Hello everyone! 🙂
Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!
Season 26 – the third and final season of the Sylvester McCoy/Seventh Doctor era of ‘Doctor Who’ – is a season where the show was getting to find its feet again on arguably what stories it could have told in the 1990s. This is thanks to how script editor Andrew Cartmel handled things with the stories.
It’s therefore unfortunate that the BBC decided to cancel the classic TV series on a 26-year-run in 1989. Whether you agree with this decision or not, there’s no denying the BBC lost their love for ‘Doctor Who’, especially in criticising the production values and how the format of the show worked.
Speaking personally, I can’t say Season 26 is a winner for me, but I enjoyed some of the stories featured in the season. ‘Survival’ is my favourite story out of the season, which is ironic, since it’s the last one of the season and it’s the last one of the classic TV series. Its sunny disposition won me over.
‘Battlefield’ is my second favourite story from the season, especially with it featuring the return of Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. ‘The Curse of Fenric’ comes third, especially in how it depicts Ace’s character journey. ‘Ghost Light’, for me, is the weakest of the four Season 26 stories.
A major aspect that I’ve noticed in Season 26 is how Ace’s journey as a ‘Doctor Who’ companion is developed by this stage in the TV series, especially as she grows from a young girl into a young woman. ‘Ghost Light’, ‘The Curse of Fenric’ and ‘Survival’ particularly showcase Ace when she faces her fears.
Sylvester McCoy’s Seventh Doctor also works well in Season 26, especially as he’s portrayed as the darker and manipulative Doctor compared to when he began as the comedic Doctor. The relationship between Sylvester McCoy’s Seventh Doctor and Sophie Aldred’s Ace is also a highlight in Season 26.
Thanks for reading!
Bye for now!
Tim 🙂
Bradley's Basement 
I was surprised that Season 26 was the end of the classic Dr. Who. Rumours at the time that there might be a revival a year later with David Burton as the 8th Doctor were encouraging. But clearly it was a time for new sci-fi shows to make their marks including the new Star Trek shows, Red Dwarf, Babylon 5, Quantum Leap and The X-Files. Dr. Who would in all its specialness still live on in the best ways for fans. Thank you, Tim, for your summary.
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Hi scifimike,
Thanks fo sharing your thoughts on Season 26 of ‘Doctor Who’. I’ve just seen a YouTube video about David Burton being cast as a potential Eighth Doctor. I’d forgotten I’d seen that in one of the DVD documentaries about the Wilderness Years. Thanks for reminding me about David Burton. 😀
I’m thinking about checking out and possibly reviewing ‘Besieged’ with Ryan Hendrick, ‘Power of the Daleks’ (2012) with Nick Scovell and ‘Lost In The Dark Dimension’ (all on YouTube) sometime in 2024. Stay tuned.
Many thanks for your comments.
Best wishes,
Tim 🙂
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I saw that David Burton interview on YouTube too. Besieged is pretty good as a Dr. Who vs ALIEN crossover and I look forward to your review on it.
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Thanks scifimike,
I think the current plan is that I check and review ‘Besieged’ in 2024, then ‘Power of the Daleks’ (2012) in 2025 and perhaps ‘Lost In The Dark Dimension’ in 2026. See how it goes, but plans might change. It’ll depend on when I properly decide to check out ‘Besieged’. I might even check out it on YouTube sooner this year. 😀
Best wishes,
Tim 🙂
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In retrospect, it’s interesting to hear about who could have potentially carried the torch for ‘Doctor Who’ in the 1990s. There are names like Verity Lambert, Derrick Sherwin, and Terrance Dicks thrown around with their own efforts to purchase the programme’s broadcasting rights (Derrick Sherwin thought ‘Doctor Who’ would have a future in international syndication like ‘JAG’). Newcomers such as BBV or Reeltime Pictures are also suggested by fandom to be candidates for picking up the programme through their informal backdoor pilots, and so on.
One thing that remains constant, though, is the notion that if ‘Doctor Who’ is to survive, it’ll probably be picked up as a long-term co-production and, potentially, move to direct-to-video. The latter is no longer possible (as the medium has marched on), but flash-forward to 1995 and that *almost* happened with the TV Movie and will occur with Ncuti Gatwa’s incarnation under Bad Wolf Productions.
‘Doctor Who’ has rediscovered its footing in Season 25, but Season 26 is almost a completely different beast again. The atmosphere is more reminiscent of the rain-soaked ‘Foyle’s War’, conspiratorial and restless ‘Edge of Darkness’, or even a double-guessing instalment of ‘Poirot’. Ironically, in leaning into the BBC’s strength for period dramas — the past — the programme has catalysed a way forward into its own future.
There’s even that same concern for blue-collar issues that “Remembrance of the Daleks” pondered in its early 60s stylings. By the time ‘Doctor Who’ is being lain to rest, it’s engaging quite pointedly with current social anxieties and issues. Its using its settings to reflect back lessons and warnings that are being (re)discovered in 1989. Everything from the end of the Cold War (“Battlefield”) to the seductive power of belonging to the pack (“Survival”).
You can also see the writing on the wall regarding its future. Not the programme’s cancellation, but what happens next. This season will become something of a landmark for compilation and extended versions of serials. Where the stories grew too broad and too deep for the small screen. They will define — in action and reaction — a decade’s worth of books from Virgin Publishing to come (ironically, spurred into life by the success of Sixth Doctor novelisations like “The Nightmare Fair”; just goes to show, every little bit helps).
In fact, the New Adventures will often take the tone of Season 26 to its logical conclusion. People will die senselessly, the Doctor will be as alien as he has ever been and there’s a genuine sense that nothing is quite safe any more. You can see the germ of the idea here… But that darker tone — when done well, and often quite well, producing some of the most haunting and compelling storytelling in ‘Who’ — feels like the cold of the cancellation. ‘Doctor Who’ is dead on television. Alive in prose, but dead and buried at home.
If you watch Season 26 without that cloud, however… It’s funny how much of the 1989 season feels optimistic. “Battlefield”, the first story of the season, feels like that final ride into the sunset. A happy ending. And “Survival”? “Survival” feels like a new beginning. But where the Doctor and Ace walk now, the cameras of the BBC cannot follow…
“Come on, Ace. We’ve work to do…”
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I tried to read the Timewyrm novels but due to a reading disorder that struck me at the time I had too much trouble. But I remember thinking how good it might have been for a Season 27 of the classic series.
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Hi scifimike,
I’ve yet to check out the ‘Timewyrm’ books in ‘Doctor Who’. I must find some time to check them out, perhaps for a future month dedicated to reviews on the four books. I’m sure they’ll be interesting to check out, especially for a potential Season 27 or 28 of ‘Doctor Who’ on TV.
Many thanks,
Tim 🙂
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Hi Wolfie,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Season 26 and what could have been different had the classic TV show continued to go beyond its 26-year run. I’m sure BBV and Reeltime Pictures would have handled ‘Doctor Who’ well if they were given the chance to produce it for the BBC. I’m pleased ‘Doctor Who’ was able to continue in the 1990s and early 2000s through the books, comics and audios, as it helped to get the TV show back in 2005 after being cancelled in 1989. I like how you described ‘Battlefield’, the first story of Season 26, as a happy ending, whilst ‘Survival’, the last story of the season, is a new beginning. I also like how you emphasise the Seventh Doctor and Ace continuing their adventures in book and comic form whereas the BBC TV cameras don’t follow them.
Many thanks for your comments.
Best wishes,
Tim 🙂
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