Season 8

The elements of what we think of as the Pertwee Era all seemed to fall into place during season 8. We’ll talk about that shortly. First, though, let’s have a look at the fan ratings: -

DWM Mighty 200 poll/ 2014 DWM poll

The Daemons – 34/38

Terror of the Autons – 51/59

The Mind of Evil – 92/76

The Claws of Axos – 129/139

Colony in Space – 171/199

My Ratings

The Daemons

Terror of the Autons

The Mind of Evil

The Claws of Axos

Colony in Space

It’s unanimous, then. The mighty 200, the 2014 poll, and my own personal ranking have each of the stories in season 8 in exactly the same order. “The Daemons” isn’t my favourite story of the Third Doctor, but it’s a good one, and if it’s a case of more style over substance, well fine, because I like its style. “Terror of the Autons” creeped me out when I was 7, but it has its flaws which can’t be completely glossed over when you’re 50. Even “Colony in Space” isn’t dreadful, despite some of the comments I made about the uneasy marriage of two separate and distinct stories in the script, being worthy but a bit dull.

Looking back on the season as a whole, it’s not that difficult to note a change in direction of the show. I hesitate to use the phrase ‘dumbing down’, which I’ve heard other people use about this era of the show. Season 8 is no more short of ideas than season 7 was. But there’s been a clear change of emphasis. Ideas are there, but they’re there to give opportunities for action. If the story is moving too slowly, then it’s the exposition that goes out of the window. If the ending isn’t working, just speed it up, cut down on the explanation, and give it some welly. Don’t knock it – when it worked, it worked spectacularly.

Season 8 was, of course, dominated by the arrival of the Master. Yes, you could maybe say that the Master is overexposed by appearing in every story of the season, but then when you saw what he could bring to the show, you’d have included him in every story yourself if you’d been the producer too. The team cut back on his appearances in the next season, and in fact he only has three stories left, “The Sea Devils”, “The Time Monster” and “Frontier in Space”

Jo Grant, on the other hand is in every story for the next two seasons, to add to the 5 in Season 8. Yes, she maybe conforms to the stereotype screamer, and yes, she can be really annoying with the way that she keeps blundering into traps, but in her own way she is as valid a character as Liz Shaw was, and perfectly played by Katy Manning. Jo’s relationship with the Doctor will be the backbone of the show right up until the end of “The Green Death”.