Doctor Who: Serious and whimsical: the two sides of the Fourth Doctor

Photo credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: BBC.

Tom Baker has long endured as one of the most popular Doctors in Doctor Who. Did the fact that there were two such distinct sides to him help?

Whether you were watching his stories for the first time, or whether you’ve been a fan of his since the Seventies, we hope you enjoyed the Fourth Doctor’s run on Twitch. It’s great to be reminded of just how brilliant his Doctor truly is. It was certainly easy to see why Tom Baker lasted so long in Doctor Who.

More from Winter is Coming

• For All Mankind finally gives us information in Episode 405, “Goldilocks”
• Watch a stunning VFX breakdown of The Wheel of Time season 2
• Of course Steve Toussaint (Corlys Velaryon) thinks Eve Best (Rhaenys Targaryen) should rule Westeros
• Confirmed: The Last of Us season 2 will air in 2025
• Final season of Star Trek: Discovery will have “a lot of action, a lot of adventure, a lot of fun”

But there was also something else that was easy to see, too. Specifically, that there were two versions of the Fourth Doctor in terms of character. Oh, I don’t mean like in Journey’s End, when the Tenth Doctor partially regenerated and a half human double was created.

No, what’s really curious about the Fourth Doctor is how differently he acted, particularly during different production eras. This was particularly easy to note from the seasons with Philip Hinchcliffe as producer, and the later seasons with Graham Williams.

Serious

Philip Hinchcliffe produced Tom Baker’s first three seasons, with Roberts Holmes as the script-editor. Together, they left a very clear mark on the show.

Doctor Who was Hinchcliffe’s first full production job. As such, he wanted to make his mark and stand out more by making the show just a little more horrific and adult than the previous era.

Because the stories aimed for a more horrific tone overall, this was also reflected in the Doctor. While in his first story Robot, he was eccentric, to say the least, in subsequent stories, the Fourth Doctor was more serious. In stories like The Ark in Space and Genesis of the Daleks, he had a great deal of gravitas to his character.

Very often, he would not only take powerful villains seriously, but openly show anger or even fear of them. When encountering Sutekh in Pyramids of Mars, he would show open moral outrage before being forced to kneel in agony before him. The Seeds of Doom shows him so desperate to stop the Krynoids that we see him more openly violent at times.

Photo credit: Doctor Who/BBC

Image obtained from: bbc.co.uk/doctorwho

A more alien Doctor

We also see a lot of his alien side, perhaps more so than with other incarnations. His speech on “homo sapiens” in The Ark in Space is clearly the perspective of an alien, but one that’s highly respectful of humanity, too.

In Pyramids of Mars, when he shows no compassion for the death of someone they had briefly been friends with, Sarah Jane’s ready to scream at him that sometimes, he just doesn’t seem human. Of course, she has to remind herself that the Doctor truly isn’t human at all.

But perhaps one scene that showed the Fourth Doctor’s serious side at its very best was in the final episode of the much-loved Genesis of the Daleks. The moment of hesitation and doubt he has when he has a chance to destroy the Daleks forever is brilliant to watch.

It’s an incredibly powerful moment, one that’s made even more impressive by the fact that it was in Baker’s first season as the Doctor. It really showed what Tom Baker was capable of when handled exactly right.

The Doctor investigates a strange mystery of seven Mona Lisas in City of Death.

(Photo credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: BBC.)

Whimsical

In his later seasons, the Fourth Doctor was presented in a much lighter way. His sense of humor and silliness seemed to increase a great deal. There were many moments when he would consistently play the fool, both in front of his companions and especially to his enemies.

Usually, these scenes would be funny and fun to watch. The Doctor was still clearly clever. But he also enjoyed himself, too.

However, there were occasionally moments when this would be taken too far. Especially if Tom Baker wasn’t taking the story seriously. Moments like breaking the fourth wall for a silly joke, or skipping down corridors for no reason, made it harder to take the serial overall seriously as a result.

However, when handled just right, the humorous side to the Fourth Doctor could work brilliantly. Douglas Adams really showed this when he wrote The Pirate Planet and City of Death, arguably two of the best stories from the Graham Williams era.

One of the reasons the humor worked in those stories was that it was balanced by the Doctor taking threats seriously when the story required it. When the foolishness was balanced out with intelligence and depth, that’s when the more whimsical side of him worked best.

Photo credit: Doctor Who/BBC.

Image obtained from: BBC.

Balance

I think this is the key thing that works with both sides. Even during his earlier seasons, while he certainly had more gravitas, the Fourth Doctor still had moments of humor. It was perhaps dryer and not quite as silly as what it eventually became. But it still worked well for his Doctor.

There would be exceptions, of course. He was noticeably eccentric in Robot. One scene that particularly stands out is when he’s trying on different clothes. Essentially, he dressed up as a Viking, a clown and the knave of hearts, all in a single scene. So even in his first story, he certainly had his silly moments.

His final season saw him return to a more serious mood, too. It was different to how he was in his earlier seasons, however. In some ways, he still had his moments of humor. But it was overall more melancholy. Especially during his final story Logopolis, which was more than understandable.

Personal preference

If I had a particular preference, it would definitely be when he was more serious in his earlier seasons. While I love the Doctor being funny and eccentric, Tom Baker really made the Doctor feel incredibly alien in his first three seasons.

The writing and the direction of the show greatly aided this. It was also easier to take the threats more seriously, too. Also, many of Baker’s very best performances were arguably during these early seasons.

Of course, I know that people have a fondness for the more eccentric and funny side of Tom Baker’s Doctor. And that’s very understandable too. Especially when handled just right.

Overall, I think both sides have their fans. The fact that Tom Baker was able to portray both sides so brilliantly is just one of the many reasons why he’s still one of the greatest ever Doctors.

Next: Overview: Dark Eyes (Eighth Doctor audio series)

Do you have a particular preference? Did you prefer the Fourth Doctor’s darker, mysterious and more alien side? Or did you enjoy the eccentric and humorous side to him more? Let us know in the comments below.