But I love the fact that he’s honestly so thrilled by it now. So very thankful. And has allowed the role to become what his life has been (and is) about. Aside from that, look up him talking about the last time he met Liz Sladen. Still makes me cry.
That’s another difference between classic and new who: classic who actors were typecast and seemed to struggle after they left the show whereas new who actors seem to thrive after they leave and go on to have a successful career, looking at you David Tennant. It’s a pity that Tom Baker didn’t go on to have more success. I really believe that if a 40 year old Tom Baker was starting out as the new Doctor Who today, he would go on to do well post Who. I imagine that he’d have a career similar to Benedict Cumberbatch.
I mean it's the same for most of them haha Basically it's just new who actors who kept being in films and shows Tennant is the most successful because he played against type, in a lot of big stuff Smith mainly got bit parts unfortunately like Genysis, similar to Capaldi like in The Suicide Squad But now Smith's playing Daemon goddamn Targaryen in fire and blood, literally the coolest ASOIAF character, like a dragon riding Oberyn, stoked for him Ecclestone mainly just played shlock villains like in GI Joe haha But the rest of the classic docs basically just became convention mainstays for the rest of their careers, sadly
Rather than make the Doctor a woman (which caused me to stop watching after 43 years) ... they should have just brought back Romana and given her her own show - let that stand on its own merits. instead ... they killed the show.
Not going to lie, for every great story you listed wouldn't be on here I flinched in almost pain. I love Robots of Death, it has some of the best lines: "You are the classic example of the inverse ratio between the size of the mouth and the size of the brain." It's such a good put down.
Exactly- its a masterpiece! ..." Someone interrupted Chub alright, with both hands! " ......." That one's ready to kill!"........ " Would you like a Jelly Baby? A simple no thank you would have sufficed!"....... " That is a simple function "D" class Robot, D for Dumb, it doesn't speak! Has anyone told him that?? "
And the big flaw is: from the middle of the second episode on you know who is the traitor. Oh, the guy who orders to kill Zilda wears black and white striped trousers. That narrows it down to... one?
From a personal stand point (and I don't know why this is) Full Circle had one of the first moments of dread I had felt watching the show, in seasons. I don't know why but the scene (he shows in this video) when Romana opens the door, and lets in the swamp monsters, gave me chills. And I saw this as an adult, but for some reason that shot gave me an "Oh shit, they are screwed now" feeling, that I don't normally get from the classic era
Heck, I'm going to go on a limb and say that the new direction that JNT took the show was the best thing to happen to Baker's run since Sarah Jane's exit I just really love that final series and think that all of the stories are at the very least enjoyable watches, and there's not a truly bad one in the lot
I'm still not clear on why everyone hates Revenge of the Cybermen so much. I love the premise, the Cybermen and Vogans are well-realized and acted, things move along at a great pace, there's lots of action and explosions, the underground location shooting works very well, and Baker is at his witty best in his insulting matches with the Cyber Leader. I even enjoyed seeing it depict an alien race that reverts into a civil war among all the other drama... a very well-layered script. Kellman's a cool character too. The only things that didn't work for me were the poor model work of Voga during the crash sequence and how you could clearly tell a lot of corpses in the hallway were mannequins.
Because Tom Bakers Doctor doesn't work well with them. The Cybermen are also just wrongly characterized. Emotional cybermen isn't a thing. I think it's also just boring.
Talons has everything with the exception of the giant rat (of Sumatra) Magnus Greel has enough back story for a whole adventure or even a spin off series. Jago and Litefoot, Deep Roy’s chilling Peking Homonculous. The BBC has a reputation for period drama and the streets and Palace Theatre are some of the best sets in the series. It’s a great adventure and rightfully my favourite TB serial.
The Curator made very clear that he is not the Fourth, he merely took his appearance for his current regeneration once more ("You‘ll find yourself re-visiting the faces in your memory - but only the favorite ones.“). And with Eleven to Twelve - in a way - we already saw a regeneration like that.
maskiiofficial No, he is the doctor, but he‘s a regeneration from the future, making him somewhat different (like the War Doctor). The affection for Classic Who could be true though, although his appereance was only the Fourth, because Tom Baker made up for declining reprising the Fourth in "The Five Doctors".
The Curator is a future incarnation of the Doctor who has the appearance of an elderly Fourth Doctor who has taken up curating just as he said he would. Simple as that.
You may have already been told this but Revenge Of The Cybermen was the first VHS release not Robots Of Death. Revenge came out in 1983 and cost nearly forty quid!
What is it with cult series and hard-to-find releases? (I could've saved myself a lot of trouble in the comments if I had just added 'one of the first' and not taken the off-the-cuff unscripted leap.
Apart from placing Robots of Death on the worst list (sure, I can take over rated, but it's not worse than Underworld or Meglos for example) this is a solid list. The season 12/13 stuff you avoided already gets it's due for being epic so highlighting treasures like Full Circle and Warrior's Gate is awesome. Totally agree how Destiny ans Revenge sully the reputations of their monsters.
The Hinchcliffe Holmes years provided some of the most terrifying TV experiences of my childhood,to the extent that I still have occasional nightmares about them well over 40 years later
Yesss! I'm so glad you like Full Circle and Warrior's Gate amongst the top of the Baker stories. I love it when Doctor Who goes more into sci-fi concepts rather than chasing romps. I'm also immensely relieved that someone else finds Genesis of the Daleks to be bloated. It's such a staple fan-favourite and I hate it because the pacing is so slow. My top 5 in no particular order: Full Circle, Warrior's Gate, The Seeds of Doom, City of Death, The Ark in Space
Ark in Space was fantastic and didn't even get a mention here. Absolutely my favorite episode with Harry and Sarah, if only for the 'indomitable homosapien' speech from Tom.
@@Ben-vf5gk the good reason is that the Hinchcliffe era was watched by a lot of people and "traumatized" a lot of children back then. When these children became grown up, they started to talk about this era as the Golden Age of the show and that's why now, it is sooo popular. But it has nothing to do with writing being "objectively" better or some other nonsense
Yes... City of Death is definitely one of my favourites too, along with Androids of Tara. I also have a soft spot for Stones of Blood, but only because it mentions my university (Bangor)... Masque of Mandragora was filmed just down the road as well (as were Abominable Snowmen and The Five Doctors).
Very surprised with some of your choices. The best list I would totally agree with (the Shada Novel is great, I've read it twice). The worst list is a bit of a toss-up from me. Lots of it I do agree with, but I'm glad this was different from the usual Tom Baker lists that just give Genesis a tongue bath. Now I love Genesis, but it's nice to see something different.
Power of Kroll is hugely underrated. I agree with most of your criticisms but I enjoyed Armageddon factor. It did some clever things with setting up the scope despite the limitations. The cliffhangers are par for the course tbh, it wouldn't be classic who without the shitty cliffhangers.
I actually like all Doctor Who as I always give each story a chance and have no negative comments on it. Also "Nightmare of Eden" has a special place in my heart as it was my first Classic Who story.
I think androids of Tara is possibly the most underrated Dr who episode ever. I loved this thing so much... It had everything I wanted from a Tom Baker story and I feel it's possible up there as one of my favorites of all classic who
Full Circle was brilliant. But it goes Spiders>Marshmen>People. Not People>Marshmen. Romana II was a great companion, but Sarah Jane was still the best companion to Tom Baker's Doctor.
It really says something about me I think, that out of all of the very famous and in my opinion classic stories that you briefly mentioned on this list (and I realize I'm HORRIFICALLY late to this conversation but whatever), it's the Brain of Morbius that had me going "awww." I completely understand it as well, the lead villain is pretty hammy and Morbius himself is ludicrously over the top, not to mention the ungodly B-Movie Monster body he ended up getting. I however, find that's where the charm lays. It IS a pretty ridiculous B-Movie, but why can't Doctor Who have some campy fun every once in a while? It revels in how ridiculous everything is and both Baker and Slaten are on top form as always. The scenes where Slaten is fumbling around blind is tremendous in my opinion. And there's my little mini-essay on why I think Brains of Morbius should've been in this episode, other than that I love your work as always, first time commenter long time listener all that noise, and I can't wait to hear your opinions on the 2nd Doctor's era, especially now that the Macra Terror has been fully animated but a lot of the Era is still restricted to audio only at best with tv screencaps essentially.
Top call on Full Circle. Perhaps the most underrated Tom Baker era serial. The final E Space story Warriors' Gate is great as well. EDIT: You called it too!
Hated Gate, but Full Circle was amazing. I think its not as well regarded as it should be because it introduced possibly the worst classic series companion after Chameleon and Turlough.
I get alot of what you say but there is a reason why trod is the classic it is, it is rated as 1 of the top Baker stories in the mighty 200, yes the title gives alot away but saying that it's literally a timeless story, you can't discern whether it's meant to be in the future or past, the art deco style, personally I recommend it to everyone Check out the reasons why I love robots of death in my video if you want but I will warn you I go on about this story alot just like curse of fenric, reasons why, I love them both although I do start out with the story and plot
I First started watching Doctor (The 4th Doctor Tom Baker) Out of the seven years, and all the particular stories i would choose as the best That they made! Three come most definetley come to mind are 'Genesis Of The Daleks-The Brain Of Morbius- & The City Of Death.
Finally! Someone else who doesn’t understand the love for “Robots of Death”! I do like many things about it, but I think that this story would have been even better if the robots turned out to be acting independent to their creators instead of being reprogrammed into committing acts of violence
Wonderful vids, but Revenge of the Cybermen was the 1st vhs release, i think you meant DVD release, but i got what you meant. ALSO I agree , the only thing i like about Invasion of time is that scarf. Destiny is virtually the archetype Doctor Who story, according to a DWM article waaay back in 2001 i recall.
Ouch. I love Robots Of Death, it's always going to remain one of my all time favourite Tom Baker stories. But, Invasion Of Time, Destiny Of The Daleks and Revenge of the Cybermen? They're my guilty pleasure stories 😂 Still, always love to see a completely different opinion to mine :)
Get into that nuclear bunker ..robots is one of the best and you can't list the best without Genesis of the Daleks Pyramids of Mars or Brain of Morbius which has the classic line 'even the silent gastropods (??) of the hutie are heard within our bones'
i think its "the silent gas dirigibles of the Hoothie." the Hoothie are the main enemy in paul cornells 1992 7th dr novelisation "love and war" they are the same as mentioned in Brain of Morbius. ps you list of best stories is much better than this videos. i am in agreement with you. all the best
I began watching _Doctor Who_ in the eighties with the fourth Doctor. It was an acquired taste, but I grew to love it! Russell T. Davies said something to the effect that the Doctor should be weird, in order to show he was alien. Tom Baker pulled that aspect of the Doctor off better than any actor in the role before or since.
I'm still not done watching all of the Tom Baker stories, but he's still one of my favorite Doctors. My favorite ones so far would have to be: Genesis of the Daleks The Ark in Space The Brain of Morbius Terror of the Zygons The Deadly Assassin The Pirate Planet The Face of Evil
Although i don't agree with your findings, i appreciate the work you've done on this video. Robots of Death and Destiny of the Daleks are two of my favourites. Also The Android Invasion, Talons of Weng-Chiang and Terror of the Zygons. My 5 least favourites are The Creature From the Pit, Meglos, Nightmare of Eden and Leisure Hive...but rock-bottom is the travesty that is Underworld.
the most noticeable drop in quality I think came at the beginning of Season 15... everything after Horror of Fang Rock felt like a very, very different show... perhaps in response to that episode being one of the darkest and most violent of Doctor Who's entire run.
While there are many _UA-cam_ videos about how "off the rails" Doctor Who is in the 2000s, season 17 of the original series was the worst in terms of production, acting, and overall tone. There were good moments, but the style was high camp across the board and that made it a mess. Douglas Adams was to later remark (In "More than 30 Years in the TARDIS") "Humor that is meant to be funny is the least bit funny, in my opinion..." He mentioned people thinking that it gave them license to do silly voices, accents and generally be very over the top, which was not his style... I can't be sure if that was what he came up with to cover himself after poor reactions to his season as the script editor or if he genuinely felt that his ideas were misunderstood, but that season really pushed the limits of silliness to the brink...
The Brain of Morbius is vital 4th Doctor. Invasion of Time is a brilliant story with Baker’s best performances. Put aside the restrictions of the time.
Just to point out Baker was notoriously difficult to work with often coming to work late and drunk, but to his credit he knew this and almost every year he wondered if he should depart JNT was the person who refused to talk him out of it
0:38 Jon pertwee rotor. What I would've liked to see is after robot a scene in the 3rd Doctor's Tardis where they are on the way to the moon and Harry gives the helmic regulator a firm twist.
From the audios I’ve listened to, they’re not particularly outstanding. They’re mostly just focused on recreating the feel of the 4th Doctor’s era rather than trying to experiment and so they end up feeling pretty bog standard. I’m hoping I’m wrong though so do point me towards any 4th doctor audios that are up there with Big Finish’s best if you know of any
Tom Baker's era is so interesting for me. Its an era where the slightest stories are merely ill conceived or carried out. But nothing utterly unwatchable.
My top 5 Tom Baker stories are also the top 5 best Dr Who stories ever :- These are my 5 and haven't changed in years and probably never will :- 1. Terror of the Zygons 2. Pyramids of Mars 3. City of Death 4. Genesis of the Daleks 5. The Talons of Weng-Chiang
Hey guys, I wanna start watching classic who but idk where I should start. I’m thinking of starting by watching 4th Doctor’s era’s first. Or should I just start with 1st Doctor? But I heard theres a lot of missing episodes from those eras. IDK. Ye...
I recommend just jumping around. It’s too episodic, dry and filled with holes to start from 1963 and work your way up. Maybe try the Deadly Assassin or Genesis Of the Daleks as a good first story.
try a couple of stories form each doctor and see how you go, yes there are 9 stories each missing from the 1st and second doctor but from 3 on wards its complete. so... 1st doctor An unearthly child (1st story), Dalek invasion of earth (that speech) the Aztecs, War Machine and 10th planet (the first ever regeneration - and yes it's still in tact!!!) 2nd doctor Power of the Daleks - yes it's animated but it sets in place certain things that are used for the rest of the time in doctor who, ice warrior ,enemy of the world, mind robbers, web of fear - introducing a group that will be vital for the rest of the show, and war games (introducing the time lords and the idea a time lord can - sort of - control their regeneration!) 3rd doctor Spearhead from space, the three doctors, green death, time warrior (introducing one of the most beloved companions) and Planet of the spiders 4th doctor Robot (one totally demented doctor after regeneration!) Genesis of the daleks (many regard this as one of the best doctor who stories of all time) pyramid of mars, the key to time saga (6 seperate stories but one long arc - first time ever!) City of death, state of decay (love a good vampire story and the doctor had to do it at least once) and Logopolis (goodbye Tom, one of the gentlest regenerations!) 5th doctor Castrovala, Kinda, snake dance, terminus, the five doctors, resurrection of the daleks, and the caves of Androzani 6th twin delema, vengance on Vanos, the 2 doctors (meeting up with the legendary troughton in his last role) revelation of the daleks 7thRememberance of the daleks (that speech - if you want to be actually frightened of the doctor this will do it!), Battlefield, meeting up with an old friend one last time. And survival, the end of classic who. Some things for you to think about, hope it helps
Depressing to think the Armageddon Factor was the last traditional six-parter in the series history. I used to look forward to them as a kid. I don't know: some of your opinions are eccentric, but some seem spot on. Warriors' Gate is just brilliant: epic and claustrophobic at the same time. Plus that sense of historic grandeur clothed in cobwebs. Captured my imagination as a kid; still does more for me than anything in New Who.
The first Classic Who on video (Betamax by the way) was Revenge of the Cybermen, I would have to reread the list to double check what the first VHS story was but it is true that Robots of Death was one of the earliest DVD's.
Haven't read the replies, but I began watching Doctor Who with The Ark in Space when it was re-broadcast on PBS stations in the States, and Robots of Death did seem like an instant classic when it aired. Perhaps you had to be watching during the '70s/'80s to appreciate all of the episodes that didn't click for you? Maybe it's not just a "so-and-so was MY Doctor" thing as it can be a "such-and-such is MY kind of Who production" thing.
I really like Invasion of time, an excellent 4 episode serial against an unknown enemy where the Doctor has to pretend for near full duration. Now this serial is of course not to be confused with the 2 episode serial Invasion of time, a very lackluster running through corridors with some Sontarans.
Haha I love Robots of Death!!! “Please don’t throw hands at me” Probably helps that I like the 4th and Leela as an S Class companion!! 😁😁👍👍 Though her exit is the worse!! Agree 100%
I am NOT thrilled for the 'hot take' pick inevitably coming for the 3rd Doctor retrospective. Dreading it, and searching his tenure for a story worse than the one I have ready. Putting another fan-beloved favourite...will make my comment section miserable. For some it's THE fan-beloved favourite.
Tom certainly does have comic timing. I urge you to seek out the first episode of Charlie Higson's comedy, _Swiss Toni: 'Cars Don't Make You Fat,_ where Tom plays a washed-out director in the mould of Ken Russell.
It's a shame that Swiss Toni gets overlooked because of the extremely popular Black Adder episode he's in, as Tom makes much more of an impression in Swiss Toni than he did in BA. He has more lines and more scenes, and the barrage of double entendre that comes from his mouth are hilarious. _"I'm dying to squirt a 'bertie'"_
My favorite of Tom Baker; ARK IN SPACE (first of Tom’s I personally saw). So there is the sentimental, nostalgic factor met. If I was pressed for another answer I would say; TERROR OF THE ZYGONS bc I like the villains even if it’s a generic body snatchers plot
interesting choices... Personally I would have put it like this: BEST: Deadly Assassin Seeds of Doom Pyramids of Mars Talons of Weng Chiang Terror of the Zygons WORST: Invasion of Time (agree with you there) Underworld Invisible Enemy Full Circle Image of Fendahl
Ok, so you have your opinion and I'll leave it at that. Great video and well thought out. Oh screw it. Robots of Death is one of Bakers best episodes. Those robots was creepy as hell. Full Circle is a good episode but I can think of 3 other episodes that are way better: Seeds of Death Pyramids of Mars Genesis of the Daleks
Dear Samuel Davis. I like your contrarionism (sp?) and video. Would love to get your take on the first 3 Drs though. And I might as well give my case for the defence of the Robots of Death. The design and voices of the robots of death are amongst the best of the classic heroes - perhaps even better Cybermen than the Cybermen. The claustrophobia is part of the idea and appeal of the show and the show taps into a kind of 'fear of technology and robots taking over' I think. Still, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Agree that Pyramids is overrated though - apart from Sutekh himself.
How did Underworld not make the 5 worst list? Interesting that your earlier maligning of JNT didn't result in one of Baker's final season stories making the worst list. And then having TWO stories from JNT's reign make the best of list (which I also like, though).
@@SamyulDavis Meh, Underworld always seemed the epitome of bland, from the (derivative) story to the visuals, which are FAR inferior to Warriors' Gate. As a child this blandness extended from Underworld to Sunmakers to Invasion of Time, but now as an adult I appreciate the wit, humor, dialog and depiction of taxation in Sunmakers making it entertaining. Similarly I used to be unimpressed with Androids of Tara within the Key to Time season, probably because other than that briefly seen laughable guy in a fur suit monster/animal, there were no monsters. But now I enjoy it for the dialog and characters, as I do with Ribos Operation. I'd put Pirate Planet up there with City of Death since they are both penned by Adams and full or rip-roaring lines, but Pirate does suffer from the Mentiads.
Pity Tom Baker got typecasted as "The Doctor" and got trouble getting other work as a result and he has been up and down about it.
But I love the fact that he’s honestly so thrilled by it now. So very thankful. And has allowed the role to become what his life has been (and is) about.
Aside from that, look up him talking about the last time he met Liz Sladen. Still makes me cry.
Doctor Who?
That’s another difference between classic and new who: classic who actors were typecast and seemed to struggle after they left the show whereas new who actors seem to thrive after they leave and go on to have a successful career, looking at you David Tennant.
It’s a pity that Tom Baker didn’t go on to have more success. I really believe that if a 40 year old Tom Baker was starting out as the new Doctor Who today, he would go on to do well post Who. I imagine that he’d have a career similar to Benedict Cumberbatch.
@Brian Sands I could’ve sworn that was _before_ Doctor Who; in fact, I’m fairly sure that was a role that helped him _get_ the role 😅
I mean it's the same for most of them haha
Basically it's just new who actors who kept being in films and shows
Tennant is the most successful because he played against type, in a lot of big stuff
Smith mainly got bit parts unfortunately like Genysis, similar to Capaldi like in The Suicide Squad
But now Smith's playing Daemon goddamn Targaryen in fire and blood, literally the coolest ASOIAF character, like a dragon riding Oberyn, stoked for him
Ecclestone mainly just played shlock villains like in GI Joe haha
But the rest of the classic docs basically just became convention mainstays for the rest of their careers, sadly
Romana is definitely my favourite of his companions, mainly Lalla Ward, but I do love Mary Tamm's dry wit.
Rather than make the Doctor a woman (which caused me to stop watching after 43 years) ... they should have just brought back Romana and given her her own show - let that stand on its own merits. instead ... they killed the show.
Nautilus1972 tell you what, if I ever become show runner, I'll bring her back.
Nautilus1972 spot on
I liked Mary Tamm more because she reminded me of Emma Peel from The Avengers.
Should taken Toms hint ‘ and congratulations on who ever he or she is?!”
Not going to lie, for every great story you listed wouldn't be on here I flinched in almost pain. I love Robots of Death, it has some of the best lines: "You are the classic example of the inverse ratio between the size of the mouth and the size of the brain." It's such a good put down.
Exactly- its a masterpiece! ..." Someone interrupted Chub alright, with both hands! " ......." That one's ready to kill!"........ " Would you like a Jelly Baby? A simple no thank you would have sufficed!"....... " That is a simple function "D" class Robot, D for Dumb, it doesn't speak! Has anyone told him that?? "
I thought that was Rhett and Link...
"Please do not throw hands at me."
'Robots of Death' is one of the best serials of the classic series. I'm baffled it was chosen as one of the worst.
@@overtheoverseerI agree. Very hard to take his list seriously after that.
I love Robots of Death, it was the first classic who story I ever watched.
Same here, you should check out what have today about it, warning I have alot to say
I own it on DVD.
One of the best Dr Who stories of all the Doctors.
Again, it was the 2nd classic I ever watched.
And the big flaw is: from the middle of the second episode on you know who is the traitor. Oh, the guy who orders to kill Zilda wears black and white striped trousers. That narrows it down to... one?
Revenge of the Cybermen was the 1st VHS release
I agree with Romana II being Toms best companion. She’s actually my favourite companion in general :)
I'm a Romana I man myself.
@@sjng68 I respect that, Romana 1 was fantastic!
Thank god somebody else likes full circle, it's my favourite story ever
From a personal stand point (and I don't know why this is) Full Circle had one of the first moments of dread I had felt watching the show, in seasons.
I don't know why but the scene (he shows in this video) when Romana opens the door, and lets in the swamp monsters, gave me chills. And I saw this as an adult, but for some reason that shot gave me an "Oh shit, they are screwed now" feeling, that I don't normally get from the classic era
Heck, I'm going to go on a limb and say that the new direction that JNT took the show was the best thing to happen to Baker's run since Sarah Jane's exit
I just really love that final series and think that all of the stories are at the very least enjoyable watches, and there's not a truly bad one in the lot
Been waiting all day for this. Omg it's here!!!
I'm still not clear on why everyone hates Revenge of the Cybermen so much. I love the premise, the Cybermen and Vogans are well-realized and acted, things move along at a great pace, there's lots of action and explosions, the underground location shooting works very well, and Baker is at his witty best in his insulting matches with the Cyber Leader. I even enjoyed seeing it depict an alien race that reverts into a civil war among all the other drama... a very well-layered script. Kellman's a cool character too. The only things that didn't work for me were the poor model work of Voga during the crash sequence and how you could clearly tell a lot of corpses in the hallway were mannequins.
Because Tom Bakers Doctor doesn't work well with them. The Cybermen are also just wrongly characterized. Emotional cybermen isn't a thing. I think it's also just boring.
I'm not going to follow you down some of these rabbit holes...
But, "When you're too silly for Tom Baker, It's time to readjust." is a GREAT line!
My takeaway from this video is that I need to watch Warriors Gate NOW.
Talons has everything with the exception of the giant rat (of Sumatra) Magnus Greel has enough back story for a whole adventure or even a spin off series. Jago and Litefoot, Deep Roy’s chilling Peking Homonculous. The BBC has a reputation for period drama and the streets and Palace Theatre are some of the best sets in the series. It’s a great adventure and rightfully my favourite TB serial.
Agreed, had my Adams bias not been so strong- this would certainly be on there.
There's an audio story where Jago and Litefoot meet Magnus Greel again.
I disagree about Shada 2017, it think it did a great job adapting the story
To be honest, every time I watch robots of death I always forget who the human villain is.
There was a human villain ???
I love the bit at 8:53 because It looks like the cyberleader is giving the doctor a massage.
The Doctor: *Alright, Alright, ALRIGHT! We surrender!"
I love that moment.
The 4th Doctor? You mean...
*The Curator*
The Curator made very clear that he is not the Fourth, he merely took his appearance for his current regeneration once more ("You‘ll find yourself re-visiting the faces in your memory - but only the favorite ones.“). And with Eleven to Twelve - in a way - we already saw a regeneration like that.
@@d4rksonic474 So The Curator is another time lord with an affection for Classic Who?
maskiiofficial No, he is the doctor, but he‘s a regeneration from the future, making him somewhat different (like the War Doctor). The affection for Classic Who could be true though, although his appereance was only the Fourth, because Tom Baker made up for declining reprising the Fourth in "The Five Doctors".
The Curator is a future incarnation of the Doctor who has the appearance of an elderly Fourth Doctor who has taken up curating just as he said he would. Simple as that.
michaelncube 11 I think the Curator is the Doctor however he can choose his face although his face might look aged or different from how he remembers
You may have already been told this but Revenge Of The Cybermen was the first VHS release not Robots Of Death. Revenge came out in 1983 and cost nearly forty quid!
What is it with cult series and hard-to-find releases?
(I could've saved myself a lot of trouble in the comments if I had just added 'one of the first' and not taken the off-the-cuff unscripted leap.
Robots of Death was however, the first Doctor Who DVD released as part of the official series.
The first Doctor Who DVD was The Five Doctors but the first DVD with the roundels design was Robots of Death
"Write a script with nothing there"
Chibnall: Series 11
Apart from placing Robots of Death on the worst list (sure, I can take over rated, but it's not worse than Underworld or Meglos for example) this is a solid list. The season 12/13 stuff you avoided already gets it's due for being epic so highlighting treasures like Full Circle and Warrior's Gate is awesome. Totally agree how Destiny ans Revenge sully the reputations of their monsters.
Yep. 'Robots of Death' is better than any serial from Season 16 onwards.
@@overtheoverseer hmm no Robots of Deaths is an average whodunit story. Nothing brilliant
the seeds of doom scared me for 5 years when i first watched it on VHS and yet i still watch it to this day. definitely my favourite tom baker story
The Hinchcliffe Holmes years provided some of the most terrifying TV experiences of my childhood,to the extent that I still have occasional nightmares about them well over 40 years later
Yesss! I'm so glad you like Full Circle and Warrior's Gate amongst the top of the Baker stories. I love it when Doctor Who goes more into sci-fi concepts rather than chasing romps. I'm also immensely relieved that someone else finds Genesis of the Daleks to be bloated. It's such a staple fan-favourite and I hate it because the pacing is so slow.
My top 5 in no particular order:
Full Circle, Warrior's Gate, The Seeds of Doom, City of Death, The Ark in Space
While I would rate Genesis Of The Daleks as among the best stories it is also definitely flawed - for episodes 3 and 4 drag.
8:05 "Oh look, rocks." That's the one of the few lines I remember from Destiny of the Daleks beyond generic Dalek shouting.
That would be like if: (SPOILERS FOR MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS.)
Murder on the Orient Express was called, "Everyone killed him."
Revenge is balls, but it has Harry and Sarah in so it scores points.
Ark in Space was fantastic and didn't even get a mention here. Absolutely my favorite episode with Harry and Sarah, if only for the 'indomitable homosapien' speech from Tom.
A few months ago I finally got the last 4th Doctor DVD!!! Own his whole run! I own the 7th and 2nd Doctors whole run as well.
all of seconds that IS AVAILABLE there are 9 stories missing, you can listen to them though, the audio is still available.
So refreshing to not see just another rehash of perceived fandom favourites.
To be fair a lot of stories are favourites for good reasons.
You mean ACTUAL fan favorites.
It would have been too easy to put Pyramids of Mars and Genesis of the Daleks, since they’re practically god tier classics.
@@Ben-vf5gk is it ?
@@Ben-vf5gk the good reason is that the Hinchcliffe era was watched by a lot of people and "traumatized" a lot of children back then. When these children became grown up, they started to talk about this era as the Golden Age of the show and that's why now, it is sooo popular. But it has nothing to do with writing being "objectively" better or some other nonsense
Yes... City of Death is definitely one of my favourites too, along with Androids of Tara. I also have a soft spot for Stones of Blood, but only because it mentions my university (Bangor)... Masque of Mandragora was filmed just down the road as well (as were Abominable Snowmen and The Five Doctors).
Very surprised with some of your choices. The best list I would totally agree with (the Shada Novel is great, I've read it twice). The worst list is a bit of a toss-up from me. Lots of it I do agree with, but I'm glad this was different from the usual Tom Baker lists that just give Genesis a tongue bath. Now I love Genesis, but it's nice to see something different.
My viewing of the classic episodes has been on hold for the last few years since I've no way of accessing them which really triggers me
Power of Kroll is hugely underrated. I agree with most of your criticisms but I enjoyed Armageddon factor. It did some clever things with setting up the scope despite the limitations. The cliffhangers are par for the course tbh, it wouldn't be classic who without the shitty cliffhangers.
I actually like all Doctor Who as I always give each story a chance and have no negative comments on it.
Also "Nightmare of Eden" has a special place in my heart as it was my first Classic Who story.
I think androids of Tara is possibly the most underrated Dr who episode ever. I loved this thing so much... It had everything I wanted from a Tom Baker story and I feel it's possible up there as one of my favorites of all classic who
Full Circle was brilliant. But it goes Spiders>Marshmen>People. Not People>Marshmen. Romana II was a great companion, but Sarah Jane was still the best companion to Tom Baker's Doctor.
I am a 4th doctor FAN like mega fan and you know I agree with all of your worst and all of your best.
after years of bugging you, It's finally here! eek
It really says something about me I think, that out of all of the very famous and in my opinion classic stories that you briefly mentioned on this list (and I realize I'm HORRIFICALLY late to this conversation but whatever), it's the Brain of Morbius that had me going "awww." I completely understand it as well, the lead villain is pretty hammy and Morbius himself is ludicrously over the top, not to mention the ungodly B-Movie Monster body he ended up getting.
I however, find that's where the charm lays. It IS a pretty ridiculous B-Movie, but why can't Doctor Who have some campy fun every once in a while? It revels in how ridiculous everything is and both Baker and Slaten are on top form as always. The scenes where Slaten is fumbling around blind is tremendous in my opinion.
And there's my little mini-essay on why I think Brains of Morbius should've been in this episode, other than that I love your work as always, first time commenter long time listener all that noise, and I can't wait to hear your opinions on the 2nd Doctor's era, especially now that the Macra Terror has been fully animated but a lot of the Era is still restricted to audio only at best with tv screencaps essentially.
You got eclectic taste lol and that explains EVERYTHING ❤️🤘❤️
Top call on Full Circle. Perhaps the most underrated Tom Baker era serial. The final E Space story Warriors' Gate is great as well.
EDIT: You called it too!
Hated Gate, but Full Circle was amazing. I think its not as well regarded as it should be because it introduced possibly the worst classic series companion after Chameleon and Turlough.
According to Tom there was pretty much no acting involved in him playing the Doctor and he was just playing himself.
I get alot of what you say but there is a reason why trod is the classic it is, it is rated as 1 of the top Baker stories in the mighty 200, yes the title gives alot away but saying that it's literally a timeless story, you can't discern whether it's meant to be in the future or past, the art deco style, personally I recommend it to everyone
Check out the reasons why I love robots of death in my video if you want but I will warn you I go on about this story alot just like curse of fenric, reasons why, I love them both although I do start out with the story and plot
Sarah WAS better with Pertwee! Someone else said it!
Aloysius Whiteboat nope. Sarah, Harry and the forth doctor were terrific
You can split Tom Baker's tenure into two parts: three great years (seasons 12-14) and four bad years (seasons 15-18).
I First started watching Doctor (The 4th Doctor Tom Baker) Out of the seven years, and all the particular stories i would choose as the best That they made! Three come most definetley come to mind are 'Genesis Of The Daleks-The Brain Of Morbius- & The City Of Death.
Finally! Someone else who doesn’t understand the love for “Robots of Death”! I do like many things about it, but I think that this story would have been even better if the robots turned out to be acting independent to their creators instead of being reprogrammed into committing acts of violence
Love your content
The shadow had his moments. I'll give you that.
Love this video. Some of the views are controversial but very well argued.
My favorite episodes are Pyramids of Mars, Horror of Fang Rock, Brain of Morbius and Talons of Weng Cheing.
13:54 Does it bug anyone else that that circuit board isn't actually plugged into anything?
different opinions are not allowed here accept genesis of the daleks or suffer
Wonderful vids, but Revenge of the Cybermen was the 1st vhs release, i think you meant DVD release, but i got what you meant. ALSO I agree , the only thing i like about Invasion of time is that scarf. Destiny is virtually the archetype Doctor Who story, according to a DWM article waaay back in 2001 i recall.
Ouch. I love Robots Of Death, it's always going to remain one of my all time favourite Tom Baker stories. But, Invasion Of Time, Destiny Of The Daleks and Revenge of the Cybermen? They're my guilty pleasure stories 😂
Still, always love to see a completely different opinion to mine :)
I'm happy you put shada in there, it's my favorite
A great many things have been said about Tom Baker, but you must agree that after seven years playing the Role. He's remains among top fan favorites
Get into that nuclear bunker
..robots is one of the best and you can't list the best without Genesis of the Daleks Pyramids of Mars or Brain of Morbius which has the classic line 'even the silent gastropods (??) of the hutie are heard within our bones'
i think its "the silent gas dirigibles of the Hoothie." the Hoothie are the main enemy in paul cornells 1992 7th dr novelisation "love and war" they are the same as mentioned in Brain of Morbius. ps you list of best stories is much better than this videos. i am in agreement with you. all the best
I began watching _Doctor Who_ in the eighties with the fourth Doctor. It was an acquired taste, but I grew to love it! Russell T. Davies said something to the effect that the Doctor should be weird, in order to show he was alien. Tom Baker pulled that aspect of the Doctor off better than any actor in the role before or since.
Weird since both the Ninth and Tenth Doctor were both down to earth by Doctor standards
I really like invasion of time
I'm still not done watching all of the Tom Baker stories, but he's still one of my favorite Doctors. My favorite ones so far would have to be:
Genesis of the Daleks
The Ark in Space
The Brain of Morbius
Terror of the Zygons
The Deadly Assassin
The Pirate Planet
The Face of Evil
Although i don't agree with your findings, i appreciate the work you've done on this video. Robots of Death and Destiny of the Daleks are two of my favourites. Also The Android Invasion, Talons of Weng-Chiang and Terror of the Zygons. My 5 least favourites are The Creature From the Pit, Meglos, Nightmare of Eden and Leisure Hive...but rock-bottom is the travesty that is Underworld.
the most noticeable drop in quality I think came at the beginning of Season 15... everything after Horror of Fang Rock felt like a very, very different show... perhaps in response to that episode being one of the darkest and most violent of Doctor Who's entire run.
Hand of fear is a personal favourite of mine
Season 17 was tooooo silly for me. It was when the producers had lost control over the show’s direction
You clearly haven’t watched series 1-11 of Nu-Who then.
While there are many _UA-cam_ videos about how "off the rails" Doctor Who is in the 2000s, season 17 of the original series was the worst in terms of production, acting, and overall tone. There were good moments, but the style was high camp across the board and that made it a mess.
Douglas Adams was to later remark (In "More than 30 Years in the TARDIS") "Humor that is meant to be funny is the least bit funny, in my opinion..." He mentioned people thinking that it gave them license to do silly voices, accents and generally be very over the top, which was not his style...
I can't be sure if that was what he came up with to cover himself after poor reactions to his season as the script editor or if he genuinely felt that his ideas were misunderstood, but that season really pushed the limits of silliness to the brink...
You guys notice that he (almost) only talks about the episode count when it is a bad story.
It's when its the most noticeable!
The Brain of Morbius is vital 4th Doctor. Invasion of Time is a brilliant story with Baker’s best performances. Put aside the restrictions of the time.
Just to point out Baker was notoriously difficult to work with often coming to work late and drunk, but to his credit he knew this and almost every year he wondered if he should depart JNT was the person who refused to talk him out of it
0:38 Jon pertwee rotor. What I would've liked to see is after robot a scene in the 3rd Doctor's Tardis where they are on the way to the moon and Harry gives the helmic regulator a firm twist.
no big finish 4th doctor stories?!
theres over 120 of them, not to mention the crossovers
From the audios I’ve listened to, they’re not particularly outstanding. They’re mostly just focused on recreating the feel of the 4th Doctor’s era rather than trying to experiment and so they end up feeling pretty bog standard. I’m hoping I’m wrong though so do point me towards any 4th doctor audios that are up there with Big Finish’s best if you know of any
Tom Baker's era is so interesting for me. Its an era where the slightest stories are merely ill conceived or carried out. But nothing utterly unwatchable.
My top 5 Tom Baker stories are also the top 5 best Dr Who stories ever :-
These are my 5 and haven't changed in years and probably never will :-
1. Terror of the Zygons
2. Pyramids of Mars
3. City of Death
4. Genesis of the Daleks
5. The Talons of Weng-Chiang
half of the stories in your list are good, not great. Incredibly overrated
Hey guys, I wanna start watching classic who but idk where I should start. I’m thinking of starting by watching 4th Doctor’s era’s first. Or should I just start with 1st Doctor? But I heard theres a lot of missing episodes from those eras. IDK. Ye...
I recommend just jumping around. It’s too episodic, dry and filled with holes to start from 1963 and work your way up. Maybe try the Deadly Assassin or Genesis Of the Daleks as a good first story.
try a couple of stories form each doctor and see how you go, yes there are 9 stories each missing from the 1st and second doctor but from 3 on wards its complete. so...
1st doctor An unearthly child (1st story), Dalek invasion of earth (that speech) the Aztecs, War Machine and 10th planet (the first ever regeneration - and yes it's still in tact!!!)
2nd doctor Power of the Daleks - yes it's animated but it sets in place certain things that are used for the rest of the time in doctor who, ice warrior ,enemy of the world, mind robbers, web of fear - introducing a group that will be vital for the rest of the show, and war games (introducing the time lords and the idea a time lord can - sort of - control their regeneration!)
3rd doctor Spearhead from space, the three doctors, green death, time warrior (introducing one of the most beloved companions) and Planet of the spiders
4th doctor Robot (one totally demented doctor after regeneration!) Genesis of the daleks (many regard this as one of the best doctor who stories of all time) pyramid of mars, the key to time saga (6 seperate stories but one long arc - first time ever!) City of death, state of decay (love a good vampire story and the doctor had to do it at least once) and Logopolis (goodbye Tom, one of the gentlest regenerations!)
5th doctor Castrovala, Kinda, snake dance, terminus, the five doctors, resurrection of the daleks, and the caves of Androzani
6th twin delema, vengance on Vanos, the 2 doctors (meeting up with the legendary troughton in his last role) revelation of the daleks
7thRememberance of the daleks (that speech - if you want to be actually frightened of the doctor this will do it!), Battlefield, meeting up with an old friend one last time. And survival, the end of classic who.
Some things for you to think about, hope it helps
The Invisible Enemy has one of the best and most chilling episode 1's but then goes gradually downhill.
Depressing to think the Armageddon Factor was the last traditional six-parter in the series history. I used to look forward to them as a kid. I don't know: some of your opinions are eccentric, but some seem spot on. Warriors' Gate is just brilliant: epic and claustrophobic at the same time. Plus that sense of historic grandeur clothed in cobwebs. Captured my imagination as a kid; still does more for me than anything in New Who.
The first Classic Who on video (Betamax by the way) was Revenge of the Cybermen, I would have to reread the list to double check what the first VHS story was but it is true that Robots of Death was one of the earliest DVD's.
I speak very loosely in these one-take videos, to the horror of some older trivia-heavy fans.
@@SamyulDavis. I am very pleased to be a Whovian who feeds on Trivial and nourishing nostalgic nonsense. ☺
I meant Trivia.
Nige031077 (same)
Memories of the Keys of Marinus - although separated into individual stories.
I have the 1981 annual! It was brilliant
Oh yes, I love the Shada novel so much
Haven't read the replies, but I began watching Doctor Who with The Ark in Space when it was re-broadcast on PBS stations in the States, and Robots of Death did seem like an instant classic when it aired. Perhaps you had to be watching during the '70s/'80s to appreciate all of the episodes that didn't click for you? Maybe it's not just a "so-and-so was MY Doctor" thing as it can be a "such-and-such is MY kind of Who production" thing.
Warrior's Gate benefited from the novelization. One of my favorite Doctor Who books.
"I wouldn't even say no to a bologna sandwich"
I’ll be honest, when you talked about Robots of death, it took me at least a minute before I realised ‘Oh I’ve seen this one!’
I really like Invasion of time, an excellent 4 episode serial against an unknown enemy where the Doctor has to pretend for near full duration. Now this serial is of course not to be confused with the 2 episode serial Invasion of time, a very lackluster running through corridors with some Sontarans.
Haha I love Robots of Death!!!
“Please don’t throw hands at me”
Probably helps that I like the 4th and Leela as an S Class companion!! 😁😁👍👍
Though her exit is the worse!! Agree 100%
some nice fresh insight, but I still love robots of death.
I am NOT thrilled for the 'hot take' pick inevitably coming for the 3rd Doctor retrospective. Dreading it, and searching his tenure for a story worse than the one I have ready. Putting another fan-beloved favourite...will make my comment section miserable. For some it's THE fan-beloved favourite.
Am I the only one who absolutely adores Revenge of the Cybermen
It was the first classic episode I saw so I’ve kinda got a soft spot for it
Someone finally gives Full Circle some love
Dare I SAY it...I love your hot takes!
"Easy JNT Bashing" ALL too easy! LOL
During the key of time stories combine other Doctors together call the four Doctors
Tom certainly does have comic timing. I urge you to seek out the first episode of Charlie Higson's comedy, _Swiss Toni: 'Cars Don't Make You Fat,_ where Tom plays a washed-out director in the mould of Ken Russell.
That sounds great. I always loved him as the drunk sailor in Blackadder.
It's a shame that Swiss Toni gets overlooked because of the extremely popular Black Adder episode he's in, as Tom makes much more of an impression in Swiss Toni than he did in BA. He has more lines and more scenes, and the barrage of double entendre that comes from his mouth are hilarious.
_"I'm dying to squirt a 'bertie'"_
DAVIS you have a WOMAN’S hand, my Lord
Here's the episode and it's actually on Rhys Thomas' (co-star of Swiss Toni) channel. ua-cam.com/video/hCfLdQLJS3U/v-deo.html&ab_channel=RhysThomas
My favorite of Tom Baker; ARK IN SPACE (first of Tom’s I personally saw). So there is the sentimental, nostalgic factor met. If I was pressed for another answer I would say; TERROR OF THE ZYGONS bc I like the villains even if it’s a generic body snatchers plot
interesting choices... Personally I would have put it like this:
BEST:
Deadly Assassin
Seeds of Doom
Pyramids of Mars
Talons of Weng Chiang
Terror of the Zygons
WORST:
Invasion of Time (agree with you there)
Underworld
Invisible Enemy
Full Circle
Image of Fendahl
"Revenge" had Cybermen that held their front pieces onto their chest via nipple rings, but "Destiny" had a Boney M tribute band... choices choices.
Ok, so you have your opinion and I'll leave it at that. Great video and well thought out.
Oh screw it. Robots of Death is one of Bakers best episodes. Those robots was creepy as hell. Full Circle is a good episode but I can think of 3 other episodes that are way better:
Seeds of Death
Pyramids of Mars
Genesis of the Daleks
Wasn't Julian Glover in Indiana Jones and the last crusade?
Yes, and briefly in The Empire Strikes Back as well.
Definitely agree with Deadly Assassin and City of Death. The others ….eh meh except for the last one I’ve never seen it.
Robots of Death doesn't even work as a whodunit, because the villain is revealed half way through the second episode of four...
I ain't mad but I'm disappointed I didn't get to hear your impression of Sutek the Destroyer
I think I did Gabriel’s Satan voice in a video once!
I may be a Boo My next Who video tonight has just that!
Dear Samuel Davis. I like your contrarionism (sp?) and video. Would love to get your take on the first 3 Drs though. And I might as well give my case for the defence of the Robots of Death. The design and voices of the robots of death are amongst the best of the classic heroes - perhaps even better Cybermen than the Cybermen. The claustrophobia is part of the idea and appeal of the show and the show taps into a kind of 'fear of technology and robots taking over' I think. Still, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Agree that Pyramids is overrated though - apart from Sutekh himself.
How did Underworld not make the 5 worst list?
Interesting that your earlier maligning of JNT didn't result in one of Baker's final season stories making the worst list. And then having TWO stories from JNT's reign make the best of list (which I also like, though).
Underworld is at the very least, adventurous and experimental. If I called it out for its visual style, I'd then feel silly praising Warrior's Gate.
@@SamyulDavis Meh, Underworld always seemed the epitome of bland, from the (derivative) story to the visuals, which are FAR inferior to Warriors' Gate. As a child this blandness extended from Underworld to Sunmakers to Invasion of Time, but now as an adult I appreciate the wit, humor, dialog and depiction of taxation in Sunmakers making it entertaining. Similarly I used to be unimpressed with Androids of Tara within the Key to Time season, probably because other than that briefly seen laughable guy in a fur suit monster/animal, there were no monsters. But now I enjoy it for the dialog and characters, as I do with Ribos Operation.
I'd put Pirate Planet up there with City of Death since they are both penned by Adams and full or rip-roaring lines, but Pirate does suffer from the Mentiads.