1970 - 1974 | 25 Adventures | 129 Episodes | 3290 minutes
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Jon Pertwee remained in the role of the Doctor for 5 series, two more than either of his predecessors. His departure in 1974 was partly influenced by the tragic death of good friend and colleague Roger Delgado
When Patrick Troughton left Doctor Who, the audience was ready. They already knew that the show could continue with a new Doctor because it had been done before. This time, however, things were different. It would be over 6 months before the new Doctor was seen in action, but that was the least of their worries. As series 6 ended, the Doctor was last seen spinning in blackness without a face! He had been put on trial by his own people (whom we now knew to be Time Lords) and sentenced to exile on Earth. His companions had been sent back to their own time with only memories of their first encounter with him...
Finally, the show returned in January 1970 and things were different. The series would run for just 26 weeks, stories would be either 4 or 6 episodes long and, most importantly, it was in colour! Indeed, the first story (Spearhead From Space) was shot entirely on film and entirely on location (apart from, I think, just one scene recorded in the studio afterwards) Sadly, this was not by design but by necessity due to BBC studio staff being on strike and all future stories would return to the traditional film on location and video in the studio.
Jon Pertwee literally stumbled into the show as he opened the TARDIS door and fell to the ground. The forced regeneration was not going well for the Doctor but would set trends for many future regenerations. He didn't remember who he was but a familiar face would help clarify things, even if his friend didn't recognise him! That familiar face was Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, whom the Doctor had met twice in 1968 (that's 1968 for the viewers, in the Brigadier's world it was never clear what year it actually was, just some time in the near future) and was now a leading man within UNIT, the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce - a name which would change for political reasons in later years. Since the Doctor was alien, did not officially exist and had no means of leaving on Earth, he found himself working for UNIT as a specialist scientist and was assigned an assistant, Liz Shaw.
So the Doctor was stranded on Earth working within a military organisation. It was a move that left many bewildered, not least of all the new producer and script editor! It was a change that they had inherited and found very restrictive. There was, in their opinion, very little scope for an earth-bound science fiction show. There were, they said, just two possible stories; either alien invasion or mad scientist. They did, however, manage to squeeze in a third, invasion from within - that of hibernating creatures waking to retake their world. They evolved the show for Pertwee's second series to include more action along the lines of James Bond and introduced the Master, a rogue and evil Time Lord to be the Doctor's regular adversary. Roger Delgado would play the Master for every story of series 8 and would return in various stories over the following two years until his sudden death in a car accident in 1973
The producers gradually brought the show back on track during Pertwee's time as the Doctor. They introduced the name Gallifrey as the home planet for the Time Lords and had them send the Doctor on occasional missions away from Earth and eventually gave him back control of his TARDIS following the adventures of The Three Doctors but it would be the Doctor's next regeneration that would set him free of UNIT.
When Patrick Troughton left Doctor Who, the audience was ready. They already knew that the show could continue with a new Doctor because it had been done before. This time, however, things were different. It would be over 6 months before the new Doctor was seen in action, but that was the least of their worries. As series 6 ended, the Doctor was last seen spinning in blackness without a face! He had been put on trial by his own people (whom we now knew to be Time Lords) and sentenced to exile on Earth. His companions had been sent back to their own time with only memories of their first encounter with him...
Finally, the show returned in January 1970 and things were different. The series would run for just 26 weeks, stories would be either 4 or 6 episodes long and, most importantly, it was in colour! Indeed, the first story (Spearhead From Space) was shot entirely on film and entirely on location (apart from, I think, just one scene recorded in the studio afterwards) Sadly, this was not by design but by necessity due to BBC studio staff being on strike and all future stories would return to the traditional film on location and video in the studio.
Jon Pertwee literally stumbled into the show as he opened the TARDIS door and fell to the ground. The forced regeneration was not going well for the Doctor but would set trends for many future regenerations. He didn't remember who he was but a familiar face would help clarify things, even if his friend didn't recognise him! That familiar face was Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, whom the Doctor had met twice in 1968 (that's 1968 for the viewers, in the Brigadier's world it was never clear what year it actually was, just some time in the near future) and was now a leading man within UNIT, the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce - a name which would change for political reasons in later years. Since the Doctor was alien, did not officially exist and had no means of leaving on Earth, he found himself working for UNIT as a specialist scientist and was assigned an assistant, Liz Shaw.
So the Doctor was stranded on Earth working within a military organisation. It was a move that left many bewildered, not least of all the new producer and script editor! It was a change that they had inherited and found very restrictive. There was, in their opinion, very little scope for an earth-bound science fiction show. There were, they said, just two possible stories; either alien invasion or mad scientist. They did, however, manage to squeeze in a third, invasion from within - that of hibernating creatures waking to retake their world. They evolved the show for Pertwee's second series to include more action along the lines of James Bond and introduced the Master, a rogue and evil Time Lord to be the Doctor's regular adversary. Roger Delgado would play the Master for every story of series 8 and would return in various stories over the following two years until his sudden death in a car accident in 1973
The producers gradually brought the show back on track during Pertwee's time as the Doctor. They introduced the name Gallifrey as the home planet for the Time Lords and had them send the Doctor on occasional missions away from Earth and eventually gave him back control of his TARDIS following the adventures of The Three Doctors but it would be the Doctor's next regeneration that would set him free of UNIT.
