Time for another Doctor Who Doctor Review: Peter Davison
I’m waiting to watch the last available Patrick Troughton episode before I review him, and still have season 16 of Tom Baker to watch (which I forgot). But, I’ve also moved through the Davison years and am in the midst of Colin Baker now. And boy, there’s someone to be in the midst of.
Anyway, Kate is totally right in her assessment of Davison: He really is quite good. Despite his youth and some of the foolishness associated with the JNT era, Davison makes an excellent Doctor who displays a concern for others not properly seen since the Trought. This ties in well with my pondering a more realistic ordering of Doctors based on behavioral age–despite his youth he is one of the most mature and thoughtful doctors.
This is particularly apparent in the way he handles the almost singularly awful companions saddling this era. Peri? Tegan, to a lesser extent. Pretty bad. Awfulbot, of course (aka Kameleon). And Adric. Even Wesley Crusher cheered when Adric couldn’t stop that ship from crashing into the Earth.
As I think it’s fairly apparent that the actors have some say over how the Doctor behaves, I believe we can attribute the fifth Doctor’s kindness and quick-wittedness to Davison–at least to an extent. After all, this is the guy who played Tristan Farnon in All Creatures Great and Small. Indeed, this Doctor seems less like an eccentric playful alien a la Tom Baker and more like a kindly country veterinarian.
It also helps that–despite the JNT-ness of it all–Davison enjoyed some of the best episodes of Doctor Who. I’d argue that season 20 is one of the best seasons all around with compelling and original episodes like Arc of Infinity, Snakedance, Mawdryn Undead, The Five Doctors, and the excellent Enlightenment. Other terrific episodes include Kinda and The Caves of Androzani which fully deserves the praise it gets.
So, here’s my current ranking of Doctors of whom I’ve seen all episodes. I realized I forgot to include Paul McGann last time, so I’ve added him and taken off Tom Baker until I see season 16.
1. David Tennant
2. Peter Davison
3. Jon Pertwee
4. Christopher Eccleston
5. Paul McGann
Honestly, though, I think I can safely say that the Trought might take the top spot or at least number 2.