When summing up the number of stories, you might have thought that I would finish the 5th Doctor next. In fact, when doing something like this, unless going in order, I would think that the Second Doctor would be nearly the last one to finish just due to the volume of reconstructions that have to be tackled. Personally, I think it stands as a testament as to my enjoyment of the Second Doctor that he is the fourth Doctor for me to finish his stories.
Now, it should be pointed out that while I would rate the Second Doctor as my favorite, his stories can leave a lot to be desired. Obviously there is the whole issue with the fact that most of them have one or more missing episodes, but on top of that, you have a number of stories that are very heavily padded and can just drag things out to no end. I've lost count on the number of six-part or more stories that I admit that I would have rated higher if they had just been trimmed down a bit. The Abominable Snowmen is one that immediately comes to mind in that regard. So it is important to note that while I will consider the Second Doctor to be my favorite, at least of the classic era, there is a good chance that he will not have the highest average rating as far as his stories go.
So what is it about the Second Doctor that sets him above say the Fourth Doctor, who is the default favorite Doctor for many fans, certainly of the American persuasion? For me, I think it's the balance the Second Doctor has between being on his heels and also in control of the situation. The Second Doctor has a scene in nearly every story where he appears to be caught off guard or surprised or in some kind of trouble. But at the same time, he also almost always has a scene where he leans back and simply out-thinks his enemy. He maneuvers in such a way that he'll use their strength or an unknown weakness against them. It's a control such as we see with the Seventh Doctor, but not so much control as to make the plot seem completely irrelevant due to his ability to see so far forward.
Another aspect of the Second Doctor that I find appealing is that he is probably the warmest of the Doctors. If the First Doctor developed into a more kindly, grandfatherly type figure, the Second Doctor fully embraced the pleasure in just being with others and helping people. One of the Second Doctor's most famous moments is his little pep talk with Victoria about mourning her father in The Tomb of the Cybermen. It is nearly impossible to imagine any other Doctor giving that kind of warm reassurance just because of how alien and removed from humanity they become. While you want the Doctor to have a measure of alien-ness, it's nice to have that reassurance that he is looking out for those he cares about while battling the various "beasties" as Jamie would say.
The companions are another aspect of the Second Doctor era to think of. Jamie is great stand-out as he is the Second Doctor's companion for all but his first story. He also was a fine example of how a person from the past could make a great companion as he is forced to need a bit more explanation than a more modern companion would. He also was the staple man of action, both for good and for ill as he occasionally would wreck the Doctor's plans with his bull rushes.
Jamie's addition was to the detriment of Ben, who was not a bad companion but was short-changed by the loss of lines and action moments to Jamie. Polly got it a bit better at times but the temptation to due to the kettle joke kept her in an overly passive roll too often, although I think that would have happened to just about any female companion.
Then you have the contrasts with Victoria and Zoe. Victoria took over the Polly role with the damsel in distress but unfortunately didn't ever add much. While Polly had moments of dynamism and charm, Victoria was almost always demure and the first voice to suggest fleeing. Victoria never caught the spirit of adventure which did make her departure in Fury From the Deep feel that much more natural.
In contrast, you have Zoe, a sharp dynamic woman who wants nothing more than to go out, have adventures and grow as an overall person. Her personality also lent itself so well as she would often go toe-to-toe with the Doctor in intellectual sparring matches, adding more comedy as she bested him on occasion. Zoe could be the damsel in distress but she wouldn't go lying down and would at least put up a sharp fight. Unquestionably, the companion relationship was at it's height in Season Six with Jamie and Zoe.
Overall, the Second Doctor is just one that I enjoy and I'm rather sad that I've finished all of his stories. Obviously I can go back and watched them all again, but there's something special about seeing a story for a first time. Of course, perhaps we'll get lucky and someone will discover more missing episodes of his era. It's about as close as we could get to new classic episodes and I would imagine that it would only raise the Second Doctor's profile if more of his era could be seen. But for now, I'll just appreciate what we have and enjoy that.
Highest Rated Story: The War Games - 5.0
Lowest Rated Story: The Underwater Menace - 1.5
Average overall rating: 3.36
The Power of the Daleks
The Power of the Daleks (animated)
The Highlanders
The Underwater Menace
The Moonbase
The Macra Terror
The Faceless Ones
The Evil of the Daleks
The Tomb of the Cybermen
The Abominable Snowmen
The Ice Warriors
The Enemy of the World
The Web of Fear
Fury From the Deep
The Wheel in Space
The Dominators
The Mind Robber
The Invasion
The Krotons
The Seeds of Death
The Space Pirates
The War Games
No comments:
Post a Comment