Exiled to Earth by the Time Lords, the Third Doctor found himself working for UNIT as their scientific advisor after aiding the organisation previously when the Yeti and Cybermen came to town. An era mostly based in 1970s Earth, the Third Doctor era saw the Time Lord work with regulars to show in the Brigadier, Sgt Benton and Captain Yates, all fantastic. And who can forget, the Third Doctor era was the first in colour, Doctor Who had a new dimension.
The Third Doctor is introduced to our screens by falling out of the TARDIS. Spearhead from Space is a fantastic introductory serial to kick off season 7. The wonderful companion of Liz Shaw is introduced and she's just amazing! I really wish she could've have stayed for more than one season. Doctor Who and the Silurians then followed and it was a masterclass!
At this point in the season Liz had already established herself as a fantastic companion and remains in my top 3 companions of all time. She was just marvellous and it's a massive shame she only appeared in four serials. The Ambassadors of Death soon followed but I wasn't massively keen on it and felt the story was overrated. The seventh season finished on a relative high with Inferno where the Doctor visited a parallel universe and saw Liz play her last role in the show. It's a tragedy we never got to see her depart but I'm very much looking forward to purchasing The Blue Tooth audio that features the wonderful Caroline John and sees the Third Doctor battle the Cybermen!
Season 8 starts in style with Terror of the Autons. It debuts two infamous foes in the Master and the Autons and also sees popular companion Jo Grant make her first appearance as companion. The season would soon become famous as the 'Master season' as the marvellous foe expertly portrayed by Roger Delgado would be seen in each serial. The Mind of Evil is an amazing story and ranks high on my list of my favourite stories.
The Claws of Axos managed to top that though and was a marvellous serial with brilliant villains in the Axons.
Colony in Space was probably the worst of the season but it was actually very good in its own right! The Master's arrival in it was outstanding. The Daemons finished off the season strongly and one thing was certain after season 8 of Doctor Who- the Master had arrived. You had the Daleks and Cybermen, even the Ice Warriors and the Yeti who'd been returning foes, but I don't think any had made the impact that the renegade Time Lord of the Master had. He was late joining the party, but man he lit it on fire when he did eventually arrive!
After 5 years away from our screens, the opening serial of season 9 saw the long awaited return of the Daleks! Day of the Daleks was an excellent serial but even so I think it could have been stronger and the Daleks having a triumphant return.
The Curse of Peladon followed and saw the return of another popular and infamous foe- the Ice Warriors. The story itself was good but I didn't like the lack of bad intentions in the Ice Warriors, and I'm still awaiting their evilness to return to this day despite them featuring in two more Who stories since! I am though hoping that the likes of Red Dawn and Mission to Magnus do the fantastic villains justice and return them to their 1960s glory.
The Master soon returns halfway through season 9 in The Sea Devils, an extremely popular serial home to a way overrated cliffhanger. The story itself is excellent but I've never understood why people make a big fuss over that cliffhanger. The Mutants followed and although it's not the most memorable of stories I enjoyed it!
The ninth season of Doctor Who finished very well with the brilliant The Time Monster. Featuring the Master once more, this serial was excellent. I think it epitomised how good the Master really was, frequently returning but you never ever got sick of him as the villain because he was so darn great!
A milestone then occurred. Doctor Who reached its tenth season and with that a wonderful story needed to be created, bringing the three Doctors we've known on screen together in one adventure. William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton both return in the absolutely fantastic The Three Doctors. The story doesn't just unite three Doctors, it sees another infamous foe for the first time. Omega. A quite outstanding enemy! Carnival of Monsters had a lot to follow up on after an amazing season opener and it didn't quite equal it's preceding serial, it was actually good!
Frontier in Space saw the Master return once more but this time he was working with the Daleks! The perfect scenario? A magnificent story and I just wish the Daleks had arrived in the story earlier. The Draconians were also enemies in this story and they were great, but seemed to be overshadowed.
The Daleks though took centre stage in Planet of the Daleks and saw them master the art of invisibility! It was an outstanding serial and is one of my all time favourites seeing the Thals return, the Doctor back on Skaro and many references to The Daleks. The season finale of The Green Death saw long standing companion Jo Grant depart the TARDIS in a good season finale. I loved Jo as companion and I think the Third Doctor definitely had the best companions overall, with Liz preceding Jo who will be followed by arguably the most popular companion of them all.
Season 11 kicks off in style with The Time Warrior which sees the first appearances of Sarah Jane Smith as companion, and the Sontarans as villains. It is also the serial where the name of the Doctor's home planet is revealed. Gallifrey. But the story itself is an awesome serial and was actually the very first Pertwee I saw so it holds a special place in my heart. Instantly you could tell Sarah Jane was going to be great, but she hasn't quite made my top 3 companions, being eclipsed by Clara, Liz and Romana II.
Invasion of the Dinosaurs was a brave serial but the end result was very good! A humorous but serious story, the first episode even had a different name to protect the surprise of the Dinosaurs' arrival.
The Daleks would soon return for the yearly serial which seemed to become a mini tradition since their return. Death to the Daleks is a typically brilliant Dalek story.
The Doctor would then return to Peladon and have another meeting with the Ice Warriors. The Monster of Peladon was certainly better than Curse but the Martians still weren't their 1960s outstanding selves.
Jon Pertwee would bow out as the Doctor after five seasons as the Time Lord. Planet of the Spiders, not the original story in which Pertwee would leave as a Master story was intended but Roger Delgado tragically died so Planet was written to replace the original serial. Despite its unintentional place at being the season finale, the story itself I really enjoyed and the regeneration of the Doctor occurred. Finally named as 'regeneration,' the Doctor had changed once more.
Spiders wasn't the last we'd see of Jon Pertwee as the Doctor however as he'd epically return in The Five Doctors and he was seen resuming his banter with Patrick Troughton's Second Doctor in a wonderful story to celebrate 20 years of adventures in the TARDIS.
I'm yet to read or listen to an adventure with the Third Doctor but Old Soldiers and The Ghosts of N-Space are two audios high on my list of things to get!
Jon Pertwee was an outstanding Doctor and instead of him going to the danger, the danger came to him on Earth. Bickering with the Brigadier and constantly battling the Master, the Pertwee era had it all, I just wish he battled the Cybermen on screen!
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