A Matter of Time: The Two Doctors

(16/02/1985)

DESCRIPTION: ‘The Two Doctors’ was the fourth story of Season 22 of Doctor Who, and starred Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor.

FACT: This story was originally set in New Orleans, and the food-obsessed Androgums were created with the city’s cooking reputation in mind.

A Matter of Time: The Mark of the Rani

(09/02/1985)

DESCRIPTION: ‘The Mark of the Rani’ was the third story of Season 22 of Doctor Who, and starred Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor.

FACT: John Lewis was originally hired to compose the score but suddenly became ill and died before work was complete, so Jonathan Gibbs became the composer.

Doctor Who Daleks Week - Day Three Video

A Matter of Time: Vengeance on Varos

(19/01/1985)

DESCRIPTION: ‘Vengeance on Varos’ was the second story of Season 22 of Doctor Who, and starred Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor.

FACT: This was one of the stories cited by critics who complained that the series had become too dark and violent, as it involves many scenes of tortures.

A Matter of Time: Attack of the Cybermen

(05/01/1985)

DESCRIPTION: ‘Attack of the Cybermen’ was the first story of Season 22 of Doctor Who, and starred Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor.

FACT: The scorch mark on the TARDIS wall, caused by Russell firing one of the Cybermen’s weapons, is present several scenes before the actual event.

Doctor Who Peri and Sil 'Vengeance on Varos' Action Figure Set

The official Forbidden Planet website has released information about a new ‘Vengeance on Varos’ action figure set, which includes the Sixth Doctor’s companion Peri Brown and the sly reptilian Sil. This is the first set to contain a companion from the classic era of Doctor Who.

“The Sixth Doctor and Peri visit the planet Varos to obtain supplies of a rare ore called Zeiton 7, vital to the functioning of the TARDIS. Varos was once a colony for the criminally insane and the descendants of the original guards still rule, while the poverty-stricken people are kept entertained by screenings of public torture from the Punishment Dome.

Their Governor has been trying to negotiate a better export price for zeiton ore from Sil, an envoy of the Galatron Mining Corporation, whose reptilian body is supported and kept cool by a mobile water tank.”

The new set is now available to pre-order at the price of £24.99 from Forbidden Planet, and is expected to arrive at their warehouse on 7th December 2010.

Sixth Doctor and Stealth Cyberman Action Figures

The official Forbidden Planet website has released information about another exclusive action figure set including the Sixth Doctor with a signal tracker, and the black-coloured Stealth Cyberman with a Cybergun, as seen in ‘Attack of the Cybermen’.

The new set is now available to pre-order at the price of £24.99 from Forbidden Planet, and is expected to arrive at their warehouse on 1st October 2010.

PRE-ORDER NOW

Blast from the Past: Vengeance on Varos

The Sixth Doctor’s era was a very rough time for Doctor Who, where the stories coming in seemed to be getting worse and worse. A few weeks after the original transmission of this story, the BBC decided to put the show on hiatus, as it was considered too expensive to make and becoming far too horrific for children to watch. ‘Vengeance on Varos’ almost certainly contributed to this decision, as it is an extremely gothic and even disturbing tale…


Having said this, it is by far one of the strongest stories to emerge from Colin Baker’s time on the show, and the production team’s execution (of the executions) should be complimented. The darker lighting of the sets add to the gothic tone of the story, and make a nice change to the brightly-lit studios which often ruined tense scenes in previous episodes. The design of the base also fits the story well, where the dark colour schemes and constant surveillance give it a prison-like feel.

Nabil Shaban’s character of Sil has a very convincing prosthetic costume, which allows a believable alien character to be created, and as a result enhances the disturbing feel of the story. The political system on the planet is soon revealed to be corrupt, with powerful figures (including Sil) manipulating the Governor into no-win situations. The idea of voting to save or kill political leaders based on a television performance is a very powerful one, and shows how a television obsessed society could go too far.

If there is one scene that is always criticised by fans (and there is!), then it is the fight sequence between the Doctor and two prison guards, which ends up with both of them boiling in a pool of acid. Critics often claim that the Doctor murderously and deliberately throws them into the acid with the rage of an assassin (well… that is exaggerated). The deaths were of no particular fault to the Doctor, however his comical comments made afterwards have no place in this tragic scene.

‘Vengeance on Varos’ is a slightly controversial adventure in Doctor Who, where some viewers welcome the darker tones of the storytelling, whilst others argue that it is not right for the family show. While it may not be considered a ‘classic’ story, it is still a thrilling tale with some extremely powerful themes and images throughout. The corrupt society that we see in this story has some parallels to our own world, where television shows begin to change the way we see the world, and sometimes for the worst.

Tomorrow: Survival

A Matter of Time: Colin Baker

(08/06/1943)

Colin Baker is an English actor, who is best known for playing the character of the Sixth Doctor in the science fiction series Doctor Who, from 1984 to 1986. He was born in London, and originally studied to be a solicitor, before moving on to acting at the age of 23.

• Baker made his first appearance in Doctor Who as Commander Maxil in the Peter Davison story ‘Arc of Infinity’, where he got to shoot the current Doctor.
• His first appearance as the Doctor was in the closing moments of ‘The Caves of Androzani’, where he delivered his first iconic lines.
• Despite Baker’s problematic time in the role, including the tragic death of his son Jack, the 18-month hiatus which followed his first full season, and finally his high-profile sacking, Baker remains enthusiastic about his time as the Doctor.

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A Matter of Time: Colin Baker

ORIGINAL BROADCAST: 22/03/1984

Twenty-six years ago today, Colin Baker starred in his first ever story as the sixth Doctor, along with Nicola Bryant as his companion Peri. In a post-regenerative crisis, the Sixth Doctor takes Peri to the desolate asteroid Titan 3, planning to stay there as a hermit for a thousand years. However, he is soon drawn into a plot to conquer the galaxy by a race of giant gastropods, humanoid slug creatures.

Anthony Steven worked very slowly on the scripts, giving many strange excuses, and turning them in at very late stages. Compounding things were the fact that the scripts were viewed as being of poor quality, and too much for the show's budget by script editor Eric Saward, who was forced to rework them at great length in a very short amount of time.

Fandom often holds the story in a very low light, and it is commonly regarded as one of the very worst stories in the history of Doctor Who. In 2009, a Doctor Who Magazine poll of the 200 stories produced up to that point saw this story finish in last place. Ironically, the previous story of the series, ‘The Caves of Androzani’, was voted as the best story of Doctor Who.

The story of Colin Baker’s time as the Doctor is a sad one, where his position in the show was manipulated by numerous people, both officials of the BBC and makers of the show itself. After his first full series as the Doctor, the show would be put on hiatus for eighteen months

When it returned, the show was in a completely different format, with the series consisting of just fourteen episodes, which were all under the format of the Doctor going on trial. The short series received extremely poor ratings, considerably worse than the previous series, and people wanted someone to blame. Colin Baker was forced to resign after the transmission of the fourteen-part series ‘The Trial of a Time Lord’, but if there was anyone to blame for the failures of the eighties, it was the producer himself.

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