‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – Reflection on the Fifth Doctor

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

Even though I was introduced to Christopher Eccleston’s Ninth Doctor and David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor in the TV series, the Peter Davison/Fifth Doctor era of ‘Doctor Who’ is the one that won me over as my absolute favourite. This is evident in the TV stories and the Big Finish audios I’ve enjoyed.

Seasons 19 and 20 are what I enjoyed most from Peter Davison’s era of ‘Doctor Who’ than Season 21. In Season 19, I’ve enjoyed the TARDIS team set-up of Peter Davison as the Fifth Doctor, Sarah Sutton as Nyssa, Janet Fielding as Tegan and Matthew Waterhouse as Adric. They’re my favourites. 🙂

I wish we had more seasons featuring these four. They’re very compelling characters for me. Thankfully, the Big Finish audios have made up for that. I’ve also enjoyed the Big Finish audios with Peter Davison’s Doctor and Sarah Sutton’s Nyssa, since they’re my favourite Doctor and companion.

The Fifth Doctor era has had a huge impact on me, especially as I’ve written my own Fifth Doctor series on ‘Bradley’s Basement’, featuring the Fifth Doctor, Nyssa and original companion Billy Walker. I find it easy to write for the Fifth Doctor, compared to other writers who find him a challenge. 🙂

I’ve been able to meet most of the Fifth Doctor era cast at conventions, particularly Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton, Janet Fielding, Matthew Waterhouse, Mark Strickson and Nicola Bryant. The conversations that I’ve had with these actors have been most enjoyable and they’re pretty enthusiastic people. 🙂

Of course, Peter Davison makes it work well in being the Fifth Doctor in ‘Doctor Who’. In my opinion, he’s the most human out of all the Doctors that I’ve seen in the TV series. David Tennant matches well to that, but Peter Davison’s Doctor is someone who is willing to self-sacrifice himself for others.

This is clearly evident by the end of his era when Peter Davison’s Doctor is willing to self-sacrifice himself to save the life of Peri in ‘The Caves of Androzani’. He’s also the first of the young Doctors in the series. Despite its ups and downs, the Peter Davison/Fifth Doctor era is the one I treasure the most.

Thanks for reading!

Bye for now!

Tim 🙂

4 thoughts on “‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – Reflection on the Fifth Doctor”

  1. scifimike70's avatarscifimike70

    Peter Davison’s era was certainly a fascinating one. Even though young Doctors in the future like Paul McGann, David Tennant, Matt Smith and Jodie Whittaker would be more dynamic with their Doctor-ish acting styles, it’s nice to reflect on how Davison’s Doctor was in obvious ways our most humanly identifiable Doctor. Thank you, Tim, for your review.

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    1. Tim Bradley's avatarTim Bradley Post author

      Hi scifimike,

      Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Peter Davison’s era as the Fifth Doctor in ‘Doctor Who’. I actually prefer the notion of an old alien in a young person’s body, and Doctors like Peter Davison, Paul McGann, David Tennant, Matt Smith and Jodie Whittaker have done well with their interpretations of the character. Even Terry Farrell and Nicole de Boer have done well playing an old alien inside a young person’s body with their portrayals of Jadzia Dax and Ezri Dax in ‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’.

      Many thanks for your comments.

      Tim 🙂

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