I recognize as Doctor Who from my childhood. If we take “The Faceless Ones” for instance there’s a lot that I recognize in this show. Although it is just glimpses at the moment. In this season there is no consistent style which has yet emerged, giving it an almost schizophrenic quality. Both Daleks stories were highlights, and extremely enjoyable. I also enjoyed The Faceless Ones very much, the Moonbase and The Macra Terror, even though the last two of those are flawed pieces of work in some ways.

As I said, though, it’s Patrick Troughton who has pulled the season through. The development his Doctor goes through during the season is every bit as deep rooted as the development of Hartnell’s Doctor between An Unearthly Child and The Dalek Invasion of Earth.  Jamie’s relationship with the Doctor, especially from The Faceless Ones onwards, has become every bit as interesting and as crucial to the workings of the show as Hartnell’s with Ian and especially Barbara. Let’s have a look at the ratings : -

Season 4

Mighty 200 ratings/ 2014 DWM Poll ratings

The Evil of the Daleks – 18/34

Power of the Daleks – 21/19

The Tenth Planet – 55/85

The Moonbase – 112/113

The Faceless Ones – 122/142

The Macra Terror – 137/150

The Highlanders – 145/166

The Smugglers – 159/194

The Underwater Menace – 194/224

My Ratings

Evil of the Daleks

Power of the Daleks

The Faceless Ones

The Moonbase

The Tenth Planet

The Macra Terror

The Smugglers

The Underwater Menace

The Highlanders

So no arguments from me about the quality of both Dalek stories, and there is literally nothing to choose between them. I really liked “The Faceless Ones”, hence its high rating. Personally I would rather watch “The Moonbase”, with two animated episodes, than “The Tenth Planet” with one animated episode. “The Macra Terror” had to come next because it was a really interesting idea – not perfectly realized, but nonetheless one which kept me interested. “The Smugglers” came next for me, a rip roaring, unashamedly boy’s own adventure type story with just enough humour to keep me interested. As regards the last two, well, “The Highlanders” was a better story in pretty much every way – yet if I was forced to choose between them which one I’d rather watch again, it would be “The Underwater Menace” every time.