The Sixth Doctor’s renaissance – how expanded media saved him
By James Aggas
Big Finish
His era on television may not have been the most fondly remembered. But off the screen, the Sixth Doctor and his stories have a highly devoted following. We try and take a look at why that is.
For the next few days, Big Finish currently have a sale on some of the Sixth Doctor’s audios. It got me thinking about two things.
One, how much I really enjoy Colin Baker’s stories on audio. The recent reviews for his arc with Charley Pollard, such as The Condemned and The Raincloud Man, are just a small sample of his large number of brilliant stories.
Two, how his audio stories – and other expanded universe media – have overall been considerably more successful than his TV stories. While his TV era still had some classics, such as Vengeance on Varos and Revelation of the Daleks, his era overall isn’t quite as fondly remembered as some of the other Doctors.
The big question that should be asked is: why? Why wasn’t his era on television fondly remembered, and why are his stories so popular in other media?
The Sixth Doctor
I think we should start with the biggest reason, as it affects so many others. That reason is the Sixth Doctor himself. Oh no, not Colin Baker, who has always done his very best with the material he’s been given. No, it’s more how his character had been written and developed.
Colin Baker has said in interviews that the Sixth Doctor was supposed to start out as intentionally unlikeable, before more was revealed of his character over time.
And honestly, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that approach. Especially since, let’s be honest, the audience do love a jerk. Hugh Laurie’s Gregory House. Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock Holmes. Even Harrison Ford’s Han Solo. These are all very unapologetic, arrogant characters who are rarely interested in the opinions of others, and even less interested in how offended others are by their actions.
Of course, there is a knack to writing a character this way. When the Sixth Doctor began, he was more than just “arrogant”. In his first story, he had been written as someone with violent mood swings, and would range from overly-aggressive to super cowardly.
Now this was, admittedly, partly due to the Doctor’s regeneration trauma. But it still wasn’t quite the best first impression to make, and I suspect it stuck with the audience for a long time. It didn’t help that script editor Eric Saward didn’t approve of Colin Baker’s casting. When the head writer of the show doesn’t have faith in you as a lead actor, you know you’ve got a problem.
Add an intentionally awful costume suggested by producer John Nathan-Turner, and you’ve got a lead character who’s not just “unlikeable” to the other characters, but truly unlikeable to the audience. An audience that perhaps doesn’t want to wait around to watch this character “grow”.
His relationship with Peri
There was another problem. Again, I put this one down to how it was written. The Sixth Doctor had a very openly antagonistic relationship with his first companion, Peri. Now, a relationship with a lot of banter isn’t something I’m against. In fact, I’m all for it, especially if it’s done in such a way that clearly shows how much the two actually like each other. The best examples of this are arguably Ten and Donna, Twelve and Clara and, off the screen, Eight and Lucie.
On TV, Six and Peri didn’t seem to have this kind of dynamic. A lot of the time, they seemed to be very reluctantly putting up with each other more than anything else. This was especially true of their first season. Occasionally, there were moments when their fondness would shine through, but honestly, not often enough.
However, as noted in the review for The Trial of a Time Lord, this aspect did start to improve in their last season. The dialogue between them was much warmer, and the Doctor seemed to respect her more. They still had their banter, but it was lighter and more joking with each other, rather than at each other’s expense.
However, there were still other reasons why the Sixth Doctor wasn’t working too well on TV.
BBC
The tone
I think one problem the mid-eighties era of Doctor Who had was with its identity. The writers and producers didn’t seem too sure how to push Doctor Who forward during this period. In some ways, they tried to make it more adult and show that it was growing up with its audience. The stories seemed to be more violent and graphic than before.
Personally, I think that was a mistake. While my favourite era of Who was with Tom Baker’s first three seasons, which featured dark horror stories full of violence, there was also something there for the kids to enjoy. Personally speaking, horror and monsters were something that really appealed to me about Doctor Who as a child.
Despite the high level of violence, the Sixth Doctor’s era seemed to lack that horror feel. It seemed to be more violent for the sake of appearing more “adult”. Honestly, I think trying to make a series about a magic box that goes anywhere more “adult” is always a mistake, at least on the screen. Not that I think Doctor Who shouldn’t appeal to an adult audience at all. Just that there needs to be the right balance for the whole family to enjoy.
‘Terror of the Vervoids’ – when it started to go right
Terror of the Vervoids, the third story in Trial of a Time Lord, wasn’t perfect. But it did help in signposting just how much better the Sixth Doctor could be.
Essentially a flash-forward, Terror of the Vervoids showed a Sixth Doctor who was charming, funny, heroic – in short, he was just so much more likeable in every way. And it didn’t feel like it compromised the character at all. Colin Baker just sells this very different Sixth Doctor so easily.
Sadly, while it wasn’t the last story of his transmitted on TV, it was the last story produced. When Doctor Who came back in 1987, it was sadly at the expense of Colin Baker getting fired from the role. And that’s a real shame, as we were only just seeing a version of the Sixth Doctor who could have, with time, become a genuinely popular Doctor. Sadly, it just wasn’t meant to be.
The expanded media
However, where the television series has failed, the expanded media has often succeeded. The Sixth Doctor is one of the very best examples of this. Across various forms of media, his stories have been greatly enjoyed by fans.
The earliest examples were the comics included in Doctor Who Monthly. Stories like Voyager and The World Shapers have received a great deal of praise. Certainly, the shape-shifting alien Frobisher has proven to be memorable. And not just because most of the time, he takes the form of a talking penguin!
Also, like all of the Classic Doctors, he had many novels in both the Missing Adventures and Past Doctor Adventure ranges. And many of the stories in both seem to have been enjoyed by the fans. Personally speaking, the novels of Craig Hinton were great at fleshing out the Sixth Doctor’s more heroic side. Millennial Rites and The Quantum Archangel were epic novels with a grand scale, a lot of continuity, but most importantly, a very well-written Sixth Doctor.
Big Finish
Big Finish
However, if I’m honest, I think where the Sixth Doctor has found the most success has been with his audio adventures at Big Finish Productions. While the comics and novels have laid the groundwork for his renaissance, the audios have helped to expand and develop it so much more.
There are three key reasons why his audio stories stand out. One is that they have Colin Baker playing the Doctor once more. And even off the screen, he’s brilliant in the role. His Doctor has grown from a selfish, arrogant and generally unlikeable person to a man who is kind, friendly and with a big heart.
He can be hugely emotional, but this time, he’s more clearly raging against forms of injustice, rather than just moaning at his long-suffering companion. On audio, he’s the Doctor he was always ultimately meant to be, a Doctor as magnificent and brilliant as the likes of Tom Baker or David Tennant. And I do not say that lightly.
A vast library of audios
The second reason why his audio stories stand out more than the other forms of media is because of the sheer volume. Since 1999, across several ranges of audio productions, including the monthly range, The Lost Stories, Short Trips and numerous special releases, there have been over 100 stories for the Sixth Doctor alone.
Admittedly, a statement like that could be off-putting to anyone wanting to try the audios out. But it is worth it. Because a volume like that has helped to flesh out and deepen the Sixth Doctor and his companions. His multiple journeys, not just with Peri and Mel, but with Evelyn Smythe, Charley, Jamie and currently, Flip and Constance, have helped to add so much to his character. The fact that these journeys have taken their time have helped to make them so much more rewarding.
And lastly, and perhaps most importantly, what’s really helped the audios stand out is how consistent they are. They’re not just great – they’re consistently great. It’s difficult for me to think of any story as “bad”. Some could be described as “average”.
But the vast majority? There are just so many brilliant stories that spring to mind. The dark horror of Project: Twilight. The magnificent musical grandeur of Doctor Who and the Pirates. The wonderful mix of comedy and dark horror of The Holy Terror. And so many others. The One Doctor. Jubilee. The Condemned. The Wrong Doctors. Quicksilver. The list of brilliant Sixth Doctor stories goes on.
Putting right what once went wrong
Honestly, the audios have been so brilliant, that they’ve not just added to the Sixth Doctor’s story. Some of them have helped to improve aspects of his TV era that didn’t originally work.
For example, there’s a Sixth Doctor and Peri story called The Reaping, where she finally decides to visit her family. Amidst a lot of drama, there’s a great moment where someone points out that they can’t believe that Peri and the Doctor have been friends for so long, when they just seem to argue so much. Peri’s response is perfect:
"That’s just the way we are. We argue but that doesn’t mean we don’t like…or love each other!"
That line just improves their relationship so much more, not just in the audios, but on screen, too. It just makes it just a little bit more believable and likeable, overall, and helps you to understand it better.
Then there’s the regeneration. On TV, it’s shockingly weak. Colin Baker wasn’t brought back for it. There’s not even any real reason given as to why it even happens.
Thankfully, The Sixth Doctor: The Last Adventure improves on that, in a big way. It takes one of the worst regenerations of the entire series and makes it so much more emotional and epic as a send-off. I’m glad Colin Baker agreed to do it for Big Finish, because it really helped to round his Doctor off nicely.
On television, the Sixth Doctor’s era was something of a missed opportunity. On audio, Colin Baker gets to play the magnificent Doctor he was meant to play. His era on audio has been consistently brilliant, and long may it continue.
Also, it’s great that we don’t actually have to see the coat.