Hello everyone! 🙂

Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!

Season 13 of the classic ‘Doctor Who’ TV series is where the Tom Baker/Philip Hinchcliffe era comes into full swing. This is where the gothic horror era of ‘Doctor Who’ is prominent, thanks to the efforts of script editor Robert Holmes. This is quite evident when one watches the entire Season 13.

The inspirations for the gothic horror ‘Doctor Who’ stories in Season 13 come from classic Hollywood movies. ‘Pyramids of Mars’, which has robot mummies, is inspired by classic Hammer Horror ‘Mummy’ movies. ‘The Brain of Morbius’ is inspired by Mary Shelley’s book ‘Frankenstein’. 😀

This ‘Doctor Who’ season also sees U.N.I.T. on its way out, with the Brigadier only appearing in ‘Terror of the Zygons’ whilst Benton only appears in ‘Terror of the Zygons’ and ‘The Android Invasion’. Harry Sullivan also leaves in ‘Terror of the Zygons’ as a regular TARDIS travelling character.

He does guest star in ‘The Android Invasion’, but that’s the last we ever see of Harry. U.N.I.T. also appears in the final story of Season 13, which is the thrilling ‘Seeds of Doom’. It takes a while for U.N.I.T. to make a return to ‘Doctor Who’, as they don’t feature much in the rest of Tom Baker’s era.

The highlight of Season 13 is the chemistry between Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor and Elisabeth Sladen as Sarah Jane Smith. Even when they appear in what I think is a drab story like ‘Planet of Evil’, Tom Baker and Lis Sladen shine throughout Season 13, and they clearly enjoyed working together. 🙂

Philip Hinchcliffe’s era of ‘Doctor Who’ did receive criticism for the horrific and violent imagery, especially from the likes of Mary Whitehouse in Seasons 13 and 14. I can’t claim to be a dedicated fan of the Philip Hinchcliffe era, but I appreciate its significance since Season 13 is pretty enjoyable. 🙂

Thanks for reading!

Bye for now!

Tim 🙂