Doctor Who: Why Philip Hinchcliffe was the best producer

As we currently enjoy his stories on Twitch, we take a look at Philip Hinchcliffe, and why he was one of Doctor Who’s greatest producers.

Philip Hinchcliffe was a producer who revived Doctor Who in a big way. While previous producer Barry Letts’s run on the show had started out very strong, after five years, the series wasn’t quite as fresh.

This was particularly evident in Season Eleven, Jon Pertwee’s last season on the show. The stories overall weren’t quite as strong as they once were. Planet of the Spiders was a particularly disappointing regeneration story.

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When Hinchcliffe came onto the show, everything started to change in a big way. Stories had a darker and more adult tone. Not too far, but certainly, the series started to become more openly violent.

However, it backed up the violence with a gorgeous sense of style. Over Tom Baker’s first three years, the series was gloriously Gothic. Stories like Pyramids of Mars and The Talons of Weng-Chiang had a clear strong influence from the movies of Hammer Horror.

But those stories were still distinctly Doctor Who. While they went pretty far in terms of horror, they arguably didn’t go too far. The Doctor and his companion’s presence were still important to the story, and helped to reassure younger viewers that they would save the day.

Philip Hinchcliffe has continued working with Tom Baker for the Big Finish audio series Philip Hinchcliffe Presents.

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/Big Finish Productions.

Image obtained from: Big Finish Productions.)

Tom Baker at his best

More importantly, Tom Baker is clearly at his best during his first three seasons than in any others. What probably helped was his clear respect for Hinchcliffe. In many interviews, he would have nothing but praise for Philip Hinchcliffe as a producer, and clearly respected him the most.

This is very probably why his Doctor is more notably serious during these early seasons. Not that he doesn’t have the occasional moment of humor. But any potentially excessive silliness is kept firmly in check at this point.

This isn’t as true in the later seasons. There are many moments when Tom Baker doesn’t take everything seriously. It’s not just down to how his Doctor is written, either. For example, there are one or two moments when he looks directly at the camera while giving a line. Or randomly playing hopscotch in the corridors of Gallifrey.

When Philip Hinchcliffe was the producer for the series, Doctor Who was consistently brilliant. Many stories that continually rank so highly in polls are from this particular era.

Some of it was down to luck. For example, Hinchcliffe was paired with the brilliant writer Robert Holmes as script-editor. Clearly, their styles and vision for the series complimented each other brilliantly. And of course, with Tom Baker, they got to tell some incredible Doctor Who stories.

But Hinchcliffe’s clear passion and hard work on the series should not be overlooked. He set an incredibly high standard for the series. One that many producers who followed often struggled to match.

Next: Review: Iron Bright (Sixth Doctor audio)

Are you a fan of Philip Hinchcliffe’s run on the series? Are you enjoying his era on Twitch? Do you agree that he was the best producer? If not, then who’s your favourite? Let us know in the comments below.

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