The Faces of the Doctor
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Craig 5 years, 3 months ago.
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Anonymous @
It’s nearly June, and in a case of life imitating art I’m shoving the Sixth Doctor into the end of the Fifth Doctor period. Your thoughts on this chap are welcome.
The AI Report on the end of the fifth Doctor and beginning of the sixth reveals:
The arrival of Colin Baker as Dr. Who rather late in the series produced a rather cool response from sample members. Less than half were impressed by his portrayal so far; however, one or two of those who had found his performance convincing expressed the view that Mr. Baker had potential to become an excellent Dr. Who because his face was ‘not associated with so many other roles and he seems less wishy-washy than others who have played the part’. Respondents who were dissatisfied with Colin Baker’s interpretation of Dr. Who (a quarter of the sample) expressed the reasons for their disapproval quite clearly. The new Doctor was felt to be so totally different in character from others who had gone before him that he seemed ‘unreal’. In the opinion of his critics, he lacked amiability and was not a very likeable character. In the words of two respondents: ‘I find him too aggressive and just not as pleasant as other Doctors’; ‘The new Doctor is too stern and doesn’t have enough humour’.
To go off on an immediate tangent, one of the early Confidential series showed clips of a brief interview with Christopher Eccleston on why he wanted to play the Doctor.
“I wanted to play Charming. People told me I couldn’t do it, and I wanted to prove them wrong”.
I nodded at that. Not that I don’t think Eccleston has never played charming before, or couldn’t, but that he clearly identified a necessary trait for the Doctor. Let’s face it; the character has an arrogant side. A know-it-all superiority at times. He can be a bit of an egoist. Charm and humour can be used to undercut that, and also give the Doctor self awareness that show he realises these traits are within him, and he deliberately “knee caps” them with people he knows. What kind of monster would he be without charm?
Welcome to Colin Baker. The charmless Doctor.
I was a bit bemused by the casting of him as the Doctor. It had only been a short while since he was playing Commander Maxell in Davison’s “Arc of Infinity” as an unlikeable Gallifreyan guard who threw the switch in an attempt to execute the Fifth Doctor. He really didn’t seem a great choice to me, but what did I know? So at the end of “Caves of Androzani” the Doctor regenerates. In an otherwise excellent show, his immediate words and cutting attitude towards Peri seemed a little, well – “off”. Regeneration, though, has always been a tricky thing, so I went with it. The end of that series saw his first adventure, “The Twin Dilemma”. It was mind-bogglingly awful. The Doctor trying to stangle Peri. A pair of young actors so cringeworthy they made Matthew Waterhouse (Adric) look like Sir John Gielgood. The Doctor picking a costume that self-respecting professional clowns would reject as “taking the piss”. A plot so laughable it defied belief. Just f**king awful. “Never mind”, I thought at the end of the show, “Difficult regeneration episode over. A break until the new series. Time to start afresh.”
GhastlySeries 22 came along. Oh Gods. “Attack of the Cybermen”. A story trying to resolve plot points from two Cybermen adventures that only fanboys such as myself even had a casual interest in. In which a Cyberman is killed by “a lucky shot” from a revolver. “Vengeance on Varos” had an entertaining turn by Nabil Shaban as Sil and some prescient points about reality TV that were ahead of its time, but sees the Doctor behaving like an intergalactic hooligan. “The Mark of the Rani” introduced The Rani (a fun enough turn in a campy way by Kate O’Mara). Just consider that the Time Lords had pursued the Doctor over time and space because he’d borrowed a TARDIS and interfered. Now we were to believe they would banish one of their own from Gallifrey with a TARDIS to continue her experiments on other species. Just crass. “The Two Doctors” does its best to piss on the characters of the Second Doctor and Jamie. “Timelash”?! Jesus wept. We ended on “Revelation of the Daleks”. Pantomime Davros and support cast. The best thing about it is the shot of a partly converted human encased in a transparent Dalek. For variety, add in Alexi Sayle’s DJ character and his really over the top death scene.
Throughout this we had poor Nicola Bryant as Peri, poured into ever tighter costumes, Her character was supposed to be a botany student, but they made her progressively dumber and dumber. I suppose it was all supposed to be “meant for the dads” but even my loathsome 15 year old self could dredge up enough empathy to feel sorry for her. Ultimately though – bestriding this carnival of horrors like a colossal ill-dressed arsehole stood Baker Mk II.
I wasn’t surprised by the announcement that the show would be put on hiatus for a while. I’d really lost patience. Something was fundamentally wrong with all this. I did consider if this was part of being a teenager. Most of my acquaintances who had watched the show had drifted away during the Davison era. Maybe I was the problem?
Spin forward and a new series was announced. The publicity machine kicked in. What delights had we in store, I wondered? Bonnie f**king Langford that’s who. For my generation she meant one thing. Violet Elizabeth in Just William. Thsqueaming and thsqueaming until she was sick.
Oh – the irony!And so “The Trial of a Time Lord” began. Four adventures (Mysterious Planet, Mindwarp, Terror of the Vervoids, The Ultimate Foe) interlinked throughout by scenes in which the Time Lords put the Doctor on trial yet again.
- Gasp! At the opening CGI scene of the TARDIS being snared by a space station.
- Weep! When you realise that was most of the budget for he series.
- Sob! With laughter as Peri is first thought dead, and then shown to be happily married. To Brian Blessed.
- Scream! As Bonnie Langford turns up as “Mel” and starts screaming herself.
- Laugh! At the scenes where Colin tries to be all serious.
In the final story the prosecutor, The Valeyard is revealed to be a dark future incarnation of the Doctor. The problem for me with this scenario is that Michael Jayston seemed actually preferable to me than Colin Baker!
If, as fans would have it, this series was a metaphor for the show being put on trial, then I think the verdict could only be a guilty one. In the dock, the BBC who really couldn’t be arsed to make a verdict on the future of the show one way or another. They preferred to let the show starve of resources and become the personal plaything of one producer who really had no idea where to go. Aided by a man who was spectacularly miscast and who didn’t really understand the appeal of the show. His desire to “return” to some notional version of Hartnell was nonsensical, and shows he had no idea of how the First Doctor was really played. These factors really conspired to create a toxin for the show much more powerful than the Spectrox Toxaemia that had heralded the reign of the Sixth Doctor.
All should have been found guilty – but only one paid the price. As the “Face of the Doctor”, Colin Baker was the first actor to be sacked from the role. His fans (and he has them) were upset to be sure, but for me I treated it with some relief. The problem was, John Nathan Turner was still there as Producer, and I couldn’t see things changing much.
Taking the MichaelI have gone back to rewatch the entire run with a true Colin devotee. He’s explained many things some of which seem feasible and some that don’t. The notion that he had a four year plan to turn this charmless Doctor into something more familiar is the one I have most difficulty with. Listening to his Who audio work, and having seem him interviewed and in other productions, I don’t actually think he would have been capable of such a transition.
I realise that I’ve written a lot about a Doctor and a period of the show I really couldn’t get along with. This is because simply putting a picture of the actor and putting “TOSSER” beneath it is bad form. For me, this is a dark period for the show and one that I can’t really defend. If you are to dip into old Who, please do not start with any of the serials above. It may put you off for life.
Completely agree. I dipped into Colin’s first episode and caught Vengeance on Varos – which was saved by Nabil Shaban. I really wanted to like him – loved him as the devious, creepy Paul Merion in the Brothers (1970s), but you have nailed it in summing up his take on Dr who as charmless.
The way the companions were presented was awful. Poor Peri was a constant moan – and no wonder. Baker’s Dr treats her like shit, including physically pushing her out the way on occasions. Pertwee might have been sharp with Jo occasionally but there was always a paternal warmth underlying it. And what was that dayglo pink outfit about??? Never been a fan of Kate O’Mara and the Bonnie Langford announcement was enough to send me thcweaming behind the couch, traumatised. (Sorry @htpbdet 😉 )
I doubt I’d ever have watched any of them had it not been for the reboot ie wrapped in the security of knowing there was better to follow! Curiosity value only for me.
Anyone for the defence?
That costume was unbelievable, even for a race of people who are now canonical for having “terrible dress sense” (Eleventh Doctor). To be fair, Colin Baker himself didn’t want it – he’d rather have gone for something in black. I think the audio covers generally use what’s now called ‘the blue costume’.
It’s a lot easier on the eye. I have seen suggestions that if you really, really want to make a proper Sixth Doctor coat for cosplay, you should just search pet shops for the appropriate dog blankets. 😈
Peoples of the Forum, please attend. We control the horizontal. We control the vertical. We… oh, wrong show. We interrupt this celebration of an ill-dressed oaf to present a subject which demands your admiration and respect.
Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks defined the character of the Master in this Document.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
The Master has a chameleon like ability to adapt to any society in which he finds himself. He will therefore be completely natural and convincing in his various human roles. He must not be written as a moustache twirling villain of melodrama, or given melodramatic dialogue; If anything his evil quality should be underplayed, though never forgottenOne Roger Caesar Marius Bernard de Delgado Torres Castillo Roberto (Roger Delgado) was selected to play him. Tuesday 18th June 2013 saw the 40th anniversary of his death.
My introduction to the character of the Master came through some of the early novelisations, particularly The Daemons and Doomsday Weapon (televised as Colony in Space). They were fun reads, and I was really interested in this character who was meant to be the equal of the Doctor in many ways. It was only when Doctor Who Weekly started years later that I saw a picture of Roger Delgado in a “Unit Fact File” – a page profile of the character and actor who played him. The picture amazed me – that had to be the Master I’d read about. I also discovered the actor was dead and I can remember being really saddened for a reason I couldn’t put my finger on.
Armed with a very striking face to ponder on, I suddenly started to realise I’d seen him before. He was a guest star in the re-runs of The Avengers, The Champions, Randall and Hopkirk Deceased and many other shows that were on my favourite list.
One day, when watching the film Belles of St. Trinian’s, I said, knowledgably, to my dad – “look – it’s Roger Delgado, from Doctor Who”. My dad looked up. “Ohhh yes. He was in Quatermass, you know. A reporter”. “Not – THE PIT?” (Quatermass and the Pit deserved capitalisation in our household. Something of legend to young me, due to stories abou it from my father). “No”, he said, “the one with the domes. He got killed.”
I shrugged philosophically. Not in “THE PIT”, but still in Quatermass. The man had to have been some sort of acting legend to appear in so many good shows.
I was thirteen before I actually got to see Delgado as The Master in a celebratory showing of The Daemons. It was brilliant and he actually surpassed what in retrospect were some pretty high expectations. I watched all his stuff over the next 10 years as it gradually became available on VHS. Only eight stories in total, but well worth the wait even if a couple are pretty flawed. Like the Doctor himself, sometimes the guests can overcome poor material to deliver a performance that makes them worth watching.
The character was introduced in Series 8, Terror of the Autons, along with new companion Jo Grant and UNIT character Mike Yates. It’s a great intro for Jo and the Master, as he allies himself with the Nestene consciousness, and their Auton servants for their second invasion attempt.
The battle between the Doctor and Master continued throughout that series, with The Master harnessing a mind parasite in a prison to gather physchic forces to force an atomic war on the humans (Mind of Evil). I really like this story, and am looking forward to seeing it finally restored in full colour on DVD. The Claws of Axos, I seem to have enjoyed more than others, but Colony in Space, as a story, was better served by the book I think. It’s very interesting – a communal colony who have escaped a polluted earth come into conflict with a corporation that wants to strip mine and exploit the planet. Underneath the surface is an ancient weapon the Master seeks, in his guise as a galactic arbitrator. The production values and pacing let down a good story. The season finished on The Daemons which I’ve always found engaging. Not only because of Delgado, but the fact this is a story for people like John Levene (Seargeant Benton) to shine.
At the end of the story, our hero is led away in chains – incarcerated by UNIT.
In Season 9, after a couple of stories in future and off-planet, we find the Master in prison, but like the trooper he is, still plotting. The time in conjunction with The Sea Devils, those aquatic cousins of the Silurians. Another story which I thoroughly enjoy. Not least for the scene where Delgado enjoys the Clangers. He escaped the resulting carnage of course, and laid low for a story before trying to trap Kronos the Chronovore in The Time Monster. Delgado is in it. That’s the best thing I can say about it, apart from some humorous references to how the Doctor and Master used to sabotage each others experiments in the Academy.
In the middle of Season 10, with the Doctor free to roam the Universe again, the final appearance is in Frontier in Space. It’s a difficult story. The end was cocked up spectacularly. Film was lost, they couldn’t re-shoot and the Master just well – disappears. There is still stuff to enjoy. I loved the idea of the Master trying to engineer two great empires (Earth and Draconia) into war. Loved the design of the Draconians themselves (the modern Silurians owe a lot to them). Loved the reveal that the Daleks were behind this plan…. But ultimately it feels like what it is. A lead in to Planet of the Daleks, a story in which everything you’ve seen doesn’t really have any resonance anymore.
Throughout these stories, Delgado becomes a binding force. The person on screen you are drawn to whenever he appears. It’s a graceful and charming villain. Largely, as the script said, he avoided melodrama but when he did do it (as in some extracts in The Daemons) he plays it as a performance to his devotees. You, as the audience, are in on the joke. He was sensational in his time, in that he was a sensation. The BBC production team were used to receiving letters from children addressed to The Doctor. Now they had a mail sack for The Master as well. Kids wrote to him c/o the BBC to ask him to mend his ways and join the Doctor on his adventures and free him from his exile. Those kids knew a good double act when they saw it, because Roger always seemed to make Jon better – as an actor and a Doctor. Natural chemistry perhaps, because they became good friends. His Master was a hard villain to dislike. Willing to act the fool on occasion. Or reveal frustration, petulance, jealousy, humour and charm. Much like the Doctor.
Delgado had agreed to one more appearance in a cunning wheeze. He and Jon would leave together in The Final Game, a story which would see the Third Doctor regenerate. Many fan legends surround this – that it would be revealed that the Doctor and he were brothers, that they were Ying-Yang of the same person. All utter bullshit of course.
The Final Game would have seen an alien incursion organised by the Master in which a time/dimesional portal was activated. To deactivate the portal whoever ventured into it would be exposed to radiation. The Doctor tries, and collapses. The Master pushes him aside, saving him (he would regenerate) but leaving the question – did the Master seek to save the Doctor or merely possess the power source that created the rift. Both would die, but with the potential to return in another form. You can see elements of that scenario in End of Time, but it’s explored more thoroughly in the Mark Gatiss Third Doctor novel Last of the Gaderene.
Delgado’s tragic death in Turkey in a road accident robbed us of that ending, and much more I feel. He was being noticed and had many projects on his schedule. Had he lived I think he would have been an even more successful character actor of note later in life.
I don’t think any actor who has portrayed the character since has come near to this Charming villain. To say that Derek Jacobi in Utopia portrays some of the elements I see in Delgado is, in my mind, a compliment. I think Jacobi, combining the outward charm of Yana, and the seething hate as he became the Master would have nailed it completely for a modern era, but we didn’t have the time.
So – All hail Roger Delgado. The true Master, and rocking Black Sabbath devotee (OK –I made that last one up).
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