Peter Davison, a brave casting but a brilliant one of that. Never had the Doctor been so young, active and loving of sport but that soon changed with the Fifth Doctor. Before I watched the Doctor Who seasons in order, I considered Peter Davison my favourite classic Doctor and it was easy to see why! My first adventure with him in, was his first adventure- and it was outstanding.
Castrovalva kicked off season 19 of Doctor Who in style, introducing Peter Davison perfectly and also concluding the 'Master trilogy' that had concluded season 18 in outstanding style. I loved this adventure and Davison was instantly recognisable as the Time Lord. The scene where he picks out his attire is marvellous.
His first season, after the post regeneration effect, started off a little slow. Four to Doomsday was a good little adventure but it didn't set the world alight. Kinda followed and this is one of the most overrated stories in Doctor Who in my opinion. I just didn't like the story and thought the Mara was pretty poor.
The season does though conclude in excellent style with four marvellous adventures. The Visitation is one I really enjoyed and despite it not being extremely popular, it had something about it that I really loved! Black Orchid was then another great story seeing the Doctor play cricket! Although it was only two parts, I thoroughly enjoyed.
Next up was Earthshock and I absolutely loved this! One of my all time favourites. After a lengthy absence of nearly a decade, the Cybermen finally returned in epic style. One of my favourite scenes was that where the Cybermen showed how a past incarnation of the Doctor had defeated them. Lovely! The climax was certainly a surprise with Adric leaving the TARDIS in heroic but sad circumstances, dying in defeating the Cybermen and saving the Earth.
The season concluded in excellent fashion with Time-Flight. For some reason this story is unpopular but I adored it! A shock return for the Master in wonderful style. The climax was excellent leading into the best season with Tegan being left behind as the TARDIS left Earth. This also left in a convenient gap in the whoniverse to allow Fifth Doctor and Nyssa audio adventures, a few of which I've listened to and will get to shortly.
Season 20 kicked off magnificently with Omega returning and Tegan rejoining the TARDIS crew. A marvellous adventure and the Gallifrey setting is always great! Snakedance came next with the return of the Mara, and although it was an improvement from the enemy's last serial, it was still nothing special.
An eventful and outstanding trilogy continued the milestone season on outstandingly. The 'Black Guardian Trilogy' consisting of Mawdryn Undead, Terminus and Enlightenment saw a much needed return of the Black Guardian, given another chance as villain after being underused in the 'Key to Time' season. The Brigadier also returned marvellously and then Nyssa sadly departed the TARDIS. A sad moment for me as I loved her as companion! She was replaced by Turlough who at first was an assassin to the Doctor himself! A great concept and he'd soon be a good companion.
The King's Demons finished off the season very well with another wonderful surprising return of the Master! Kamelion made his unique debut and despite being rather stiff and inactive, he would become a rather unused companion.
Season 21 kicked off in great style with the return of two similar foes, ten years on from their respective first appearances. Warriors of the Deep is a fantastic story with an amazing cliffhanger (part one) and despite the Silurians and Sea Devils returning, this serial is sadly partially damaged by amateur production mistakes. The Awakening and Frontios are next up in the season and are two excellent tales! But the there concluding serials could not have more asked for them.
Resurrection of the Daleks saw the long and awaited Davison encounter with the insanely popular villains that hadn't featured since season 17! Davros was back as well and at his brilliant best. The story also saw the introduction of Lytton who'd later return, and the departure of Tegan as companion after a lengthy stay.
I'd just like to mention how great this scene is with the Dalek being pushed from the building and into destruction was!
Planet of Fire was a marvellous penultimate serial for Peter Davison as the Doctor. It saw the return of the Master, departures of Turlough and Kamelion and the arrival of Peri as companion! Before officially joining the TARDIS crew, she started in an obviously popular scene! The story itself was magnificent, but it was clear Davison's time in the TARDIS was nearing an end...
The Caves of Androzani was an outstanding send off for Peter Davison as the Doctor! For a long time this was my favourite serial ever but as I watched more stories (eventually watching them all by now, not including missing ones yet!) it slowly dropped down the pecking order. Sharaz Jek was a fantastic villain and the heartfelt sendoff was a sad one, and when I watched the entire series in order, this regeneration had a bigger effect on me than any other, somehow eclipsing Troughton's!
Davison's final moments in saving Peri, even questioning regeneration, was heroically brilliant. Davison's time in the TARDIS was over in the penultimate serial of season 21, with the finale being left to the new Doctor.
But that didn't mean his time as the Time Lord was over! After leaving the TARDIS in 1984, Davison would reprise his role over 20 years later staring alongside the Tenth Doctor in the outstanding children in need special, Time Crash. Filled with humour, marvellous references and even a great plot! The 7 minutes were sublime and it was a joy to see Peter Davison once more in the TARDIS, albeit with the desktop theme being changed!
I would soon be reunited with the Fifth Doctor earlier this year as I finally embarked on listening to the Big Finish audio adventures. He meets the Sixth and Seventh Doctors on Gallifrey in The Sirens of Time but he gets his chance to shine in the absolutely sensational Phantasmagoria, which also saw Turlough in a new adventure which was great. The Land of the Dead saw Nyssa return to my joy and now in my next audio, Red Dawn, Davison gets a full adventure with Peri, and the Ice Warriors!
I am however yet to read a Fifth Doctor novel but I'm looking extremely forward to reading Lords of the Storm which sees Davison take on the Sontarans!
Eccentric, sport loving and more compassionate to his companions, Peter Davison made the Doctor his own and was an outstanding, popular and loved Doctor!
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