The Five Doctors

The Five Doctors is marvellous. Not just a true season finale in every sense of the word, but a wonderful celebration of the first 20 years in the TARDIS. The clear attraction of this story is the huge number of returning faces, particularly Sarah Jane, the Second and Third Doctors and of course, The Brigadier.

The blistering hot first 15 minutes is particularly good, before it becomes clear that the money for this 90 minute special was spent on those lovely faces, and not the sets. But despite clear areas of the production that could do with some improvement, your mind still boggles with the wonderful combination of guest stars fizzing with energy. The Second Doctor in a big coat fighting the Yeti! The Third Doctor whizzing around in Bessy. The Doctor’s bloody granddaughter!! It’s a small shame that the only original cast member onset is underused, some kickass moments for Susan would have been awesome, but just seeing her on set is pretty spectacular. I also would have given anything to see more from Liz, Zoe and Jamie.

The Raston Warrior Robot is an incredible original monster amongst the deluge of returning foes, despite being a very economical creation. I’m surprised it has never made a return as it looks great on screen, a cheap but highly effective villain. Seeing it destroy an underwhelming gang of Cybermen is hilarious. Especially the brutal beheading!

The only part I seriously disliked was with Tegan and the First Doctor crossing the chequered bird with The Master. Firstly, because these puzzles are always incredibly boring to watch in Doctor Who and rely on gibberish solutions which should have stayed in the early 1960s where we first encountered them. But secondly, because none of the actors are paying any heed to where on the board they are stepping. They don’t try and sell it so it comes across as nonsense.

Terrance Dicks was always an amazing script editor and is a decent writer, he does a fair job here but it is clear the main selling feature of the story is seeing the returning faces. This is a valiant way for him to bow out of the televised show. The ending is bittersweet as you realise that it’s the final moment for so many characters that you care about. 13 minutes of a charity special not included, we will never get to see The Third Doctor in action again. But my God I appreciated seeing him in action here.

Bring on the next 20 years…!