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14 November 2024
This review contains spoilers!
Remarkably, as season ten begins we are able to look back at Doctor Who's long legacy and celebrate the disparate elements that have made up its first ten years. The ten year landmark is a superb achievement and it is a great credit to Barry Letts that he wanted to do an anniversary story incorporating the first two Doctors.
The Three Doctors multi-Doctor led narrative is its USP and this is successful. It is a small shame that Hartnell was unable to get fully involved in the action, but lovely to see him onscreen nonetheless. Patrick Troughton is in his element and has to be the best aspect of this story. After a limp season nine it really made me really miss The Second Doctor. Season nine has possibly made me less excited to jump into Pertwee tales.
The Second and Third Doctor's rivalry is a wonderful invention. It helps what could otherwise be a very dull dynamic with both actors stepping on each others toes. There were moments where Pertwee genuinely look appalled at the idea of having to share screen time with Troughton, but that must have been acting (...surely!) It made me feel lucky to be a fan of a show with this many toys at its disposal.
The First Doctor's assessment of his successors being "a dandy and a clown" is an immortal line which will forever shape the way we see these two characters. Make no mistake, The Three Doctors is on the essential reading list for any new fan.
It is another small shame that Jamie McCrimmon was not involved in this story, throughout it felt like Sergeant Benton was filling in for his role, luckily he is an excellent understudy.
This is the first time that we've seen multiple Time Lords since The War Games (on what I presume is the newly named Gallifrey). These appearances combined with The Doctor being rewarded with renewed time travel capabilities makes this a very significant story indeed but, characters aside, is this story any good? Unfortunately not. The blobby monsters are rubbish, Omega is okay and the alien planet is dull and generic. Also, I swear this is the third time we've had those exact same farmer/wife couple in Doctor Who since Spearhead from Space.
A brief glimpse of Bob Baker and Dave Martin's trademark freaky visuals can be seen when Pertwee took on Omega in a "battle of minds". Whatever dimension that scene was set in was awesome. Its a shame that in the two sets of scripts they've written since The Claws of Axos they have not been able to quite stretch these great moments over a whole story.
None of this is particularly important though as The Three Doctors is meant to be a character led story focusing on bringing together our old favourites. It is easy to be jaded in retrospect, but at the time this would have been the first time that most fans had seen Hartnell's Doctor in seven years (if they were even old enough to remember). This story really helps consolidate the show as a single entity, which is vital especially when considering that Pertwee's era can sometimes feel disconnected to the 1960s show.
I love those first three Doctors.
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