Colin Baker. Certainly the most colourful Doctor but sadly he's probably the most criticised for whatever reason. I absolutely love the Sixth Doctor! A huge change from the young, compassionate Fifth Doctor before him, Colin Baker brought a sense of evil to the Doctor, but it was the perfect balance. Sinister is what this Doctor was, but brilliant in being so.
The scene at the end of The Caves of Androzani after the regeneration is arguably one of the most popular in Doctor Who history. It's just mesmerising how the new Doctor greets his companion. His first full adventure is again popularly criticised but in my opinion that is wrong. The Twin Dilemma is a great story that is sadly massively underrated! It immediately showed how much the Doctor had been traumatised by his regeneration with the humour, sinisterness and even the attempt to kill Peri! All in all a fantastic adventure that concluded a brilliant twenty-first season of Doctor Who.
Vengeance on Varos followed and despite it being criticised for its violent nature, I thought the story was excellent! Sil is a devious, entertaining and just fantastic villain! His relationship with Peri was marvellous!
The Mark of the Rani was next up and finally introduced an evil female Time Lord! The Rani arrived and immediately it was clear she was completely the opposite type of Time Lord the Doctor was! With the return of the Master added in, this story was excellent!
But it did! After a lengthy absence, the Sontarans returned and had the honour of battling two different incarnations of the Doctor. The banter between the Sixth and Second was comically great and matched that of Troughton and Pertwee in the first multi-Doctor story. The story was slightly dampened by Troughton's transformation but overall it was excellent!
The final two stories were both very good with the underrated Timelash preceding the magnificent Revelation of the Daleks. Davros returned once more alongside his evil creations but there was now division in the Dalek camps! You had one group loyal to Davros and the other obeying the Dalek Supreme. There was conflict, there was now the Imperial and Renegade Daleks! The story was a wonderful season finale!
Season 23 was one big serial that has since been split into four semi-connected stories. The first segment of The Trial of a Time Lord was The Mysterious Planet and it kicked off the season/serial very well!
Mindwarp took the role of parts 5-8 in the giant serial and was both brilliant and shocking! It saw Sil return but the sad departure of wonderful companion Peri- one of my favourites ever!
Terror of the Vervoids had the last four part story of the serial and saw the introduction of Mel as companion, who sadly was more a publicity stunt than a good companion. She never seemed right as companion and I never really grew to liking her. The story though was very good!
The Ultimate Foe concluded the serial and season in style with the triumphant return of the Master and him brilliantly revealing the truth about the Valeyard! A wonderful climax to an outstanding season/serial.
The regeneration of the Sixth Doctor didn't occur at the finale of season 23, sadly Colin Baker was sacked as the Doctor and didn't get the chance for a proper sendoff. Instead, you had someone wear a wig in his place as the Doctor regenerated at the beginning of season 24 in Time and the Rani.
Albeit abruptly ended, and with the Head of BBC trying to axe the show, Baker certainly had a challenge and for me he excellently succeeded! I adored Colin Baker's Doctor and have enjoyed the few audios I've listened to with him as the Doctor. He was the shining light in The Sirens of Time and started in the great Whispers of Terror and even had a new companion in the magnificent The Marian Conspiracy.
Full of colour, comedy and controversy, Colin Baker will always be one of my favourite Doctors.
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