Doctor Who on-demand: Colin Baker
Simon Kinnear | On 18, Nov 2013
Photo: BBC/Matt Burlem
Doctor Who turns 50 on Saturday 23rd November with a special anniversary episode on the BBC. To celebrate, VODzilla.co is running a daily countdown of every Doctor to date, providing our expert tips on which stories to see – and where to watch them online.
Colin Baker (1984-6)
First appearances count. Bravely attempting to create a darker Doctor prone to mood swings and post-regeneration trauma, producers went too far – not least in Baker’s clown-like costume. By the time the character had mellowed it was too late, with Baker getting only two and a bit seasons before being sacked by the BBC, but his later performances in audio-only adventures showcase a range and depth we never got to witness on TV.
Top three Colin Baker episodes to watch
Vengeance On Varos (1985)
A sadistic slug keeps a colony’s population under control by broadcasting the torture of dissidents; this satire of television violence has become more prescient with age.
Revelation Of The Daleks (1985)
A Doctor Who / Dalek story that hardly features either, this is a baroque black comedy about body-snatching, cannibalism and necrophilia featuring some of the series’ tartest dialogue and proof that, even in troubled times, this is a series that has never lost its ability to experiment or surprise.
Revelation Of The Daleks is currently not available on-demand.
The Trial Of A Time Lord (1986)
Given a stay of execution after being cancelled for 18 months, the series went meta by spending an entire one-story season with the Doctor in court. The result, while hit-and-miss, is a fascinating hint of future Who: box set telly before box sets were invented.
The Trial of a Time Lord is currently not available on-demand. Buy it on DVD from Amazon.
Other Doctor Who episodes also available on-demand:
Doctor Who: The Best of the Fifth Doctor
Including: The Twin Dilemma, Vengeance on Varos and Attack of the Cybermen.
The Twin Dilemma (Season 21, Episode 1)
The Doctor and his companions, Tegan and Turlough, must stop a group of mercenaries from liberating Davros, the creator of the evil Dalek cyborg race.
The Two Doctors
Mark of the Rani