‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – Season 22 Summary

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Hello everyone! 🙂

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

Colin Baker’s first season as the Sixth Doctor in ‘Doctor Who’ is arguably a season that became scrutinised by the BBC executives. Criticisms laid against Season 22 were on the levels of violence in some stories and the show’s cheap-looking nature. It almost put the ‘Doctor Who’ show in jeopardy.

Thankfully, Colin Baker had one more season to play the Sixth Doctor after Season 22, and the TV show wasn’t immediately cancelled. Having checked out all of Season 22, I appreciate the arguments made against the show at the time. At the same time though, I found the season very decent overall.

There is quite a lot of variety to enjoy in Season 22. ‘The Two Doctors’ is my favourite story out of Season 22 and the entire Colin Baker/Sixth Doctor era. This is especially when he and Nicola Bryant as Peri team up with Patrick Troughton as the Second Doctor and Frazer Hines as Jamie in the story. 🙂

‘Revelation of the Daleks’ ranks as my second favourite story out of Season 22, especially with featuring a spectacular guest cast of characters and the story being directed by Graeme Harper. ‘The Mark of the Rani’ is a very enjoyable story, featuring a 19th century historical setting and two superb villains.

Them being Anthony Ainley as the Master and the introduction of Kate O’Mara as the Rani. ‘Timelash’ is the weakest story of Season 22, and I have issues with how ‘Attack of the Cybermen’ and ‘Vengeance on Varos’ are presented as stories. However, the concepts in the three stories are quite good. 🙂

The highlight of Season 22 is showcasing Colin Baker as the Sixth Doctor and Nicola Bryant as Peri. Even though they tend to bicker quite a lot of the time in the TV series, it’s clear that the Sixth Doctor and Peri liked each other as the series progressed. This illustrates why they became popular.

Thanks for reading!

Bye for now!

Tim 🙂

4 thoughts on “‘Doctor Who’ 60th Anniversary Marathon – Season 22 Summary”

  1. scifimike70's avatarscifimike70

    With a few exceptions including most rewardingly Sil and the Rani, it was good to see Season 22’s list of villains bring back the Master, Davros and the Daleks, Cybermen and Sontarans, so that the 6th Doctor could have stories with them on TV in time before his forced early departure. I would have preferred a much better comeback for the Master after Planet Of Fire.

    Thank you, Tim, for your summary.

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    1. Tim Bradley's avatarTim Bradley Post author

      Hi scifimike,

      Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Season 22 of ‘Doctor Who’ and on the villians for each story in the season. It’s good Colin Baker’s Doctor got to meet Daleks, Cybermen and Sontarans before his era came to a premature end. I think Anthony Ainley’s Master worked well in the Peter Davison era stories and in ‘Survival’ with Sylvester McCoy compared to the Colin Baker era stories. They were overtaken by the Rani and the Valeyard’s presence, despite Anthony Ainley being good as the Master in Colin Baker’s stories.

      Many thanks,

      Tim 🙂

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  2. Wolfie's avatarWolfie

    It’s amazing how many lost opportunities have been rekindled in the years since the season’s debut. There are now any number of “seasons” to choose from — both on audio and in print — that show the Sixth Doctor’s intended softening nature (even back in 1985/86 in his heyday!).

    If there is a lament, it would be for Kate O’Mara as the Rani. She would have made an excellent recurring adversary for the Sixth Doctor. Every bit the dubious moral ne’er-do-well that Colin’s incarnation could have used as a foil (and a nice inversion of their dynamic on ‘The Brothers’). It would have been nice to see her pop up from time to time as a totally unknown factor — grudging ally, eager foe, who knows? — in the Doctor’s travels.

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. Tim Bradley's avatarTim Bradley Post author

      Hi Wolfie,

      Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Season 22. Yeah, it is a shame that there many lost opportunities to showcase how good Colin Baker’s Sixth Doctor could have been, particularly in his journey from being an unlikeable and brash Doctor to becoming a likeable, friendly and joyous Doctor. It would have been nice to have seen Kate O’Mara as the Rani be a reoccurring villain for the Sixth Doctor, much like how Anthony Ainley’s Master was a reoccuring villain for the Fifth Doctor. I think the opportunity was there in the lost story ‘Yellow Fever and How to Cure It’ for the abandoned Season 23. A shame that story never saw the light of day, as I would have liked to have seen how Robert Holmes did his take on the Rani compared to the Master. 🙂

      Many thanks,

      Tim 🙂

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